Human rights

Anders Bering Breivik loses human rights case against Norway

Norwegian authorities have not violated the rights of mass murderer Anders Bering Breivik, an appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

The court overturned the ruling of a lower court which had said Breivik was being kept in inhumane conditions.

He had argued that being kept away from other prisoners for 22 to 23 hours a day breached his human rights.

The right-wing extremist killed 77 people in July 2011. Breivik's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.

"Breivik is not, and has not, been subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment," the appeals court wrote in its verdict.

Breivik set off a car bomb in the capital Oslo, killing eight people, before murdering 69 people at a summer camp for young centre-left political activists on the island of Utoeya.

Human rights 

UK House of Commons passes Magnitsky sanctions bill 

The UK House of Commons Tuesday passed legislation that would expand the powers of the government and courts to freeze assets of human rights violators.

The vote in the House of Commons was unanimous.

The bill needs to be adopted by the House of Lords to become law.

The Magnitsky amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill expands the definition of "unlawful conduct" to include human rights abuses. It also applies to those who profited from or materially assisted in the abuses.

The bill includes protections for whistleblowers.