Kenyan court says police cannot deploy to Haiti mission
Nairobi, Kenya Reuters A Kenyan court on Friday rejected a plan to send police officers to Haiti to lead a UN-approved mission, throwing into doubt the future of an initiative aimed at tackling gang violence in the Caribbean nation. An opposition party in October challenged the government’s decision to send 1,000 officers to address a […]
Top court warns Hong Kong against risk of prosecuting “thought crimes”
Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Hong Kong’s highest court on Friday overturned the conviction of a protester for carrying plastic zip fasteners, with judges warning that the authorities’ expanded interpretation of the law risked creating a “thought crime”. Chan Chun-kit was sentenced to five-and-a-half-months’ jail by a lower court after his arrest in November, 2019, towards the […]
UK court allows first migrant deportation flight to Rwanda
London, UKReuters Judges in London have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to stop Britain sending its first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda on Tuesday, a plan the United Nations’ refugee chief described as “catastrophic”. As part of an £120-million deal with Rwanda, Britain will send some migrants who arrived […]
UK’s first flight taking migrants to Rwanda can go ahead, court rules
London, UKReuters Britain’s government overcame a legal challenge to its controversial policy to begin deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda as the High Court dismissed campaigners’ attempts to win an injunction and said the first flight could leave next week. Charities and a trade union had launched a challenge earlier this week against the government’s plan […]
UK charities seek injunction to block migrant deportations to Rwanda
London, UKReuters Human rights groups said they had submitted papers at the High Court in London on Wednesday to get an injunction to halt next week’s planned deportation of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda, a plan that has drawn widespread criticism. Britain’s government announced in April it had struck a deal to send potentially […]
In Uganda, clergy sue government for imposing recurrent lockdown on places of worship
Kampala, Uganda Two groups of religious leaders in Uganda have petitioned the courts of law challenging a government’s decision to impose a recurrent lockdown on places of worship. One group, led by Pastor Peter Wisdom Katumba of Charis Fellowship Limited and Imam Muhammad Bbale of Taqwa Mosque, petitioned the nation’s High Court on 3rd August, […]
Kenyan Rastafarians seek to legalise marijuana over doubts of other faith leaders
Nairobi, KenyaRNS Rastafarians have petitioned the Kenyan high court to decriminalise the use of cannabis, claiming that smoking marijuana is part of their religious practice. “We Rastafari, who have been stigmatized and misunderstood, we have come here to say in agreement with the United Nations that the use of cannabis for cultural, spiritual and medicinal […]
Kenya court ruling gives boost to fight against FGM
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Kenya’s High Court ruling upholding a ban on female genital mutilation will give a much needed boost to the fight to end the widely condemned practice in the East African nation, women’s rights groups said this week. One in five Kenyan women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have undergone […]
Updated: Malaysian court rules non-Muslims can use ‘Allah’
Updated: 9.30pm (AEDT)Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaAP A Malaysian court ruled Wednesday that non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” to refer to God, in a major decision in a divisive issue for religious freedom in the Muslim-majority country. Two ethnic Malay political parties immediately voiced concern and Thursday urged the government to challenge the ruling. In this […]
What is your sex? UK court rules against government in census row
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Britain’s High Court on Tuesday ordered the government to change its guidance to people filling out the 2021 census to compel transgender people to give their legally recognised sex, following a challenge from women’s rights activists. The court ordered the government’s Office for National Statistics to rewrite its guidelines on how […]