The US State Department (DOS) on Wednesday released its 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices . Announcing the release , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the new Barack Obama administration is seeking to both improve the US rights record at home and to continue to promote the recognition and protection of human [...]

Jo Cartwright : "We are pleased that Debbie Purdy's appeal has gone some way to clarify the law for her. The Appeals Court was able to go further than the High Court did in stating that the principles in the judgment given by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Daniel James case would also [...]

A judge in Lebanon on Wednesday granted bail to three men suspected of involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . The judge did not explain why he released them within days of the planned start-up date for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SLT) . Of the three men, who [...]

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) on Wednesday found three former guerrilla leaders guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the country's civil war. Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao are the three highest-ranking surviving Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders, after founder Foday Sankoy died before being [...]

The US Supreme Court decided two cases Wednesday. In Pleasant Grove City v. Summum the Court ruled unanimously that privately donated monuments displayed in public parks qualify as government speech, and that their display is therefore not subject to freedom of expression considerations that apply to private speech. The case involved Pleasant Grove's refusal to [...]

Jennifer Gratz : "Attorney General Holder recently called the American people a "nation of cowards" with respect to the issue of race. For the most part, I agree with him but in, I suspect, a very different way than what he meant with his comment. The civil rights establishment led by the likes of the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday that two former lobbyists may use classified documents in their defense against charges under the 1917 Espionage Act . Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, previously with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) , are charged with conspiring to convey classified US intelligence to [...]

Guest commentator Mike McNerney, Washington College of Law American University JD '09, is a former US Air Force officer who recently visited the US base at Guantanamo Bay… European Union (EU) nations have been intensely debating whether to accept convicted and released Guantanamo detainees. Some countries have agreed to do so, while others refuse, and [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that bars Nawaz Sharif , former prime minister and current leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) , from holding elected office based on a past criminal conviction for "hijacking". Sharif was convicted of the offense for attempting to divert a plane carrying [...]

Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) prosecutor Stephen Rapp has told Reuters that lack of court funds due to the global economic downturn may require the release of former Liberian President Charles Taylor . The SCSL has charged Taylor with 11 counts of crimes against humanity for his involvement in the Revolutionary United Front, a [...]