UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour released two reports Friday detailing alleged rapes and disappearances carried out by militia soldiers in the Darfur region of Sudan at the end of 2006. According to the first report released by Arbour, at least 15 rapes and sexual assaults were committed by men who appeared to [...]

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) , chair of the US Senate Judiciary Committee , asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a letter Thursday to provide more details and respond to outstanding questions concerning his role in the firings of eight US Attorneys . Leahy asked Gonzales to submit a written statement at least 48 hours before [...]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday filed a stay order in California's 3rd District Court of Appeal to block a ruling unfavorable to his plan to transfer excess prisoners to out-of-state facilities . California had filed its own appeal Tuesday. The Sacramento County Superior Court ruled in February that Schwarzenegger's emergency declaration plans to transfer prisoners [...]

Kosovo's parliament voted 100-1 Thursday in support of a UN plan to establish an independent Kosovar state under UN supervision. The plan was drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari , who believes independence from Serbia with international supervision "the only viable option" for Kosovo. The plan needs the approval of the UN Security Council before [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that Mexico's now-closed Special Prosecutor's Office failed in its effort to address past human rights abuses stemming from the "Dirty War" of the late 1960s to 1970s . The office was created by former Mexican President Vicente Fox to investigate potential human rights violations that included more than 600 [...]

Three men arrested last month in connection with the July 7, 2005 London transit bombings were charged Thursday with unlawfully and maliciously conspiring with the suicide bombers to cause explosions on London's transportation system and tourist attractions in London. The men, Mohammed Shakil, 30, Waheed Ali (formerly known as Shipon Ullah), 23, and Sadeer Saleem, [...]

A Turkish parliamentary committee okayed legislation Thursday that would censor websites seen as insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk . Legislators debated whether Turkey should also have the right to censor sites that questioned the unity of the Turkish state, or the legitimacy of Turkey's secular government. It is unknown when the [...]

The England and Wales Court of Appeals (Civil Division) on Wednesday ruled that three Africans formerly living in the Darfur region of Sudan could be granted asylum in the UK, overruling a decision by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) to send the appellants back to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The UK Secretary of [...]

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday that officials who refuse to comply with his decree ordering new elections could face criminal prosecution . Yushchenko issued the decree Monday, ordering parliament dissolved and new elections in May over what Yushchenko has called "systemic violations of the constitution by the parliamentary majority." Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych [...]

Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal on Wednesday upheld last month's decision by the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal to dismiss 57 members of the legislature. The lawmakers, who oppose a planned April 15 referendum to amend the constitution , had been reinstated by a judge last Thursday. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal responded immediately by firing the judge , [...]