The US Supreme Court Friday ordered the Obama administration and lawyers for Chinese Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay to file briefs explaining how Switzerland's decision to accept two Uighurs as refugees affects their pending habeas petition . The Court originally granted certiorari in Kiyemba v. Obama to determine whether it is within the power of [...]
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson on Friday presented a bill that would create "transit zones" allowing the French government to immediately detain undocumented immigrants wherever they are found. According to Besson, the draft law will allow the government to hold either a single individual or a group if they arrive outside a specified checkpoint. The [...]
The head of the UK intelligence service MI5 on Friday denied accusations that it had collaborated with the US over the alleged torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed . Director General Jonathan Evans made the comments in response to criticisms by Lord David Neuberger that the organization did not respect human rights, that [...]
Nigerian acting President Goodluck Jonathan must take action to "tackle the culture of impunity" in Nigeria, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a letter dated Friday. HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth called on Jonathan to address rights abuses left unaddressed during the two-and-a-half-year term of the Umaru Yar'Adua presidency. Specifically, the letter highlighted "endemic corruption, [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out a military commission for accused 9/11 co-conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , in an interview with the Washington Post published Friday. Holder said that more important than the location or forum is that the trial be transparent and adhere to the rules. Administration officials said President Barack [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday dismissed the appeal against the imposition of a court-appointed lawyer by former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic . Last month, Karadzic appealed the imposition of a court-appointed lawyer claiming his right to "legal assistance of his own choosing" under Article 21(4)(d) of the Statute [...]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider a petition questioning the legality of the arrest of opposition presidential candidate and former general Sarath Fonseka . The petition was filed by Fonseka's wife. Also Friday, street protests against Fonseka's arrest continued for a third day. Lawyers marched silently in Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, [...]
Elizabeth Samson : "From the time that US President Barack Obama came into office there has been talk of the United States joining the International Criminal Court, but those efforts may be laid to rest for the time being. It appears as though this administration has not come much further in being convinced that participation [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Friday that Russia breached the European Convention on Human Rights in two cases concerning disappearances in Chechnya . In the cases of Razman Guluyeva and Islam Dubayev , the ECHR held that Russia violated the right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to [...]
Israel has begun to reroute a segment of its West Bank security barrier , said Ministry of Defense spokesperson Shlomo Dror on Thursday. The modifications, which may not be completed until the end of the year, will shift the controversial barrier's path several hundred yards west of its current location near Bilin, and will return [...]
