Iranian-American scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari , currently detained by the Iranian government, is being denied access to counsel, according to her lawyer, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi . Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the DC-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , was formally charged last month with plotting to [...]

The US Senate voted 53-38 Monday on a cloture motion limiting debate on a joint resolution expressing its lack of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales , effectively stopping the resolution from coming to a floor vote. The motion fell seven votes short of the 60 necessary to pass it and presumably adopt the much [...]

Thailand's Assets Examination Committee (AEC) ordered the assets of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife frozen on Monday, saying the $1.6 billion dollars should not be touched until a court determines if the money was legally obtained. Thaksin, who made his fortune after founding what is now the Shin Corporation in 1983, is [...]

The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in three cases to be heard next term, two of which deal with federal sentencing guidelines. In Kimbrough v. US (06-6330) the court will decide an appeal of a Fourth Circuit case stemming from a district judge refusing to order a higher sentencing range because the defendant was [...]

Egyptian police reportedly prevented voters from entering polling stations and arrested approximately 100 members from the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood Monday as Egypt held elections for the Shura Council , the upper house of the Egyptian parliament. Some voters also reported the government pressured them to cast ballots for the National Democratic Party (NDP) , [...]

The Supreme Court of Georgia Monday dismissed a challenge to Georgia's voter ID law , finding that the plaintiff lacked standing to mount the challenge , without addressing the law itself. The court said that the plaintiff, as a first time Georgia voter, was entitled to use a non-photo ID, such as a copy of [...]

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Monday accused the Zimbabwean government of "interfering with the proper functioning of the administration of justice, the role of lawyers and their independence," following a five-day mission in which the rights group found instances in which lawyers representing dissidents were repeatedly harassed, subjected to detention, or beaten by police. [...]

Yahoo! Inc. condemned the persecution of individuals for political expression in China Monday, saying it has informed the Chinese government of its position but reiterating that Yahoo! must comply with Chinese law if it is to do business in China. Yahoo! is currently facing legal challenges alleging it aided and abetted human rights violations committed [...]

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri v. Commander S. K. Wright, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, June 11, 2007 . Read the full text of the decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A US federal appeals court ruled Monday that the military cannot seize and imprison civilians lawfully residing in the United States and detain them as "enemy combatants." The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected the government's contention that the president was authorized to order the military seizure of Illinois resident and Qatari [...]