The dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday granted Canada’s request to hear its dispute of the EU’s ban on the import of seal products. Canada requested establishment of a panel to hear the dispute in February. In its request, Canada alleges that the seal ban is inconsistent with the obligations [...]
UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pilay on Saturday urged the Syrian government to heed to the demands of protesters instead of responding with violence. Pilay warned that continued repression of the Syrian people would only lead to more anger and violence. She advised the Syrian government to look to the recent events in [...]
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will send an independent, international commission to investigate allegations of serious human rights abuses during post-election violence in the Ivory Coast , the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced Friday. The resolution, which was passed without a vote, was introduced by Nigeria on behalf [...]
Spanish National Court judge Baltasar Garzon on Thursday filed a petition with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) , challenging a case brought against him in Spain that alleges abuse of power in investigating crimes committed under the Franco dictatorship . Garzon faces charges of politically motivated corruption and violation of the 1977 Amnesty [...]
The Colorado Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would grant same-sex couples the legal right to civil unions . The Colorado Civil Unions Act says that the legal benefits, protections and responsibilities that the law gives married couples will also be given to civil unions. The bill lists certain rights included in its definition, [...]
The Civil Court of Thailand on Friday ordered the core leaders of the People’s Alliance of Democracy (PAD) , or “yellow shirts,” to pay 522 million baht (USD $17 million) in damages to the Airports of Thailand (AOT) in connection with a massive 2008 sit-in protest that spanned eight days during the holiday travel season [...]
A Russian court has jailed six men for crimes related to their roles in the 2009 hijacking of the MV Arctic Sea , reports on Friday said. A court in the country’s town of Arkhangelsk handed out sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years in prison. Three of the hijackers were stateless, while the other [...]
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday condemned the Uruguayan government for its role in the abduction and death of an Argentinean woman in the 1970s, effectively overturning the country’s amnesty law. Maria Claudia Garcia Iruretagoyena de Gelman was abducted from Argentina in 1976 and transferred to a detention center in Uruguay, where [...]
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a suit by former assistant US Attorney Richard Convertino in which the former prosecutor accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of violating the Administrative Procedures Act and his right to privacy. Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the suit because of [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the press during a visit to Cairo Thursday that he is 100 percent certain his office will bring charges against Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi . Moreno-Ocampo said that his office is coordinating with a number of law enforcement organizations, including Interpol, in an investigation into six [...]
