The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed nationally-coordinated complaints on Wednesday against telecommunications companies and the attorneys general of twenty states requesting investigations into the legality of information sharing between phone companies and the National Security Agency (NSA) . Unlike the complaint filed by Illinois residents Monday asking AT&T to stop handing over information to [...]

US Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) on Wednesday demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation return all evidence seized in its search of the congressional office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) last weekend in connection to Jefferson's alleged involvement in a $3 billion fraud scam. Hastert [...]

Pro-unification advocates favoring the continuation of Montenegro's association with Serbia announced Wednesday that they will challenge results of Sunday's referendum vote that resulted in 55.5% of the Montenegrin population voting for independence. Bloc for Joint State leader Predrag Bulatovic said he plans to file an appeal with the referendum commission before the Wednesday appeal deadline [...]

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) warned that ongoing sectarian violence is significantly hindering human rights progress in the country in a bi-monthly report released Tuesday. Execution style killings reached 70 a day in Baghdad in the wake of the February Shiite shrine bombing in Samarra . Iraqi officials and international rights workers [...]

The Iraqi government announced Wednesday that it had apprehended Saddam Hussein nephew Bashar Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti with the assistance of Lebanese police. The statement was ambiguous as to whether al-Tikriti was extradited from Lebanon, and did not specify what Hussein's nephew will be charged with, though it generally referred to crimes against the people [...]

The US Senate on Wednesday voted 73-25 in favor of invoking cloture on the Immigration Reform Bill and limiting debate on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has indicated that he would like to hold final vote on the immigration bill by the end of the week. The vote to limit debate on [...]

Government officials in the Congo said Wednesday that 32 American, South African, and Nigerian nationals have been arrested in connection with an alleged coup attempt aimed at destabilizing the country before the July 30 national elections, though critics allege the arrests were politically motivated. Those arrested were employed in Congo by the US firm Omega [...]

Saddam Hussein Accusation Document, Republic of Iraq, Iraqi High Tribunal, Office of the Head of the First Criminal Court, May 15, 2006 . Read the full text of the charging instrument via Grotian Moment (CWRU Law School). Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

US Secretary of State spokesperson Sean McCormack on Tuesday blasted Syria for arresting human rights leaders and called for Syria to release all political prisoners . Syrian security police last week arrested human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni , prominent writer Michel Kilo and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in what McCormack characterized as a crackdown [...]

Government officials have asked the Supreme Court of Chile to place a gag order on former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to prevent him from discussing the upcoming presidential election in Peru. Fujimori was released on bail last week while Chile courts decide whether he should be extradited to Peru, where he faces corruption and human [...]