France Wednesday formally agreed to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances when it ratified a provision of the European Convention on Human Rights . Since its 2003 inception, Protocol 13 ,...

The US Department of Justice filed notice Tuesday that it will appeal last month's district court decision that found provisions of the USA Patriot Act to be unconstitutional . The Federal...

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Medellin v. Texas , 06-984, where the court considered whether the Bush administration has the authority to direct...

Many female human rights activists in Zimbabwe have been repeatedly arrested, unlawfully detained, and subjected to beatings at the hands of police, according to the preliminary results of surveys conducted by the advocacy group Women of...

American Federation of Labor, et al., v. Michael Chertoff, et al., US District Court for the Northern District of California, October 10, 2007 [order granting a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security from implementing new regulations intended to...

US President George W. Bush Wednesday called for Congress to make permanent the expansion of surveillance powers granted in August's Protect America Act , adding that he would not sign any eavesdropping bill that does...

Myanmar opposition protester Win Shwe died while being interrogated by junta authorities, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Wednesday. The Thailand-based group said that Win Shwe died while being tortured and that his...

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Zdravko Tolimir said in a Wednesday letter to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that he is in "excellent" health and that the ICTY registrar has...

US and Iraqi officials said Wednesday that they have launched an investigation into Iraqi civilian deaths believed to be caused by armed guards working for security and defense company Unity Resources Group . Two women were killed in...

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a federal appeals court ruling that the parents of a disabled child are entitled to reimbursement for the costs of private school education under the...