The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) expressed concern Friday over Belarus’ handling of human rights activists and its efforts to silence opposition. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, said that the situation in Belarus is amounting to persecution of dissenters, citing the arrest of Aliaksandr Bialiatski, president of the Belarus Human [...]

The American Psychological Association (APA) voted unanimously Thursday to adopt a resolution supporting full marriage equality for same-sex couples. Just before the opening day of the APA’s annual convention , a 157-member policymaking body adopted the position that the federal government and state legislatures should repeal measures denying marriage rights to same-sex couples in an [...]

Sixteen countries on Wednesday filed briefs in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against the controversial Alabama immigration law that expands restrictions on undocumented immigrants. Central and South American countries, including Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia, argue that the recently enacted law unfairly treats citizens of those countries currently residing [...]

A three-judge panel for the California First District Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Thursday that DNA samples cannot be taken broadly from any adult arrested or charged with a felony. Striking down a 2004 voter-enacted provision of the DNA and Forensic Identification Data Base and Data Bank Act of 1998 , the court ruled [...]

Canadian Guantanamo Bay detainee and convict Omar Khadr fired his defense lawyers Wednesday with no explanation, according to a directive obtained by Miami Herald Thursday. Khadr released his two Edmonton-based lawyers, Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, with Toronto-based attorneys John Norris and Brydie Bethell. The move comes just months before Khadr is supposed to be [...]

The Mississippi Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge by the State Auditor to the state Attorney General practice of paying fees to hired private counsel directly out of litigation awards. State Auditor Stacey Pickering is appealing a lower court ruling last April upholding $10 million in fees paid to private lawyers hired by [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Chibli Mallat of Harvard Law School says that recent reports of the operation resulting in the death of Osama Bin Laden have revealed that his killing violated longstanding doctrines of international law prohibiting killing outside the context of hostilities…

JURIST Special Guest Columnist James Nyawo, a Ph.D. candidate at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, says that the African Union must emulate the EU and begin to confront human rights abuses, not only to prevent the organization from losing relevancy, but also to ensure that those who have committed crimes against humanity face justice…

US President Barack Obama issued a directive Thursday barring war criminals and human rights violators from entering the country. Under the new proclamation, which took effect immediately, the Secretary of State determines which criminals or violators will be allowed into the US. Additionally, Obama commissioned the Atrocities Prevention Board, a panel assisting in deterring genocidal [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has vacated a previous ruling declaring Hazelton, Pennsylvania’s immigration laws unconstitutional. Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act and Landlord Tenant Ordinance deny permits to businesses that employ illegal immigrants and fine landlords who extend housing to them. Last year, the Third Circuit rejected the laws as unconstitutional, [...]