Human rights groups Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) Thursday released a report showing a dramatic increase in the total number of executions in Iran for 2022. The report claims that 582 people were executed in Iran—the highest number of executions since 2015. The report highlights how the number of [...]
Search Results for: juveniles
Human Rights Watch criticizes Texas immigration enforcement bills over vigilantism concerns
Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week criticized two immigration enforcement bills before the Texas state legislature that would expand the state’s ability to enforce immigration laws, a matter usually left to the US federal government. HRW stated that the bills would authorize Texas to deputize “state-sponsored vigilantes” and that they “are dangerous and extreme” due [...]
Australia government approves youth crime bill despite opposition from right groups
The government of Queensland, Australia Thursday passed a series of youth-focused crime laws, contained in the Strengthening Community Safety Bill 2023, despite three days of debate on the matter and strong opposition by human rights advocates. The bill—which will be applicable to youths aged 10 to 17 years of age—includes a myriad of new offenses [...]
Raising Australia's Age of Criminal Responsibility from 10 to 14 Would Address Human Rights Concerns
It’s become increasingly clear that Australia could be in breach of its human rights commitments as reports of mistreatment continue to emerge from youth detention centers in Western Australia. On January 12, a class action involving more than 500 young children and adults who have been held in Western Australia’s Banksia Hill detention center was [...]
Australia court releases details on youth detention centre abuse
An Australian federal court Thursday published documents detailing the abuse of youth offenders in a Western Australia juvenile detention centre. Court documents filed in the Walters v State of Western Australia case detail substantial allegations of abuse and human rights violations against children held at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre. In an affidavit delivered in [...]
Australia state to introduce 'tougher penalties' for juvenile offenders
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Thursday ten new measures aimed at reducing youth crime that would be introduced in 2023. Several of these measures relate to motor vehicle offences, while funding will be provided to “fast-track sentencing programs” in an effort to ensure youth offenders are in custody for a longer period of time to [...]
Germany court convicts former Nazi concentration camp secretary
A court in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein Tuesday convicted Irmgard Furchner, 97, for aiding and abetting murder while working as a secretary at the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp. Furchner worked at Stutthof between June 1, 1943, and April 1, 1945. While she was employeed, authorities committed “cruel, systematic acts of killing” through gassings, hostile [...]
Jamaica prime minister declares state of emergency, citing gang violence
Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness Tuesday enacted a state of emergency to combat rising violence in two separate orders. The first order targets the densely-populated capital district parishes of Clarendon and St. Catherine and portions of Kingston and St. Andrews. The second order covers the parishes of St. James, Westmoreland and Hanover. The two [...]
Indian Court grants bail to student-accused in relation to the Prayagraj Violence
India’s Allahabad High Court Monday released its last-week order, granting bail to a student-accused named Mohamad Sajid who was arrested in June for his alleged participation in the Prayagraj Violence in Uttar Pradesh. On June 10, after Friday namaz (prayer), a group of young people assembled in large numbers to protest against the controversial statements [...]
Former Pennsylvania judges ordered to pay $200M to victims of juvenile detention scandal
A federal judge Wednesday ordered former Pennsylvania judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan to pay more than $200 million in damages to victims in the 2010 “kids for cash” juvenile detention scandal. US District Judge Christopher Conner told Ciavarella and Conahan to pay more than $106 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive [...]