An international commission should be set up to investigate human rights abuses that allegedly occurred during the 25-year civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday. Earlier this week, a Sri Lankan government official announced Tuesday that an internal investigation [...]
The US Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to approve legislation that would block the release of controversial photos allegedly depicting abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation, which is included in a war spending bill, would exempt the disclosure of certain photographs under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in cases where the secretary [...]
Zimbabwe is still experiencing serious human rights violations and needs to confront issues that led to such problems, Amnesty International (AI) said Thursday. Calling the violations "persistent and serious," AI called for Zimbabwean leaders to reform police, army, and security forces and address the lack of government commitment to rectifying human rights issues. AI urged [...]
Political activists and politicians in Iran have been arrested following protests of the country's controversial presidential election , human rights groups said Wednesday. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) , former foreign minister and current leader of the Freedom Movement of Iran Ebrahim Yazdi was arrested Wednesday in a Tehran [...]
The US Supreme Court issued opinions in four cases Thursday. The Court ruled 5-4 in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne that a defendant does not have the right to obtain post-conviction access to the state’s biological evidence in order to do DNA testing. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Osborne [...]
Spain will consider accepting four Guantanamo Bay detainees at the request of the US government, foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Wednesday. Before Spain responds to the request, Moratinos said that the government will consider the charges against the prisoners, determine whether accepting them will pose any problems with other countries, and consider other legal [...]
Dimitrios Ioannidis : "On December 6, 2008, a member of the elite Greek police forces shot and killed 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos in the Exarchia section of Athens. Eyewitnesses to the incident described a group of young adults throwing stones at the police officers involved in the shooting until one of the officers allegedly [...]
The Rhode Island General Assembly approved a medical marijuana bill Tuesday, overriding a veto from Governor Donald Carcieri . The legislation seeks to establish three state-licensed dispensaries to provide marijuana for patients who qualify. Patients will be issued a registry identification card and will be allowed to possess up to 12 mature plants and two [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday rejected challenges to a securities fraud class action suit brought by former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy , affirming a $445 million settlement against the HealthSouth corporation. Scrushy, who did not settle, argued that the district court erred in allowing the bar order to negate [...]
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a memorandum that would provide certain benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. In a fact sheet released earlier in the day, the White House disclosed that the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Secretary of State have been working for several months to [...]
