Portugal’s Parliament rejected on Wednesday a bid proposed by the far-right party Chega to charge the country’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with treason over his support for reparation to former Portuguese colonies for slavery and mistreatment during colonization. The controversy dates back to April 2023 when President Marcelo de Sousa publically declared that Portugal has [...]
Search Results for: slavery
UK's Modern Slavery Response Criticized for Transparency Deficit
To many, the idea of slavery evokes images of shameful policies from centuries past. But today, slavery continues to stain the moral fabric of our global society, emboldened by poor understanding and misinformation. Despite burgeoning political, media, and academic attention, an astonishing transparency deficit persists in the UK, particularly when it comes to the government’s [...]
UN experts warn that violations of women and girls' rights in Haiti continue with impunity
UN independent human rights experts warned Monday that violations of women and girls’ rights in Haiti are “continuing with impunity.” They said in a statement that increasing levels of violence, along with corruption and poor governance, are undermining the rule of law in Haiti, resulting in a weakening of the justice system. According to the [...]
Shamima Begum, a young woman who left the UK as a schoolgirl to join ISIS in Syria, has recently lost an appeal to regain her British citizenship. This decision, leaving her effectively stateless and in a Syrian detention camp, has sparked renewed debate. In this interview, JURIST speaks with Professor Ben Saul, a UN expert [...]
UN Human Rights Council calls for aviation fuel embargo against Myanmar
The UN Human Rights Council adopted resolutions Thursday to call on UN member states to refrain from supplying jet fuel to the Myanmar military. The council also extended the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and Myanmar and the independent international fact-finding mission on Iran. All members from [...]
Hundreds of rights groups urge Biden administration to protect Haiti migrants
Nearly 500 rights groups signed a letter on Wednesday urging the Biden administration to protect Haitian migrants from the rampant gang violence and corruption within the island nation. The groups requested a moratorium on deportations to Haiti and the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The Haitian Bridge Alliance wrote the [...]
Recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC or Red Cross) has been accused of facilitating payments to accused terrorists captured and held by Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. The ICRC denies this claim. The ICRC has a blemished record, disturbingly far from its professed humanitarian mandate. A journalistic investigation conducted by ProPublica [...]
UN agency reports forced labor generates US$236B illegal profits per year
The UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) stated in a report on Tuesday that forced labor in the private economy generates annual illegal profits of US$236 billion per year. This has risen by US$64 billion since 2014. Forced labor is a criminal offense and violation of fundamental human rights. It is defined in the Forced Labor [...]
In the Halls of Brazil's Senate: Unpacking the Legacy of the US Constitution
To date, America’s greatest contribution to the world has been its Constitution. The importance of this document far surpasses such other cultural achievements as the Moon landing, the telephone, GPS, rubber vulcanization, and Henry Ford’s mass production lines. It is more important, even, than Gone With the Wind, and the hamburger — even though this [...]
ICC orders Uganda commander to pay $56 million in reparations to war crime victims
The International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered Dominic Ongwen, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), to pay $56 million in reparations Wednesday to several thousand victims of crimes against humanity. Ongwen was charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005 as a commander [...]