UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday urged the international community to take steps to protect civilian lives in Syria, where more than 3,000 civilians have been killed since protests against the government began in March. Pillay stated that the Syrian government has failed to protect its population and has ignored calls [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked portions of a controversial Alabama immigration law . The ruling came in response to a motion filed last week by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of immigrants rights groups after a judge for the US District Court for [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food , Olivier De Schutter , announced on Thursday that he supports a Mexican constitutional reform which recognizes the right to food . The reform targets articles 4 and 27 of the Mexican constitution . Article 4 guarantees that “o one may be deprived of the fruits of [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the release of approximately 200 political prisoners by Myanmar’s president, while urging the government to release all political prisoners in accordance with the rule of law. Ban Ki-moon also acknowledged the dialogue between the government and pro-democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi , as well as talks between [...]

Amnesty International (AI) urged Malawi on Friday to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country on Saturday and surrender him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution. Al-Bashir is expected to attend a trade summit in Malawi this weekend, despite two international warrants out for his arrest on charges of [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday urged the Canadian government to investigate and arrest former US president George W. Bush for his role in torture, ahead of his travel to an economic summit in British Colombia next week. AI’s submission to Canadian authorities emphasizes Bush’s authorization of “enhanced interrogation techniques” including [...]

A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday sentenced former Galleon Group hedge fund executive Raj Rajaratnam to 11 years in prison, fined him $10 million and ordered he forfeit an additional $53.8 million. The 11-year sentence was significantly lower than the 24 1/2-year sentence requested by [...]

Libyan forces have arrested nearly 2,500 people who face ongoing torture and detainment without formal charges , Amnesty International (AI) alleged Thursday. Interviews of 300 Libyan prisoners in August and September revealed that many were abducted from their homes without arrest warrants, were beaten and tortured in prison to elicit confessions and are still being [...]

Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday signed into law a controversial bill dissolving religious organizations and requiring re-registration, drawing criticism from international observers. The bill dissolves current registrations and establishes a procedure requiring groups to meet membership thresholds —at least 50 members to register locally, 500 members to register regionally and 5,000 members to register [...]

The US House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to three free trade agreements, marking the first time in several years that the US has formed a trade partnership. The House and Senate voted in rapid succession to pass the trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which are predicted by [...]