The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit  reinstated the ban  on the pesticide chlorpyrifos on Thursday, overturning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  order  that allowed continued use of the pesticide. Environmental and farm-worker advocacy groups took charge in the petition for review by the court of the EPA order, citing studies  showing links to [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW)  expressed concern Monday for Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh amidst reports of the government’s potential plan to move the refugees to an island. A second statement  from HRW Monday called for Bangladesh to move refugees to safer ground and relocate refugees to areas where they can have more [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights  reported Monday that Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman has contacted Iran seeking to work with the government to fulfill the mandate in Human Rights Council resolution 37/30  to address human rights issues in the country. Resolution 37/30 renews the Special Rapporteur’s obligation to report on the human [...]

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, announced  Thursday that it was referring Hungary to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for violations of EU treaties regarding protections for asylum seekers. The European Commission had been threatening  Hungary since 2015, saying that their asylum laws were not compatible with EU law. After Hungary passed amendments [...]

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)  announced  Wednesday that it intends to fine Facebook  a maximum £500,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act of 1998 . The announcement follows an investigation  into whether campaigns on both sides of the EU membership issue inappropriately used personal data. Facebook with Cambridge Analytica , among other organizations, have been the focus of [...]

According to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) form  first obtained by NBC News   Tuesday, detained immigrant parents, even those with pending asylum claims, must choose between returning to their country with or without their children. The form is to be read to the parents in a language that they know and has them sign for either [...]

Amnesty International (AI) called  Monday for the Egyptian parliament to vote down proposed laws  that would increase the government’s control over online content. Najia Bounaim , Director of Campaigns in North Africa, said, These proposed laws would increase the Egyptian government’s already broad powers to monitor, censor and block social media and blogs, as well as criminalize [...]

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday affirmed a decision to freeze assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s cousin, Rami Makhlouf. The ECJ referred to Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1836 of 12 October 2015 that amended Decision 2013/255/CFSP discussing restrictive measures against Syria. Relying heavily on Article 27 and 28, a travel ban and asset [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced the “Place to Worship Initiative” to assist in religious organizations’ ability to build, rent and maintain places of worship. The initiative seeks to educate communities on the provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by providing community outreach, education of civic and [...]

Amnesty International called on the Iranian government Wednesday to release prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, whom the government had arrested on unknown charges. Recently, Sotoudeh had advocated against Article 48 of Iran’s 2015 Code of Criminal Procedure . A note to Article 48 requires that individuals charged in serious criminal cases and in cases [...]