Human Rights

A majority of the NYC Council now supports legislation that would restore the rights of all documented residents to vote in municipal elections. With 28 co-sponsors, the bill is just six signatures shy of a veto-proof majority in the City…

In Hong Kong at the end of March, 2013,the Court of Final Appeal dismissed an appeal by Filipino domestic workers seeking permanent residency in the city. It also denied the HKSAR government’s request for referring the right of abode issue…

The United Nations human rights chief today urged all branches of the United States Government to work together to close the Guantánamo detention centre, stressing that the indefinite incarceration of detainees is a clear breach of international law. “I am…

Two United Nations independent experts today urged the Hungarian Government to retract a recently passed amendment that criminalizes homelessness, stressing this will result in discrimination against those without shelter. “Through this amendment, the Hungarian Parliament institutionalizes the criminalization of homelessness and enshrines…

Tunisia, cradle of the revolts in the Arab world, hosts from today [26 March] and until Saturday the World Social Forum (WSF), the most important international meeting of social movements and organizations.  And this is not by chance. The promoters…

The Algerian authorities have prevented a delegation of 96 trade unionists and civil society activists from crossing the border into Tunisia to attend the World Social Forum this week, violating their right to freedom of movement, Amnesty International said today.…

Tuesday 26th March, dozens of women protested outside Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s Ramallah office demanding the adaptation for laws that would protect them against violence and crime. Woman’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) member, Lubna Ashqar, told Palestinian official news agency WAFA that…

The United Nations today honoured the memory of an estimated 15 million innocent victims who suffered over four centuries as a result of the transatlantic slave trade, while highlighting the plight of millions more who still endure the brutality of…

A new law passed by the Indian Parliament aimed at addressing sexual violence, while positive in some respects, has several deficiencies and also violates India’s international law obligations, Amnesty International said. The upper house of the Indian Parliament passed the…

The trial of Guatemala’s ex-president General Efraín Ríos Montt and his former head of military intelligence Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez -due to start on Tuesday 19 March – marks a long-awaited opportunity for justice for the victims of crimes against humanity…