Statistics published this week show that almost 400 euthanasia cases were reported in Belgium in 2005, almost double the level when the Belgian parliament adopted controversial legislation authorizing the practice in 2002. Wim Distelmans, chairman of the Federal Evaluation and Control Commission responsible for receiving reports from doctors and for compiling annual statistics, says that [...]

Oversight letter from Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chair of the US House Judiciary Committee, to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting answers about the National Security Agency's (NSA) terrorist surveillance program, February 8, 2006. Read the full text of the questions .

United States v. Abdullah Ahmed Khadr, US Attorney, February 7, 2006 . Read the full text of the indictment. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Canadian Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish reserved decision Wednesday after hearing arguments in the case of US military deserter Jeremy Hinzman , who fled to Canada in January 2004 with his wife and son to avoid deployment to Iraq. The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board denied Hinzman’s request for refugee status last March, saying he [...]

In response to the publication of Muhammad caricatures in European newspapers, British Muslim leaders on Wednesday called for the UK Parliament to amend the country's Race Relations Act to protect Muslims as well as Jews and Sikhs, and to change the rules governing the Press Complaints Commission allowing it to ban British newspapers from publishing [...]

The US Senate Committee on Armed Services will investigate conflicting reports about the use of dogs in abusing detainees at the US military prison of Abu Ghraib . Chairman Sen. John Warner (R-VA) said that the committee will look into disparate statements allegedly made by US Army Maj.-Gen. Geoffrey Miller . According to Sen. Lindsey [...]

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted Canadian citizen Abdullah Ahmed Khadr on four counts connected to his alleged procurement of destructive devices to be used against American forces in Afghanistan in 2003. Khadr, the eldest son of suspected al Qaeda senior member Ahmed Said Khadr and the brother of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr , faces [...]

The Guantanamo Detainees: The Government's Story, Professor Mark Denbeaux et al., Seton Hall Law School, February 7, 2006 . Excerpt: This Report is the first effort to provide a more detailed picture of who the Guantanamo detainees are, how they ended up there, and the purported bases for their enemy combatant designation. The data in [...]

Leading Wednesday's environmental law news, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it has initiated a status review of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) to determine whether it should be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act . If listed, federal agencies would have to factor in the health of the species [...]

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has backed off his pledge to push through legislation that would allow women to succeed to the royal throne for the first time since the 1700's. The bill – first proposed because not a single male has been born in the royal family for over 40 years – was supported [...]