A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday rejected a request by Judicial Watch and the Media Research Center (MRC) for documents pertaining to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as solicitor general. A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request [...]
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo arrived in the Ivory Coast Saturday to investigate allegations of war crimes committed during post-election violence following last November’s elections. Thousands were allegedly killed and hundreds detained and raped in the months-long struggle between ousted leader Laurent Gbagbo and rival President Alassane Ouattara after Gbagbo refused to give [...]
The Security Service of Ukraine on Thursday brought new corruption charges against former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko , just days after she was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of abuse of power and corruption. Prosecutors allege that Tymoshenko embezzled USD $400 million of debt from her company United Energy Systems of Ukraine [...]
The Taiwan High Court on Thursday sentenced former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian to 18 years in prison after finding him guilty of financial fraud, overturning a lower court ruling. Members of Chen’s family, including his wife, were also found guilty on corruption charges and given prison sentences ranging from six months to 11 years. A [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday urged the international community to take steps to protect civilian lives in Syria, where more than 3,000 civilians have been killed since protests against the government began in March. Pillay stated that the Syrian government has failed to protect its population and has ignored calls [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked portions of a controversial Alabama immigration law . The ruling came in response to a motion filed last week by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of immigrants rights groups after a judge for the US District Court for [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food , Olivier De Schutter , announced on Thursday that he supports a Mexican constitutional reform which recognizes the right to food . The reform targets articles 4 and 27 of the Mexican constitution . Article 4 guarantees that “o one may be deprived of the fruits of [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the release of approximately 200 political prisoners by Myanmar’s president, while urging the government to release all political prisoners in accordance with the rule of law. Ban Ki-moon also acknowledged the dialogue between the government and pro-democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi , as well as talks between [...]
Amnesty International (AI) urged Malawi on Friday to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country on Saturday and surrender him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution. Al-Bashir is expected to attend a trade summit in Malawi this weekend, despite two international warrants out for his arrest on charges of [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday urged the Canadian government to investigate and arrest former US president George W. Bush for his role in torture, ahead of his travel to an economic summit in British Colombia next week. AI’s submission to Canadian authorities emphasizes Bush’s authorization of “enhanced interrogation techniques” including [...]
