German government spokesperson Thomas Steg said Monday that Germany would consider taking in detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay military prison if US President-elect Barack Obama closed the facility. Steg said that Germany supports closure of the facility and that all European Union (EU) member states should cooperate to formulate a plan for taking in [...]
An Iraqi court on Sunday began a new trial for Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali," and three other Saddam Hussein-era officials accused in a 1998 gas attack that killed 5,000 Kurds. The relatives of the plaintiffs were allegedly gassed to death in the Kurdish village of Halabja. [...]
Iranian security forces on Sunday raided and closed the offices of a human rights group run by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi . The Iranian judiciary declared that the office of Ebadi's Center for the Defense of Human Rights did not have the proper legal permits. The closure prevented the group from conducting its [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Micah Berman of New England School of Law says that by bringing attention to the issue of “light” and “low tar” cigarettes, the US Supreme Court's ruling in Altria v. Good may prompt state attorneys general to finally force an end to this long-running public health deception… Last Monday, the US Supreme [...]
The deposed president of Mauritania Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was freed from house arrest Sunday, according to Mauritanian officials. Abdallahi was picked up by military forces early Sunday at his home in Lemden and was taken to the capital Nouakchott where he was released. Abdallahi had been under house arrest since a military coup in [...]
An Argentine court on Friday suspended its decision to release up to 20 suspects who are accused of committing human rights violations during the country's military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, known as the "Dirty War" . The court Thursday released the men pending bail , saying that the two-year legal deadline for holding them [...]
Four white Zimbabwean farmers were charged Thursday with trespassing on state property for failing to vacate farms that were seized by the government. The charges are in defiance of a November ruling by the South African Development Community Tribunal that ordered Zimbabwe to halt its controversial Land Reform Program . The tribunal held that the [...]
The Iraqi parliament Saturday voted down a status of forces draft law which would have permitted 6,000 troops from the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania, El Salvador, and Estonia to remain in the country after the current UN mandate authorizing the multi-national force in Iraq expires on December 31, 2008. Iraqi members of parliament voted 80 [...]
Iraqi judge Dhia Al Kinani Friday announced an investigation into the alleged beating of Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi. Al-Zaidi was allegedly beaten after throwing his shoes at US President George W. Bush on December 14 during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki where the two leaders discussed the signing of the [...]
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said Friday that 23 employees of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior who were arrested this week for alleged attempts to rebuild Saddam Hussein's Baath party have been released. On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that the arrested individuals were not planning a coup against the government. Interior [...]
