A Thai court on Monday dismissed the government's application for an injunction against protesters gathered in Bangkok's business district. The Internal Security Operations Command, under the direction of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva , applied for an injunction that would have ordered the protest organizers to lead the group out of the area after three days [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Uzbekistan Monday to deliver on promises to improve its human rights record. In a speech to the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, Ban challenged the former Soviet republic to live up to its obligations as a signatory to various international treaties banning torture and civil rights [...]
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on Sunday announced plans to enact a law to increase protections for journalists using information obtained from government sources. Under section 353b of the German Penal Code , public officials who release state information can be punished by up to five years in prison. While the current law does not [...]
The Rwandan Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that the plea for release by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Laurent Nkunda can only be heard by a military court. According to Nkunda's counsel, Aime Bokanga, the court held that since the military was responsible for Nkunda's detention, a military court must hear his case [...]
The upper house of the Afghan parliament, the Meshrano Jirga, on Saturday backed a decree allowing the president to appoint all of the members of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) . The decree was issued in February by President Hamid Karzai following the disputed 2009 presidential election . Previously, the ECC was comprised of three [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday called on Kyrgyzstan to protect all forms of human rights , including "free speech and freedom of the media." In a statement to the to the Jogorku Kenesh , the parliament of Kyrgyzstan, Ban stressed the importance of respecting human rights of all people: Robust civil society, tolerance for [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday dismissed as moot 105 habeas corpus petitions of non-citizen former Guantanamo Bay detainees who are no longer in US custody. Judge Thomas Hogan wrote that in deciding the case, the court was answering one of the questions left open by the [...]
Neil P. Reiff : "Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, sitting en banc, issued a significant, yet unsurprising decision in Speechnow.org. v. FEC. In Speechnow.org, the Circuit Court ruled 9-0, that a federal political committee that engages exclusively in independent expenditures is not subject to the $5,000 [...]
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday announced changes to airport security rules , moving toward a screening system based on intelligence information. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the new system will apply to all air carriers with international flights to the US, and is more effecting at stopping terrorist threats: These new [...]
The Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor announced Friday that it has issued an international warrant for the arrest of alleged Nazi war criminal and naturalized American citizen Peter Egner . Head Serbian prosecutor Vladmir Vukcevic has accused Egner of having been a member of Einsatzgruppe , an SS paramilitary outfit alleged to be [...]
