JURIST Guest Columnists Lawrence Friedman and Victor Hansen of New England School of Law say that Barack Obama's recent executive orders directing the closure of Guantanamo and the CIA prisons suggest that he has a different and more limited view of Presidential emergency power then his predecessor… Among the first acts of President Barack Obama’s [...]
A spokesperson for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday announced that Medvedev's administration will modify a legislative proposal that would change the definition of treason, state secrets, and espionage, amid criticisms that the current text could limit human rights. Civil rights activists have warned that the bill would allow the government to arrest any government [...]
A French court on Tuesday postponed a ruling on whether to overturn the sentences of five French citizens who were released from US custody at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in July 2004 and March 2005 . The five, identified as Brahim Yadel, 37, Mourad Benchellali, 26, Nizar Sassi, 27, Khaled Ben Mustapha, 35, and [...]
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials on Tuesday said that the SEC is committed to greater enforcement in the wake of the recently-revealed fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff , at a hearing before the US Senate Banking Committee . The Committee, chaired by Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) , heard testimony from two [...]
Robert Doyle : "The FTC's insistence on pursuing the consummated Whole Foods/Wild Oats transaction is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of present competition between traditional supermarkets and organic food stores. The FTC is seeking to undo Whole Foods' acquisition of rival Wild Oats after losing a 2007 preliminary injunction proceeding which was overturned on appeal. [...]
Rob Sherman : "The real purpose of the Student Prayer Act was a "see, try and buy" marketing scam by Christian legislators. Christians already had the right to pray before, after and even during school. What they really wanted to accomplish through this law was to force a captive audience of non-religious kids to see [...]
Indonesian police plan to request access to suspected al Qaeda bomber Ridhuan Isammudin (a.k.a. Hambali), currently held at Guantanamo Bay . A spokesman for the Indonesian National Police said that they would coordinate a formal request to question Hambali regarding the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and his connection to the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist group. [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday urged participants in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to respect human rights and international law . Pillay expressed particular concern about reports of continuous abuses by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) , a Ugandan rebel group. After a joint military [...]
The Ontario Court of Appeal Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that prohibits the media from reporting on the terrorism trial of a group known as the "Toronto 18" . The 3-2 decision found that a Canadian criminal statute allowing defendants to request a media blackout is applicable in this instance. The majority wrote that [...]
A spokesperson for the US Department of Defense (DOD) said Monday that the US will not change its policy on the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Saudi Arabia, despite reports that two former prisoners have joined al Qaeda in Yemen. A US counterterrorism official has confirmed that two of the nine alumni of the [...]
