The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India took suo moto cognizance on Wednesday of human rights violations that took place in the Sandeshkhali district of West Bengal. Suo moto cognizance is the right of the NHRC to accept cases on their own, without them moving through the traditional legal processes like a complaint or [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, published a statement on Wednesday calling for the UK government to take “urgent action” to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The UK government invited Alsalem to visit the country after labeling violence against women and girls a “national threat” [...]

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance upheld pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung’s 15-month prison sentence on Wednesday and ruled that Chow will serve the remaining four and a half months of her sentence for inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly. Chow has been detained since September 2021 on National Security Law charges. The [...]

The EU adopted on Wednesday its thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia over the ongoing war in Ukraine. EU member states unanimously approved the new sanctions. They are expected to enter into legal force next week. The sanctions aim to further degrade key pillars of Russia’s war-making capabilities by expanding restrictions on Russian exports and [...]

The wife of Haiti’s former President Jovenel Moïse, Martine Marie Étienne Moïse, and former Prime Minister Claude Joseph are among 51 people indicted over the assassination of the former president, according to a 122-page document from Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire which was made public online by the Haitian news site AyiboPost. The document alleged on [...]

The First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Santiago made a unanimous landmark decision on Tuesday to reopen the investigation into Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda’s death. This decision comes in relation to recent developments that cast doubt on the official cause of Neruda’s demise. A judge’s decision in December to reject reopening the case [...]

South Africa accused Israel of implementing apartheid against Palestinians during a hearing before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday, alleging that Israel subjects Palestinians to “discriminatory land zoning and planning policies, punitive and administrative house demolitions and violent army incursions into their villages towns, cities and refugee camps.” Making submissions before the ICJ, [...]

The UK House of Commons passed a Labour Party amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday as Parliament erupted after Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle went against convention to select two amendments to a Scottish National Party (SNP) ceasefire motion for voting. The move has resulted in calls for Hoyle’s [...]

Bills advanced in both the Florida House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday that would allow compensation for the victims of the Dozier School for Boys that attended the school between 1940 and 1975. The Dozier School for Boys was a reform school located in Mariana, Florida, originally opened in 1900. In 1955, the school [...]

The US Supreme Court denied a petition to hear an appeal Tuesday concerning the exclusion of potential jurors based on the jurors’ religious beliefs in a Missouri sex discrimination case. Jean Finney, a worker for Missouri’s Department of Corrections who is also lesbian, sued her employer alleging sexual discrimination and retaliation after Finney began dating [...]