Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]

The Colorado Republican State Central Committee (CRSCC) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari Wednesday to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision which removed former president Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court found Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021. Represented by the American Center for Law [...]

The Pakistan Supreme Court held Wednesday that implementing the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which amends and curtails the court’s powers, did not violate any fundamental rights, instead, enhancing their protection and implementation. The court rejected arguments about potential threats to judicial independence and the Chief Justice’s role as the “Master of the [...]

The Peshawar High Court suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling Tuesday, which deemed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI), the party of the former Prime Minister Imran Khan, intra-party polls as unconstitutional and revoked the party’s ‘bat’ election symbol. Local news portal Dawn has reported having a copy of the order which instructed the issuance [...]

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a ban Wednesday on the Masarat Alam faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League (MLJK-MA) for a five-year period under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in an alleged attempt to curb “secessionist activities.” The MHA alleged that the MLJK-MA and its members are actively “involved [...]

Authorities from India’s western state of Gujarat launched an investigation Tuesday into a plane which was held in Paris carrying 303 passengers from India over human trafficking suspicions. A chartered plane carrying 303 Indian passengers, which was detained in France for four days due to suspected human trafficking, landed in Mumbai reportedly carrying 276 passengers [...]

The Washington Post (WP) reported Wednesday that following Apple’s October alert about alleged government hacking attempts on iPhones of independent Indian journalists and opposition politicians, Indian government officials swiftly retaliated against Apple. It is reported that officials of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the ruling party, hurried to contain the fallout after journalists and politicians [...]

The Indian government issued an advisory to all social media platforms operating within the country on Tuesday in response to escalating concerns around the detrimental impact of deepfakes. The primary objective of the advisory is to ensure strict adherence to the existing Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and to [...]

A federal judge in Alabama declined on Tuesday to stay a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCCPA). US District Judge Liles Burke rejected a request from the US government to stay the case while appeals courts determine the appropriate standard of review for state bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, [...]

The Indian army initiated an investigation on Monday into the deaths of three civilians in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The individuals—Mohammad Ishaq, Zahid Iqbal and Shakir Ahmed—were reportedly in army custody following a militant attack on December 21 that claimed the lives of four soldiers. The incident has stirred outrage and protests [...]