The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it would not file federal criminal charges against two Cleveland police officers involved in the 2014 shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice. The lengthy statement began with an overview of the relevant law, which requires the government to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [...]

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced on Tuesday that it had initiated a criminal investigation against Alexei Navalny, a prominent leader of the Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin’s leadership. According to the investigation, Navalny, as head of various non-profit organizations such as the Fund for Organization and Coordination of the Protection of Citizens’ [...]

The West Kowloon Court in Hong Kong on Tuesday sentenced former pro-independence group leader Tony Chung to four months of imprisonment for insulting the Chinese flag during a protest in May 2019. Chung, a former member of the now-defunct pro-independence group Studentlocalism, was arrested outside the US consulate for his alleged involvement and activities with [...]

On Wednesday human rights activist and civil rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo was freed on bail. Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga of the High Court ruled that Opiyo may be released from prison after making a cash deposit and surrendering his passport. Opiyo’s arrest on December 22 for allegedly violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act sparked worldwide criticism [...]

The UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva Tuesday found that the Netherlands violated a child’s rights by failing to acknowledge that Denny Zhao, a child born 2010 in the Dutch city of Utrecht, was stateless and therefore eligible for international protections under the UN. The Committee further urged the country to change its legislation with [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday upheld a rule requiring greater transparency in the prices hospitals negotiate with insurers and third-party payers.  Over 90 percent of US patients rely on insurers and other third-party payers to pay for hospital services. Insurance companies have contracts with hospitals and pay negotiated [...]

UN rights experts attached to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Wednesday condemned President Trump’s December 22 pardoning of four former Blackwater contractors, asserting that the pardons violated international law. The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, Jelena Aparac, called the pardons an “affront to justice to the [...]

The Parliament of Montenegro Tuesday amended parts of the Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities that related to property and were allegedly anti-Serbian. The option of nationalizing church property has now been removed. Thousands of Montenegro nationals had taken to the streets of the capital Podgorica in protest [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Tuesday blocked a set of regulations from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that were set to significantly reduce the limits on detention for minors taken into custody with a family member or guardian (“accompanied minors”). In coming to the decision, the court held to the [...]

UN human rights experts urged authorities in Uganda on Tuesday to cease “the arrest, detention and judicial harassment of political opponents, civil society leaders and human rights defenders,” due to concerns of violence in the lead-up to Uganda’s presidential election, which is set to take place on January 14. In June, the Uganda Electoral Commission [...]