Second Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, January 2006. Excerpt: Unfortunately, to date efforts to improve the human rights situation on the ground have fallen short of what the CPA and the Interim National Constitution envisaged for [...]

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced Monday that the number of anti-Semitic and racist acts reported in France dropped significantly in 2005. Anti-Semitic acts (defined as violence or threats of violence) dropped 47 percent, while racist and xenophobic acts decreased by 22 percent. De Villepin noted the decreases while promising more measures to target [...]

Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, the eldest daughter of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet , was released on bail Monday after appearing in a Santiago appeals court two days after she returned to Chile to answer charges of tax evasion . Hiriart had fled to the US but was detained by immigration officials because of the international [...]

The US Senate has invoked cloture , voting 72-25 to end debate and cut off any filibuster on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court. A vote on whether to approve the nomination is scheduled for Tuesday at 11 AM ET. 5:55 PM ET – Alito's confirmation Tuesday is virtually assured, [...]

US District Judge Sim Lake Monday told potential jurors in the trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling that it was not up to them to provide justice for the suffering caused by the collapse of the corporation. "We are not looking for people who want to right a wrong", [...]

Lawyers for former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers urged federal appeals court judges Monday to reconsider his 25-year prison sentence , questioning the fairness of the prosecution during trial proceedings. Ebbers was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in March 2005 in connection with an $11 billion fraud scheme which drove WorldCom into bankruptcy. Ebbers lawyer Reid [...]

US diplomats at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have expressed concern over Russia's newly adopted NGO law , which grants the Russian government tight control over the registration, financing, and activities of non-governmental organizations in the country, including a variety of foreign and domestic human rights groups. In remarks Friday to [...]

The American Bar Association has recommended a moratorium on the Georgia death penalty after an ABA panel study identified numerous flaws in the state criminal justice system that it claimed greatly compromised the fair administration of capital punishment. The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report noted that Georgia is the only state that does not guarantee [...]

Democrats in the US Senate spent Monday morning lobbying against US Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito in their last efforts to block his confirmation to the high court. The Senate will hold a cloture vote Monday afternoon and if Alito wins at least 60 votes, the final confirmation vote will be held Tuesday morning. [...]

The Moscow City Court has denied a petition for release by former Russian nuclear minister Yevgeny Adamov , ruling that he will remain in custody until April 12. Adamov, who is charged with fraud and power abuse by both Russian and US prosecutors, cited health reasons for his requested release. The former atomic energy minister [...]