Residents from Australia’s Torres Strait Islands plan to file a human rights complaint against the Australia government for failing to address the impacts of climate change. The residents will be represented by a UK environmental non-profit organization, ClientEarth who issued a press release Sunday detailing the complaint to be lodged with the UN Human Rights [...]
The UN passed a watered-down version of a resolution meant to combat rape and sexual violence in conflict zones Tuesday. After threatening to veto the resolution, the US placed pressure to have 2013 resolution language removed, including “reproductive health” services for survivors. Germany first sent a letter to the UN Secretary General detailing the impacts of [...]
The California State Senate passed SB 188 on a 37-0 vote to end discrimination based on hair texture and styles in schools and the workplace. Democratic Senator Holly Mitchell introduced the bill to include in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act a definition of race that includes different hair textures and styles such as [...]
US President Donald Trump and his business organizations filed a lawsuit Monday to block a congressional subpoena request issued by House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. Representative Cummings issued a memo that prepared a subpoena for Mazars, USA, Trump’s accounting firm. After Michael Cohen’s testimony, the House Oversight Committee was interested in any potential alterations [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed concern Thursday after a Bahrain court convicted 139 individuals of terrorism in a mass trial on Tuesday. The individuals were convicted of terrorism and extremism related to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. All but one of those convicted were stripped of their nationality. The commissioner is concerned [...]
Texas House lawmakers approved the Texas Born-Alive Protection Act Wednesday, which would require doctors to treat babies born alive after an abortion attempt. A similar version of the bill was approved by the Senate last week. The version passed by the House included a third-degree felony and $100,000 fine for any doctor who fails to [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a class action suit against magistrates, a chief judge and the county sheriff who preside over arraignments in Detroit, alleging that their broken bail system discriminates against the poor who cannot afford to pay the amounts. With the high rates of poverty impacting Detroit, the ACLU alleges [...]
Switzerland’s Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the outcome of a nationwide referendum on the grounds that voters were given insufficient information. The 2016 referendum concerned married couples being unfairly taxed for their joint incomes compared to cohabiting partners who are taxed separately. Through a narrow margin, the referendum to equally tax cohabiting partners was rejected [...]
The White House released a statement Monday designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is the first time the US has formally labeled another country’s military as a terrorist organization. The briefing statement indicates that IRGC “actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism [...]
US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will resign from her position. In a tweet sent out over the weekend, the president announced that Nielsen will resign from her role and will be temporarily replaced by US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. Nielsen has led the department [...]
