France Wednesday formally agreed to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances when it ratified a provision of the European Convention on Human Rights . Since its 2003 inception, Protocol 13 , designed to allow signatories to "take the final step in order to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances," has been adopted by [...]
The US Department of Justice filed notice Tuesday that it will appeal last month's district court decision that found provisions of the USA Patriot Act to be unconstitutional . The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used the Patriot Act to search the home and office of Brandon Mayfield , the Oregon lawyer who was arrested [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Medellin v. Texas , 06-984, where the court considered whether the Bush administration has the authority to direct a state court to comply with a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Jose Ernesto Medellin , a Mexican national sentenced to death in Texas for [...]
Many female human rights activists in Zimbabwe have been repeatedly arrested, unlawfully detained, and subjected to beatings at the hands of police, according to the preliminary results of surveys conducted by the advocacy group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) . The WOZA report released Tuesday showed that from an initial sample of 397 WOZA members, [...]
American Federation of Labor, et al., v. Michael Chertoff, et al., US District Court for the Northern District of California, October 10, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
US President George W. Bush Wednesday called for Congress to make permanent the expansion of surveillance powers granted in August's Protect America Act , adding that he would not sign any eavesdropping bill that does not grant retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies facing lawsuits related to government eavesdropping that was conducted without a court order. [...]
Myanmar opposition protester Win Shwe died while being interrogated by junta authorities, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Wednesday. The Thailand-based group said that Win Shwe died while being tortured and that his body was cremated at the detention facility. AAPP also said that the leader of the opposition 88 Generation Students Hla [...]
Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Zdravko Tolimir said in a Wednesday letter to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that he is in "excellent" health and that the ICTY registrar has exaggerated the severity his condition. The registrar expressed concern last week that Tolimir was suffering from a brain aneurysm and serious heart [...]
US and Iraqi officials said Wednesday that they have launched an investigation into Iraqi civilian deaths believed to be caused by armed guards working for security and defense company Unity Resources Group . Two women were killed in shootings that occurred on Tuesday in Baghdad. Unity was hired by US-based RTI International to provide security [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a federal appeals court ruling that the parents of a disabled child are entitled to reimbursement for the costs of private school education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) , even though the child never attended public school. In Board of Education of the City of [...]
