The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday sentenced former Rwandan Armed Forces Colonel Tharcisse Renzaho to life imprisonment after convicting him of crimes in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Renzaho was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the Geneva Conventions . The court found that he supported [...]
A former CIA counter-terrorism agent alleges that top al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded prior to the issuance of legal memos justifying the practice, the BBC reported Monday. John Kiriakou, who was part of the CIA team that captured Zubaydah in Pakistan, said that the detainee was subject to the controversial interrogation technique prior [...]
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor on Tuesday denied war crimes allegations while testifying for the first time at his trial in the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) . Taylor faces 11 counts of crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions , and other violations of international humanitarian law stemming from a "campaign to [...]
The UK House of Lords on Monday approved a measure to create an independent commissioner for terrorism suspects, which must now go before the House of Commons. The Lords voted 145-103 on an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill offered by Lord Lloyd, over the objections of members of the Labour Party of Prime [...]
Members of Congress on Monday called for an investigation into a secret Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program designed to kill al Qaeda members. The call follows the recently publicized information that former vice-president Dick Cheney directly ordered the CIA to withhold information about the program from Congress and kept it secret for eight years. The [...]
Former US Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel lawyer John Yoo Monday declared his intent to appeal a lower court ruling allowing a lawsuit against him alleging complicity in torture to proceed. Yoo is appealing a June decision by District Judge Jeffrey White not to dismiss a lawsuit brought by convicted terrorist Jose Padilla [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Douglas NeJaime of Loyola Law School Los Angeles says that while the mainstreaming of gay rights is a good thing, movement lawyers who have traditionally championed the cause may have to get used to being displaced by mainstream, non-movement lawyers over whom they have less and less control…. A significant shift has [...]
The corruption trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori opened Monday with Fujimori confessing to having paid former Peruvian Intelligence Director Vladimiro Montesino $15 million to resign in 2000, but denying any criminal liability. Fujimori's confession was limited only to the facts in the case against him. He did not admit any wrongdoing or accept [...]
Gary Biller : "The National Motorists Association (NMA) opposes roadblocks and/or checkpoints with only one exception: when motorists need to be warned about unseen peril ahead, such as a collapsed bridge or washed-out roadway. Currently, roadblocks are also used for vehicle safety inspections, seatbelt use, driver's license possession, mandated insurance coverage requirements, and, perhaps most [...]
Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, International Court of Justice, July 13, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on the International Court of Justice.
