A bill that would overturn a decision by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a greenhouse emissions waiver to California was introduced in the US House of Representatives Thursday. The bill, which would allow states to introduce higher greenhouse emissions standards than those mandated by federal law, would immediately grant California's waiver request [...]

Chinese rights activist Teng Biao has disappeared and is thought to have been detained by state authorities, rights group China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said Friday. Teng, a lawyer with close ties to civil rights activist Hu Jia , did not return home Thursday evening, and neighbors witnessed an unidentified man being dragged into [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Friday that she will not seek a second term when her commission ends on June 30. Arbour's decision not to seek a second term was made public earlier this week, but Friday's comments during her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council mark Arbour's official [...]

Chadian President Idriss Deby said Thursday that he may pardon six French aid workers convicted in Chad in December of attempting to kidnap 103 African children within a month. In February, Deby said that he is prepared to pardon the French citizens , but that he would only do so upon an official request from [...]

Awzar Thi : "Human rights advocates, lawyers and journalists are often concerned with how special laws are used to suppress dissent and deny basic freedoms in countries around the world. Internal security acts and emergency decrees attract widespread interest and strong critiques. How ordinary laws are used to the same ends often obtains less notice. [...]

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Thursday condemned Israel's most recent offensive in the Gaza Strip in a resolution passed by the seventh session of the HRC. The resolution, which was introduced by Pakistan and other Muslim countries, likened Israel's attacks to collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and called for an immediate cease fire by [...]

A court in Niger sentenced the editor-in-chief of the bi-monthly L'Eveil Plus newspaper to one month in prison Thursday for "discrediting" judicial rulings by publishing an article contrasting the different sentences handed down to two politicians convicted of similar offenses. Boubacar Gourouza was also ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 CFA francs. Reporters Without [...]

The Mexican Senate Thursday approved a bill authorizing a variety of judicial reforms providing for public and oral trials, guaranteeing the presumption of innocence and allowing for the use of recorded telephone conversations as evidence with consent. While Mexico's lower house of Congress overwhelmingly approved the bill in February by a 462-6 vote, the Senate [...]

The Parliament of Kenya met Thursday to discuss a power sharing deal between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition candidate Raila Odinga that could put an end the violence that began in the wake of December's disputed presidential election . On February 14, Kibaki and Odinga agreed to write a new constitution that will create [...]

Spanish National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon Thursday dropped an extradition request against two UK residents formerly held by the US at the Guantanamo Bay prison after finding that they are not competent to stand trial. Jamil el Banna and Omar Deghayes faced an extradition hearing on April 15 after Garzon requested that the two face [...]