The Obama administration's justification of its decision on sanctions relief was done in the absence of any congressional consultation. The entire sanctions easing process will be fully effective 6 months from the date of announcement, 6 months from January 13, 2017. The Sudanese Government has long sought sanctions relief in Congress and successive administrations have considered such relief as an incentive for Khartoum to reach and abide by various peace agreements. The Obama administration, in its last days in office in January, purported to see justification in ending a sanctions regime...

Lawyer Xie Yang was tortured for the better part of 2 years because he dared to represent China's poor and persecuted. Xie Yang was sleep deprived and kept in isolation. Squads of police punched and kicked him for hours at a time. Police made threats to his wife and children and said that they would turn him into an invalid unless he confessed to political crimes. Xie Yang and his fellow human rights lawyers wanted the best for China, but what they got was the very worst. Since July 2015, almost 250 lawyers and legal assistants were detained, sending a chilling message to those fighting for...