Elizabeth Jordan : "Human Rights First does not consider the decrease in the number of political prisoners held in Cuba a reflection of a more favorable human rights environment on the island. In the spring of 2003, 75 men and women human rights defenders were imprisoned as part of a major crackdown on civil society. [...]

US District Judge Richard W. Roberts on Thursday ordered the government to submit a report to the court by February 14 detailing why the CIA destroyed videotapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects , whether other evidence connected to a Guantanamo Bay detainee's lawsuit may have been destroyed, and what steps the government has taken [...]

The Mexican military has committed grave human rights abuses, including the torture, rape and murder of civilians, according to a report from the Mexican National Human Rights Commission submitted to the Mexican National Congress. According to Commission President Jorge Luis Soberanes Fernandez, the military committed these offenses while trying to combat drug-related crime committed by [...]

Executive Order: Further Amendment of Executive Order 11858 Concerning Foreign Investment in the United States, signed by George W. Bush, January 23, 2008 . Read the full text of the order. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Choose Life of Missouri, Inc., et al., v. Trish Vincent, et al., US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division, January 23, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Bangladesh Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the extortion trial of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could continue, rejecting arguments by Hasina's lawyers that she could not be tried under the current state of emergency rules because the alleged crimes occurred before the national state of emergency was declared last January. Hasina was formally [...]

Paul Craig Roberts : "The George W. Bush administration responded to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon with an assault on US civil liberty that Bush and the DOJ justified in the name of "the war on terror." The government gave assurances that the draconian measures only apply to "terrorists." "Terrorist," [...]

Dutch parliamentarians called for changes to the country’s terrorism laws Thursday in response to a Wednesday appeals court decision overturning the convictions of seven men suspected of belonging to the Dutch Muslim Hofstad Network . The Hague Appeals Court dismissed charges that the men were part of a terrorist network that included Muslim extremist Mohammed [...]

US President George W. Bush will request an additional $200 million dollars in federal funding to help state and local authorities combat violent crime, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced Thursday in remarks to the US Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC. The earmarked funds will be used to strengthen the Department of Justice's Violent [...]

Turkey Thursday lifted a nationwide ban imposed last week on the popular video-sharing website YouTube . Last week, a Turkish court ordered Turk Telecom to block access to YouTube in reported response to video clips insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk . It was not immediately clear whether access to the website [...]