The European Union has agreed to adopt a "measured, step-by-step approach" to achieving a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty, according to German Minister of State Gunter Gloser, addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday. The EU adopted an advocacy stance on the issue in 1998 after the signing of the Guidelines to EU policy towards [...]
The Venezuelan legislature unanimously approved a bill Wednesday granting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez authority to enact laws by presidential decree without legislative approval for the next 18 months. The same measure received initial approval by the Venezuelan National Assembly last week. Since winning his third re-election last December, Chavez has called for "revolutionary laws" to [...]
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday that the Justice Department will turn over to the Senate Judiciary Committee the text of an order, granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) , authorizing government surveillance of transmissions coming into or going outside of the country where one party was suspected of association with a [...]
A three-year delay can be expected before former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre is brought to trial, Senegal Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said Tuesday following an African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia. The delay is necessary for Senegal to establish the legal procedures required to try Habre, and to secure funding for what is expected [...]
South Dakota lawmakers introduced a new abortion bill Wednesday that would ban the practice except in cases of rape, incest and serious risk to a woman's health. The state legislature passed a law banning most abortions in the state last year, but voters rejected the ban at the polls in November. The law did not [...]
New war crimes charges will be filed against Guantanamo Bay detainees beginning as early as Friday, chief prosecutor Col. Moe Davis (USAF) said Tuesday. Davis said, however, that charges are only expected to be filed against a few of the 10 detainees who were scheduled for trial before the Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. [...]
Turkey may legally require a political party to win at least 10 percent of the national vote in parliamentary elections in order to win seats in the country's National Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday. Two Turkish politicians, both ethnic Kurds, had challenged the 10 percent requirement as a violation of Article [...]
The Somali transitional government on Tuesday began imposing martial law over areas under the government's control, two weeks after martial law was approved by parliament . Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi made the announcement late Tuesday after a meeting of African leaders decided against sending an additional 4,000 peacekeeping troops to Somalia. Neighboring Ethiopia has [...]
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Former Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon was convicted by an Israeli court on Wednesday on charges of sexual misconduct for forcibly kissing an 18-year-old female soldier. The conviction could result in a jail term of up to three years. Ramon resigned from his position as Justice Minister in August after the Israeli attorney general decided [...]
