US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Thursday announced new guidelines intended to increase the safety of offshore drilling. The Drilling Safety Rule addresses specifications for and oversight of flow control mechanisms and well bore integrity, while the Workplace Safety Rule mandates the implementation of a Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) designed to identify and [...]
The Global Migration Group (GMG) adopted a statement Thursday urging all governments to respect the human rights of migrants, who are more likely to face various forms of abuse as they lack proper legal status. The GMG, which is comprised of 12 UN agencies, the World Bank and the International Organization for Migration , stressed [...]
Joe Gonzales, University College London M.A. Human Rights ’10, is a current intern with Survival International. He writes on the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve’s struggle to secure water rights from the Botswanan government… On July 21 the High Court of Botswana (the High Court) dismissed a case concerning the Bushmen of the [...]
The European Commission (EC) announced Thursday that it would refer the UK to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for not fully complying with EU regulations that protect the privacy of electronic communications. The EU has found UK law in breach of the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC and the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC , regulations regarding [...]
An Indian court on Thursday ruled that the disputed holy site Ayodhya must be split among Hindus, Muslims and Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect representing the Hindu deity Ram. The dispute over ownership of the site has been ongoing for more than 60 years and has resulted in tensions between the religious communities, leading to [...]
US lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill that would prohibit the US State Department (DOS) from issuing visas to individuals, or their family members, who are connected to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky, who was arrested on allegations of tax fraud and held for over a year without a trial after representing [...]
The first civilian trial of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee began Wednesday, as Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani appeared in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for jury selection. Ghailani, a Tanzanian man, is accused of a key role in the 1998 bombings against two US embassies in Africa. Ghailani’s defense filed [...]
Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay detainee Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad al Odah on Tuesday petitioned the US Supreme Court to reverse a federal appeals court decision that denied him habeas corpus relief. In his petition for writ of certiorari, al Odah claims that the lower courts violated his right to due process by using an inappropriate preponderance [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday denied a motion for reconsideration on claims of unlawful treatment and wrongful death brought by the families of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees. The two men, Yasser Al-Zahrani and Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed Al-Salami, were reported to have hanged themselves in [...]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday ratified a prison sentence for former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka . Fonseka was convicted two weeks ago by a court-martial on charges of corruption and sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison, although Rajapaksa has called for a 30-month sentence. The court found that [...]
