Fiji’s draft constitution does not adequately protect basic human rights , Amnesty International (AI) said Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) also released a statement on Wednesday calling on Fiji to revise its draft constitution to include protections for freedom of speech, assembly and association. AI Deputy Asia Pacific Director Isabelle Arradon stated that the current [...]
Romanian prosecutors on Tuesday charged Communist-era prison commander Alexander Visinescu with genocide. Visinescu, the former chief of the Ramnicu Sarat prison under Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu faces genocide charges for beating and starving political prisoners between 1956 and 1963, the height of Communist repression against dissidents. Prosecutors said that Visinescu should be convicted of genocide [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of maintaining a monopoly over music files purchased through its iTunes stores. The plaintiff argued on behalf of a class that Apple thwarted competition by issuing software updates that prevent syncing functionality with certain non-Apple [...]
The UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia Shamsul Bari on Tuesday commended the adoption of a human rights roadmap by the Somali federal government. Formally endorsed by the Somali cabinet last week, the roadmap will institutionalize the protection and promotion of human rights through 2015. However, Bari urged the government [...]
Kenya’s parliament debated ending the country’s membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, ahead of the impending trial of Vice President William Ruto and others. Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso ordered a special sitting of the assembly for Thursday. Even if Kenya votes to leave the ICC, it would not affect the trials [...]
Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem appeared in court on Monday for allegedly falsifying his 2000 tax returns. Prosecutors argue that Menem hid bank accounts worth millions of dollars, as well as various aircraft, properties and cars from the tax authorities. Despite having been convicted in June of selling illegal weapons to Croatia and Ecuador during [...]
An Egyptian military tribunal on Tuesday sentenced 11 supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi to life imprisonment for assaulting army troops last month during riots that took place in the Suez Canal. Forty-five other individuals were sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in the Suez Canal riots, while five individuals were acquitted [...]
The trial of 92-year-old Siert Bruins , a former member of the Nazi Waffen SS , began Monday in Germany’s Hagen State Court . Prosecutors accuse Bruins of executing captured Dutch Nazi-opposition fighter Aldert Klaas Dijkema in September 1944 outside the town of Appingedam. Bruins and an accomplice, who has since died, are accused of [...]
An Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered the closure of four media outlets, including an affiliate of Al Jazeera , for their alleged support of the Muslim Brotherhood . The Egyptian government reportedly claims that Al-Jazeera’s affiliate provided biased news coverage during Brotherhood protests following the removal of president Mohamed Morsi in July. Authorities claim Al [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Nicholas Caselli, University of Chicago Law School Class of 2015, discusses the circuit split created by Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp v. Sebelius and argues that the right of corporations to impose their religious beliefs was correctly denied…
