Ken Connor : "Eluana Englaro's tragic death by starvation and dehydration is yet another example of how the West is embracing a utilitarian view of life that is undermining human dignity. The standard of human worth is now "quality of life" rather than human equality. Those with diminished physical or mental abilities are seen as [...]
An Egyptian military court on Wednesday sentenced an Islamist opposition leader to two years in prison for illegally entering Gaza. Magdy Ahmed Hussein, leader of the Labor Party , was arrested last month on suspicion of crossing into the territory via an illegal tunnel. Hussein was also fined 5,000 Egyptian pounds, or about USD $900. [...]
Tibetan courts have convicted 76 people involved in the March 2008 Lhasa riots , according to official remarks on Tuesday by vice-president of the Tibet regional People's Congress Nyima Cering. The high ranking Tibetan official did not discuss sentence terms at the press conference, part of a state sponsored tour of the region for foreign [...]
Lawyers for Omar Khadr presented a plan Wednesday to return the Guantanamo Bay detainee to Canadian society. The outline, laid out at a news conference in Toronto, calls for assessments of the 22-year-old's health and education, and proposes he be housed in a foster home. Dennis Edney, one of Khadr's lawyers, called on Canadian Prime [...]
The Kenyan Parliament on Tuesday delayed voting on a constitutional amendment that would create a special tribunal for the country, following allegations by MP Gitobu Imanyara that government officials tried to bribe or blackmail MPs into voting for the bill. President Mwai Kibaki recently made an appeal for MPs to support the court, which would [...]
The Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday dismissed a corruption lawsuit against Hutomo Mandala Putra , son of former Indonesian President Haji Mohammed Suharto . The suit against Putra, also known as "Tommy Suharto," had been brought by the state and alleged that he had defrauded the government out of more than $300 million by selling [...]
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir must cooperate with any indictment or decision the International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue against him, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Tuesday. On Monday, Ban had a rare meeting with Bashir at a UN-African Union summit , where Ban urged Bashir to heed any ICC decisions and protect the 20,000 UN [...]
A bill has been introduced into the US House of Representatives that would end the ban on travel by US residents to Cuba. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, introduced last week by Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) , would allow all US citizens and legal residents to visit the island. Exceptions would include instances [...]
US State Department spokesperson Robert Wood on Tuesday defended the silence of the US delegates during the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of potential rights abuses, saying that the US is not actively participating because the administration of President Barack Obama is still deciding how it wants to interact with the Council. Wood [...]
Sean Mariano Garcia : "The mistreatment of the Rohingya at home is increasingly impacting countries throughout Asia and a two-pronged approach is needed to adequately address their plight. First, Myanmar's neighbors should begin a dialogue to improve the lives of the Rohingya inside their homeland. This means moving towards citizenship rights and an end to [...]
