A new association of political prisoners formed by Russia's National Bolshevik Party (NBP) will advocate for prisoners' rights and call attention to the plight of political prisoners in the country, party spokesman Alexander Averin said Sunday. Averin also called on the Russian government to release 25 alleged political prisoners, but government officials denied that they [...]

A UN spokesperson said that East Timor police used teargas on a group of 200 students who were demonstrating before the National Parliament on Monday. Police reportedly used force against the students and arrested 21 protesters who disregarded police instructions to disperse. The protesters had accused the government of spending over $2 million on luxury [...]

Former US Department of Justice (DOJ) intern Sean Gerlich is seeking class action status for a suit he has filed against the DOJ for discrimination based on political affiliation . In the suit, Gerlich alleges that he was denied a position in the department's Honors Program because of his earlier work with a human rights [...]

The Sudanese parliament Monday passed a long-anticipated electoral law that is expected to ease the country's transition to democracy. The law establishes that 60 percent of parliamentary seats will be chosen by majority voting, while the remaining 40 percent will be filled by a proportional representation of political parties. Of the proportional representation seats, 25 [...]

A court in Equatorial Guinea Monday convicted British national Simon Mann for his involvement in an alleged 2004 coup attempt against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo . Mann was sentenced to 34 years in prison, to be served at Blackbeach prison in Malabo. The sentence is longer than the 31 years of imprisonment that Equatoguinean [...]

Italy's National Association of Magistrates voted Saturday to proclaim a "state of agitation," preparing for a possible strike over anticipated judicial budget cuts by the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . Judges argued that the proposed cuts would drastically reduce the judiciary's ability to combat lawlessness. The judges also expressed frustration over government efforts [...]

Turkish police Sunday arrested former generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the country's current regime. The country's majority Islamic Justice Development Party (AKP) has alleged that the generals belong to secular extremist group Ergenekon , which is suspected of involvement in bombings, political assassination plots, and the death of [...]

The UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Sunday called "deplorable" what it termed "false US assurances" about rendition flights through the UK Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia and said the "failure of the United States Administration to tell the truth resulted in the UK Government inadvertently misleading" the committee and the House of [...]

A class of plaintiffs suing several dozen US companies which did business in South Africa during apartheid will ask to narrow their claims Tuesday in a status conference to be held in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). The plaintiffs are South Africans seeking to hold the businesses liable [...]

A new tool for measuring adherence to the rule of law developed by the World Justice Project (WJP) was presented at the World Justice Forum in Vienna Thursday. The development of the Rule of Law Index was sponsored by the American Bar Association and is based on principles which emphasize the relationship between the rule [...]