The US State Department has asked Congress for $100 million for building prisons in Iraq, its only remaining large-scale reconstruction project in the country. State Department Iraq Coordinator James Jeffrey describes the exercise as creating “additional bed capacity of the Iraqi legal system.” Iraqis will eventually take custody of thousands of detainees currently held by [...]

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told the British House of Commons Wednesday that he hopes the US will close its much-criticized detention camp at Guantanamo Bay , but measured his words by adding that the US had justifiably opened it in response to the September 11 attacks. He referred to what he called a "judicial [...]

The former head of the Human Rights Office at the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq has told the BBC that extra-judicial killings and torture have become "endemic" in Iraq, and that up to 75% of bodies in the Baghdad morgue show signs of torture or execution. John Pace, a diplomat from Malta, said that most [...]

China's new Law on Public Security Administrative Penalties took effect Wednesday, creating 165 new offenses and setting maximum penalties ranging from 200 yuan ($25 US) to 15 days detention for Chinese citizens all the way to deportation for foreigners. The new offenses include repeatedly sending pornographic cellphone messages and disturbing public order at public events. [...]

For the first time since the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunals convened in August 2004, a presiding military judge has said that he will examine potential evidence to determine if it was obtained through torture before ruling on admissibility. Presiding judge Col. Peter Brownback discussed the issue at a pre-trial hearing for detainee Ali Hamza [...]

The six men convicted in October 2004 of committing sexual abuse against women and underage girls on the British possession of Pitcairn Island over a period of 30 years have lost their latest appeals. Appearing before a specially-constituted Pitcairn Court of Appeal in Auckland, New Zealand, the men had asserted that English law did not [...]

Letter from US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Senator Arlen Specter, February 28, 2006 . Read the full text of the letter . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in four consolidated cases challenging the Texas congressional redistricting plan approved in 2003 which helped Republicans gain six seats in the US Congress. Opponents of the redistricting plan told the Court that the plan was unconstitutional and accused the Texas legislature of drawing oddly shaped districts [...]

A scheduled UN General Assembly vote on a draft resolution to create a new UN Human Rights Council has been delayed after the US rejected the proposal . US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said earlier this week that the resolution has "manifold deficiencies" and that Washington wants to reopen negotiations or else postpone [...]

Canadian Federal Court judge Marshall Rothstein was formally appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Wednesday two days after appearing before a committee of Canadian parliamentarians in the first public questioning of a Canadian high court nominee . The appointment was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper . The ad [...]