A court in Argentina on Tuesday convicted eight formal officials for human rights abuses committed during the 1976-83 Dirty War . The seven former army officers and a former police official were tried in connection with the kidnapping, torture and disappearances of a group of leftist guerrillas. Three defendants, including former Army chief Cristino Nicolaides, [...]

US District Court Judge Stephan Mickle of the Northern District of Florida granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking the implementation of a new Florida voting law intended to prevent election fraud in the state. The law would prevent a person from registering to vote if their social security or driver's license numbers cannot be matched [...]

The Israeli government has failed to investigate and indict members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for acts of violence committed against Palestinian civilians, according to a report issued Tuesday by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din . According to the report, thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed during the last seven years, but [...]

US military contractor CACI International is allegedly responsible for the torture of more than 250 former detainees held in Iraqi prisons, according to the amended complaint filed Tuesday in a class action lawsuit pending in US federal court. According to a press release from the Center for Constitutional Rights: The complaint alleges that these victims [...]

The number of executions in the US in 2007 reached the lowest level in 13 years, according to the 2007 year-end report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) on Tuesday. DPIC reported that there were 42 executions carried out in 2007, compared to 53 in 2006 and 98 in 1998, the highest number [...]

At least four White House lawyers participated in discussions about whether the CIA should destroy videotapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects , the New York Times reported Wednesday. It had previously been reported that Harriet Miers, who became White House counsel in 2005, had participated in internal discussions on what to do with the [...]

Russia's December parliamentary elections were riddled with corruption and fraud, corruption watchdog Transparency International and Russian human rights group Golos said Tuesday. The agencies cited instances of official pressure on voters and suspiciously high turnout figures in a Moscow news conference questioning the integrity of the election. They said that in some instances, election officials [...]

Ayodele Fayose , the former governor of the Nigerian state of Ekiti has been arraigned on corruption charges in Nigeria , court officials said Tuesday. Fayose is accused of embezzling 1.2 billion naira in state funds, among other charges. He was arrested last week after surrendering himself to Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) [...]

The Hungarian parliament Monday voted 185 to 164 to recognize civil partnerships between same-sex couples, giving them the same inheritance, tax, and financial rights as married heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples will not, however, be able to adopt children. Nine parliamentarians abstained from voting. The new law will take effect in January 2009. Reuters has more. [...]

The UN General Assembly Tuesday voted 104-54 with 29 abstentions in favor of a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty . Though non-binding, supporters of the resolution believe international opinion against capital punishment is growing. The US voted against the resolution, joining with Syria, Iran, China and other nations against Israel, [...]