Russian human rights activists held vigil in Lubyanka Square, former KBG headquarters and current location of the Federal Security Service, in Moscow on Monday to commemorate victims of political persecution during the Soviet Era and to protest current prosecution of Russians on political grounds. International human rights group Memorial told Interfax on Sunday that there [...]

US Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested significantly fewer illegal immigrants attempting to cross US borders in fiscal year 2006 than in the previous year, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported Monday. According to the DHS report, "CBP Border Patrol agents improved border security, reducing the number of apprehensions at the borders by [...]

The early release of Tommy Suharto from prison Monday by court order under the Indonesian government's holiday remission program has prompted criticism that the Indonesian justice system continues to be easily manipulated by those with money and power. Suharto, whose full name is Hutomo Mandala Putra, is the son of former President Haji Mohammad Suharto [...]

US Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson will plead guilty in connection with the April 26 death of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania , Jackson's lawyer said Monday. Jackson faces court-martial on charges of murder, conspiracy, housebreaking, larceny and kidnapping, but his lawyer said that Jackson has agreed to plead guilty on lesser [...]

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sitting in London Monday upheld the sex abuse convictions of six men for committing rapes and sexual assaults against women and underage girls on the British possession of Pitcairn Island over a period of more than 30 years. The men, including the island's mayor, had asserted that English [...]

China's National People's Congress voted Tuesday to amend the Organic Law on the People's Courts so that only the Supreme People's Court has the authority to approve the death penalty . The high court's president first hinted at death penalty reform last year and later the court said it would begin reviewing all death penalty [...]

Advocacy groups filed a second lawsuit Monday against the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania in an attempt to block the community's anti-immigration laws that will make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to reside or work in the town. The city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act and Landlord Tenant Ordinance , set to take effect Wednesday , [...]

A federal jury Monday returned a $48 million verdict against Amerigroup and its Illinois affiliate for discriminating against pregnant women by intentionally not reaching out to them while marketing its insurance services in Illinois. The lawsuit was based on allegations made by whistleblower Cleveland Tyson, who was fired from the company in 2002 and will [...]

Failure to Protect: A Call to the UN Security Council to Act in North Korea, US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, October 30, 2006 . Read the full text of the report . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Planned Parenthood v. Rounds, US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, October 30, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.