A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Friday dismissed a petition brought by US terrorism detainee Omar Khadr , who sought review of his unlawful enemy combatant classification. The court agreed with the arguments of US Department of Justice lawyers and held that it did not have jurisdiction to [...]
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan testified Friday that he was unaware of any criminal wrongdoing by administration officials who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame . Appearing before the US House Judiciary Committee , McClellan said that he was unaware of any attempts by administration officials to cover up the leak, [...]
China has released more than 1,000 protesters detained by authorities during March demonstrations in Tibet Friday, according to comments attributed to a Chinese official by state press agency Xinhua. Speaking at a press conference on the Olympic Flame's visit to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, Chinese official Palma Trily said that 1,157 people detained in March [...]
The US House of Representatives Friday passed a compromise version of a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and including a controversial provision granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the NSA warrantless surveillance program . The bill also grants the FISA court authority to review a wider range of wiretapping [...]
The European Council agreed at a Friday meeting of government leaders in Brussels to reconvene in October to discuss the future of the Treaty of Lisbon . Last week, Irish voters rejected the Treaty with 53.4 percent voting against it, raising serious concerns that the Treaty, which sets out guidelines for EU reform, will fail [...]
The Court of Appeal of Quebec ruled Thursday that a national law which regulates the use of human embryos and bans human cloning encroaches upon provincial authority. The court held that regulatory provisions included in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act fell within provincial authority to generally regulate health and medical research and were beyond the [...]
European nations are among the worst violators of refugee rights because of the countries' strict border policies and their treatment of refugee seekers, according to a report released by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) on Thursday. The 60 main refugee host countries were graded based on their adherence to the UN Convention [...]
A German court convicted an Iraqi man for disseminating terrorist materials online in an attempt to recruit members for al-Qaeda on Thursday. The man, Ibrahim Rashid, an Iraqi political refugee of Kurdish descent, was convicted on 22 counts of recruiting for a non-German terrorist organization. He was arrested in 2006 and detained until his trial [...]
The UN Security Council Thursday condemned the use of sexual violence against civilians as a war tactic, saying that it can be "a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide." The resolution, adopted unanimously after a debate on women, peace and security , demands that warring parties immediately [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report Friday urging South Africa to grant temporary asylum and work permits to Zimbabweans who have fled to the country. The group said that the South African Department of Home Affairs has mischaracterized the refugees fleeing "political repression and economic deprivation," as ordinary migrants and that massive government deportation efforts [...]
