The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday released four top secret memos from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) outlining controversial CIA interrogation techniques and their legal rationale. The previously undisclosed memos were released with redactions in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [...]

New York Governor David Paterson announced Thursday the introduction of legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. If passed, the legislation would amend the state's Domestic Relations Law to give same-sex couples the opportunity to enter into civil marriages, which would give them the same rights under New York law as heterosexual married [...]

Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde Pumpido announced Thursday that he will not recommend that the Spanish government seek action against members of the Bush administration behind the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon had asked prosecutors to examine the possibility of bringing a lawsuit against the US lawyers reportedly responsible [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday urged Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo to reinstate dismissed judges and lift media restrictions imposed after Iloilo suspended the country's constitution. Pillay said that the 5-year interim government declared by Iloilo and the reappointment of Commodore Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama were improper uses of emergency [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday urged the Pakistani government to reverse a recently signed ordinance that imposes Islamic Sharia law in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) area of Swat, saying it poses a "grave threat" to human rights by putting the Taliban and its affiliates in administrative control. HRW said that the Nizam-e-Adl [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that America needs to renew its commitment to the rule of law in fighting international terrorism and protecting national security. In an address to the West Point Center for the Rule of Law , Holder praised lawyers from the Judge Advocate General Corp defending detainees at Guantanamo Bay [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it has limited electronic surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) . The annoucement comes after the NSA was found to have exceeded its legal authority in reviewing private communication between US citizens. The DOJ said that it has taken "comprehensive steps" toward eliminating the [...]

The Washington State House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 62-35 to approve a bill granting same-sex couples the same rights and benefits of married couples in the state. The law effectively construes statutory gender specific terms such as "husband" and "wife" to be gender neutral, making them applicable to individuals in same-sex domestic partnerships, but stops [...]

Israel will not comply with a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) investigation into possible war crimes that were committed during recent fighting in the Gaza Strip , according to Wednesday statements by Israeli government officials. The probe was originally approved by the UNHRC in January, which recently appointed South African judge Richard Goldstone to head the [...]

Venezuela will renew calls for the US to extradite anti-Castro Cuban exile and Venezuelan national Luis Posada Carriles following a new indictment ordering Posada to stand trial in Texas, Venezuelan lawyer Jose Pertierra said Wednesday. Posada, who is wanted by both Venezuela and Cuba for his alleged involvement in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban [...]