Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) released statements Monday condemning Ukraine’s use of secret facilities to detain individuals. The two groups released a joint report earlier this summer detailing the use of torture in these secret detentions by both the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatists. Since the release of the report, 13 [...]

Egyptian human rights lawyer Malek Adly was released from prison Sunday following a Saturday decision by an Egyptian court. Adly had been held in solitary confinement for more than 100 days without a formal charge, and his incarceration was pinned on various administrative detention orders. Adly supporters claim that the lawyer’s prosecution was due to [...]

Venezuelan authorities on Saturday arrested a major opposition leader, Daniel Ceballos, stating that the arrest was to prevent his efforts at destabilizing the country . Ceballos, the former mayor of San Cristobal, was arrested in March 2014, accused of inciting violence during a wave of protests against the government. However, Ceballos was released and placed [...]

The California Superior Court on Friday rejected a challenge to the state’s recently enacted physician-assisted suicide law. In June California passed the End of Life Option Act which would allow “terminally ill” patients to be prescribed lethal drugs if their doctor has determined that they have less than six months to live. Following enactment, five [...]

The Supreme Court of El Salvador on Saturday ordered the release of three ex-military officers who had been jailed for killing six Jesuit priests during the country’s civil war. In 1989 a team of about 20 military officers stormed the University of Central America (UCA) and executed the priests as well as a housekeeper and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Friday denied an emergency petition for a full en banc rehearing regarding the Wisconsin voter identification law . A federal court in July decided that voters who do not have a required form of ID can vote through an affidavit process , a win for [...]

The Illinois Supreme Court concluded on Thursday that placing a redistricting proposal on the ballot this fall would be unconstitutional. The proposal would have transferred legislative mapmaking power to an independent commission and had the backing of approximately 563,000 signatures because many argue that the mapmaking process in the state is too political. Ballot initiatives [...]

An Argentine federal court concluded a human rights trial on Thursday against military officers during the dictatorship era. The court in Córdoba, Argentina, acquitted five defendants and sentenced 28 to life and 10 to between two-and-a-half and 21 years in prison. The trial focused on 20 cases from torture centers in Córdoba and involved 716 [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed , on Friday urged Iran to halt the execution of Alireza Madadpour and 11 other individuals convicted on drug related offenses. All 12 individuals were sentenced to death for drug offenses and recently transferred to solitary confinement in Karaj Central Prison. [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled on Friday that the University of North Carolina (UNC) must allow transgender students to choose and use restrooms matching their gender identity at its campuses. The case was brought to court against North Carolina Governor Patrick McCrory and state legislators [...]