Twenty-six countries on Thursday expressed their support for a legal initiative to hold the Taliban accountable at the International Court of Justice for systematic human rights violations against women and girls in Afghanistan. In a joint statement, the countries condemned Taliban policies that have severely curtailed the rights of Afghan women and girls since the [...]

Japan’s Shizuoka District Court aquitted 88-year-old Iwao Hakamata on Thursday in a retrial, overturning his conviction after spending 48 years on death row. Presiding judge Kunii Koshi held that evidence against Hakamata had been manipulated by the investigative authorities at the time. In 1966, Hakamada was convicted of murdering four individuals—a senior manager at his [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday published their findings of abuse by the police department of Lexington, Mississippi. Lexington is a small rural town with a population of around 1,600. The town is located in one of the poorest counties in the country, with a median household income of approximately $39,000–roughly half the [...]

Disability rights groups launched a Charter challenge Wednesday against Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) provisions, seeking a court declaration that portions of the Canada Criminal Code are unconstitutional, and thus of no force and effect. The legal challenge is grounded under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 15 [...]

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights raised alarm Friday over the escalating gang violence and deteriorating human rights situation in Haiti, urging all national stakeholders and government authorities to take immediate action. An interim report presented at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council details a marked increase in gang-related violence in 2024, [...]

The Jewish Community of Oporto on Thursday announced that the granddaughter of a Jewish Portuguese army officer has filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The complaint alleges that Portugal violated the European Convention on Human Rights after it wrongfully dismissed her grandfather from the army and failed to reinstate his [...]

The UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Sudan on Thursday expressed concern over the rise in conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. According to the team, reports from Khartoum and Al Jazira showed that an increasing number of girls and women are abducted and subjected to rape, sexual capacity, and forced marriage. The HCT stated that [...]

Amnesty International called on Cameroonian authorities Thursday to immediately release three supporters of a youth organization — Moustapha Tizi, Mohamadou Ballo, and Ibrahim Oumarou — and their relatives. Tizi, Ballo, and Oumarou were allegedly arrested on September 9 in Figuil, Cameroon,, for wearing shirts with the name of the organization they supported,  Pouvoir au Peuple [...]

A new study published Thursday in scientific journal Nature Human Behavior connects anti-transgender legislation nationwide to “statistically significant” increases in suicide attempts by transgender youths in years subsequent to enactment. The study collected survey data between 2018 to 2022 and found that suicide attempts for transgender and non-binary (TGNB) youths increased by seven to 72 [...]

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published on Thursday stated that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, overlooked the European Union’s founding principles and guidelines on human rights in the mission letters she wrote to the European commissioners for the new mandate of 2024 to 2029. The report found that von [...]