The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Wednesday the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Wikimedia Foundation against the National Security Agency (NSA) for intercepting and searching international internet communications. The NSA uses Upstream, a surveillance program authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. NSA’s use of the program was illegally leaked [...]

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday approved a formal investigation into crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Human rights experts called on the UN in 2019 to launch an independent investigation into human rights violations [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held Wednesday that workers in California will not be forced into arbitration as a condition of employment. In 2019, California passed Assembly Bill 51 (AB51), to limit workplace arbitration agreements. It prohibits employers from requiring employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. Violations [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday that it would not tolerate violence against those who are trying to obtain or to provide reproductive health services, after a Texas law banning abortions as early as six weeks into the pregnancy took effect on September 1.  Senate Bill 8 (SB8), signed by Governor Greg Abbott in May, will [...]

El Salvador’s Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ruled Friday that the country’s president can serve two consecutive terms.  The ruling was made by judges who were appointed by lawmakers in May from incumbent President Nayib Bukele’s party. The previous justices had been removed by El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly. UN High Commissioner for [...]

London-based human rights lawyers, representing victims of Yemen’s civil war, called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) Monday to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the civil war. Attorney and co-founder of Guernica 37, Toby Cadman, submitted evidence Monday of three alleged war crimes where over 140 individuals, including children, were killed [...]

The US Department of Education announced Monday that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had launched investigations in five states to determine whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking are discriminatory against students with disabilities.  The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to mixed state responses to indoor masking and vaccination requirements. Some states such as [...]

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Monday that it was imposing new sanctions over Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict. There has been ongoing concern for human rights abuses throughout the Tigray conflict. In April, the G7 countries called for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses in the region. The [...]

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled unanimously Saturday that a temporary injunction blocking new laws limiting Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s emergency powers was improper, and it remanded the case with instructions to dissolve the injunction. Beshear declared a state of emergency on March 6, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following legal challenges brought by [...]

The UN Security Council on Monday called for an immediate end to violence and for the restoration of order in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the country, expressing concerns about reported serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses. The Taliban took control over Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Sunday. President [...]