Search Results for: free speech

The United Nations Human Rights Council, on Friday, passed a resolution demanding accountability for violations and abuses by the Assad regime through transitional justice and declaring their support for ‘the commitments of the interim authorities’ in their efforts to form a transitional government and ensure free elections in the future. Al-Shaibani, foreign minister of the [...]

Massachusetts state and local elected officials, including Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, joined Tufts University on Thursday in calls for the immediate release of doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk. The university maintains that Ozturk did not violate any Tufts’ policy, while Massachusetts officials have accused the federal government of violating Ozturk’s free speech and due process rights. [...]

US law firm Perkins Coie asked a federal court on Wednesday to permanently block President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing an executive order imposing sanctions against the firm. Perkins Coie said that the order “retaliates and discriminates” against the law firm in violation of the rights to free speech, association, and petition under the First Amendment [...]

On Monday, Amnesty International urged Central Asian and EU nations to focus on actively protecting human rights and civil society space during the upcoming EU-Central Asia Summit. The summit will be held on April 3 and 4, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: If Central Asian governments [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday called for the release of imprisoned Uyghur activist Valijon Kalonov, who has been forcibly detained in a Uzbekistan psychiatric hospital since 2021. Kalonov was initially detained on charges of using social media in a way that threatens public safety, and publicly insulting the president of Uzbekistan. During his trial, [...]

Amnesty International on Monday condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order that significantly reduced funding for US-backed media outlets, including Radio Free Asia (RFA). The organization said that the reduced funding effectively amounted to a closure and the surrender of “a tried-and-tested tool of soft US power.” The statement highlighted RFA’s instrumental role in providing a [...]

A US federal court partially granted Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and injunctive relief on Friday, blocking §§ 3 and 5 of President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Addressing Risks from WilmerHale.” The executive order in question criticized the firm’s employment of former Special Counsel Robert [...]

There’s much talk these days about democracy being under threat at home and around the world. Most of this discussion tends to be focused on efforts by autocrats and their supporters to erode the rule of law and the right to vote; their adoption of policies that discriminate against minorities and women; and their use [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) condemned the sentencing of Moroccan political activist and human rights defender Fouad Abdelmoumni to six months in prison for his social media posts criticizing the government. The rights organizations urged the authorities to overturn the conviction and cease restrictive actions targeting journalists and [...]

The deans of 79 US law schools issued a joint letter on Wednesday condemning US President Donald Trump’s efforts to sanction law firms and lawyers, warning that such actions violate the US Constitution. The deans, who signed the letter in their personal capacity, stated: We write to reaffirm basic principles: The government should not punish lawyers [...]