Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday announced plans to investigate claims by Eskisehir Police Chief Hanefi Avci that evidence of several alleged coups plots, particularly Ergenekon , was fabricated. Avci alleged in a book he recently published, Devotee Residents of Halich: Yesterday State, Today Religious Congregation, that the evidence was distorted and fabricated by followers of Islam [...]
The California Senate voted 22-12 Monday in favor of a joint resolution to urge the federal government to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . Among other concerns, the resolution states that, under the law, same-sex couples legally married in the state are prevented from accessing the federal rights and benefits afforded to opposite-sex [...]
The US State Department (DOS) on Monday released a report on human rights in the US, which was presented to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR) last week. The report was submitted in order to comply with the rules of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) , which require council members to conduct [...]
Capital punishment advocates in Switzerland can begin collecting signatures in support of a referendum to reinstate the death penalty for those convicted of murder, the Federal Chancellery announced Tuesday. Campaigners for the referendum have until February 24, 2012, to accumulate at least 100,000 signatures in support of the measure in order to force a national [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction Monday blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Last year, President Barack Obama signed an executive order permitting federal funding for some forms of embryonic stem cell research. Despite the executive order, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth held that [...]
Engineering firm URS Corporation agreed Monday to a $54.2 million settlement stemming from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people. Victims sued URS for negligence, claiming that the company, which has a contract to inspect Minnesota’s bridges, should have foreseen that the bridge could collapse due to increased weight from construction projects. Under [...]
The administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) announced Monday that the GCCF is in service and will begin processing claims from the $20 billion fund established by British Petroleum (BP) to aid victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The GCCF, an independent facility, was implemented in June [...]
Ester : “Recently Amnesty International repeated its call to the British government to stop its “regime” of control orders. These orders, which allow the Home Secretary to restrict a person’s freedom of movement, were introduced by the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Control orders are supervised by the courts, but they allow admitting secret evidence [...]
A proposed amendment to China’s criminal law that would reduce the number of crimes punishable by death was presented Monday to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) . The current criminal code in China outlines 68 criminal offenses that carry the death penalty. If adopted, the proposed legislation would eliminate death sentences [...]
A military court in Iran has ordered the suspension of three top judiciary officials in connection with last year’s torture deaths of three detained protesters, the Mehr News Agency reported Monday. The three victims, Mohammad Kamrani, Amir Javadi-far and Mohsen Ruholamini, were tortured and beaten to death at the Kahrizak detention center after being arrested [...]
