US financier Bernard Madoff consented to a partial judgment with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday over civil charges brought by the SEC to obtain a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against him. According to the SEC, the agreement will continue the previously imposed preliminary injunction, but in consenting to the agreement, Madoff [...]

The Chinese delegation to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) defended China's human rights record Monday while presenting a report in compliance with the UNHRC's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. Ambassador Li Baodong said that China has been taking steps to improve its legal system , promote democracy, and encourage non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The report [...]

US Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday ordered a review of all government claims invoking the state secrets privilege . A spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that each state secrets claim will be reviewed to make sure the privilege was invoked only in lawful situations. Holder's announcement came on the same day [...]

Eluana Englaro , an Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die controversy in the country, died Monday, shortly after the Italian Senate began debate on legislation that would make it a crime to remove a feeding tube from a comatose patient. Englaro's father removed her feeding tube on Friday, following the refusal of Italian [...]

Former Rwandan defense investigator Léonidas Nshogoza went on trial Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) . Nshogoza was arrested in June 2007 for allegedly bribing witnesses, fabricating evidence, and "interfering with the administration of justice" in the 2004 ICTR genocide trial of Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda . Last February, he pleaded not [...]

Former British attorney general Peter Goldsmith on Monday urged  the UK and other European states to create an "international coalition" to assist the US in closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as soon as possible. Goldsmith said he understands that some countries do not want to accept released detainees, but that he believes a lack of cooperation could [...]

Spain's Supreme Court on Sunday unanimously banned the Basque separatist political groups Democracy 3 Million (D3M) and Askatasuna from participation in the coming March elections. The court found that Askatasuna was a "fraudulent instrument used to give continuity to the activities of political parties outlawed" such as the ETA and Batasuna . The court further [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist Jonathan Horowitz, Research Director at human rights and public interest investigation firm One World Research, says that notwithstanding the pending closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and all the publicity surrounding that, if the US government doesn't change how it collects information and what rights it gives to detainees, it will [...]

Stephen Blanks : "Last week, Abdul Nacer Benbrika and 6 followers were sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court, Melbourne, to terms of imprisonment ranging from 6 years to 15 years, for terrorism related offenses committed in 2004-2005. The offenses included belonging to and financially supporting a terrorist organization, and possessing material in preparation for a [...]

A senior Iraqi official confirmed Monday that four Iraqi prisoners were released from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Iraqi custody for further interrogation. The anonymous official also confirmed that only one Iraqi citizen remains a prisoner at Guantanamo. The US Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that the four Iraqi prisoners were released [...]