The German ambassador to Rwanda was given 24 hours on Tuesday to leave the country in response to Sunday's arrest of a Rwandan presidential aide in Germany in connection with the 1994 assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarima that touched off the infamous Rwanda genocide . Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs Rosemary Museminali said that the [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Wednesday in Winter v. National Resources Defense Council that the US Navy may continue using sonar as part of military training exercises, despite environmentalists' concerns for the impact this has on whales and other marine life. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority: We do not discount the [...]

Bolivian officials on Tuesday formally requested that the US issue extradition orders for former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to face genocide charges for his role in October 2003 riots over corporate exploitation of the country's natural gas resources that left at least 60 dead. The officials have also called for the extradition of [...]

US Army Sgt. Michael Leahy Jr. will face a court-martial for his alleged role in the killings of four Iraqis in April 2007 , after waiving his right to an Article 32 hearing Wednesday. In September, Leahy, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo, and Sgt. John Hatley were charged with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday urged Afghan President Hamad Karzai to put a stop to executions and join nations calling for a death penalty moratorium. The call came after five prisoners were executed over the last four days. Pillay conceded that the prisoners were convicted of serious crimes but expressed [...]

Two former Bangladeshi cabinet members, including a former interior minister, were released on bail Tuesday, after being arrested in 2007 for alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. The two, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Altaf Hossain Choudhury, were released after the Bangladesh Supreme Court refused to overturn a High Court order granting them bail. Hossain and [...]

Russian State Duma officials said Wednesday they would expedite consideration of constitutional amendments submitted by President Dmitry Medvedev that would extend presidential and parliamentary terms. The Duma's constitutional committee has recommended that the three required readings of the proposed legislation be done at one time, which would enable the legislation to be passed as early [...]

The South Korean government Tuesday established a committee of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) to investigate alleged human rights abuses in North Korea. The formation of the new committee is expected to become a source of tension between the two countries. The human rights situation in North Korea has recently come under [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law, former Chief Prosecutor for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, says that US officials need to move forward to establish the rules and regulations necessary under the new Child Soldiers Accountability Act and set an example for other nations so that those who [...]

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) announced Tuesday that it has renewed claims and is seeking greater damages against 13 local cigarette importers in an effort to "curb the spreading of some serious health problems caused by cigarette smoking." The lawsuit, filed by MOH last year , seeks $34 billion in compensation, and is [...]