The Chinese State Council said Thursday that a US Department of State report critical of the Chinese human rights record is hypocritical given the number of human rights problems in the US. In a report entitled the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2007 , the Chinese detail alleged human rights violations by [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that a stricter air quality rule on ground-level ozone and smog will go into effect in May, requiring some 345 US counties to reduce air pollution in order to come into compliance with the new standard. The revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards For Ozone were [...]

Afghan Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Kamin was charged Wednesday with providing material support to terrorism. In its announcement of the sworn charges, the US Defense Department said: The charges allege that between January and May of 2003, Mohammed Kamin provided material support to terrorism by joining the terrorist organization al Qaeda and receiving training at [...]

Charge Sheet: Mohammed Kamin, US Department of Defense, March 12, 2008 . Read the full text of the Kamin charges as sworn. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

An Afghan Guantanamo Bay detainee alleged that he has been mistreated in custody and asked to boycott his upcoming trial at his first pretrial hearing before a military commission Wednesday. Mohammed Jawad is charged with attempted murder and intentionally causing serious bodily harm for allegedly throwing a grenade at two US soldiers and an interpreter [...]

Justice Anne Mactavish of the Federal Court of Canada ruled Wednesday that the protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms do not extend to Afghan detainees captured by Canadian soldiers. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association had filed complaints against the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (CFPM) in Federal Court in [...]

A second employee of French bank Societe Generale has been detained in connection with the investigation into fraudulent activity allegedly committed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel , the bank said Tuesday. A Societe Generale spokesperson did not name the man but did confirm that he is not the same banker questioned in late February . [...]

The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Wednesday upheld the conviction of Catholic priest Father Athanase Seromba for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and increased his sentence to life in prison . Seromba, who was acquitted of the lesser charge of conspiracy [...]

A former militia commander testified Wednesday before the Special Court for Sierra Leone at the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor , describing scare tactics used by Taylor to intimidate the population and frighten his enemies. Joseph Marzah said that Taylor had ordered him to kill civilians and told him that the [...]

Summary of the Judgment of of the Appeals Chamber: The Prosecutor v Athanase Seromba, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, March 12, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.