The Honduras Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended the murder trial of eight men accused of killing Honduran environmental rights activist Berta Cáceres. Cáceres was killed inside her home in 2016. There is believed to have been collusion between state security forces and Desarrollos Energeticos SA, the company in charge of a hydroelectric project that [...]

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh  announced  Monday that Maryland intends to appeal the decision  of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  to deny Maryland’s petition for relief for emissions from out-of-state plants contributing to ozone problems in Maryland. Maryland filed a petition in December 2016 asking for injunctive relief under Section 126 of the Clean Air [...]

UN experts on Monday accused  Kyrgyzstan of continuous human rights violations for failing to assist victims of abduction, rape and forced marriage. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women  conducted a confidential inquiry into “bride kidnapping” after receiving allegations from 14 organizations alleging the Kyrgyzstan has failed to prosecute perpetrators of “bride [...]

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Monday urged the South Sudan government to create a hybrid for adjudicating war crimes. Earlier in September the South Sudan government signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan recognizing the need for reform. In support of [...]

Ireland enacted  the 36th Amendment of the Constitution  on Tuesday, repealing the country’s ban on abortions follwoing a May referendum. Specifically, the amendment states that “rovision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.” This repeals the 8th Amendment of the Constitution , which states that “he State acknowledges the right to [...]

Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, on Monday dismissed a lawsuit challenging Texas’ voter ID law, in light of the Fifth Circuit Court’s April decision  upholding the law as constitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced  the victory for Senate Bill 5 , saying the law will [...]

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced on Tuesday that she will be opening a full preliminary investigation  into alleged crimes against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and their deportation to Bangladesh. Bensouda has already completed an initial preliminary examination, in which she has determined that the ICC has jurisdiction over the issue. Myanmar [...]

Illinois’ Fourth District Appellate Court upheld  a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging an Illinois law  that allocates funding for abortions for government employees and individuals on Medicaid. Several pro-life organizations filed the lawsuit  in 2017, saying the law, House Bill 40, violated the Balanced Budget requirement of the Illinois Constitution because the General Assembly [...]

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) on Monday approved a referendum scheduled for October 7 that will redefine the term “family” in the Romanian constitution, a move commentators argue may make same-sex legalization more difficult in the country. The referendum seeks to redefine the term “family” in Article 48 of the Romanian Constitution , which currently [...]

UN investigators on Tuesday renewed their call for charges against Myanmar military officials who allegedly committed genocide against the nation’s minority Rohingya population in the past year. The UN Office of Human Rights published an exhaustive list of atrocities and called “for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and [...]