The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Wednesday held the first hearing on its jurisdiction and the legality of its creation. The defense lawyer for Mustafa Badreddine , one of the four men wanted by the court for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri , argued that the UN Security Council unlawfully [...]
Egypt’s Ministry of Justice on Wednesday issued a decree restoring broad arrest powers to the Egyptian military to arrest civilians for non-military offenses. The decree restores some of the power previously granted to the military through the emergency law, which expired in May after being in effect for nearly 30 years. Under the decree the [...]
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday initiated contempt of court proceedings against Malik Riaz Hussain. The court’s action was a response to the accusation brought forth by Hussain who alleged a day earlier that the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his family members have accepted $3.7 million in kickbacks and cash payments. Hussain [...]
UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Ivory Coast Doudou Diene on Wednesday called on all Ivorians and the international community to maintain their support in the wake of the recent killing of seven UN peacekeepers, eight civilians and one Ivorian soldier. The peacekeepers, who were serving with the UN Operation in [...]
Three officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Australian ambassador to Libya were able to visit and assess the condition of the four detained ICC staff members on Tuesday, the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs reported. Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Wednesday that the prison conditions were “adequate” and that Melinda Taylor, [...]
The Egyptian parliament on Tuesday elected another panel of 100 delegates to write a new constitution for the country. Parliamentary speaker Saad al-Katatni stated that unlike the first panel, the newly elected 100-member panel represents all Egyptian groups . However, the list of panel members faced some criticism for underrepresenting women, intellectuals and Christians who [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s law against second-parent adoptions, which effectively bans individuals in same-sex couples from adopting their partner’s child. The ban is based on state adoption regulations which provide that unmarried individuals may not adopt a child unless the current biological or adoptive parents [...]
The government of the Falkland Islands announced on Tuesday that it will hold a referendum on its political status close to its 30-year anniversary of independence from Argentina’s occupation in 1982. Gavin Short, chairman of the islands’ legislative assembly, expressed the archipelago’s view of its sovereignty from Argentina: I have no doubt that the people [...]
A Tunisian military court on Wednesday convicted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in absentia on charges of inciting violence and murder in connection with the death of four protesters in January 2011 and sentenced him to 20 years. Ben Ali has already been sentenced to over 55 years in prison on other charges. [...]
Iranian human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani has been sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment by a Tehran Revolutionary Court , his daughter said Tuesday. Maede Soltani, who lives in Germany, was notified on Monday about last week’s ruling. The human rights lawyer was initially sentenced to 18 years in prison for spreading anti-government propaganda, accepting [...]
