Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill officially ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism , the Kremlin announced Tuesday. A Kremlin statement described the convention as "the first universal treaty designed to prevent acts of terrorism with weapons of mass destruction" and said it provided for "a mechanism [...]

Dick Marty , the Swiss parliamentarian who has been leading the Council of Europe probe into CIA terror secret prisons and renditions in Europe , announced Tuesday that he intends to accompany UN Special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak in a visit to the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. In a joint statement , COE [...]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments in the consolidated case of Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. US , in which the Court will decide whether immigrants convicted of state drug felonies can remain in the US if their crimes were misdemeanors under federal law. Jose Lopez pleaded guilty to aiding and [...]

Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim Edition) of B.E. 2549, October 1, 2006, unofficial English translation . Read the full text of the interim constitution via The Nation, Bangkok. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A coalition of Thai democracy activists and academics Tuesday called for newly appointed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to lift the martial law imposed on the country by the military leaders who seized power from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup on September 19. The so-called Confederation for Democracy argued in a letter to [...]

A group of four UN human rights envoys reported Tuesday that Israel and Hezbollah both broke international humanitarian law during the 34-day Middle East conflict . Secretary-General Kofi Annan's representative on displaced people Walter Kaelin, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment [...]

The US military commission expected to try Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks will not allow evidence coerced through torture, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock told ABC News on Tuesday. Ruddock added that "sleep deprivation is ordinarily not regarded as torture," however, if a commission were to deem it as such, any evidence retrieved as a [...]

Microsoft filed an appeal with the European Court of First Instance on Tuesday, contesting the $357 million fine imposed against it by the European Commission in July for violations of antitrust laws. Microsoft also appealed the 2004 European Union antitrust ruling which resulted in the fines. The fine was the first the EU had levied [...]

The verdict in the Dujail crimes against humanity case against Saddam Hussein has been postponed despite previous expectations that it would be delivered October 16 , the court trying the case announced Tuesday. The court said it decided to postpone the verdict in order to reserve time "for the judges' review of the evidence." Although [...]

The FBI Tuesday continued an investigation into possible sex crimes by Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) that may lead to charges under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 , a bill Foley co-sponsored. Under the law, persons found to be "sex offenders" are required to register their name, social security number, address, [...]