JURIST Senior Editor for Long Form Content Pitasanna Shanmugathas interviews Aviva Chomsky, a historian, author, and activist whose work challenges dominant narratives about immigration, labor, and colonialism. Chomsky, a professor of history and the coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State University, has spent over 30 years engaged in Latin American solidarity and immigrant [...]
In August 2021, the world watched as the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, sweeping away two decades of progress toward democracy, human rights, and gender equality. While international headlines have since moved on to other crises, millions of Afghan women and girls continue to live under increasingly restrictive policies that have systematically stripped away their [...]
Judi Rever is a Montreal-based journalist and author of In Praise of Blood, which investigates mass violence under Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s regime, using survivor testimonies, former soldiers, and leaked UN documents. A Ryerson journalism graduate, Rever covered the Congo-Rwanda crisis for Radio France-Internationale in 1997 and later reported for Agence France-Presse. Her work has [...]
Continuing one of America’s most influential legacies, Dr. Bernice A. King has established herself as a formidable force for justice and reconciliation in her own right. As we mark Black History Month, JURIST Senior Editor Pitasanna Shanmugathas sits down with the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—a woman who was just five years [...]
Dr. Salman H. Abu-Sitta, a Palestinian academic, is renowned for his extensive work documenting Palestine’s land and people, as well as developing a practical return plan for Palestinian refugees. He founded the Palestine Land Society (PLS), accredited by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and established [...]
Peter Russell was a leading Canadian scholar of constitutional law who taught at the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1997. Numerous Canadian Supreme Court judges have read and cited his work in their rulings. Professor Russell passed away on January 10, leaving behind an enormously rich academic legacy. Known for his openness, Peter Russell [...]
The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in August 2021 cast a long shadow of oppression over the nation, disproportionately impacting women and the LGBTQ+ community. While the violence against women has garnered significant international attention, the plight of LGBTQ+ individuals remain largely obscured, a silent atrocity demanding urgent global intervention. A comprehensive report, drawing [...]
Gershon Baskin, a prominent Israeli peace negotiator who is currently conducting back-channel negotiations between Hamas and Israel to bring an end to the current offensive in Gaza, spoke to JURIST Senior Editor for Long Form Content Pitasanna Shanmugathas about the complex obstacles preventing a ceasefire amid the conflict’s expansion into Lebanon and Iran, his unique [...]
With the 2024 presidential elections rapidly approaching, concerning trends in electoral confidence and rule of law have emerged across party lines in the US. The latest Rule of Law Index, released last week by the World Justice Project (WJP), shows the US dropping to 43rd globally in measurements of “lawful transition of power” — a [...]
Sri Lanka elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake as its new president on September 21, marking the first time in the country’s history that a candidate outside the two major political parties has won the presidency. Dissanayake, representing the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition, defeated candidates from the long-dominant United National Party (UNP) and Sri Lanka Freedom [...]
