Rights group demands urgent action amid escalating violence in Catatumbo region of Colombia
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday condemned the escalating violence in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, near the border with Venezuela, where armed groups have committed severe human rights abuses and displaced tens of thousands of residents. The organization called for immediate measures to protect civilians and ensure accountability for the atrocities committed by these groups, including [...]
HRW: Germany's social security system violates women's rights
HRW reported Monday that Germany’s social security system inadequately protects women from poverty, breaching the state’s constitutional obligation to ensure that taxpayers can afford to pay for “necessary living expenses.” According to HRW, women in Germany are overrepresented among the population that is at risk of poverty. Women make up two-thirds of low-wage workers and [...]
UNICEF urges Taliban to lift ban on girls’ education as new school year begins
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Saturday called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education, warning that the restriction threatens the future of millions of Afghan girls who have been deprived of their right to learn since the Taliban regained power in August 2021. In a statement [...]
JURIST Senior Editor for Long Form Content Pitasanna Shanmugathas interviews Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, chief editor of LeftWord Books, and author of forty books including Washington Bullets, Red Star Over the Third World and The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World. In this interview, Prashad delves [...]
America’s Immigration History is One of Exclusion—An Interview with Professor Aviva Chomsky
JURIST Senior Editor for Long Form Content Pitasanna Shanmugathas interviews Aviva Chomsky, a historian, author, and activist whose work challenges dominant narratives about immigration, labor, and colonialism. Chomsky, a professor of history and the coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State University, has spent over 30 years engaged in Latin American solidarity and immigrant [...]
Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got Till it’s gone — Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi (1970) Decades of my professional life have been devoted to the topic of expertise and experts — their qualifications, basis of knowledge, standards by which we evaluate them in court, and their proper [...]
US foreign aid freeze impedes UN operation to protect Ukraine women and girls
The United Nations reported on Monday that approximately 640,000 women and girls in Ukraine will face disruptions to essential services following the United States’ decision to cease nearly all financial contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). These cuts will directly impact psycho-social support, gender-based violence services, safe spaces, and economic empowerment programs crucial [...]
UN rights chief calls for arms embargo addressing Myanmar humanitarian crisis
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday urged the international community to implement an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Myanmar. Türk delivered his statement at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, describing the rights situation in Myanmar as one of the worst in the world with a “litany [...]
South Sudan leaders allowing human rights crisis to worsen: UN report
South Sudan’s political leaders are failing their people by enabling impunity, corruption, and systemic human rights violations, warns the latest report from the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Friday. The report highlights persistent patterns of violence, repression, and economic mismanagement, underscoring the urgent need for meaningful reform to prevent further deterioration [...]
UN expert expresses concern over worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan
A UN expert on Thursday expressed concern over the escalating human rights crisis in Afghanistan, asserting that the Taliban is increasingly governing Afghan society through repression and fear. UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan Richard Bennett stated: As time goes on, more girls are being denied their right to education beyond [...]
