Israel found itself on the defensive with the United States as its most vocal ally in a Friday UN Security Council open meeting in which ambassadors from the Arab world and beyond condemned it for breaching international law in its attacks on Lebanon and, to a lesser extent, in its operations in Gaza in immediate [...]

Six high-level UN human rights officials Friday urged all parties in the Middle East conflict to respect and protect the rights of civilians eight days after the conflict spread to Lebanon. UN rights rapporteurs and representatives on internally displaced persons, housing, food, freedom of expression, health and education issued a rare joint statement expressing "grave [...]

Christine Chanet , the chair of the UN Human Rights Committee , criticized the United States in comments to reporters Friday, accusing the US of avoiding its duty to submit to hearings regarding US conformity to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . On Monday, the US told the committee that the Covenant [...]

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa has ratified a controversial protest law that some rights groups suggest could be inconsistent with common international rights standards. The Amendments to Law 18/1973 criminalizes unauthorized protests, prohibits foreign nationals from demonstrating, and bans demonstrators from certain public places such as hospitals, airports, and near diplomatic offices and other [...]

A federal judge presiding over the case of former US Army soldier Steven Green has granted a three-month delay in Green's arraignment on rape and murder charges of an Iraqi civilian and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya . US District Judge Thomas Russell of the Western District of Kentucky agreed Thursday to delay [...]

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the US Internal Revenue Service improperly applied 2003 Treasury Department regulations retroactively when it determined that the BLIPS tax shelter, which stands for "bond linked issue premium structure," is invalid. US District Judge John T. Ward's ruling comes in a civil lawsuit where plaintiffs are seeking refunds [...]

African and black American leaders this week considered a proposal to grant dual citizenship to American descendants of African slaves in a bid to increase investment and interest in Africa . Presidents from 12 African countries and American private sector leaders discussed the idea at a four-day summit that concluded Friday in Abuja, Nigeria hosted [...]

Omar Khadr , the nineteen-year-old Canadian citizen who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years, wrote a letter to his mother last week telling her that he has fired his US lawyers, the Globe and Mail reported Friday. A US military lawyer appointed to represent Khadr, Lieutenant-Colonel Colby Vokey, said the [...]

The editor of Indonesian online newspaper Rakyat Merdeka will face trial for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on the website in February, his lawyers said Friday. Editor Teguh Santosa was arrested by Indonesian prosecutors on Wednesday night and was held for 24 hours before his release late Thursday night. He is charged with "inciting [...]

The US Marine Corps has denied a request by defense lawyers representing seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi man in April to visit the Hamdania site where the alleged murder occurred. The lawyers requested a site visit in an effort to interview locals and view topographical details that are [...]