As a consequence of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022, a high number of refugees – mostly women, children and elderly – moved to the Republic of Moldova. The number of arrivals in the Republic of Moldova has decreased compared to the massive influx at the beginning of the war in…
In times of war, especially distant war, human lives start being counted by the hundreds. People become “casualties”, “collateral damage”. This is the fate of those currently dying in Ukraine. The right to life is more than a lofty legal guarantee. It is a recognition of the humanity of every person involved in the conflict…
Every day in Europe, women are psychologically and physically abused in the “safety” of their own homes, stalked, harassed, raped, mutilated, forced by their family to enter into marriage, or sterilised against their will. The examples of violence against women are endless, its victims countless. National and European surveys and awareness-raising campaigns have shown how…
On the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, France calls on all States to ratify the Protocol, with a view to the universal abolition of the death penalty. With this year marking…
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) passed Bill No. 2689 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on the Enforcement of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law” on May 20, 2021, with 248 votes in favor out of 363 members in attendance. Almost seven years after the beginning of atrocities in eastern Ukraine and the seized Crimean peninsula,…
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, has called on the Portuguese authorities to address more resolutely the increasing level of racism in the country, as well as to take additional steps to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. The Commissioner is concerned about the rise of racially motivated…
Germany join Norway’s protests. World football’s governing body FIFA said on Thursday they would not punish Norway’s players for wearing t-shirts which said ‘Human rights – on and off the pitch’. FIFA says it believes in freedom of speech and that the power of football is a force for good. The squad were protesting about…
As we are at the cusp of technological change, history shifts its pace when touched with scientific vision. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one such technical field that is transforming human society into one of robots and machines. AI includes machine learning, natural language processing, big data analytics, algorithms, and much more. However, as human intelligence…
The year 2020 marks 20 years since the adoption of the year 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol). The implementation of the Palermo Protocol has resulted in the development of a range of domestic and regional…
Governments around the world are taking decisive action to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus, (COVID-19), with heavy implications for human rights. Commentators have assessed containment measures in blogs on preventive duties, State responsibility, and the UK’s draft emergency legislation. Several States have now derogated from the ECHR to address COVID-19. This blog post…
