University of Wisconsin–Madison

Archive

Ecuador: Prosecutor Shot and Killed

In Ecuador, prosecutor Gloria Alexandra Bravo Cedeño was shot and killed in the coastal city of Manta on June 14, 2026, in an attack that also killed her sister, Human Rights Watch reported on June 16. Bravo handled homicide, kidnapping, and organized-crime cases and had investigated recent drone strikes on fishing vessels; the Attorney General’s …

Turkey — European Parliament Adopts Damning Resolution on Türkiye (The Arrested Lawyers Initiative)

On June 17, 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the 2025 Commission report on Türkiye that delivers one of its most forceful indictments to date of the Turkish judiciary’s role in dismantling the rule of law. The text condemns the harassment and prosecution of defense lawyers for their professional work, naming the continued …

The State of American Resistance Is Stronger Than You May Think

A New York Times opinion essay by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer argues that grassroots opposition to the Trump administration is more robust than many Americans assume. Drawing on a year of interviews with activists and dissidents worldwide, the authors contend that effective resistance to authoritarian leaders rarely hinges on a single march or election. …

Georgia: Authorities Built Coordinated System To Crush Dissent and Entrench Power

In the country of Georgia, an Amnesty International report released June 15, 2026 documents how the judiciary and prosecution service have become integral to a coordinated state apparatus for suppressing dissent over a roughly 500-day crackdown. The report finds that judges arbitrarily imposed ruinous fines, administrative detention, and prison sentences in protest-related cases following unfair …

European Parliament to urge EU sanctions on Turkey’s justice minister: MEP

A European Parliament report set for a vote on June 17, 2026 calls on the EU to consider targeted human rights sanctions against Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek over his role in politically sensitive prosecutions, including investigations targeting İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and other opposition figures from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Drafted as the …

Strong (2025), Pro Bono Publico Versus Pro Bono Presidential

In March and April 2025, the Trump Administration issued a series ofexecutive orders directed at various law firms that had represented clients orundertaken actions with which the President disagreed. Those executive ordersimposed various sanctions capable of destroying the firms financially. TheAdministration also threatened numerous other law firms with similar types ofexecutive orders.Although a few law …

Report of the Coalition forThe International Dayof the Endangered Lawyer

This report, prepared by the Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, designates the United States as its 2026 focus country, arguing that threats to the legal profession have become systematic rather than isolated. Drawing on international standards such as the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the newly adopted …

Malaysia: Public Prosecutor Appointment Under Separation Reform Bill Raises Concern

The Malaysian Bar has welcomed the government’s move to separate the offices of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor—a long-standing institutional reform aimed at strengthening the rule of law and prosecutorial independence—but cautioned that the proposed constitutional amendments may fall short without stronger safeguards and supporting legislation. Bar President Anand Raj stressed that the powerful …

Federal judges who’ve ruled against Trump administration denounce threats against themselves, their families

In the United States, a CBS News “60 Minutes” investigation (broadcast June 7, 2026, at the edge of this reporting window) reported that federal judges who have ruled against the Trump administration are facing escalating intimidation, including death threats, “swatting,” bomb threats, and doxxing directed at them and their families. The program spoke with 26 …

39 civil society organizations condemn escalating attacks on lawyers, judges and civil society in Tunisia

Thirty-nine international legal and human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists—issued a joint statement on June 5, 2026, condemning what they describe as the Tunisian authorities’ systematic and escalating campaign of intimidation, prosecution, and retaliation against lawyers, judges, and independent civil society, a pattern that has deepened since …