A UK appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a special commission charged with investigating the alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians in British-controlled detention facilities between March 2003 and December 2008 lacks independence. The Court of Appeals ordered Defence Secretary Liam Fox to reconsider his refusal to open a single public inquiry into allegations of UK [...]
The ruling military council in Egypt has committed numerous human rights violations, including abuse of protesters and journalists who voice their dissatisfaction with the government, according to an Amnesty International (AI) report released Tuesday. The report alleges that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has used violence and torture to put down government [...]
Trial began Tuesday for 13 journalists accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic government in Turkey. The trial lasted only four hours before being adjourned to await a decision from Turkey’s high court about whether the presiding judge can hear the case amid allegations by the defense counsel that the judge lacks impartiality . After [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Kent Roach of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law says that the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent refusal to review a lower court’s stay of extradition proceedings represents an important victory for the rule of law as well as straining US-Canada relations…
The Bahrain government on Monday admitted to the use of excessive force against pro-democracy protesters in the region early this year. The admission is a reversal of the country’s previous characterization of its crackdown on protesters. Prior to this admission, the Bahraini government defended its actions , which allegedly resulted in the deaths of more [...]
The South African National Assembly (NA) passed a controversial state secrets bill on Tuesday designed to protect state secrets related to national security. The African National Congress (ANC) , which holds a majority in the NA, was responsible for pushing the legislation through by a vote of 229-107. The bill would criminalize the possession and [...]
Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Tuesday announced an amendment to a criminal law that would punish those who have contributed to the corruption of politics and damaged the interests of the nation. If convicted, repercussions would include a five-year bar from joining political life , removal from any positions of leadership [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo arrived in Libya Tuesday to discuss plans for the trials of recently arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of late former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi , and Abdullah al-Senussi, former Libyan chief of intelligence, for crimes against humanity. Ocampo will meet with Libyan officials to find out what [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Jim Chen of the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law says that the recent court decision allowing Sprint and Cellular South to pursue antitrust claims against the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger is an important step toward halting what could be a major anticompetitive development in the wireless industry…
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a group of independent human rights experts on Monday called on Egyptian authorities to guarantee the protection of human rights and civil liberties during the country’s most recent incidents of civilian-police clashes . The rights experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on summary executions, freedom of expression, human rights defenders [...]
