The Iraqi Council of Representatives entered its summer recess Monday despite failing to pass constitutional amendments or legislation seen as essential to the stabilization of Iraq. A representative said that the council, which is scheduled to reconvene September 4, decided to recess because the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had not submitted any constitutional [...]

Five defendants convicted for their roles in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign have filed appeals with the Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal , Iraqi prosecutors said Monday. The five defendants, two of whom received life sentences and three of whom received the death sentence , [...]

The last two remaining defendants in Ethiopia's criminal treason prosecution of individuals allegedly involved in mass anti-government demonstrations in 2005 have denied association with the opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and are seeking to be acquitted, defense lawyers said Monday. Daniel Bekele of ActionAid Ethiopia and Netsanet Demissie, the Executive Director of [...]

The Bangladeshi High Court suspended the extortion trial of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed Monday after receiving a motion from Hasina's lawyers challenging the legality of her detention under emergency laws . Hasina's lawyers argued that she cannot be detained under emergency laws declared by the interim emergency government because her alleged offenses originate [...]

Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights: 28 days, intercept and post-charge questioning, UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights, July 30, 2007 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor Monday announced the indictment of former Yugoslavia Army Captain Vladimir Kovacevic for war crimes associated with the 1991 Siege of Dubrovnik . In the siege, Kovacevic's artillery unit allegedly indiscriminately shelled the ancient Adriatic city, causing at least five civilian casualties and destroying culturally and historically significant [...]

Australian Prime Minister John Howard refused to apologize for the Australian government's handling of Dr. Mohammad Haneef Monday, saying that it had not "victimized" Haneef despite holding him as a terrorist suspect for 25 days. Haneef was detained while trying to leave the country for allegedly providing reckless material support to suspected terrorists in the [...]

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached an agreement in principle Monday to establish a human rights body as part of the proposed ASEAN Charter, according to an announcement by Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo . Yeo, who is heading the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, told reporters that the ten member states [...]

The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights rejected the British government's proposal for an extension of pre-charge detention for terror suspects, saying in a report published Monday that it is "not convinced of the need" of extending the current 28-day limit. The Committee criticized the former Blair government's "apparent desire to be seen to [...]

US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said Sunday that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may be the subject of a perjury investigation if he does not clear up concerns regarding the truthfulness of his testimony about warrantless wiretapping. Speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation program, Leahy gave Gonzales one week to resolve [...]