Chilean federal judge Alejandro Solis ordered the arrest of former dictator Augusto Pinochet Friday on charges in connection with 36 cases of kidnapping, 23 cases of torture and a single case of homicide at the Villa Grimaldi prison , an infamous political detention center allegedly operated by Pinochet's secret police between 1974 and 1977 in [...]
A new domestic violence law took effect in India Friday, with some women's rights advocates welcoming it and others warning that the landmark legislation would not be adequately enforced. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 prohibits marital rape and allows women to obtain protection and maintenance orders against husbands and partners who [...]
Four Chinese judges are facing trials for accepting bribes to fix the outcomes of cases in the province of Anhui . The charges coincide with statements by Chinese President Hu Jintao – himself a native of Anhui – at an anti-corruption conference in which he claimed that fighting bribery and other scandals is a top [...]
A UN General Assembly committee voted Thursday to begin work on a new treaty aiming to set uniform standards for global arms trade despite vocal opposition from the United States. The treaty would be directed at securing international cooperation in preventing arms deals that fuel wars or lead to human rights abuses. The First Committee [...]
The government of Ethiopia has confirmed a report made last week that its security forces killed 193 people during election protests in May and in November last year. Mekonnen Disasa, a member of the inquiry board charged with investigating the government's response, told reporters Thursday that government forces used reasonable force to deal with the [...]
The Supreme Court of Israel Thursday rejected an appeal by Palestinian villagers who claim that a 6-kilometer stretch of the border wall currently being built will separate them from their crops. The court cited security concerns in its ruling, noting that the three Jewish settlements in the area, Emanuel, Maale Shomron and Karnei Shomrom, have [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is keeping 4 acquitted genocide suspects in custody because no other countries were willing to accept them, the court announced Friday. The suspects acquitted by the court cannot return to Rwanda or stay in Tanzania, which hosts the tribunal, so must find an alternative place to settle. The [...]
Mexican President Vicente Fox Thursday criticized the Secure Fence Act of 2006 signed earlier in the day by President Bush. Fox called the legislation to build a 700-mile fence along part of the US-Mexican border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration "an embarrassment for the United States. It is proof, perhaps, that the United [...]
US District Judge Algenon Marbley granted a temporary restraining order Thursday blocking enforcement of Ohio's voter ID law as it applies to absentee ballots because Ohio's 88 counties are applying it inconsistently. The order was issued following a suit by the Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless [...]
The Chilean office of the HSBC bank said Thursday that it has no accounts in the name of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and that bank documents detailing Pinochet's alleged $160 million gold fortune supposedly held in its Hong Kong branch are forgeries. HSBC released the information following an order by the Santiago Court of [...]
