Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin has said that Ireland would likely accept detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay military prison if US President-elect Barack Obama closed the facility. In an interview with the Irish Examiner published Monday, Martin noted that Ireland supports closure of Guantanamo and said it was a "logical follow-through" for [...]
Four criminal trials began Monday in China's Hebei province for persons accused of involvement in the country's recent melamine-tainted milk scandal. The four are generally accused in connection with the manufacture of two hundred tons of melamine-containing protein powder and adding it to raw milk before selling the mixture to Chinese dairies between November 2007 [...]
The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal on Sunday commenced a new trial of two Saddam-era officials, including senior figures of Hussein's government, for their alleged involvement in the execution of thousands of political opponents during Hussein’s rule. The defendants include Hussein’s cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in the Western media as “Chemical Ali,” who [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law says that an international tribunal should be formed to prosecute persons involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks in order to avoid the politically unworkable alternatives of retaliatory surgical strikes and the extradition of Pakistani militants to India… Although a war between India and Pakistan [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay Sunday condemned what she called Israel’s “disproportionate use of force” against Hamas targets in Gaza and urged the Israeli government to “uphold international humanitarian law principles, especially those relating to proportionality in the use of military force and the prevention of collective punishment and the targeting of [...]
Egyptian Deputy Interior Minister Hamid Rashid Sunday announced the suspension and investigation of 280 police officers alleged to have abused their power and committed human rights violations. In a statement before the Egyptian Parliament, Rashid said as many as 1,164 police officers have already been fired for similar reasons. Egypt has recently come under increased [...]
The Taiwan High Court on Sunday overruled a district court decision to release former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian pending his trial on corruption charges, citing risks of flight, collusion and interference with other witnesses. The Taipei district court’s decision to release Chen was originally overruled on December 17 by the High Court. Sunday’s reversal was [...]
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski expressed reservations Saturday over the prospect of accepting detainees released from Guantanamo Bay as part of a US strategy to close the prison. In an interview with the Dziennik daily, Sikorski ventured that "the establishment of prisons outside the US legal system was one of the more serious errors of [...]
A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Saturday that Australia would be willing to consider acceptance of Guantanamo Bay detainees on a case-by-case basis, according to a report in The Australian. Rudd's spokesman confirmed that Australia, along with other countries, has been approached by the United States concerning prisoner resettlement possibilities. Australia strongly [...]
The Chinese Dairy Industry Association announced Saturday that 22 companies will provide financial compensation to families whose infants were harmed by melamine-contaminated milk . Families will receive a one-time payment of an unspecified amount, and may recover further for any future related medical expenses. In a statement quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the [...]
