A Hong Kong court on Monday sentenced three leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy protests who were convicted on charges related to their occupation of a government building. Joshua Wong and Alex Chow, prominent leaders of the Umbrella Revolution , were convicted of unlawful assembly, while a third activist, Nathan Law, was found to have incited [...]

A group of independent UN human rights experts on Monday expressed concern over Bahrain’s persecution of the Shia population. The experts said, “he intensified wave of arrests, detentions, summons, interrogations and criminal charges brought against numerous Shia religious clerics and singers, human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents is having a chilling effect on fundamental human [...]

Egypt’s public prosecutor on Saturday issued an order for the arrest of 13 people accused of committing profiteering, forgery and embezzlement as part of a national wheat import scandal. Local suppliers have historically added wheat to their imported supplies to claim state subsidies . Egypt offers such subsidies to encourage wheat farming and maintain its [...]

Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement this weekend urging Bangladesh officials to immediately end the illegal detentions of two citizens. Ahmed Bin Quasem and Humman Qader Chowdhury were arrested without warrants on August 9 and August 4, respectively. They were reportedly carried out by men in plain clothes who did [...]

A Nice court on Saturday upheld a ban on full-body swimsuits, known as burkinis, in the southern French city of Cannes. The city’s mayor imposed the ban last month after authorities and surrounding residents criticized the full body swimsuits for being a symbol of “radical Islamism.” Those found wearing burkinis could be fined €38 and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday threw out a lawsuit by former Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad claiming he was tortured. The appeals court affirmed the district court in refusing to hear the merits of the case because of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) , which removes [...]

The primary challenger to incumbent Zambian President Edgar Lungu , Hakainde Hichilema , on Saturday accused the country’s electoral commission of colluding with the Patriotic Front (PF), the ruling party, to manipulate the results of the election. Hichilema, who represents the United Party for National Development (UPND), alleged that the Electoral Commission is delaying results [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Friday blocked the diversion of public funds from Planned Parenthood clinics across Ohio. Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood of the Southwest Ohio Region filed motions for permanent injunction and a judgment on the merits to prevent the enforcement [...]

A Venezuelan appeals court in Caracas on Friday upheld the more than 13-year sentence of opposition leader Leopoldo López. The sentencing of the Corte de Apelaciones del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (TSJ) can and will be appealed to the country’s highest court, and the legal team has resorted to appeal to international organizations. Amnesty International [...]

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said on Saturday that comments made by a top UN human rights official were unacceptable. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein previously stated that he had no sympathy for the coup plotters, but that Turkey should uphold the rights of detainees and stem its “thirst [...]