The conflict-ravaged nations of Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan, and Iraq rank among the world's most corrupt, according to the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) prepared by Transparency International (TI) . The index, released Tuesday, ranked 180 countries based on observations by businesspeople and analysts, giving each a score between 0 and 10. Somalia had the [...]
The Constitutional Court of Russia on Thursday extended the moratorium on the death penalty until the Russian parliament ratifies an international treaty abolishing capital punishment. In 1997, Russia signed, but did not ratify, Protocol 6 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms , which was put forward by the Council [...]
The UK High Court ruled Thursday that the details of the detention of Binyam Mohamed in Pakistan in 2002 must be released. This most recent decision is the latest in a series of back and forth rulings on whether redacted materials regarding Mohamed's detention should be disclosed. An October interim ruling by Lord Justice Thomas [...]
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Thursday denied the appeals of five former military officers sentenced to death for the 1975 military coup assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , the country's first leader. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed , Mujibur's daughter, praised the latest decision in the 16-year old murder trial . The convicted [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Thursday that airline passengers confronted with flight delays of two hours or more may receive compensation equal to that of passengers whose flights are cancelled. The flat-rate compensation ranges between 250 and 600 euros. The case arose under European Parliament and European Council Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 , [...]
Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged to fight corruption in his government during his inaugural address on Thursday. To this end, Karzai announced that he would soon be organizing a conference to research the sources of the corruption and bribery that is widespread throughout Afghanistan and find ways to combat it. Additionally, he announced that his [...]
The Brazilian Supreme Court on Wednesday voted 5-to-4 to extradite former Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti back to Italy, but left the final decision to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , who granted him asylum earlier this year. The high court has yet to decide if the order mandates Lula to extradite Battisti or merely [...]
A judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Wednesday found the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) negligent in its operation and maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) . Damages nearing $720,000 were awarded to five plaintiffs , who successfully demonstrated that known defects in the MRGO and [...]
A former senior Canadian diplomat alleged Wednesday that the Canadian military was complicit in the torture of Afghans by their own government, during testimony before the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan . Richard Colvin, who represented the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in Kandahar from 2006-2007 [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California (FPD) on Wednesday to pay a monetary award to a man denied healthcare benefits for his same-sex spouse. Deputy federal public defender Brad Levenson brought the suit requesting the court to direct [...]
