Myanmar continues to arrest and detain human rights activists, denying them fair trials in accordance with international principles, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro said Tuesday. In a statement , Pinheiro also expressed concern about reports that some detainees were in failing health and urgent need of [...]

A federal court of appeals judge struck down a 2003 agreement between Georgia and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) allowing the state's use of a federal water reservoir. Judge Judith Rogers of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the agreement violates the Water Supply Act because [...]

Russian lawyer and government critic Boris Kuznetsov applied for political asylum in the US Tuesday. Kuznetsov fled Russia in July 2007 after a court approved a criminal investigation against him for allegedly divulging state wiretapping secrets by turning over evidence to the Russian Constitutional Court that his client, former parliamentarian Levon Chakhmakhchyan, had been wiretapped [...]

Retired Argentine General Cristino Nicolaides and five other former officers stood trial Tuesday for their alleged role in the abduction and torture of five political dissidents during the country's military dictatorship of the late 1970s and 80s. In December 2007, Nicolaides was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for charges regarding another group [...]

The CIA has used waterboarding "on only three detainees" since September 11, 2001, CIA Director Michael Hayden told the US Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Stipulating that the interrogation technique has not been used by the CIA in five years, Hayden for the first time named the men waterboarded: accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , [...]

US President George W. Bush will veto any terror surveillance legislation passed by Congress that does not include liability protection for telecom companies, a letter from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell warned Congress Tuesday, according to AP. Last week, Bush signed a 15-day extension to the temporary Protect America Act [...]

Uzbekistan authorities have granted a pardon to a journalist and Human Rights Watch (HRW) translator sentenced to prison, according to Tuesday reports. Umida Niyazova was sentenced to seven years after an Uzbek court convicted her last May of illegal border crossing, smuggling, and distributing propaganda allegedly supporting an extremist religious group known as Akramiya . [...]

The Russian Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the appeal of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to reinstate his candidacy in the March Russian presidential election. Last week, the Russian Central Election Commission banned Kasyanov from running in the election , rejecting 13.36 percent of signatures he submitted in support of his candidacy as either forged or [...]

A defense lawyer representing four ex-officers of the former Rwandan army facing trials before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has accused Prosecutor Hassan Jallow of concealing evidence favorable to the defense, according to Monday media reports. Lawyer Christopher Black claims Jallow possesses witness statements indicating that Black's client, former Rwandan army general Augustin [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Tuesday urged the Chadian government and rebel forces to follow humanitarian law and respect human rights as fighting continued for a fourth day after rebels entered the capital city of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby . An estimated 20,000 civilians have fled [...]