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Ireland justice minister proposes blasphemy law referendum
The Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern , on Sunday proposed holding a referendum later this year to remove the criminal offense of blasphemy from the Irish Constitution . Blasphemy is a punishable offense under sectio (More) |
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Taiwan justice minister resigns over death penalty dispute
Taiwanese Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng resigned Thursday in defense of her position against the death penalty. Though Taiwan has not executed a criminal since 2005, Wang said she would not sign the execution warrants of any of the 44 prisoners (More) |
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US death penalty stance increasingly at odds with international community
Richard Dieter [Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center]: "The United States is often rightly seen as a world leader in human rights. But we have become increasingly isolated from the international community in one respect - our pe (More) |
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Supreme Court hears Enron ex-CEO appeal
The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF; merit briefs] Monday in three cases, including the case of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling . In Skilling v. United States [oral arguments transcript, (More) |
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South Korea high court rules death penalty constitutional
The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled Thursday that the death penalty does not violate the South Korean constitution . The court's 5-4 decision could lead to a reinstatement of the death penalty in South Korea, which has held an unofficial m (More) |
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Senior UN official applauds states' efforts to end death penalty
UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze on Wednesday praised the increasing number of countries that have suspended or abolished the death penalty . Speaking at the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva, Ordzhonikidze exp (More) |
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North Carolina innocence commission releases first inmate
The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission on Wednesday overturned a man's 1993 murder conviction in its first exoneration of an inmate who claimed to have been wrongly convicted. George Taylor, who had served 17 years of a life sentence a (More) |
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Bangladesh to appoint prosecutors for war crimes tribunal by March
The Bangladesh government announced on Tuesday that prosecutors and investigators for the country's war crimes tribunal should be appointed by the first week of March. The tribunal will be used to conduct fair and transparent trials for those a (More) |
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China high court limits use of death penalty
The Supreme People's Court of China on Tuesday issued new guidelines for limiting capital punishment in Chinese courts, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The guidelines rely on a policy of "justice tempered with mercy" a (More) |
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Obama, Congress denounce Uganda anti-gay bill
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on Thursday denounced proposed legislation in the Ugandan parliament that would implement harsh punishments for homosexual behavior, including the death penalty in some circumstances. (More) |
WWI gas attack on Canadians led to first chemical weapons ban
On April 24, 1915, the German army used chlorine gas against Canadian troops at Ypres. Gas was later employed by British and French forces against the Germans.
Learn more about early efforts by the Red Cross to ban chemical weapons and review the June 1925 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.
