Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman major general Abdel Karim Khalaf said Thursday that the country would not renew a contract allowing Blackwater Worldwide private security forces to operate within the country. Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) , which became effective this month and was signed by the US and Iraq in December, the country has [...]
Former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic requested Thursday that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) shorten his indictment in order to expedite his trial. The request came as a response to a motion by ICTY prosecutors last September, seeking to amend Karadzic's indictment and simplify the trial. That amendment [...]
The trial of former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga resumed Thursday after the first witness to testify withdrew his testimony Wednesday, causing the inaugural war crimes trial of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to adjourn temporarily to assess witness safety. The witness, who remains unidentified, initially testified that he was recruited by Lubanga's soldiers to [...]
A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that the US may continue to hold Yemeni detainee Ghaleb Nassar Al Bihani at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. Judge Richard Leon held that the government had met its burden of proving, by a preponderance of evidence, that Al Bihani is [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist S.R. Subramanian of the Hidayatullah National Law University in Raipur, India, says that recent UN Security Council endorsement of a law enforcement mechanism called a "shipriders agreement" represents a significant step forward in the new international fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia… Maritime piracy is one of the oldest international [...]
Japanese defense minister Yasukazu Hamada on Wednesday ordered the country's Maritime Self-Defense Force to prepare to travel to the waters surrounding Somalia to combat piracy in the region, despite concerns that combat could be prohibited by the country's constitution. Hamada has said the plan is designed to protect the country's commercial interests, but opposition lawmakers [...]
Former Malawi President Bakili Muluzi will likely be tried for corruption after the country's Supreme Court of Appeal Tuesday struck down an injunction that had stalled the investigation into his alleged theft of international aid money. Muluzi contends that the charges are political, as he intends to seek a third, non-consecutive term in the country's [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17-2 Wednesday to approve the nomination of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General. Holder won the approval of all the Democrats on the committee, as well as some of the Republicans, including ranking Republican committee member Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) . The two dissenting votes were cast by [...]
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Tuesday began the war crimes trial of former Serbian general Vlastimir Djordjevic . Djordjevic was arrested in 2007 and formally indicted in July 2008 for his participation in crimes against humanity, murder, and illegal deportation. The indictment alleges that Djordjevic used his role in the Serbian government [...]
A Peruvian court on Tuesday ruled that two alleged members of the Colina Group must be released without charge after six years in custody. Douglas Arteaga Pascual and Angel Pino Diaz were never convicted during the 72 months they spent in prison. Peruvian law mandates that prisoners be released after 32 months if they have [...]
