By Guest Writer Nevin Kamath
Photo Attribution: James LeeFormerIP at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps an underreported tragedy of Russia’s war in Ukraine is the ongoing evaporation of freedoms within Russia itself. I recently moderated the American Bar Association’s (ABA) “Challenges Facing Judges, Lawyers, and other Human Rights Defenders in Russia - Where are we now?” presented to the ABA and the general public by the ABA’s International Law Section, International Human Rights Committee in June 2023. What we heard from three experts was a grim reminder of why Russia scores at a 16/100 (Not Free) and dropping in Freedom House’s 2023 research.
What does the current situation in Russia look like for judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders?
We first heard from Daria Korolenko, a lawyer and researcher with OVD-info, which is an NGO that defends the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of speech by “monitoring the detention of activists at rallies and providing politically persecuted citizens with...
By Guest Writer Harsh Bansal
INTRODUCTION
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has reached an unprecedented level of intensity, fueled by advancements in military technology and modern warfare systems. As the possibility of the conflict being brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) looms – which is likely in the backdrop of the issuance of Arrest Warrants by the Pre-Trial Chamber II – questions regarding assigning responsibility and accountability for the use of Autonomous Drones such as the USA's Switchblade, Turkey's Bayraktar TB2, Iran's Shahed-136, and most recently Ukraine's UJ-22 on the Kremlin Senate will arise.
AWS
These drones possess the remarkable capability of autonomous functioning, allowing them to operate independently without direct human control, hence dubbed Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS). USA’s Defense Directive No. 3000.09 defines AWS as a system that "once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.”
All drones have different degrees of autonomy, hence making it more difficult to identify the perpetrator. Degrees of autonomy can be divided...
By Guest Writer Tatiana Gnuva
Excessive Use of Police Force to Shut Down Protests
France, a country that prides itself on being the home of “human rights” and whose very motto is “liberté, égalité, fraternité,” (“Freedom, equality, fraternity”) is responsible for a number of human rights violations related to police brutality and overreach. In fact, the UN Human Rights Council condemned France on May 1st for police brutality, ethnic profiling, and excessive use of force in large-scale police operations to regulate protests. The Council strongly recommended that the state intensify its efforts to combat anti-Muslim hate and reduce the systematic racism that pervades French police activities.
Several NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have identified countless instances of police brutality that have only increased in frequency. During the “Gilets Jaunes” demonstrations of 2019, the police used excessive force to harm peaceful protestors and bystanders—including journalists—by violently shutting down protests with tear gas and disproportional physical force. These actions are problematic and...
By Guest Writer Mohammad Zayaan
On September 15, 2021, after a hostile takeover, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, leading to one of the worst humanitarian crises the world has witnessed. Thousands of Afghans were displaced from the country and forced to move to different parts of the world to avoid persecution. As a result, some countries developed specific policies, after this unprecedented increase in the refugee influx, some guaranteeing safe haven while others are refusing to accept them.
This article discusses a specific policy change that the UNHCR could bring to help people from Afghanistan who had migrated before September and whose application for refugee status had been rejected by the UNHCR. Apart from a country’s own refugee policy, the UNHCR has a separate mechanism called Refugee Status Determination (RSD) to identify and recognize refugees. This mechanism is based on the Refugee Convention, 1951, the Protocol Related To The Status Of Refugees(1967), and the principle of non-refoulement. It is also used...
By Guest Contributor Farid Noori.
On September 30, 2022, 18-year-old Marzia Mohammadi started somewhat of a different day. A special day, some might say. She was going to take the practice version of Afghanistan’s national university entrance exam in a country where schools are closed for girls past sixth grade. Smart, beautiful, and ambitious, Marzia kept a diary in which she wrote lofty dreams like one day meeting in Paris her favorite author, Elif Shafak, and going for a bike ride. Her entry on September 22 reads:
“When national results are out, Marzia, daughter of Bostan Ali, will score in the top 10.”
Eight days later, while preparing for that same exam, instead of showing the world her talent and grit, Marzia was torn to pieces. A suicide bomber entered the classroom and detonated himself among the students killing Marzia, her cousin Hajar, and 55 other students. Besides being mostly girls, the victims shared another identity: all were Hazara, an ethnicity heir...
By Staff Writer Sydney Smith
Content Warning: sexual violence
On March 9, 2022, Russian soldier Mikhail Romanov barged into the home of a mother in the Kyiv region of Ukraine where brutally he took the life of her husband, forcibly undressed her, and gang raped her with a pistol to her head. The raping took place over three separate occasions while her child bore witness. This horrific story is just one account of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) that has been documented thus far in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A report from the OHCHR identifies 108 allegations of CRSV against women, girls, men and boys from February 24 to May 15, 2022 in eleven Ukrainian cities and in a detention facility in the Russian Federation. Although rape and gang rape are the highest reported allegations, at seventy-eight, CRSV takes on many forms and this report alone includes seven attempted rapes, fifteen forced public strippings, and eight other accounts of sexual torture, sexual...
By Dallin Durtschi, staff writer
Sports teams are sometimes owned by well-known public figures. The Dallas Mavericks are owned by Mark Cuban, Will Ferrell owns part of Los Angeles FC, and last month, the man responsible for ordering the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi also purchased the majority share of Newcastle United, an English Premier League football club. This new owner is none other than Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In October, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), whose chairman is the Saudi Crown Prince, was granted permission by the English Premier League to purchase Newcastle United. Amnesty International has outcried and rejected the Saudi purchase pointing towards the massive human rights implications.
Saudi Human Rights Abuses
Lack of Freedom of Speech
The Saudi State carried out the infamous murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi which is a demonstration of their commitment to rejecting freedom of speech and crushing criticism of the state.
Women’s Rights Abuses
Their women's rights abuses are systematic and heinous. Women are not...
By guest contributor Shelal Lodhi Rajput*
Human Rights Code Red
While the world is dealing with the adverse effects of its own actions, the UN’s climate change panel dropped a bombshell in its latest report. Antonio Guterres termed our climate crisis as a “Code Red for Humanity”. We are on the brink of an impending apocalypse as we have failed time and again, gentle reminders, half-hearted summits, and conferences have not worked. Maybe the severe warning in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) report will inspire the international community to save what we can.
Our seas are rising, forests burning, our islands are sinking and countries are at risk of catastrophic collapse. The effects of what many experts are calling “climate chaos” are ubiquitous and cannot be overlooked. The 42-page Climate Change 2021 report was authored by 200+ people, referenced over 14,000 climate studies, and was published with support from 195 countries. The climate emergency is a reality facing current and future...
By guest contributor Astha Bhattacharya*
INTRODUCTION
Belarus ratified its new anti-media law in May 2021, primarily aimed at limiting journalists' freedom of expression and quelling protests against the Belarusian government. The new law makes it illegal for the media to report on any unauthorised public gatherings or to publish opinion polls unless the results have been approved by the government. This law also grants the government the authority to shut down media companies without judicial orders, which were previously necessary. Human rights organisations have slammed this law and the subsequent shutdowns of independent media outlets, claiming that the bill is intended to silence the growing criticism against the Belarusian government.
The new law was introduced in the aftermath of the 2020 uprisings against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since Belarus broke away from the Soviet Union in 1994. There has not been a single free and fair election in Belarus since 1995, according to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Additionally, Lukashenko...
By: Noah Smith, staff writer.
In July 2020, there was a surge in homelessness for refugees and asylum seekers in Athens, Greece due to evictions by the Greek government. “Forcing people to leave their accommodation without a safety net and measures to ensure their self-reliance may push many into poverty and homelessness,” warned UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic. “Recognized refugees have to vacate much-needed accommodation for asylum seekers waiting in crowded reception facilities on the Greek Aegean islands. Over
31,000 women, men, and children live in five island reception centers with capacity for fewer than 6,000,” said Mahecic. However, the UNHCR has expressed their concerns that government aid for many recognized refugees is ending far too soon and before they have access to employment and social welfare programs. In total, the government of Greece has evicted 8,000 recognized refugees from camps and
accommodations across the country. The first phase of evictions led to nearly 200 people sleeping in Victoria Square in Athens, where...
