The US Supreme Court granted two cases on Tuesday. In Horne v. Department of Agriculture the court will hear its second case of the term on the Fifth Amendment takings clause. The court will consider whether a party can raise the takings clause as a defense when charged by the government to transfer funds, rather [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday issued a report that describes the threat from and advocates for the ban of fully autonomous weapon systems. These weapons systems are essentially robots that would be able to operate without human direction or interaction, and while they have yet to be used in a combat zone, they are [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed concern Tuesday for the civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who are caught in continued fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the 23 March Movement (M23). Pillay stated that M23, advancing through the DRC, has recently [...]

A spokesperson from the FBI (FBI) announced Monday that four Southern California men were charged with terrorism-related offenses and plotting to join al Qaeda. The criminal charges were brought in the US District Court for the Central District of California for “conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists.” The allegations include “conspiracy to [...]

The Kosovo Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a retrial against Kosovo politician and parliamentarian Fatmir Limaj and three other co-defendants on charges of war crimes allegedly committed during the 1998-99 Kosovo war with Serbia . Limaj allegedly ordered the torture and killings of Serbian detainees in 1999. The Supreme Court panel consisted of three European [...]

Children participating in protests during the Egyptian Revolution have been subject to police detention and torture, according to a recent finding released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday. The findings were based on numerous interviews of detained children, their families and lawyers. HRW condemned the situation in Egypt for violating national and international laws that [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday pressured Israel to avoid strikes on civilian structures in Gaza . Pillay expressed acute concern over the surge in the number of Palestinian civilians killed and injured over the past 48 hours as a result of Israeli military action. As to whether any of these [...]

A Pakistani court on Tuesday ordered police to drop blasphemy charges against a 14-year-old girl, which had sparked international concern over the use of the country’s controversial law. The girl was charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy law for allegedly burning pages for a Koran. She was released on bail in September after an Iman was charged [...]

A Croatian court sentenced former prime minister Ivo Sanader to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for corruption and war profiteering. Judge Ivan Turudic found Sanader guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and also ordered the former PM to pay a fine of €611,000 to Croatia. Sanader was charged with taking €10 million (USD $12.7 million) [...]

Russia’s new NGO law went into effect on Tuesday, and activists have vowed to challenge it. The law requires Russian NGOs financed from abroad and involved in political activity to be registered as foreign agents . Some activists are already in the process of appealing to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the [...]