Former DOD General Counsel William "Jim" Haynes encouraged the use of harsh interrogation tactics on terror detainees, US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said at a Tuesday committee hearing . Refering to Haynes and others, Levin asked: So, how did it come about that American military personnel stripped detainees naked, put [...]

European Union foreign ministers said Monday that member states that have not yet ratified the EU reform treaty , formally known as the Treaty of Lisbon , should continue their ratification processes despite an Irish referendum which rejected the treaty last week . The agreement came during a special meeting held in Luxembourg, where the [...]

Katherine Southwick : "Refugees International (RI) is gravely concerned about actions taken by the Government of Egypt to deport as many as 1,200 asylum-seekers to Eritrea. Since last week, the Egyptian Government has reportedly scheduled several flights to Eritrea, taking the refugees back to the country they fled and where they face almost certain persecution [...]

The UN Security Council Monday issued a short presidential statement calling on Sudan to work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to "put an end to impunity for the crimes committed in Darfur." Sudan is not a party to the ICC, but must cooperate to fulfill its obligations under Council Resolution 1593 , which established [...]

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday spoke in favor of a controversial anti-terror bill that would allow authorities to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days in a speech he presented to the Institute for Public Policy Research . Brown said that stronger safeguards are needed to protect national security: I agree [...]

The trial of British national Simon Mann , accused of participating in a 2004 coup attempt against Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo , began Tuesday in Malabo. Government officials charged Mann, a former Special Air Service officer who allegedly signed the contract for the coup, with crimes against the head of state, crimes [...]

The Supreme Court of California ruling which overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage took effect Monday, allowing same-sex marriage ceremonies in the state to go ahead. The Court's decision has so far withstood challenges from both in-state conservative groups and out-of-state attorneys general who object to the ruling because it also allows couples from [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government of Pakistan to abolish the country's death penalty in a letter sent Tuesday to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani . In the letter, HRW expresses concern over the number of executions in the country, the high number of executable offenses in Pakistan's penal code, and the availability [...]

Russia will not recognize the new Kosovar constitution because it is illegal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced Monday. The Assembly of Kosovo adopted the constitution in April, and the EU later certified it as guaranteeing the individual and community rights of all its citizens. The constitution went into effect Sunday [...]

The district court in The Hague Monday began hearing the first civil action against the Dutch State for the actions of its peacekeeping troops during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre . The plaintiffs – UN translator Hasan Nuhanovic , whose family was killed in the massacre, and the family members of murdered electrician Rizo Mustafic – [...]