A new report [text, PDF] by IGARAPÉ Institute outlines the continuing rise in crime in Latin America and demands urgent solutions.

According to the report released Thursday, crime rates will continue to rise until new innovative preventive programs are implemented.

An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced [Anadolu news] 14 journalists from opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet Daily [media website] to various prison terms over terrorism-related charges.

According to Turkish state news agency Anadolu, the CEO, editor-in-chief and several journalists received sentences between four and eight years “on charges of acting on behalf of a terrorist group without being members.”

“At the first hearing in the case in July 2016, the suspects were indicted for sponsoring the The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) [BBC profile], Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) [CBC profile], and leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) terrorist groups.”

All 14 staff have been released pending appeal, and editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu tweeted [tweet, Turkish] his reaction to the judgment.

UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] on Friday praised [press release] Ethiopia for its willingness to openly discuss human rights challenges after completing his second official visit within the year.

Twenty-one humanitarian organizations issued a joint statement [text, PDF] on Tuesday condemning the Greek government’s decision to reinstate a migrant “containment” policy after it was struck down by the nation’s highest administrative court.

The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the African Union [official websites] agreed on Tuesday to cooperate [communiqué, PDF] on numerous human rights goals in an effort “to explore and develop joint approaches to preventing and addressing human rights abuses and violations.”

The AU and OHCHR plan to “actively involve and coordinate their human rights-related initiatives,” including finalizing and implementing the 10 Year Action Plan on the Human and Peoples Rights Decade in Africa, establishing a human rights compliance mechanism for the AU’s peacekeeping operations, and collaborating to deliver on the promises in the AU’s declaration of 2018 as the Year of Winning the Fight against Corruption [press release].

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) [official website] heard oral arguments [press release] on Monday and Tuesday in former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic’s [JURIST news archive] appeal of his 2016 conviction for crimes committed during the Bosnia conflict.

Karardic, in support of his appeal [materials], argues that prosecutors and judges committed numerous legal and procedural errors [appeal brief, PDF], such as prohibiting him from testifying in his own defense.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments in two matters Tuesday: Abbott v.

A Belgian court on Monday sentenced Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks, to 20 years in prison for attempted murder of three police officers during a 2016 shootout.

After the Paris attacks, Salah had fled to Brussels where he was later captured in a shootout.

The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-4 Tuesday in Jesner v.

The EU and Mexico on Saturday signed a free trade agreement [text].

The agreement reduces tariffs on food and drink while allowing for the EU Geographical Indications [USPTO backgrounder] to be maintained.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind signed an ordinance [text] Saturday that modifies the Indian Penal Code to allow for the death penalty to be imposed on anyone who rapes a child under 12 years of age.