The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said May 1 that Egypt's recent security measures have been encouraging the very radicalization they were trying to control. In a press conference in Geneva, al-Hussein criticized the increased security measures Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has instituted since the bombings of Christian churches last month. While condemning the attacks, al-Hussien said that al-Sisi's declaration of a three-month state of emergency was only likely to increase radicalization. Al-Hussein said that the state of emergency was leading to "massive numbers of detentions, reports of torture, and continued arbitrary arrests" which "facilitates radicalization in prisons." He continued that "the crackdown on civil society through travel bans, freezing orders, [and] anti-protest laws...is not the way to fight terror." Al-Hussein concluded that "national security...must be a priority for every country, [but not] at the expense of human rights."

Turkish authorities removed more than 3,900 people from their positions in the civil service and military pursuant to a new national security law published on April 29. Those removed included prison guards, clerks, academics, and employees of the religious affairs ministry, all of whom the government alleged had links to terrorist organizations. This is the latest action by the Turkish government since a state of emergency was issued after a failed coup attempt in July of last year. Also on April 29, Turkey blocked the website Wikipedia on the grounds that it posed a threat to national security.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified a law April 27 that will allow him to appoint head judges in the country's highest courts. The amended law, which was ratified when it was published in the official gazette, allows el-Sisi to chose one of three potential judges nominated by each court to be the head of that court. Previously, leadership passed to the most senior member of the court, and the president was expected to sign off on the leadership role in a process that was largely ceremonial. El-Sisi and supporters of the change insist that the move is necessary to strengthen his administration's authority as they tackle issues such as terrorism, but members of the Egyptian judiciary have resisted the change.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 28 to lift restrictions placed on offshore oil drilling by the previous administration. According to a statement, about 94% of the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was either off-limits to or not considered for oil and gas exploration and development under previous rules. Trump blamed federal regulations for high unemployment in the state of Alaska, where oil and gas are a significant part of the economy, and said lifting restrictions would create thousands of jobs. Opponents, including US Congressman Charlie Christ (D-FL), criticized the move, citing environmental risks posed by drilling, especially naming the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

US District Judge  District Judge William Orrick of the Northern District of California on April 25 issued a temporary injunction (PDF)  against Executive Order 13768, "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States" (PDF), which would have allowed the federal government to withhold funds from municipalities that have been designated as "sanctuary cities." Orrick rejected the government's argument that the order was within the president's scope, saying, "The President has called it 'a weapon' to use against jurisdictions that disagree with his preferred policies of immigration enforcement... The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the President, so the Order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds."

Russian authorities say they have detained, and obtained a confession from, a man linked to a terrorist metro bombing in St. Petersburg that killed 14 passengers. The Russian Federal Security Service says that Abror Azimov pled guilty to planning the attack. Officials say that, for his part, Azimov said that he does not object to being detained and does not deny his involvement in the attack, but said he was not involved in planning, and did not plead guilty.

Physician Jumana Nagarwala was charged April 13 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on minors out of a medical office in Livonia, Mich. According to the complaint (PDF), the girls were as young as six to eight years of age and were transported from out of state by their parents or other family members secretly to the facility to perform the procedure. Federal authorities learned of Nagarwala's actions based on a tip from an unidentified source and interviews conducted of two minor victims from Minnesota who were taken by their parents to the Livonia facility.

Hearings began in Spain on April 10 regarding potential war crimes committed by President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria. The case is a result of a Spanish national's brother being abducted and tortured in Damascus before being executed in 2013. The family claims that the brother was not part of an opposition group and just a truck driver making a delivery. The family was able to identify the body after a forensic photographer smuggled the photos out of Syria. The photographer may testify in the case next month. The investigation involved nine of Assad's closest aides but not Assad himself due to his immunity. Spain is the first to hold a criminal investigation of potential war crimes into Syria, as Russia has blocked referral of the Assad regime to the International Criminal Court.