The South Korean National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) has determined that the provision of the military penal code banning same-sex relationships is unconstitutional, according to a report released Wednesday. Under Article 92 of the South Korean Military Criminal Code, same-sex relationships among soldiers are punishable for up to one year in prison and forced retirement. [...]

Polish prosecutors investigating the secret CIA prison in Poland on Wednesday gave Saudi terror suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri victim status, recognizing the validity of his claims that he was mistreated by interrogators. According to ex-CIA officials, al-Nashiri, accused of bombing the USS Cole , was tortured by the agency at the secret prison in Poland. [...]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a meeting Wednesday that the government will not allow the prosecution of low-ranking Khmer Rouge officers by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) . Hun Sen claims that further prosecution of former Khmer Rouge officials would disturb the ongoing peace process [...]

A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday struck down a portion of an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. The court held that the law, Proposition 200 , was inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) , which was passed with [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and its subsidiary SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., have agreed to plead guilty to civil and criminal charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of adulterated drugs and will pay a total of $750 million as part of the settlement. The [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the US and Iraq to investigate and prosecute those responsible for alleged human rights abuses in Iraq after thousands of previously classified documents detailing torture by US and Iraqi forces were posted on WikiLeaks . Pillay said that the leaked documents suggest US forces killed more [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a permanent injunction Tuesday that will prevent music file-sharing website LimeWire from providing online users with the software necessary to share copyrighted files. The injunction shut down the website, which plaintiff Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) claimed has allowed [...]

Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday condemned violence by Guinea’s security forces in response to recent opposition demonstrations. Rising tensions amid allegations of fraud and repeated delays leading up to the run-off presidential election erupted in violence last week. Police allegedly fired indiscriminately at unarmed civilians, beat protesters and ransacked homes. [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) requested Monday that Kenya arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visits the country later this week. Al-Bashir faces seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as three charges of genocide in relation to the Darfur conflict . The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I has requested: the [...]

The Republic of Azerbaijan must free its imprisoned journalists and repeal its criminal defamation laws , Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Tuesday. In its 94-page report, entitled “Beaten, Blacklisted, and Behind Bars: The Vanishing Space for Freedom of Expression in Azerbaijan,” HRW cited numerous instances of violence against journalists and said [...]