Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday refused to sign a highly controversial “Family Values and the Protection of Minors” bill to significantly curtail the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. The bill, which passed with overwhelming parliamentary support, seeks to ban same-sex marriage, prohibit adoption by same-sex couples, restrict gender-affirming care, and limit public expressions of LGBTQ+ [...]
François Legault, premier of the largely French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec, has called for the implementation of French-style “waiting zones” to address the growing number of asylum seekers entering Canada, according to local media reports. Legault appears to have taken inspiration from asylum waiting zones in France, which function as temporary hotel-style accommodations where asylum [...]
Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Nigerian government to end its repression of protestors who participated in peaceful nationwide demonstrations against economic hardship and bad government. The #FearlessOctober protestors on October 1 faced inordinate use of tear gas and arrests by security forces, who barricaded usual protest areas in an attempt to pre-emptively shut [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report released Wednesday raised concerns over the forcible recruitment of children into a youth group associated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). HRW interviewed multiple families whose children were taken by the Revolutionary Youth Movement of Syria, or Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger. The report revealed that in the vast majority [...]
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that multiple provisions of the country’s Federal Criminal Police Office Act (BKA Act) are unconstitutional because they infringe upon citizens’ privacy rights. The Society for Civil Rights e.V. (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. or “GFF”), a German donor-funded organization, challenged the act in court, asserting that the anti-terrorist surveillance and [...]
Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, have jointly called on Egypt’s parliament to reject a proposed draft of the criminal procedure code on Wednesday. They argue that if passed, the draft bill would further entrench systemic abuses in Egypt’s legal system. The Egyptian government introduced [...]
Kenya lawmakers launched a motion in parliament on Tuesday to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, accusing him of gross violation of the constitution, stirring ethnic hatred, and undermining the government. The motion, introduced by Enoch Wambua, who represents Kitui West, cites 11 grounds for impeachment under Articles 150(1)(b) and (2) and 145 of the Kenyan constitution. [...]
The opening days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a fierce and inspiring response by ordinary Ukrainians. They joined together in a mass uprising to defend their homeland. Under international humanitarian law (IHL), such an act of resistance is known as a “levée en masse” (levée). A levée is a unique category that temporarily [...]
The Bangkok Criminal Court ordered the extradition of a convicted political activist to Vietnam on Monday. Human rights groups, criticizing the move as “transnational repression”, warned that he likely faces threats to his life in Vietnam, which would render the extradition illegal under the principle of non-refoulement. Y Quynh Bdap is currently imprisoned in Thailand [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday issued a critical report detailing alleged rights violations within Georgia’s prison system. Following an investigation, the DOJ found that conditions in the state’s prisons violate the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment. This report draws attention to Georgia’s failure to [...]
