Torture has become widespread in the strife-ridden southern Russian republic of Chechnya , with more than 100 known cases in both official and secret detention centers, according to a new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch . The HRW report, addressed to the UN Committee against Torture as the committee finishes its review of [...]

US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) , outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , has indicated that President Bush may have to nominate moderate judges to any future vacancies on the US Supreme Court following midterm elections that ceded control of Congress to the Democrats. Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer also quoted Specter as speculating that the [...]

The Australian government will request the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks if the US fails to charge him under the revised military commissions framework, Australia's attorney general told a meeting of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Monday. In August, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said that he would seek Hicks' [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday upheld California's "catch-all" jury instruction for death penalty cases, ruling that the instructions provide adequate opportunity for jurors to weigh evidence that favors the defendant. In a 5-4 decision in Ayers v. Belmontes , the Court reinstated Belmontes' conviction for first degree murder in the killing of a 19 [...]

Serbian war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj has started a hunger strike ahead of his trial, scheduled for November 27 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), demanding that the ICTY dismiss his court-appointed lawyers and allow him to prepare is defense with lawyers of his choosing. Seselj also demanded that all court [...]

An Australian bill of rights would frustrate the government's ability to deal with terrorism and other threats, Australia's attorney general told a meeting of Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Monday. Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock told the Commission he is against binding future Australians to the current point of view regarding human [...]

Certain portions of British courtroom proceedings could be televised in the near future, according to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) , which is preparing to outline a proposal in a consultation paper to be released in the next few weeks. Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer , the minister heading the Department, has indicated that witnesses, [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist James Friedman of the University of Maine School of Law says that the veil of secrecy with which the United States has shrouded the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects makes the rule of law impossible to determine and thus to maintain. … For over three years before his recent transfer to [...]

JURIST Special Guest Columnist John Pace, former Human Rights Chief for the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, says that the trial of Saddam Hussein has abjectly failed to do justice to his victims, provide a deterrent to future dictators, or generally advance the cause of freedom… In an interview with the BBC’s John Simpson a [...]

Thai Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas again suggested Monday that martial law could be lifted by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont before the PM leaves for an international summit in Vietnam on November 18, and said that a decision would be made in the next day or two. Somtas told reporters, however, that even if the military [...]