The UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights released a report Tuesday calling for an independent inquiry into allegations regarding government complicity in the torture of UK terrorism suspects in Pakistan and elsewhere. Maintaining that complicity in torture is a violation of international human rights obligations, the committee examined how complicity can be defined and [...]

Niger held a referendum Tuesday on a proposed constitution that would allow President Mamadou Tandja to remain in office. Tandja had previously promised to step down when his second five-year term expires in December, but if the new constitution is approved, he will be allowed to remain in office for three more years and could [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday upheld a 20-year prison sentence and a 10-year Internet ban imposed on a man convicted of receiving child pornography. Paul Thielemann, who pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography challenged his prison as well as the conditions of his supervised release, which [...]

The Pakistan National Assembly , the lower house of parliament, on Tuesday unanimously approved the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2008 , moving a step closer to outlawing domestic violence in the country. Under the proposed legislation, women, children, and domestic employees would be protected from physical, mental, and sexual assaults. Victims could be relocated, [...]

UK Attorney General Janet Scotland pledged to improve Britain's policies on combating fraud and corruption in an interview published Monday in the Financial Times . Scotland's comments came in response to accusations that the country's current stance on financial fraud is flawed and that it has become a haven for such crimes. She dismissed such [...]

A Cambodian court ruled Tuesday that opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua is guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen , ordering her to pay nearly USD $4000 in fines and restitution. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found that Sochua, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party , had defamed Hun Sen when she sued him [...]

An Iranian official confirmed Tuesday the arrest of three US citizens who entered the country on Saturday from Iraq's Kuridish region, according to a state media report . The Americans, who possessed Iraqi and Syrian visas, have been charged with illegal entry near the city of Marivan at the Malakh Khor border while reportedly backpacking [...]

JURIST Guest Columnists Victor M. Hansen and Lawrence M. Friedman of New England School of Law say that while there may be reasons not to try terror suspects in civilian courts in the United States, the problem created by the need to safeguard classified information is not one of them…. Today, almost eight years after [...]

Several cases involving Guantanamo Bay detainees have been assigned to federal prosecutors in Washington DC, New York, and Virginia, the Associated Press reported Monday. White House officials reportedly said that Attorney General Eric Holder met last week with federal prosecutors in four districts with experience in handling internationalist terrorism cases, as the Obama administration continues [...]

United States v. Thielemann, US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, August 3, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on internet restriction laws.