The trial of former Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski and seven other Communist-era officials charged in connection with the 1981 declaration of martial law resumed Friday in Warsaw. A 500-page indictment accuses Jaruzelski of "organizing crimes of a military nature" and deprivation of freedom through internment, among other offenses. Jaruzelski's lawyers argue that martial law [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Thursday heard oral arguments in a case brought against four employees of fraudulent job placement companies ISCS and Receiver . The Chicago-based companies had operated by charging applicants who sought to be placed through the company a $450 advance fee, but never actually providing them with [...]

Council of Europe (COE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg released his report on the status of human rights in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Friday, praising ongoing efforts by the FYROM government to improve human rights, but also highlighting shortfalls in the judiciary, law enforcement, and the penitentiary system. Hammarberg wrote: [...]

US military prosecutors have brought war crimes charges against a detainee at Guantanamo Bay who they allege stored and concealed anti-tank mines in Afghanistan . The detainee, named Obaidullah, was charged Wednesday with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism . For Obaidullah to stand trial, the charges must be approved by Susan Crawford, convening [...]

Voting-rights advocates and elections officials fear that a lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Department of Justice will effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters by causing chaos at the polls in November. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed suit against the state's Government Accountability Board on Wednesday, seeking to force the elections agency to cross-check the [...]

The Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana on Thursday settled a shareholder suit against a group of former executives from American International Group (AIG) , including AIG ex-CEO and chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. The lawsuit, filed in 2002 in the Delaware Chancery Court, concerned improper transfers of approximately $1 billion from AIG to C.V. Starr & [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Thursday ruled that a claimant had produced insufficient medical evidence to recover from a settlement fund established to compensate those harmed by the weight-loss medication known as fen-phen . The Philadelphia-based court affirmed a decision by the US District Court for the Eastern District of [...]

US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a new bill entitled the "Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008" in the Senate on Tuesday, calling for greater support for individual and political rights in Ethiopia . The bill is meant to "build on successful diplomatic efforts that contributed to the October 2007 [...]

Grand jury transcripts released Thursday suggest that testimony critical to the 1953 espionage conviction of Ethel Rosenberg was perjured. The National Archives made public nearly 1,000 pages of testimony given by 41 of the 45 grand jury witnesses in the Rosenberg case, as ordered by the US District Court for the Southern District of New [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Maoist-led Nepalese government Thursday to 'vigorously' investigate and prosecute those responsible for the grave human rights violations allegedly committed during the country's civil war. In a joint report , HRW and the Nepal-based Advocacy Forum recommended that even members of the security forces must be investigated for any role [...]