Italian President Sergio Mattarella granted a partial pardon Tuesday for ex-CIA officer Sabrina De Sousa related to the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric form a Milan street in 2003. The cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, “was taken to Egypt for questioning under the U.S. “extraordinary rendition” program.”De Sousa was one of 26 people who were [...]

A UN expert on Wednesday issued a report criticizing the “hyper-financialized” housing market. Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, addressed the issue to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. She said, “ousing has lost its social function and is seen instead as a vehicle for wealth and asset growth. It has [...]

Parties involved in the Syrian conflict committed war crimes against civilians as they fought for control of Aleppo between July and December 2016, according to a report released by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on Wednesday. The report states that Syrian forces repeatedly targeted hospitals, schools, orphanages, and [...]

The UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) released a report Wednesday describing human rights violations committed by soldiers of the Forces armèes de la Rèpublique dèmocratique du Congo (FARDC) and agents of the Police Nationale Congolaise (PNC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people. The [...]

A Dutch court in the northern city of Assen ruled Wednesday that the Netherlands Petroleum Company (NAM) is liable for the emotional suffering of claimants whose homes were damaged from earthquakes caused by drilling. NAM is jointly owned by ExxonMobil and Shell . The complaint involves 127 plaintiffs who are seeking financial compensation for non-material [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in Dean v. United States . The court must determine whether its decision in Pepper v. United States limits the discretion of district courts in considering mandatory consecutive sentences for defendants convicted of firearms offenses under 18 USC § 924(C) . This statute requires that a [...]

Spain’s Supreme Court dismissed a petition on Tuesday that sought to exhume the body of former dictator Francisco Franco and move the remains to a different location. Baltasar Garzón, a former judge, proposed to the court in November 2015 that the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), Franco’s resting place, be turned into [...]

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Tuesday that the federal government should stop spending money to sue local police departments. In a speech to the National Association of Attorney Generals , Sessions stated that the government should focus its resources on help police combat crime. Sessions announced the formation of a Justice Department task [...]

Prisons in Thailand are failing to meet international standards, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) . The report discussed how Thailand has the sixth highest prison population in the world and a host of other problems such as severe overcrowding, highest incarcerated population of women, “nadequate access [...]

The Court of Appeals in Trento, Italy , ruled Tuesday that the names of both same-sex partners should be listed on their child’s birth certificate. The court held that both fathers should have their names on the birth certificate even though only one person is the biological father. The court found that even though the [...]