A Manila court convicted Philippines journalist, Maria Ressa, Monday on charges of cyber libel following her publication of an eight–year–old story tying businessman Wilfredo Keng to illicit drug and human trafficking activity. The court sentenced Ressa to a “minimum of six months and one day,” and a “maximum of six years” in prison, imposing fines [...]

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Health Ministry officials to restore previously available COVID–19 data to its national website after the Sustainability Network, Communist Party of Brazil and the Socialism and Freedom Party accused the government of withholding vital infection and death toll data. Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted in his decision that Brazil must [...]

US human rights activist and former political prisoner Mohamed Soltan sued former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem Abdel Aziz el–Beblawi Monday for conspiring with government officials to arrest, torture and assassinate him for his high–profile activism during Egypt’s 2013 Revolution. Soltan filed the complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia under the [...]

Members of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls said Wednesday that certain US states are exploiting the COVID–19 pandemic to restrict abortion rights. The Working Group accused Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee of committing human rights violations by infringing on reproductive rights and endangering women’s health. “We [...]

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered shopping centers and markets to reopen after declaring that COVID–19 is “not a pandemic in Pakistan.” In the order, Chief Justice Galzar Ahmed warned against using all government resources to fight COVID–19 because doing so would be “highly detrimental to the people of Pakistan,” and would render the country [...]

The Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, passed a vital anticorruption banking law on Wednesday preventing former bank owners from reclaiming insolvent and nationalized banks. Bill No. 2571–d –– known as the “anti–Kolomoisky” law –– protects public funds and taxpayers from illegal lending practices. Enacting the law is a major step in securing a $5.5 billion dollar [...]

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council ordered courts on Sunday to release all protesters jailed since anti–government demonstrations erupted last October. The Council cited Article 38 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to protest so long as demonstrations do not involve acts “contrary to the law” or otherwise violate the Constitution. This statement comes days after [...]

Amnesty International on Thursday expressed human rights abuse concerns over emergency COVID–19 responses across Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Amnesty accused governments of broadening and abusing their police powers through emergency–pandemic measures intended to suppress political dissent, freedom of expression, and civil society. Daniel Balson, advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty, referred [...]

Singapore’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld Section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code criminalizing homosexual activity between men. Three gay men challenged the law’s constitutionality following India’s victory in legalizing same–sex intercourse in September 2018. The High Court reasoned that it was bound by the Court of Appeal’s 2014 decision that Section 377A was constitutional and [...]

UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee urged the Myanmar Government Tuesday to embrace human rights and democracy during her last Human Rights Council report in Geneva. In her report Lee called on Myanmar to amend its constitution, change citizenship and land laws, and overturn laws that violate fundamental human rights. “… t is not too late [...]