The Canadian government ceased transferring Afghan detainees from Canadian to Afghan custody in November after Canadian monitors in Afghanistan discovered evidence of torture, according to a Canadian Justice Department letter sent this week to two advocacy groups suing the government to halt further transfers. In the letter, made public Wednesday, a Justice Department official wrote: [...]

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on Wednesday called the European Union and United Nations' practice of blacklisting terror suspects from interstate travel "completely arbitrary" and urged member states of both organizations to amend their blacklisting practice to "preserve the credibility of the international fight against terrorism." Rapporteur Dick Marty reported that the lists [...]

Marciano Plata, et al., v. Arnold Schwarzenegger, et al., US District Court for the Northern District of California, January 23, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre will not go on trial this year for crimes against humanity, according to an EU official sent to Senegal to advise the court where Habre will be tried . Bruno Cathala, Registrar of the International Criminal Court (ICC) , said Wednesday that the length of time necessary to complete investigations [...]

Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Wednesday that Israel's policy of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings, coupled with the Palestinian militant practice of indiscriminate firings of bombs and rockets, has led to the current crisis [...]

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the healthcare provided in California prisons does not meet constitutional standards even though medical services have improved significantly since the court assumed oversight of the system in 2005. US District Judge Thelton Henderson of the Northern District of California acknowledged the progress of the current supervisory team, led by [...]

The UK Identity and Passport Service will delay issuing ID cards to British nationals until 2010, according to documents leaked from the UK Home Office . Plans are still underway for foreign nationals living in the UK to be issued biometric visas later this year, while people in "positions of trust," such as security guards, [...]

US Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday urged the US Congress to renew and expand the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) when it meets for a scheduled Thursday vote. In a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, Cheney called on Congress to amend FISA to grant immunity to telecommunications companies from lawsuits related to [...]

A Dutch appeals court Wednesday overturned the convictions of seven men who were charged with being in a terrorist network that included Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri . Bouyeri confessed to the November 2004 murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh . The seven men were suspected of belonging to the Dutch Muslim Hofstad Network terror [...]

The Dutch government plans to ban burqas in schools and government offices, rejecting a proposal by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders to prohibit wearing burqas in public altogether, according to Wednesday media reports. Wilders submitted a legislative proposal in July 2007 which would punish those wearing burqas in public with a fine of up to €3,350 [...]