The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday deferred the appointment of two judges by President Asif Ali Zardari in an emergency ruling which has once again pitched the country's judiciary against its executive. Current Lahore High Court Justices Khawaja Muhammad Sharif and Mian Saqib Nisar were to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme [...]

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday dissolved the country's parliament and electoral commission based on allegations of voter fraud in the long delayed presidential elections in the African nation. On disbanding the government, Gbagbo charged Prime Minister Guillaume Soro with creation of new government and deciding on a new election format. Gbagbo had accused [...]

The government of Myanmar released 82-year old democracy activist U Tin Oo from six years of house arrest on Friday, just days before UN special envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana is to visit the country . Oo, a decorated general, is the Vice-Chairman of the National League of Democracy (NLD) , the opposition party headed by [...]

The US Supreme Court Friday ordered the Obama administration and lawyers for Chinese Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay to file briefs explaining how Switzerland's decision to accept two Uighurs as refugees affects their pending habeas petition . The Court originally granted certiorari in Kiyemba v. Obama to determine whether it is within the power of [...]

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson on Friday presented a bill that would create "transit zones" allowing the French government to immediately detain undocumented immigrants wherever they are found. According to Besson, the draft law will allow the government to hold either a single individual or a group if they arrive outside a specified checkpoint. The [...]

The head of the UK intelligence service MI5 on Friday denied accusations that it had collaborated with the US over the alleged torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed . Director General Jonathan Evans made the comments in response to criticisms by Lord David Neuberger that the organization did not respect human rights, that [...]

Nigerian acting President Goodluck Jonathan must take action to "tackle the culture of impunity" in Nigeria, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a letter dated Friday. HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth called on Jonathan to address rights abuses left unaddressed during the two-and-a-half-year term of the Umaru Yar'Adua presidency. Specifically, the letter highlighted "endemic corruption, [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out a military commission for accused 9/11 co-conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , in an interview with the Washington Post published Friday. Holder said that more important than the location or forum is that the trial be transparent and adhere to the rules. Administration officials said President Barack [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday dismissed the appeal against the imposition of a court-appointed lawyer by former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic . Last month, Karadzic appealed the imposition of a court-appointed lawyer claiming his right to "legal assistance of his own choosing" under Article 21(4)(d) of the Statute [...]

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider a petition questioning the legality of the arrest of opposition presidential candidate and former general Sarath Fonseka . The petition was filed by Fonseka's wife. Also Friday, street protests against Fonseka's arrest continued for a third day. Lawyers marched silently in Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, [...]