Paul Helmke : "Over the years, I have seen the gun lobby effectively thwart efforts to pass many sensible gun laws by arguing that even modest gun control would lead down the path to a complete ban on gun ownership. It is the classic "slippery slope" argument, and it has served the gun lobby well [...]
Former Cambodian Foreign Minister Ieng Sary is set to appeal his provisional detention in a June 30 open hearing to be broadcast on radio and TV stations, according to documents released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) . Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served as minister for social affairs, [...]
The Afghan juvenile justice system is in serious need of reform, according to a study conducted by the Afghan Independent Human Right Commission (AIHRC) in collaboration with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) . The report, released on Thursday, says that child detainees in Afghanistan face ongoing rights violations and are deprived of access to education, [...]
US firearm ownership advocacy groups filed lawsuits in Chicago and San Francisco late this week seeking to overturn laws which ban handguns within the cities. The lawsuits were filed within a day of the US Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller , in which the Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment [...]
A proposal by the Italian government to fingerprint the country’s Roma minority drew fierce criticism from the human rights community and Roma advocates on Friday. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced plans on Thursday to fingerprint thousands of Roma children, saying that the process would help to reduce street begging and keep children in school. The [...]
The US Department of Justice announced Friday that it has settled a lawsuit brought by former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Steven Hatfill , a development that may moot a landmark contempt case against former USA Today reporter Toni Locy now awaiting a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Under [...]
A South African magistrate Thursday set April 14, 2009 as the start of the corruption and fraud trial of suspended police commissioner Jackie Selebi . The South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) charged Selebi, the former president of INTERPOL , with corruption in connection with his alleged relationship with Glenn Agliotti , a convicted drug [...]
An HIV-positive soldier has challenged his upcoming dismissal from the Indian Army, the Supreme Court announced Friday. A Human Rights Law Network lawyer who is representing the soldier argued that the policy barring HIV-positive personnel from military service was "retrograde," pointing to a March 2008 ruling by the South African High Court that struck down [...]
The Canadian Federal Court ruled in two separate opinions Thursday that media comments by Quebec Justice John Gomery , who led the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal involving the Liberal Party and the administration of former prime minister Jean Chrétien , indicated bias against Chrétien and his chief of staff Jean Pelletier . The court [...]
Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer promised in an open letter Thursday that he would push for Austria to hold national referenda in deciding whether to accept future modifications of the EU reform treaty , properly known as the Treaty of Lisbon . The announcement came two weeks after Irish voters rejected the reform treaty in a [...]
