Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was sworn in to a new five-year term as the country's civilian president Thursday, taking the oath of office under the 1973 Constitution a day after stepping down as chief of the army . Delivering his inaugural address , Musharraf defended his decision to declare a state of emergency earlier this [...]
R (on the application of Countryside Alliance and others and others (Appellants)) v Her Majesty's Attorney General and another (Respondents), House of Lords, November 28, 2007 . Read the full text of the judgment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Human rights groups have expressed concerns about repression and rights violations in the run-up to Russian parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday. Amnesty International (AI), alleged Wednesday that the Russian government has interfered with opposition parties' rights of freedom of expression and free assembly . It characterized opposition candidate and former chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov – [...]
The Japanese House of Councillors passed a bill Wednesday to end Japan's air force mission in Iraq, with opposition leaders insisting that Japan should work through the United Nations rather than the United States. Japan withdrew its ground troops from Iraq last July, but a Japanese unit stationed in Kuwait still provides air support for [...]
A military court established in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian militant group Hamas handed down its first ruling on Wednesday, sentencing three members of rival party Fatah to 18 months in prison and fining them $280. A fourth Fatah member was sentenced to one year in prison and a $140 fine. The four men [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled Wednesday that former Croatian general Ante Gotovina must remain in detention in The Hague until his trial. The court denied Gotovina's motion for release and dismissed the motion to strike because of the risk he could flee. Gotovina, who has indicted for alleged crimes against [...]
The Iraqi parliament met briefly Wednesday to continue debate on a controversial bill that would allow former Baath Party members not convicted of any crimes to return to their previously held government positions, participate in the political process, and serve in the civil and military service. Discussion was inconclusive and despite a previous announcement no [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Wednesday reduced the sentences of three Rwandan media executives imprisoned for their roles in the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Ferdinand Nahimana and Hassan Ngeze, sentenced to life in prison in 2003, were granted sentence reductions to 30 years and 35 years, respectively. The third executive, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, had [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport , 06-457, where the Court is considering whether a Maine tobacco transport law is preempted by federal law. In 2003, Maine passed a law requiring special inspection of incoming tobacco packages to prevent purchases from unlicensed retailers who might sell [...]
Farzana Hassan : "While staunch affirmation of human rights remains the mantra of the day, the world continues to witness violations both great and small of this noble human ideal. Recently, a Canadian Muslim woman also felt her human rights violated and took her grievance to the Human Rights Commission. Her complaint– a uniform skirt [...]
