The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) began the substantive portion of the first trial of a former Khmer Rogue leader Monday when Kaing Guek Eav was brought before the court. Pretrial hearings against Kaing, also known as "Duch," began last month, but the substantive portion of the trial began when the proceedings [...]
Greek authorities are not doing enough to ensure that the nation's police respect human rights, according to a Monday briefing from Amnesty International (AI) urging the government to investigate and address "long-standing problems of policing." AI said allegations of human-rights abuses, including torture, the use of excessive force, arbitrary detentions, and denial of prompt legal [...]
A US Army sergeant was convicted Monday and sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007. Sgt. First Class Joseph Mayo, formerly of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry and two other soldiers were charged in September with shooting the four bound and blindfolded prisoners and disposing of their bodies [...]
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan decided Sunday to allow President Hamid Karzai to remain in office until this August's general election . Under the Afghanistan Constitution , Karzai's term in office expires May 21, but the court held that since the extension of the election until August for security reasons was contrary to the constitution, [...]
Thousands protested the proposed liberalization of Spain's abortion laws in Madrid on Sunday. The changes, proposed earlier this month , include allowing abortions up to week 14 of pregnancy for any reason and lowering the age required for an abortion from 18 to 16. These reforms are in sharp contrast with the current law, established [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Saira Mohamed of Columbia Law School says any decision by the UN Security Council to stop the International Criminal Court's proceedings against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by using its power under Article 16 of the Rome Statute would render the ICC a mere bargaining chip and would only worsen the situation [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Friday upheld the dismissal of a $50 million lawsuit against the US for the 1998 executive order authorizing a missile strike against a Sudan pharmaceutical plant issued by former president Bill Clinton . The three-judge panel made its decision on grounds that Clinton's order was [...]
US Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern said Sunday that the country was committed to the creation of an international treaty designed to combat global warming , but that such efforts would only succeed if they were economically feasible. Stern made the comments during the opening of a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate [...]
Former US State Department (DOS) lawyer Vijay Padmanabhan criticized the administration of former president George W. Bush for approving the use of extreme interrogation techniques against terrorism suspects, in an interview with the Associated Press reported Friday. Padmanabhan, who now teaches at Cardozo School of Law in New York, served as the DOS's chief counsel [...]
The Israeli Cabinet voted in a meeting Sunday to deny Hamas prisoners privileges not required by law, such as education, entertainment and some visitation. The move, recommended by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann , is intended to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit , who was captured in Gaza in 2006. The new policy [...]
