The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Friday issued reports on Nauru, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, New Zealand, South Africa and Suriname following a committee session held last month. The committee’s independent experts commended the nations’ efforts to push laws and treaties intended to protect children’s rights and address human rights violations [...]

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called for an investigation of alleged war crimes committed against Syrian civilians by both Russia and the Syrian regime. The secretary made the plea ahead of his meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault . Kerry’s statement comes the morning after yet another deadly Russian attack on [...]

Vice President Gaston Sindimwo of Burundi on Thursday announced the country’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) , stating that his government is “ready to face the consequences.” This decision comes in the wake of the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announcing six months ago that she plans to investigate the ongoing violence [...]

A Canadian Superior Court justice has ruled that a decision to deny a woman’s case in court because she refused to remove her hijab goes against the fundamental principles of Canadian law. Rania El-Alloul was told last year that her case regarding automobile insurance would not go forward so long as she was wearing her [...]

A German court says the trial of a former medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp must be postponed due to complaints. The Neubrandenburg state court has received numerous complaints that the judge and others in the court are biased, and the trial has been held up as prosecutors have been attempting to remove [...]

The Parliament of Catalonia voted Thursday to hold an independence referendum next September. This move has exacerbated tensions with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy , whose party has consistently rejected Catalan’s attempts at independence. Following the vote, the Constitutional Court of Spain said it is considering a suit against the Catalonian speaker of the parliament [...]

Pakistani lawmakers voted unanimously Thursday to strengthen the penalties for those convicted of murder in connection to honor killings. The new law provides for mandatory life imprisonment , even if the family of the victim forgave the convicted killer. During the same parliamentary session, lawmakers approved a law providing a mandatory 25-year sentence for rape [...]

Three transgender students in the Pine-Richland school district in Western Pennsylvania filed suit Thursday against the school district for their decision to implement gender specific restrooms. After months of deliberation, the school district decided last month to return to the practice of maintaining gender specific restrooms. Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, attorney with Lambda Legal , stated that [...]

The Zambian Police on Wednesday arrested two leaders of the United Party for National Development (UPND) , the main opposition party. Hakainde Hichilema, president of UPND, and his deputy Geoffrey Mwamba were arrested for suspicions of sedition in part due to their claims that the election that re-elected President Edgar Lungu in August was fraudulent [...]

The Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) criticized UN peacekeepers in South Sudan Wednesday for their failure to protect civilians during an outbreak of fighting in the country that took place in July. The report released by the human rights group describes how the parties to the conflict, “killed and injured civilians in displaced persons [...]