A UN commission urged Syrian authorities on Friday to allow human rights experts to conduct an investigation into allegations of human rights violations. The three-member commission of inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay reported that at least 2,600 people were [...]
The US Department of Defense (DOD) on Friday issued a memorandum giving military chaplains permission to participate in or officiate same-sex marriage ceremonies. The memorandum, released by Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness Dr. Clifford Stanley further provides that chaplains can perform a ceremony either on or off military property as long as it complies [...]
A Brazilian judge for the Federal Court of the First Region ruled on Thursday that work on a dam being constructed on the Xingu River in the Amazon jungle must cease. The USD $11 billion project would be the third-largest hydroelectric dam in the world . In deciding to suspend the project, the judge cited [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Kansas denied an injunction on Thursday against a Kansas law that prohibits insurance companies from including coverage for abortion in their comprehensive plans. The law prohibits comprehensive insurance plans from covering any abortion other than to save a woman’s life but allows companies to [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday acquitted two former Rwandan ministers, Casimir Bizimungu and Jerome Bicamumpaka, of genocide charges due to a lack of sufficient evidence. This decision is the most high-profile acquittal of the officials involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which 800,000 people were killed. The ICTR ordered the [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday unanimously vacated a district court ruling that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT) was a violation of service members’ constitutional rights. Earlier this month, lawyers for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the appeals court to overturn that ruling . The DOJ [...]
A CIA drone strike in Yemen on Friday killed senior al Qaeda leader, US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki . The strike marks the US government’s most successful attack against al Qaeda since the raid leading to the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last May. The US-born radical Muslim cleric reportedly used his English and [...]
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesdayaffirmed the convictions of ex-army officer Ephrem Setako and former businessman Yussuf Munyakazi on charges stemming from the 1994 Rwandan genocide . The Appeals Chamber dismissed Setako’s appeal in its entirety and affirmed his conviction on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , along with several other rights groups and physicians, filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging a North Carolina law that requires abortion providers to show women ultrasounds prior to performing abortions. The measure, known as the “Women’s Right to Know Act,” would also require a physician to provide information [...]
A special security court in Bahrain on Thursday sentenced one anti-government protester to death for killing a police officer, and gave lengthy prison sentences to medical personnel, including doctors, for providing treatment to injured protesters during the country’s uprising. The National Safety Court of Appeal, a court composed of military prosecutors and civilian and military [...]
