The Sudanese government defended its handling of military and police personnel allegedly involved in human rights abuses in Darfur before the UN Human Rights Committee Wednesday, denying allegations that the government was collaborating with armed militias that have committed some of the worst atrocities against civilians while insisting that the Sudanese judiciary is capable of [...]
Amnesty International Thursday condemned Israel and Hezbollah for failing to investigate alleged war crimes and humanitarian law violations during the summer 2006 Lebanon conflict , calling upon the United Nations to establish a "comprehensive, impartial, and independent inquiry" to investigate the alleged violations and setup provisions to compensate the victims. Amnesty criticized Hezbollah for indiscriminately [...]
An investigating officer in the probe of 24 Iraqi civilian deaths at Haditha in November 2005 has recommended that Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani , commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines , should face a court-martial for dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order, according to a report obtained Wednesday by the Associated [...]
The French National Assembly Thursday approved an overtime reform measure championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy , which if enacted as law, would make overtime pay tax-free and reduce payroll fees for employers. The measure, which supporters say will encourage growth with additional work, would weaken the absolute 35-hour workweek adopted in 2000 under the socialist [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Benjamin Davis of the University of Toledo College of Law says it is a sad day for America when respected legal scholars writing in the New York Times are advocating a separate US judicial regime – what they call a "national security court" – to govern preventative detentions… After reading an op-ed [...]
South Dakota held its first execution in 60 years Wednesday, putting to death 25-year-old Elijah Page . Page was executed under new lethal injection protocols passed in February to ensure that prison wardens have the legal authority to use a three-drug combination instead of a two-drug mixture. South Dakota's 1984 state lethal injection law specified [...]
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen L. Johnson defended last month's EPA proposal to toughen standards for US air quality during testimony at a Wednesday Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works subcommittee hearing . Johnson testified that the current standard does not adequately protect public health. While many Democrats, including chair of Wednesday's [...]
Amnesty International Wednesday called for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to dismiss a UK request for a reconsideration of the absolute ban on torture and coercion in ECHR case law. The court is currently holding hearings in the case of Saadi v. Italy, where Nassim Saadi, a Tunisian national lawfully residing in Italy [...]
A military investigating officer in the case against Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt , accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November 2005, has recommended dropping all charges against Sharratt according to Wednesday reports. In his Investigating Officer's Report , released by Sharratt's lawyers Tuesday, Ware described the government's allegations that [...]
A Chilean judge rejected a request by Peru Wednesday seeking the extradition of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori , who has been charged in his former country with corruption and human rights violations. In the 122-point rejection, Judge Orlando Alvarez said flimsy evidence led him to reject the grounds for extradition. Alvarez also said the [...]
