The legal advisor to the Convening Authority for Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay testified before members of Congress Tuesday that evidence gathered from interrogation techniques such as waterboarding may be admissible during military commission proceedings if it is "reliable and probative." Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, Air Force [...]
US President George W. Bush granted pardons to 29 people on Tuesday, including some convicted for drug crimes, fraud, or kickback schemes. In addition, Bush reduced the sentence of another man who had been convicted for dealing crack cocaine. He did not pardon former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , despite having previously said [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted a motion Tuesday compelling the US government to preserve all evidence of torture against Majid Khan , the first "high-value" Guantanamo Bay detainee to be allowed to meet privately with attorneys. Khan, a 27-year-old Pakistani detainee and the only US resident among the 15 [...]
The US Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to give retroactive effect to an earlier amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that will reduce penalties for crack cocaine offenders . The amendment, which took effect November 1, was intended to narrow the disparity between sentences for powder and crack cocaine offenses. Under the Sentencing Reform Act [...]
Robert Pickton , accused of the deadliest string of serial killings in Canadian history, was sentenced by a British Columbia judge Tuesday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. The sentence was the maximum authorized by Canadian law for second-degree murder. Pickton was convicted Sunday in connection with the deaths [...]
In Re: Motion for Release of Court Records, United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, December 11, 2007 . Read the full text of the memorandum opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
CIA Director Michael Hayden appeared before the US Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed session Tuesday to testify about the CIA's destruction of videotapes allegedly showing the harsh interrogation of "high value" terror suspects. Panel members noted that major questions still remained following Hayden's testimony, including who actually authorized the tapes' destruction and why Congress [...]
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) Tuesday ruled against publicly releasing documents regarding the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program , finding that the documents deal with national security secrets. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion with FISC, asking the court to "disclose recent legal opinions discussing the scope [...]
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for abuse of authority in the last months of his 1990-2000 rule. Fujimori was convicted of ordering a warrantless search in 2000 on the apartment of the wife of former Peruvian Intelligence Director Vladimiro Montesino . Prosecutors alleged that the search was [...]
Cuba will sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the first quarter of the coming year, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Monday during an event to mark International Human Rights Day. He also said Cuba would join the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , and that the [...]
