US federal judges reached an agreement Tuesday on a pilot project allowing certain civil trials to be televised . Federal appellate judge David Sentelle said that, while the details still needed to be worked out, the judges agreed that the faces of jurors and witnesses will not be recorded and that either party to the [...]

A French court on Wednesday declined to extradite Dr. Eugene Rwamucyo to Rwanda to face charges for his alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide . The court also granted his release . The ruling is due to suspicions that Rwamucyo would not receive a fair trial in Rwanda, and is consistent with France’s handling [...]

UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan Muhamed Chande Othman called Tuesday for a thorough and transparent investigation into the early September attack in Northern Darfur that left many civilians dead. The Janjaweed militia is suspected of conducting an attack on civilians in a Tarabat village marketplace, killing more than 37 [...]

Police in the Netherlands violated a Dutch magazine’s right to free expression by compelling disclosure of documentary evidence relating to anonymous sources, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday. The unanimous ruling centered around a 2002 feature on illegal street racing published in the Dutch edition of Autoweek , a property of Sanoma [...]

The UK military’s handling of detainees in overseas operations is “in compliance” with UK and international law, according to a report released Tuesday by the Ministry of Defense (MOD) . According to British Army Inspector Brigadier Robert Purdy, a nine-month investigation of legal documents, army procedures and testimony from personnel showed that UK forces’ attitudes [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Turkey failed to protect the life of well-known Turkish-Armenian writer and journalist Hrant Dink , failed to adequately investigate his murder and infringed on his right of freedom of expression. The court ordered Turkey to pay €100,000 to Dink’s wife and three children and €5,000 [...]

The French Senate on Tuesday voted 246 to 1 to approve a bill that would make it illegal to wear the Islamic burqa or other full face veils in public. Under the legislation, women who wear the veil can be required by police to show their face, and, if they refuse, they can be forced [...]

Lawyers for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich filed a motion Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois asking the judge to throw out the sole conviction returned by the jury during his corruption trial last month. Blagojevich was found guilty of making false statements to the FBI, but the jury [...]

Former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of corruption and theft in the Malawi High Court . Muluzi, who stepped down as president in 2004 following two five-year terms in office, is accused of 12 counts of corruption involving a person employed in public office for allegedly stealing 1.7 billion [...]

A report presented Tuesday by the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries urges the US to increase regulation of military contractors employed worldwide, citing alleged human rights abuses and the contractors’ lack of transparency and accountability. The UN Working Group met with US officials last summer to discuss the actions of US private [...]