The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday affirmed the convictions of ex-interior minister Edouard Karemera and ex-National Party chairman Matthieu Ngirumpatse for their roles in the 1994 Rwandan genocide . The former political party leaders were sentenced to life in prison in December 2011 after the court found that [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday vetoed a bill that would have required law enforcement agencies to acquire a warrant before using drones for surveillance. In his veto message Brown expressed his belief that the measure went too far, stating that while there are “undoubtedly circumstances where a warrant is appropriate,” the bill’s exceptions appeared [...]

Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy confirmed Monday that the Spanish government has filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court challenging the November 9 independence referendum for the Catalonia region . The government’s appeal alleges that both the referendum and a law passed by the regional Catalan government that allowed Catalan President Artur Mas to call [...]

The confirmation of charges hearing against Charles Ble Goude opened Monday before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) . Ble Goude, a youth leader loyal to Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo , is accused of crimes against humanity, including “murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and other inhuman [...]

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is taking steps to weaken the rule of law, control Internet and media, and suppress critics and protesters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday. HRW tracked the government’s response to recent developments and made recommendations that focus on four areas: improving rights to secure the Kurdish peace process; [...]

Prosecutors called former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic a liar on Monday during closing remarks at his genocide trial at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) . Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war. Karadzic claims he was unaware of the 1995 [...]

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday approved the execution of five men as what is possibly his final act in office. The five men were convicted and sentenced to death two weeks ago for their involvement in the armed robbery and gang-rape of a family outside Kabul. The convictions were determined from the five men’s [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed into law a bill , prohibiting the so-called “gay panic” defense that has been used to reduce homicide charges to manslaughter. The defense has been used by defendants who claimed that they were “panicked” into committing a crime due to a homosexual individual making an advance on them. [...]

The Hong Kong police department on Friday cleared the main government compound of pro-democracy supporters who occupied the area in protest. It is reported that supporters were subdued with pepper spray and 60 arrests were made. The pro-democracy protesters and supporters are a part of an movement titled Occupy Central . Occupy Central is a [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed into law on a bill which will prohibit schools from suspending students without proving the pupil willfully defied teachers and administrators. The bill specifically eliminates schools’ authority to suspend pupils from kindergarten through third grade and the authority to expel a student from kindergarten through twelfth grade. California [...]