Defense lawyers for former Liberian president Charles Taylor on Monday filed a Rule 98 motion for acquittal following the close of the prosecution's case at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) . The defense admits that atrocities were committed in Sierra Leone but maintains that the prosecution failed to provide evidence linking Taylor to [...]

George Lenard : "In the academic world, this case will be a law professor's pleasure and a law student's nightmare. It presents interesting conflicting precedents and policies. Justice Thomas's majority opinion seems to make sense on first reading, but then so do the dissents – typical disagreements from the Supremes. At least there are no [...]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that he has ordered the review of a law which severely limits the rights of married Shi'ite women in the country. The Shi'ite Personal Status Law was enacted last month and has not yet been published, but opponents say the law requires a woman to seek her husband's permission [...]

Israeli Attorney General Meni Mazuz said Sunday that he intends to charge former prime minister Ehmud Olmert with additional corruption charges for allegedly abusing a previous governmental post to benefit friends and business partners. Mazuz alleged that, before becoming prime minister, Olmert used a position at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor to give [...]

Officials in Malaysia on Sunday announced the release of 13 people who were detained under the country's controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) , in a move called for Friday by Prime Minister Najib Razak in his first address to the nation . Two ethnic Indian leaders of the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were [...]

The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on Friday called on the government of Rwanda to investigate reports of killings during and after the uprising by the Rwandan Patriotic Army to end the 1994 genocide . In its concluding observations after reviewing Rwanda's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) , the [...]

Keiko Hirata : "In March 2009, the Tokyo District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by Japanese teachers who had been penalized for refusing to sing Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem, at school ceremonies. The court rejected the teachers' demand that their punishment be rescinded, ruling that the 2003 directives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government ordering [...]

Bavaria's Secretary of Justice Beate Merk told reporters Saturday that the deportation of Nazi prison camp guard John Demjanjuk , does not amount to torture. Demjanjuk was recently charged with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder by German prosecutors for his alleged involvement at the Sobibor concentration camp. On Friday, he won a ruling in [...]

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday strongly criticized the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) investigation into possible war crimes that were committed during recent fighting in the Gaza Strip . In an interview with a reporter, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the probe is an attempt to demonize Israel and that it [...]

US President Barack Obama may lift travel and money transfer restrictions with Cuba , according to statements by administration officials Saturday. The new rules would allow Americans with family members in Cuba to make unlimited trips to the country and would permit them to send unrestricted amounts of money for support, the officials said. Currently, [...]