A commission established to investigate the political and ethnic violence that followed Kenya's disputed December 2007 presidential election released a report on Wednesday recommending the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspected perpetrators. The Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence cited “systematic attacks on Kenyans based on their ethnicity and their political leanings” and [...]
US President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed a bill designed to further insulate federal inspectors general (IGs) from political interference. The Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 is the latest in a series of amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978 , which created the oversight offices within executive agencies. The new law [...]
A judge on the Constitutional Court of Italy on Wednesday suspended the trial of 26 Americans and five former Italian intelligence officials for the 2003 abduction and rendition of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr to consider whether to compel a witness to answer questions that may implicate state secrets. During cross-examination in a closed [...]
An urgent effort by the Bush administration to transfer 17 Guantanamo detainees outside the US has stalled as a result of a bitter interagency dispute, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday. Last week, US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the 17 Chinese Muslim Uighurs held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist William G. Ross of Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, says that when they go to the polls in November, American voters should carefully consider the candidates' positions and likely impact on the federal courts as the outcome of the 2008 election could profoundly influence the decisions of those courts, and especially [...]
US and Iraqi negotiators Wednesday agreed on a draft for a Status of Forces Agreement that gives Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over American military personnel. According to Iraqi officials quoted by AP Wednesday, the draft agreement requires US troops to face trial before Iraqi courts for major crimes committed off base when the troops are [...]
Chile's Supreme Court Wednesday sentenced five former Chilean military officers for their role in the killing of five leftist political opponents as part of the so-called "Caravan of Death" in October 1973. General Sergio Arellano Stark was sentenced to six years in prison for his role leading a group that toured provincial cities in Chile [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases, including Waddington v. Sarausad , 07-772, in which the Court will consider whether a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit correctly overturned the murder conviction of a driver in a 1994 Seattle drive-by shooting on the grounds of incorrect [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a district court order requiring Ohio's secretary of state to establish a system that allows county elections boards to confirm newly registered voters' eligibility. The court, sitting en banc, vacated a stay imposed by a Sixth Circuit panel last week. The temporary restraining [...]
A report issued Tuesday by Amnesty International (AI) links the large number of executions in Saudi Arabia to flaws in the Saudi judicial system. The report, titled Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia, noted a significant increase in executions from 2006 to 2007, when at least 158 death sentences were carried out, and [...]
