Former Liberian president Charles Taylor will serve his 50-year sentence for war crimes in the UK, according to a written statement to Parliament from the UK Ministry of Justice on Thursday. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice Jeremy Wright said that Taylor will be transferred to the UK, pursuant to a request by Special Court [...]
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday reopened criminal proceedings for a man convicted of war crimes in 2006, after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in July that his rights were violated. Abduladhim Maktouf, an Iraqi-born Islamic militant, was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to five years in prison for [...]
California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a bill that allows nurse practitioners and other non-physicians to perform an early abortion during the first trimester. The bill was introduced due to a lack of physicians who could perform abortions, which was preventing women from accessing such procedures. The new law requires non-physicians to undergo special [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar , Tomas Ojea Quintana, on Wednesday welcomed a recent release of 56 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar through presidential amnesty. Quintana noted that the releases are important for a “democratic transition and national reconciliation.” Still, he stressed the continuing arrests and maltreatment of activists [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Wednesday. In United States v. Woods the court heard arguments on whether 26 USC § 6662 of the Internal Revenue Code , which prescribes a penalty for an underpayment of federal income tax that is “attributable to” an overstatement of basis in property, applies to [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (ACLU) filed suit on Wednesday challenging the inclusion of three abortion-related amendments in the state budget passed in June. Filed on behalf of a Cleveland-based women’s health clinic, the ACLU claims that the amendments violate a state constitution provision known as the “single subject rule.” According to the [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, urged the Belarusian government on Wednesday to immediately cease executions of its citizens until legislation related to capital punishment and the court system can be reformed. According to Haraszti , executions are administered via a gunshot to the back of the [...]
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) on Wednesday filed a complaint against the UN for compensation of Haiti’s cholera victims and their families. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and comes amid the UN’s refusal to compensate the victims earlier this year. [...]
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel named Paul Lewis as Special Envoy to oversee the eventual closing of Guantanamo Bay on Tuesday. Lewis will join his US State Department counterpart, Clifford Sloan, in working toward closing the detention center. His main duties will relate to the transfer of detainees, including those to be transferred to and [...]
The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICTB) on Wednesday found Abdul Alim, leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the nation’s war for independence in 1971 , guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The tribunal, which was established in 2009 under the International Crimes Act is charged with [...]
