David Krieger : “In April 2009, President Obama went to Prague and spoke out for a world free of nuclear weapons. “I state clearly and with conviction,” he said, “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” He indicated that he was prepared to take necessary steps to advance [...]
Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday urged the government of Myanmar to release all political prisoners ahead of the nation’s November elections—the first to be held in 20 years. Myanmar currently holds 2,200 political prisoners, the majority of whom were arrested for peaceful activism. AI’s statement marks the third anniversary of the violent government crackdown on [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday sentenced Aafia Siddiqui , a Pakistani woman convicted of attempting to murder US personnel at the Afghan facility where she was being held, to 86 years in prison. Prosecutors claimed that, while in US custody in Afghanistan, Siddiqui lunged [...]
A Cambodian court on Thursday sentenced opposition leader Sam Rainsy in absentia to 10 years in prison following his conviction on charges of forging and disseminating a false map of the Cambodia-Vietnam border on his political party’s website. The map posted on the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) website shows an area along the border of [...]
The War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade on Wednesday sentenced former paramilitary officer Zeljko Djukic to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the deaths of 14 civilians in March 1999 during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war . Djukic, a member of the Serbian paramilitary group known as Scorpion , was originally [...]
Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla violated international law, according to a report released Wednesday by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) . After conducting numerous interviews with eye-witnesses and viewing other evidence, the fact-finding mission determined that Israeli forces committed several international law violations, including violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political [...]
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal on Wednesday struck down a state law prohibiting gay couples from adopting, finding that it failed rational basis review and violated the state constitution’s equal protection clause. The case was brought by Martin Gill, a gay man who provided foster care for two boys with his partner. After the [...]
Kenyan businessman Joseph Gathungu filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the violence following the 2007 Kenyan presidential election . The suit, which was filed in the High Court in Mombasa, argues that the ICC investigation is illegal under the constitution adopted last month . Gathungu alleges [...]
Polish prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will open an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of accused USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri at a secret CIA prison in Poland. The investigation is in response to the request filed Tuesday by human rights group Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and al-Nashiri’s lawyers. The request asks prosecutors [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of the False Claims Act , which allows citizen “whistle-blowers” to sue federal contractors for committing fraud against the government. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Senior National Staff Counsel Christopher Hansen appeared before the court and argued [...]
