The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston South Carolina has agreed to set aside $12 million to compensate victims and relatives of victims of clergy sex abuse going back before 1980, according to a statement released by the diocese Friday. A judge has initially approved the terms of the settlement. No mention was made of how [...]

Report on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners, European Parliament Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners; Rapporteur: Giovanni Claudio Fava, January 26, 2007 . Read the full text of the [...]

Letter to Maher Arar, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, January 26, 2007 . Read the full text of the letter. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Joint resolution memorializing the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States to Repeal the Real ID Act of 2005, Senate of Maine, January 25, 2007. Read the full text of the resolution . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Spain Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos argued for an expanded European constitution in his opening statement at the “Friends of the EU Constitution” summit that got under way in Madrid Friday. The summit is only open to delegates from the 18 countries that already have ratified the constitution, as well as delegates from Ireland and [...]

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to Maher Arar on behalf of the Canadian government Friday for its role in the US deportation of Arar to Syria in 2002 and announced a settlement with Arar of $10.5 million (CAD) compensation for pain and suffering, as well as up to $2 million (CAD) for legal [...]

Guantanamo defense lawyer and Reprieve senior counsel Zachary Katznelson told Reuters in an interview published Friday that since December at least 160 Guantanamo Bay detainees have been moved to solitary confinement in the new part of the facility called "Camp 6" , and claimed the relocation was designed to elicit confessions by interrogators who may [...]

EU Freedom, Security and Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini urged the 27 EU nations on Friday to adopt EU-wide laws criminalizing denial of the Holocaust and incitement of hatred and racial violence. Frattini's remarks come the day before Holocaust Memorial Day , which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Frattini said [...]

The UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) has delayed the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor until June 4, giving Taylor’s lawyers more time to prepare their defense. While the defense had asked the court to push the start of the trial to September, and the prosecution had noted that they would not [...]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened Friday in a renewed furor over criminal sentencing that broke out after a judge cited the Home Secretary's recent urgings to keep non-dangerous offenders out of overcrowded prisons in suspending the sentence of a man who pleaded guilty to downloading child pornography. The suspended sentence issued Thursday prompted an [...]