Civil Rights
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CNN: Trump appointee grilled in court about shuttering Homeland Security offices tasked with civil rights oversight
Tags Share A federal judge said that she had concerns about being “hoodwinked” by plans put forward in her courtroom Monday by a Trump appointee to rebuild three offices focused on civil rights oversight within the Department of Homeland Security that were eviscerated with mass layoffs set to take effect this week. US District Judge…
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CNN: Trump appointee grilled in court about shuttering Homeland Security offices tasked with civil rights oversight
Tags Share A federal judge expressed concern Monday about being “hoodwinked” by plans to rebuild three civil rights oversight offices within the Department of Homeland Security, which are facing mass layoffs. While Judge Ana Reyes said she found testimony from USCIS Ombudsman Ronald Sartini credible and believed he was acting in good faith, she emphasized…
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The Denver Post: Jeanette Vizguerra — held by ICE in Aurora — named a winner of Robert F. Kennedy human rights award
Tags Share The Denver Post reports that Jeanette Vizguerra, a longtime Colorado immigration advocate currently held in ICE detention, has been named one of three recipients of the 42nd annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. Honored alongside Maine Gov. Janet Mills and former DOJ pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer, Vizguerra was recognized for her grassroots…
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Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Announces Maine Governor Janet Mills, Elizabeth Oyer, and Jeanette Vizguerra as 2025 Human Rights Award Laureates
Tags Share Washington, D.C., May 15, 2025 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights today announced Maine Governor Janet Mills, former DOJ Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, and immigration reform activist Jeanette Vizguerra as the recipients of its 42nd annual Human Rights Award. A ceremony honoring Mills, Oyer, and Vizguerra will be held on June 5 in…
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#TunisiaExit – Unpacking Tunisia’s Restriction on Citizens’ Access to the African Court
Tags Share In early March, Tunisia officially revoked its citizens’ abilities to file cases against the government in Africa’s human rights court. On March 7, 2025, Tunisia notified the African Union (AU) of its decision to withdraw the Article 34(6) declaration that allows individuals and non-governmental organizations to file cases against it before the African Court…
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Monroe v. United States: Dismantling barriers to accountability for police brutality
This case seeks to protect the human right to a remedy and reparation for survivors and victims of U.S. police brutality. It asks the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to instruct the United States to reform civil laws to ensure access to civil remedies for people subjected to police brutality.
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Austin American-Statesman: Political leaders use DEI as a smokescreen to roll back human and civil rights
Tags Share In a compelling op-ed, Fanta NGom, Director of Business and Human Rights at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, denounces recent federal budget cuts to school mental health services and rural infrastructure—moves justified by attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as “woke ideology.” NGom argues that this rhetoric is a smokescreen for a broader…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share U.S. Press Freedom Falls to Historical Low Press freedom in the United States has hit a record low, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index published annually by Reporters Without Borders. Press freedom in the U.S. now falls in line with developing countries, such as Gambia, Uruguay and Sierra Leone. While physical threats against journalists…
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Groups Ask Judge to Immediately Restore Civil Rights and Ombudsman Offices at Department of Homeland Security
Tags Share WASHINGTON, D.C. — Human rights and immigration advocate groups late yesterday asked a judge to issue a preliminary injunction to resume operations of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Office, and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, asking the court…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share International Tribunal Condemns U.S. Border Officials for Torturing, Killing Immigrant Nearly 15 years after Anastasio Hernández Rojas’ wife began pushing for justice in her husband’s killing, an international human rights commission found that U.S. border officials were responsible for his death — and that they tortured him before he died. This is the first time that…
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US used lethal force to suppress climate change activism: report to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
Receiving Body United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Report Type Submission for the report of the Special Rapporteur, to be presented to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly Tags Partners
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Associated Press: Civil rights groups sue to restore jobs at Homeland Security oversight offices that were gutted
Tags Share Three advocacy groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, seeking to restore staff jobs at three gutted offices that oversee civil rights protections across the department’s broad mission. The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization, the Southern Border Communities Coalition, and the Urban Justice Center. On March…
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