A group of NGOs including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International Friday released a joint statement criticizing the Iraqi government’s decision to require applicants for reparations under the Yazidi Survivors Law to file a criminal complaint. The law was passed in March 2021 to provide reparations and welfare support to female survivors of ISIS [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Friday stated that Indonesian authorities should not pursue criminal defamation charges against Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who are significant human rights defenders in Jakarta. The charges were brought against them based on a 2021 police report filed by Luhur Binsar Pandjaitan, a minister in the president’s cabinet. The report accuses [...]

Lithuania’s Minister of Justice Ewelina Dobrowolska on Thursday announced that the Lithuanian government will be filing a complaint against Belarus for “non-compliance” with international law regarding exploitative migration. The compensatory amount of 120 million euros is to cover the violation of international law, the damage the migration has caused and legal remedies. Belarus has had several sanctions [...]

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) Thursday published a report detailing that it had noticed “unlawful pushback practices and ill-treatment of foreign nationals” throughout 2022. These findings come after various monitoring visits to the land and sea borders of the Council of Europe [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Friday upheld a decision by a lower court over attorney fees in the Flint water crisis $600 million partial settlement. The lower court previously approved the settlement and awarded attorney fees to the attorneys representing the class action participants. Although the settlement was “record-breaking” at $600 million, many Flint [...]

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon Friday signed a bill which bans abortion pills in Wyoming and allowed a separate measure with further abortion restrictions to be passed without his signature. The abortion pills (misoprostol and mifepristone) are already fully banned in 13 states, and 15 states have restricted access and production of abortion pills. The bill makes [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Friday ruled that Proposition 22 (Prop 22), which requires platforms like Uber, Postmates and Lyft to provide evidence to classify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees, must face claims of unconstitutionality. The court reversed and remanded in part the US District Court for the [...]

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Thursday signed Senate Bill No. 4, which incorporates LGBTQ rights into Michigan’s civil rights law. This bill broadens the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), which was passed in 1976 and drafted by Mel Larsen (Republican) and Daisy Elliot (Democrat). The act originally prohibited discriminatory practices or policies against individuals based on [...]

The Indian government Sunday asserted in a filing to the Indian Supreme Court that it opposes recognising same-sex marriages and pushed the court to disregard pushback from LGBTQ couples on the current legislation. Parts of the filing were leaked but the full filing was not made available to the public. However, in the filing, the government [...]

The Iranian judiciary Sunday confirmed that the Supreme Court served the death sentence for Habib Farajollah Chaab, an Iranian-Swedish dissident on charges of conspiracy and terrorism. According to the Iranian authorities, Chaab had participated in and encouraged terrorist activity in Iran. The court specified the 2017 attack on a military parade where 25 people died and [...]