In his weekly radio address Saturday President Bush publicly pressed his case for immigration reform for the third time this week and urged the Senate to pass a comprehensive immigration bill by the end of May so that negotiations can begin with the House on a compromise he can sign into law. In addition to [...]

The UN Committee against Torture has given Senegal 90 days to fulfill its obligations under the Convention Against Torture to put former Chad President Hissene Habre on trial for torture crimes and rights offenses stemming from his 1982-90 rule in Chad or extradite him to Belgium where he has been charged with crimes against humanity [...]

UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said Saturday that the British government will ask the European Court of Human Rights to review a long-standing ban against EU countries deporting individuals to countries where they would be at risk of torture or death, a practice known in international law by the French term refoulement . The ban [...]

Russia Friday assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (COE) , the assembly responsible for maintaining human rights and democracy in Europe. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov outlined his country's priorities as head of the organization, which include working toward creating "pan-European" legal standards through the [...]

Lawyers representing Hurricane Katrina evacuees filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court on Friday, seeking an injunction against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preventing the agency from ending housing benefits after the twelve-month housing vouchers issued by FEMA expire. The suit, filed by Houston-based law firm Caddell & Chapman and a collection of public [...]

The UN Committee against Torture report released Friday on US compliance with the Convention Against Torture urged the US to do more to protect domestic prisoners and suspects from violence and threats of violence, in addition to calling on it to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, stop renditions, and reveal secret prisons . The [...]

US District Court Judge Robin Cauthron Friday struck down a two year-old amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that prevented Oklahoma from recognizing adoptions by gay parents that were finalized in other US or foreign jurisdictions. Cauthron found that the amendment violates the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Fourth Amendment, and prohibits the state [...]

Leaders of right-wing anti-government paramilitaries in Colombia said Friday that Thursday's decision by the country's Constitutional Court throwing out a part of last year’s controversial Justice and Peace Law giving lesser punishments to paramilitary leaders who voluntarily disarm would disrupt the peace process in the country. The legislation, formally known as Law 975, had specified [...]

The White House Friday responded to a report by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) calling on the US to shut down its Guantanamo Bay detention facility by reinterating President Bush's statement that he hopes to close it at some point, and insisting that "everything that is done in terms of questioning detainees is fully [...]

Police in Zimbabwe arrested opposition leader Arthur Mutambara and 70 supporters on Friday for allegedly campaigning for a Saturday byelection in violation of Zimbabwe’s Public Order and Security Act , which makes it illegal to hold a political meeting of any size without written approval from police four days in advance of a political event. [...]