The Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I) announced charges Saturday of premeditated murder and wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of deceased Iraqis against US Army Staff Sergeant Michael A. Hensley and Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr. The two soldiers allegedly killed three unarmed Iraqis in three separate incidents between April and June 2007 in the vicinity of [...]
US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) Friday asked the White House to provide a legal basis for its assertion of executive privilege in rejecting congressional subpoenas in the investigation of the US Attorney firings controversy . In a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding, [...]
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed a bill Friday repealing a 2003 law requiring parental notification for minors seeking an abortion . New Hampshire is the first state to repeal the notification requirement, though the 2003 statute never took effect in the state due to a successful court challenge . The rescission bill, initially passed [...]
A military judge at Guantanamo Bay Friday declined to revive charges against Guantanamo detainee Omar Ahmed Khadr . Judge Peter E. Brownback, III reiterated his June ruling that since the Combatant Status Review Tribunal that reviewed Khadr's status had not found him to be an "unlawful enemy combatant" as required under the Military Commissions Act [...]
The Council of the European Union Friday released changes made to the procedure used in establishing and maintaining its list of terrorist entities. The revisions include a plan to send "letters of notification" to listed parties, who are subject to having their assets frozen, to explain why the individual or group was included on the [...]
Four Sunni members of the Iraqi cabinet will boycott cabinet meetings to protest the arrest warrant issued for Culture Minister Asad Kamal al-Hashimi, a Sunni politician said Friday. Ayad Al-Samarraie, a leading figure in Sunni parliamentary coalition Iraqi Accordance Front , said that the arrest warrant was part of a sectarian effort to remove Sunni [...]
The United Nations Security Council called for continued international financial support of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) Thursday. The 15-member group also welcomed the start of the trial against former Liberian President Charles Taylor and applauded the court for handing out its first judgments last week. The Security Council said an international [...]
Humanitarian group Refugees International Friday released a report documenting flaws in Sudanese law that leaves rapists unpunished and allows the prosecution of rape victims for sex outside marriage. According to the report, government soldiers and sanctioned militias are often the perpetrators, but laws in Sudan grant immunity to members of the military, security forces, and [...]
The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that immigration reform groups can pursue a lawsuit against Governor Janet Napolitano alleging her administration improperly limited Proposition 200 , a voter-approved ballot initiative that requires proof of citizenship before a person can vote or receive public benefits. Judge G. Murray Snow held that the trial judge incorrectly [...]
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski vowed Friday to reopen debate on the EU Council of Minister's voting mechanisms, insisting on a different interpretation of the EU reform agreement reached last Saturday by EU leaders. Kaczynski, who has previously threatened to veto any proposed treaty unless Poland retained more power in the voting scheme, says that [...]
