Staff Article
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Political Space Continues to Shrink a Year After Elections in Ethiopia
Tags Share In the lead up to the 2015 parliamentary elections in the Federal Democratic of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government used violence, intimidation, and repressive legislation, to brutally restrict democratic and political space. Such actions allowed the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) to claim all of the 547 in Parliament, despite international concerns…
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Chicago Releases Hundreds of Videos of Alleged Police Brutality
Tags Share On June 3, Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority, a civilian-staffed department tasked with investigating police misconduct, released more than 300 videos from 101 different cases of alleged police brutality which are still undergoing investigation. Prior to now, Chicago’s policy had been to not release such videos until after investigations were completed. The Chicago…
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Monitoring LGBTQ+ Rights in India and Bangladesh
Tags Share Developments regarding LGBT rights in India and Bangladesh appear to be taking divergent paths within the two neighboring countries. In India, there has been a recent move toward a potentially more open society of social inclusion and increased civil liberties. Particularly, within the last decade there have been calls for the government to…
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The Justice System Failed Rekia Boyd and Her Family
Rekia’s killing was an avoidable tragedy. The failure to secure accountability in the criminal justice system was avoidable, too. We must work to ensure that these failures aren’t repeated again.
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New Speak Truth to Power Lesson on Erin Merryn
In addition to passing Erin’s Law, the U.S. can be a leader in ending sexual assault by bringing RFK Human Rights’ Speak Truth To Power human rights curriculum to its schools.
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Kerry Kennedy Testifies Before Lantos Commission on Western Sahara
In her testimony, Kerry Kennedy called out the international community, including the United States government, for consistently failing to respond to the human rights abuses in Western Sahara.
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Proposed Bills Risk Accelerating Militarization of U.S. Police Departments
The increased militarization of local law enforcement agencies is at odds with international principles on policing.
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Historic Verdict in Jean-Pierre Bemba Trial
This is the first case to heavily focus on crimes of sexual violence as a weapon of war and a tool to terrorize a civilian population.
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Influential Indian Organization Appears to Shift Its Stance on Homosexuality
Tags Share LGBT activists in India have long called for the repeal of the country’s colonial-era law banning homosexuality, known in India as Section 377 of the criminal code. In 2009, the Delhi High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over the national capital territory of Delhi, overturned the law, finding it unconstitutional. The victory was short-lived:…
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Egypt Doubles Down on State-Sponsored Crackdown of Peaceful Activists
Tags Share (February 17, 2016 | Washington, D.C.) In a troubling development, more than two years after his arbitrary arrest on January 25, 2014, Egypt’s East Cairo Prosecution has referred 20 year old Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Hussein’s case to the Supreme State Security Prosecution for further investigation. “The government’s sudden decision that a different branch…
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Suspected Mass Graves Uncovered in Burundi in the Wake of Post-Election Violence
Restricting civic space in Burundi creates a domino effect, allowing renegade leaders to avoid accountability and continue violating rights essential to the maintenance of a free and democratic society.
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Egypt’s Crackdown on Freedom of Speech Takes Dangerous Turn
Tags Share The crackdown on freedom of speech and expression continues in Egypt. This last weekend an Egyptian-German academic was denied entry and a social and political cartoonist was arrested and detained for 24 hours. Upon arrival to the Cairo Airport on January 29, Egyptian-German academic Dr. Atef Botros was detained by airport authorities and…
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