Japan high court backs gender status change without surgery
The Japan Times, 10 July 2024
A Japanese high court has ruled that a transgender woman should be able to change the sex assigned to them at birth in their family registry without having to undergo surgery, as is currently required by law — a development that is likely to put more pressure on the government to revise the law.
‘All threats to the sea come from humans’: how lawyers are gearing up to fight for the oceans
The Guardian, 10 July 2024
A rising number of lawsuits in courts around the world are holding governments and corporations to account for their treatment of the seas and those who rely on them.
Saudi Arabia: 20-Year Sentence for Tweets
Human Rights Watch, 9 July 2024
A Saudi court has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison on charges related to his peaceful social media activity. The conviction is the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s likely transnational repression due to his family member’s activities abroad and yet another escalation in the country’s crackdown on freedom of expression and other basic rights.
UN refugee chief urges assistance for displaced Afghans amid humanitarian crisis
Jurist, 8 July 2024
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), at least 18 million and over 3.5 million Afghans needed urgent humanitarian assistance and were displaced from their homes due to conflict in the country, respectively. Grandi stated that greater degrees of instability and displacement in and outside Afghanistan may occur if public services collapse.
Amnesty, 4 July 2024
Early last month, Huthi security forces conducted a series of raids in Sana’a, Hodiedah and Hajjah rounding up at least 27 staff, four women and 23 men, from UN agencies and at least seven local and international organizations from their homes or offices.
