The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday affirmed the genocide conviction of popular Rwandan singer-songwriter Simon Bikindi . The charge was based on a speech Bikindi gave during the 1994 Rwanda genocide in which he called on Hutus to rise up and exterminate the Tutsis. Prosecutor Justice Hassan Bubacar [...]

Myanmar authorities on Thursday released jailed democracy activist Nyi Nyi Aung , ordering him to leave the country. Aung, a US citizen, had been sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted on fraud and forgery charges by a Myanmar court last month. Advocacy groups have argued that the charges against Aung were filed [...]

The Hebei Province People's High Court in northern China on Wednesday upheld a life sentence for former vice president of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) Huang Songyou. Huang was convicted in January of bribery and embezzlement, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Huang is the highest-ranking judge to be charged with corruption since the founding of [...]

The number of inmates in US state prisons has dropped for the first time in 40 years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Center on the States . Led by California and Michigan, the state prison population decreased by 0.4 percent during 2009. Because of a slight increase in the federal system, [...]

The US Senate unanimously passed legislation Wednesday to reduce sentencing disparities for powder and crack cocaine offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) , would amend existing law to reduce the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine convictions from 100:1 to 18:1. Durbin, who originally voted for the sentencing [...]

Idaho Governor CL "Butch" Otter (R) on Wednesday became the first governor to sign a bill into state law banning any federal mandate for individuals to have health insurance. The Idaho Health Freedom Act orders the state attorney general to file a lawsuit against the national government over any law making health insurance mandatory. The [...]

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) released its Annual Report on Human Rights 2009 Wednesday, noting the increasing demand for human rights by citizens throughout the world. The report also cited the contrasting argument by some governments that human rights are merely a Western construct that are unnecessary or inappropriate in certain countries. Introducing [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Pennsylvania prosecutor cannot file child pornography charges against a teenage girl whose topless photo was found on a number of her schoolmates' cell phones, upholding a preliminary injunction. Wyoming County prosecutor George Skumanick threatened to bring felony charges against several students who [...]

Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday urged Cuban authorities to "revoke laws that restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association and to release all dissidents unfairly detained by the authorities." AI called on President Raul Castro to invite UN experts and human rights organizations into the country to independently monitor the human rights [...]

The State of Law Coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday asked the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to recount ballots cast in the March 7 parliamentary election , alleging fraud. State of Law spokesperson Ali Al Adib claimed that the ballots were manipulated by the manager of an electronic counting center [...]