The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Friday ruled against the city of Flint and several Michigan state officials for violation of its residents’ rights to bodily integrity as guaranteed by the Substantive Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found that defendants’ decisions during the Flint Water Crises caused [...]

The Thailand National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Tuesday passed amendments to the bill permitting the production, import, export, possession and use of cannabis and kratom for medical purposes. The bill allows the use of certain amounts of cannabis and kratom necessary for treatment of illness with prescriptions or certificates from medical professionals, and possession is subject [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in a case on the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause, prompting a dissent from Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor. Under the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause, “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The two justices [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on the government of Bangladesh on Tuesday to halt plans to repatriate more than 2,200 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, warning that their lives would be at “serious risk” and that the returns would violate international law. “Forcibly expelling or returning refugees and asylum seekers to their [...]

Experts of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Thursday said that a Spanish Supreme Court case set milestone in international human rights law. In its decision, the Spanish Supreme Court found for a victim of domestic violence, enforced compliance with the committee’s recommendations and recognized the violation of the [...]

Ten District of Columbia residents on Monday flied a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking full voting rights in both chambers of Congress. The plaintiffs claim that the denial of their voting rights violates the constitutional guarantees of equal protection, due process, and the constitutional right of association. The [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that North Korean officials committing sexual violence against women is so common that it has come to be accepted as part of ordinary life. “Sexual violence in North Korea is an open, unaddressed, and widely tolerated secret,” said Kenneth Roth, HRW’s executive director. “North Korean women would probably say [...]

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, said Thursday that trans and gender-diverse people around the world are overwhelmingly and disproportionately the victims of violence to levels that “offend the human conscience.” “Despite the United Nations treaty bodies’ affirmation of sexual orientation and gender [...]

A UN rights expert said Tuesday that Sierra Leone’s decision to de-facto remove all three members of its Human Rights Commission was an attack on the rule of law and must be reversed. In April 2017 three human rights commissioners were appointed to the commission for a five-year term. However, in June 2018, the President [...]