A key witness in the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been moved into hiding after being threatened for testifying before the Special Court for Sierra Leone , chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp said Thursday. Varmuyan Sherif, one of Taylor's former bodyguards, testified in January that Taylor had supplied weapons, cash and [...]

Sebastian Elgueta : "Amnesty International was deeply disappointed at the passage of Decree 06-2008 by the Congress of Guatemala which effectively aims to restart executions of those condemned to death. The Decree establishes the procedure by which the President can grant a pardon to a death row inmate. Executions had been stalled since 2000 when [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled against the deportation of former Tunisian terror suspect Nassim Saadi, finding that evidence provided by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch showed that he would likely be subjected to torture in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights if returned to [...]

An Indonesian court Thursday dismissed a civil corruption case against Tommy Suharto , the youngest son of former Indonesian President Haji Mohammad Suharto . The court also awarded some $550,000 to Suharto on a counter-claim for damages. Lawyers for Suharto argued that the case should be dismissed because related criminal charges had been dropped, but [...]

Afghan Deputy Chief Judge Mohammed Omar Ishaqzai said that Afghan journalism student Sayad Parwaz Kambaksh should be permitted to appeal a death sentence that resulted from a trial where he says he was not represented by a lawyer , the Independent reported Thursday. Kambaksh was sentenced to death in January for distributing papers questioning gender [...]

A 28-mile "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border , known as Project 28, has been placed on hold due to technical issues, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said during a joint hearing Wednesday before two subcommittees of the House Committee on Homeland Security . Richard Stana of [...]

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand Thursday from self-imposed exile to face corruption charges laid against him after he was ousted in a military coup in September 2006. Thai authorities arrested Thaksin immediately upon his return and later released him on bail . Thai investigators formally asked state prosecutors earlier this month [...]

Chadian President Idriss Deby agreed to an international investigation into allegations of abuse of power during a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday. The decision follows accusations leveled by Amnesty International that the government of Chad is using the current state of emergency to clamp down on journalists and members of peaceful opposition parties. [...]

Egyptian police arrested 25 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood Wednesday, following the arrest of 17 members on Tuesday. Muslim Brotherhood members believe the arrests targeted potential candidates for the upcoming April 8 provincial council elections . Egypt's provincial councils administer local municipal government services. These municipal elections were originally scheduled for 2006, but the [...]

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey made his first visit to the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay Wednesday, where he met with military and Justice Department officials working on the military prosecution of six Guantanamo Bay detainees suspected of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed . The [...]