US President Barack Obama has an obligation to bring charges against former President George W. Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for ordering illegal interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay , according to a statement made by UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Manfred Nowak in an [...]

US President Barack Obama on his first day in office Tuesday directed military prosecutors to pursue a 120-day continuance in military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay against five alleged 9/11 co-conspirators , including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . The motion cites the new administration's desire to evaluate the detainees' cases and determine the proper forum for [...]

Liz Griffith : "President-elect Obama's apparent decision to close Guantanamo has received wide support in the UK government. Nine UK nationals were returned to the UK in 2004 and 2005 following extensive campaigning by civic society and high level representations from the UK government. Three men who were previously lawfully resident in the UK were [...]

Ambroise Pierre : "As head of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders' Africa desk, I am both concerned and exasperated by the harsh conditions in which the Zimbabwe authorities are holding journalist and human rights activist Jestina Mukoko. First of all, I am concerned because her state of health has seriously deteriorated in the last few weeks. [...]

A spokesperson for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) announced Tuesday a large-scale media campaign to encourage more victims to come forward and participate in the trial of Khmer Rouge leader Kaing Guek-Eav , better known as "Duch." The trial is set to begin February 17. Announcements will be made in newspapers, [...]

A court in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Tuesday sentenced former justice minister Agnes Ntamabyariro to life in prison for inciting violence during the 1994 Rwandan genocide . The Court of First Instance of Nyarugenge found that Ntamabyariro and co-defendant Jean-Leonard Hategekimana, classified as Category 1 Suspects , had participated in planning the genocide, [...]

A fact finding team for human rights group Amnesty International (AI) on Monday accused Israel of war crimes , citing the use of white phosphorous in the midst of a dense civilian population. White phosphorous is a highly explosive substance that can burn into human skin and muscle and can cause serious wounds as well [...]

Delivering his inaugural address Tuesday in Washington DC shortly after taking the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama insisted that his administration would pursue US national interests without sacrificing basic legal principles enshrined in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Taking an apparent swipe at some of [...]

Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr admitted throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan, according to the pre-trial testimony Monday of an American intelligence official. The official, identified as Interrogator 11, said Khadr expressed pride in learning he had caused the death of an American. Khadr's attorneys contend there are photographs and [...]

In one of his final acts as President of the United States, George W. Bush on Monday commuted the sentences of two former border patrol agents convicted of the shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. The two former agents, Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos , are expected to be released from prison in March. [...]