A Turkish court on Monday sentenced Ogun Samast for murdering Turkish-Armenian author Hrant Dink , journalist and former editor of the newspaper Agos , who was shot and killed in Istanbul in January 2007. Samast, a minor at the time of Dink’s death and the primary suspect charged in Dink’s murder, was sentenced to 21-and-a-half [...]
An Egyptian criminal court on Monday postponed the trial of former interior minister Habib el-Adly until August 3. El-Adly and Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak face charges of killing pro-democracy protesters during the demonstrations in Egypt earlier this year. Six of el-Adly’s former assistants are also charged with murdering demonstrators . The trial date for [...]
The Syrian government on Sunday approved a draft law that would allow the formation of political parties to oppose the ruling Baath Party, led by President Bashar al-Assad . The law would permit a political party to be established so long as it is not based on religious or tribal lines and does not discriminate [...]
An independent commission on Sunday began investigating human rights violations related to the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Bahrain . The chairman of the five-person Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), Cherif Bassiouni , announced that the group’s investigation would focus on 30 police officers alleged to have committed violations of procedural laws, as well as [...]
Konstantinos Margaritis is a Ph.D. candidate at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Faculty of Law. For his doctoral research, he is examining the protection of fundamental rights under the Lisbon Treaty. He writes on the changes in the field of external affairs under the Lisbon Treaty and the impact they will have on [...]
Two suspected war criminals have been arrested in Canada after the federal government announced Thursday it would seek the aid of its citizens in tracking down 30 individuals suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney announced and released a list [...]
Belgium implemented a law on Saturday banning women from wearing the Islamic burqa in public. The measure was initially passed by the Belgian Federal Parliament in April 2010 by a vote of 136-1. Under the new legislation, any woman who wears a burqa in public faces the possibility of a fine or up to seven [...]
The South Korean Ministry of Justice announced on Sunday that it has enacted a law which allows the use of chemical castration on sex offenders convicted of attacking children under the age of 16 years old. The bill passed in the National Assembly last year 137-13 with 140 legislators declining to cast a vote. According [...]
Two UN rights officials on Friday expressed concern over reports of violence used by Syrian authorities against the country’s own people. Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Francis Deng and Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect Edward Luck stated that reports of Syrian forces killing or arbitrarily arresting peaceful protesters [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday ordered that “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) , the controversial policy barring openly gay individuals from serving in the military, will remain partially in effect during the 60 days prior to its newly-scheduled repeal. The court effectively reiterated its order issued last week, in [...]
