US v. Anibal Acevedo Velo et al., United States District Court for the District of Columbia, March 24, 2008 . Read the full text of the indictment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A magistrate in Zimbabwe on Thursday handed down a six-month suspended jail sentence to the first white farmer convicted for refusing to vacate his farm after it was declared state property under Zimbabwe's farm seizure program . Deon Theron was convicted last Tuesday of unlawfully remaining on his farm, and several other white farmers are [...]

The Belarus KGB Thursday detained at least 16 journalists and searched their homes and offices for materials that allegedly libel Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko . The Belarus Deputy Prosecutor General said that the searches related to an animated Internet cartoon that allegedly insulted Lukashenko and had been broadcast on Belsat TV , a Polish-funded satellite [...]

The UN has raised sufficient funds to cover the first-year costs of an international tribunal with the mandate of investigating and trying suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel said Thursday. Michel said that the UN has so far received a total of $60.3 [...]

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Thursday he would personally ensure that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) does not bow to political pressure as it prosecutes government officials for corruption. In a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Mukasey said: Public corruption can inflict damage that is not only costly but also [...]

UK Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne admitted Thursday that British soldiers had violated the human rights of several Iraqi detainees in Basra in 2003, saying that the Ministry of Defence would specifically admit to substantive breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights at a hearing scheduled to take place Friday. Nine Iraqi [...]

Green Party of Michigan, et al. v. Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, March 26, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution Thursday urging Sudan to address human rights violations and to prosecute perpetrators of rights abuses. The resolution, introduced by Egypt, also acknowledged that Sudan had instituted some measures to protect human rights, a concession apparently included to avoid a contentious vote. Last week, the UN High Commissioner [...]

Proposals put forth by the European Commission to regulate passports and create a centralized fingerprint database fail to adequately address privacy concerns, the head of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said in an opinion letter released Wednesday. Peter Hustinx said the Commission's plans do not adequately address the inherent imperfections of biometric systems, especially [...]

A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico charged Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila and 12 associates with 27 counts of conspiracy, false statements, wire fraud, federal program fraud and tax crimes related to campaign financing, and other crimes in an indictment unsealed Thursday. The charges stem from the alleged improper financing of [...]