Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday issued a 59-page report stating that the US should repeal the Alien Enemies Act. HRW emphasized that US obligations under international law have drastically changed since the Alien Enemies Act was enacted. The organization stated: “he US is party to numerous human rights treaties that oblige the government to [...]

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned on Friday that severe funding shortfalls are stripping away essential protections for the world’s most vulnerable refugees and leaving them increasingly exposed to abuse, poverty, forced returns to unsafe conditions, and the threat of embarking on dangerous journeys in search of safety. In the [...]

Attorneys for high-profile murder defendant Luigi Mangione moved for dismissal of the state charges against him on Thursday, citing violations of Mangione’s constitutional rights. In the motion to dismiss, attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo claimed the state charges violated Mangione’s rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution. Friedman Agnifilo claimed the “most [...]

Human Rights Watch reported on Friday that the fourth UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Laos showed little progress over the past five years, and condemned the country’s attacks on dissidents and activists.  HRW criticized the country for not meeting rights obligations in ceasing arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and partial investigations. Containing 271 [...]

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to cease federal funding for public broadcasters National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), calling such funding “not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.” NPR and PBS receive their funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), established [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called on Moroccan officials to stop their efforts to suppress independent journalism in the disputed region of Western Sahara after the deportation of Italian freelance journalists. CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said that the recent deportation exemplifies Morocco’s “repressive media blockade” in Western Sahara, emphasizing that “uthorities [...]

Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) on Friday urged the United Nations to prevent the Iranian government’s rising campaign of politically motivated killings. More than 300 global personalities supported the plea, including UN experts, Nobel laureates, former ambassadors, judges, legal scholars, and human rights organizations. The coalition condemned Iran’s systematic [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) on Thursday rejected Ontario’s request for an appeal on a landmark case concerning Canada’s climate policy. The SCC’s refusal to hear the appeal was celebrated by activist groups, as it affirms the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling that the province’s climate policy is subject to the constitution, and paves [...]

Thai state prosecutors announced on Thursday they would not pursue royal defamation charges against an American political science lecturer at Naresuan University who was arrested on April 8 for allegedly violating Thailand’s lese majeste law, according to local media. The attorney general’s office said it had decided “not to indict” the individual, a 58-year-old man [...]

Republicans on the US House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee universally voted against an amendment on Wednesday that would have prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using federal funds to detain or deport US citizens. Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington proposed the amendment to a budget bill, which was approved in the House of [...]