Guatemala’s Constitutional Court on Sunday ordered that Iván Velásquez, the head of the UN’s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) , be allowed back into the country. Velásquez had been banned from entering the country because of a “recommendation of the National Security Council, which accused the CICIG’s head of attacking Guatemala’s governability, public [...]
The Federal Court of Justice (Der Bundesgerichtshof) delayed a ruling Thursday in a case concerning potential copyright infringement by streaming platform, YouTube, for uploads by third parties to receive input on the issue from the Court of Justice of the European Union . The plaintiff in the case is a music producer that has a contract with [...]
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that the UK’s bulk interception program violated Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the article pertaining to the respect of private life. The court held that the bulk interception program violated Article 8: as there was insufficient oversight both of the selection of Internet [...]
Lise Grande , head UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said Thursday that the “situation has deteriorated dramatically in the past few days,” and “hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance,” in the port city of Hodeida. Hodeida is Yemen’s principal port on the Red Sea and the chief entry point for food imports. [...]
Lawmakers in Chile on Wednesday passed a gender identity law that allows transgender people over 14 to legally change their name and sex markers on official documents. The law passed in a 95-46 vote after five years of discussion. As a result, transgender people in Chile who are over the age of 14 can change [...]
The EU Parliament approved a controversial new copyright directive on Wednesday that could force sites like Google and Facebook to install filters to prevent copyrighted material from being uploaded. The final vote was 438 in favor and 226 against. The main controversy stems from Articles 11 and 13. Article 11 has allowed authors to have their [...]
EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday in favor of initiating measures against the Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban for allegedly breaching the values upon which the EU was founded. The measure allows Article 7 sanctions, under the Treaty of Lisbon , to be brought against Hungary, which could result in the country’s expulsion from the EU. The resolution was passed by [...]
The annual report of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the UN Human Rights Council listed 38 countries, including China and Russia, that have carried out harsh reprisals and intimidation tactics against individuals who cooperated with the UN on human rights issues. Contained in the report are details of cases that include allegations of “killing, torture [...]
An attempt by Malaysia’s lower house of parliament to repeal a law against “fake news” was blocked by an opposition-run Senate vote on Wednesday. The vote from the upper house is the first major challenge against Malaysia’s newly re-elected Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. Mohamad, who was elected earlier this year, conducted large changes to the [...]
UN investigators released a report on Wednesday detailing the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces during an ongoing civil war, which has contributed to the displacement of more than one million civilians in six months. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic documented multiple war crimes by the Syrian government, [...]
