US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday signed a memorandum extending government benefits to same-sex partners of military personnel that were previously available only to spouses. Some of the benefits now extended to same-sex partners include access to commissaries, family counseling, child care, disability and death compensation, payments to missing persons and legal assistance. Benefits [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Govern of the Ave Maria School of Law says says the US must pursue a full spectrum of “smart power” capabilities in Africa, to include but not be limited to the use of drones for surveillance or targeted killing strikes…

A UN independent expert on human rights in Sudan, Mashood Adebayo Baderin, on Sunday expressed concern regarding the arrest and detention of political opposition figures by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). According to media sources, pro-democracy protesters have publicly demonstrated against longstanding president Omar Hassan al-Bashir , who has held office for 24 [...]

If Scotland became independent it would have to reapply for European Union (EU) membership, according to a report released Monday by the HM Treasury , the UK’s economic and finance ministry. A referendum on Scottish independence is scheduled for fall 2014. The possibility of secession has raised concern over the relationship between an independent Scotland [...]

The UN International Labor Organization (ILO) on Friday released a report urging greater efforts to end forced labor. The ILO estimates that 21 million people are subject to forced labor, which often includes human trafficking for labor exploitation. The report stressed the need for more stringent action to prevent abuses, identify victims and prosecute perpetrators. [...]

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Friday that the private sale of medical marijuana is illegal. The court granted an injunction enjoining the defendants’ business, Compassionate Apothecary (CA) , from selling medical marijuana because such sales constitute a public nuisance. The CA is a privately owned medical marijuana dispensary that facilitates patient-to-patient transfer of marijuana using [...]

An Afghan government commission announced Monday that it has confirmed the findings of a report released last month by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that revealed widespread torture and mistreatment of prisoners in facilities across Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai had ordered the two-week investigation into the country’s prisons following the release of the [...]

The Bangladesh Law Minister Shafique Ahmed on Sunday said that a proposal to amend its war crimes laws to allow the government to appeal for higher sentences will be placed before the cabinet on Monday. This amendment would allow either side to appeal against a conviction for reasons including inadequate sentencing and will allow prosecutors [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday that Afghanistan needs to take steps to ensure that its laws protect victims of sexual abuse and do not result in their prosecution. HRW is calling for this reform following a recent court decision which convicted a 13-year-old boy and sentenced him to one year in juvenile detention [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday urged Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to stop detaining journalists and political opponents who criticize government officials. HRW stated that the Kurdistan Security Agency and Kurdistan police had arrested journalists and publishers of articles without warrants and had detained them for up to a year without filing charges [...]