Myanmar's extended detention of democracy advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi violates the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights , the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in an opinion released Thursday. The condemning ruling follows the the military government of [...]

A Polish court Thursday sentenced 15 riot police officers involved in the 1981 shooting deaths of nine coal miners, handing down sentences ranging from eleven years to at least two and half years in prison. The coal miners were protesting a martial law crackdown on dissent by the beleaguered Communist government of General Wojciech Jaruzelski. [...]

Eric Linge, Pitt Law '09, files from Mumbai: When the Indian Constitution was adopted in 1949, Indians had the fundamental right to property. Since then, this right has pestered the government. It was chipped away and chipped away until it was officially downgraded from a fundamental right to merely a statutory right in 1978. Primarily [...]

The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence questioned whether the secret CIA detention and interrogation program "is the best means to obtain a full and reliable intelligence debriefing of a detainee" in a report published Thursday to accompany the 2008 intelligence appropriations bill . The report said that both the Congress and the Executive "must [...]

US military officials Thursday identified a deceased Saudi Arabian detainee who apparently committed suicide at the military prison Wednesday as Abdul Rahman Ma'ath Thafir al-Amri. Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) said in press release that al-Amri, a 34-year-old Saudi military veteran held at Guantanamo Bay since February 2002, had admitted that he "volunteered to fight with [...]

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and new French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that they both back proposals for a limited constitutional treaty that would amend the organization and powers of the European Union (EU). German Chancellor Angel Merkel , whose government currently holds the six-month EU rotating presidency , has pressed for [...]

A criminal court in Cairo Thursday refused a plea by public prosecutor Abdel Maguid for the release of jailed Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour . Maguid had asked the court to consider Nour's deteriorating health, which is complicated by heart disease and diabetes. Maguid's request also follows accusations by Nour's wife, Gamila Ismail, that Egypt's [...]

The government of Fiji Thursday lifted emergency regulations imposed on the country since unrest in early December. Military commander and self-declared interim Prime Minister Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama declared a state of emergency after overthrowing the government in a military coup on December 5. The emergency powers withdrew some rights protected under the Fijian constitution and [...]

Turkey's parliament Thursday passed for a second time a constitutional amendment allowing for direct election to the presidency, but complaints of balloting violations arose even before the vote finished. The main opposition party, the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP) , says it may petition the Constitutional Court as early as tomorrow regarding the disagreement over [...]

Zhao Bingzhi, president of the criminal law research committee of the China Law Society told China Daily Thursday that China is preparing to enact anti-terrorism legislation , which Zhao described as a "separate law" designed to provide a legal framework to better "fight terrorism." The Daily reported that legislation will be considered by the Standing [...]