News Feed

15/12/2020

Russian lawmakers propose strengthening penalties for failure to comply with ‘foreign agent’ requirements

A group of Russian lawmakers have submitted a draft law toughening penalties for individuals and media outlets recognized as “foreign agents” that fail to comply with the stipulations of that status.

Source: Meduza

15/12/2020

EU agrees to new sanctions regime for rights abuses

EU envoys agreed on a new mechanism to punish human rights abuses around the world by targeting people regardless of their nationality or their location.

Source: Reuters

15/12/2020

NGOs accuse Romania of inaction on human trafficking

Civil society organisations have lambasted the outgoing Romanian government for ignoring their demands to improve anti-trafficking laws and provide prosecutors with more resources.

Source: Balkan Insight

21/12/2020

Spanish Congress approves first euthanasia bill with broad majority

The bill regulating the right to a dignified death attracted cross-party support and can go into effect in the early months of 2021. This would make Spain the sixth country in the world to recognise this right after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and New Zealand.

Source: El Pais

21/12/2020

EU officially slaps more economic sanctions on Belarus over crackdown

The European Union imposed a third round of economic sanctions on dozens of Belarusian individuals and entities over their suspected involvement in a crackdown on ongoing pro-democracy protests.

Source: RFERL

21/12/2020

European court allows banning of ritual slaughter for Jews and Muslims

The ban contradicts a previous opinion of its Advocate General who had recognised that the banning is an attack on the rights of Belgian citizens to practice their religions freely and is incompatible with EU law.

Source: The Brussels Times

21/12/2020

EU court deals another blow to Hungarian asylum policy

In the latest legal setback for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the top EU court in Luxembourg ruled that Budapest had broken Union law by restricting access to the international protection procedure for asylum applicants in transit zones and unlawfully detaining them.

Source: Euractiv

21/12/2020

Russian lawmakers seek significantly harsher fines for Internet companies that fail to comply with censorship orders

In particular, tech companies that do not restrict access to and/or remove content banned in Russia could face fines tied to their annual revenue. For major companies, this could mean penalties in excess of millions or even billions of dollars.

Source: Meduza

05/01/2021

Germany’s transgender law seen as ‘archaic, degrading’

Transgender people in Germany are subjected to a long, expensive assessment process to change their legal gender. A new self-determination law would reform this and activists say it's long overdue.

Source: DW