Egypt's government-financed National Council for Human Rights on Monday criticized the recent multi-candidate presidential elections for lacking real democratic competition. The government-financed council said the recently amended election law "placed very difficult restrictions on presidential hopefuls, especially independent candidates" making it very difficult for candidates to compete with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak . The group [...]

The Iraqi Electoral Commission announced Monday that Iraqi prisoners will be allowed to vote in the upcoming constitutional referendum . Officials told reporters that ballot boxes will be sent to area prisons, and all Iraqi detainees that have not been convicted of a crime will be eligible to vote; this includes ex-president Saddam Hussein . [...]

UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke Monday proposed the banning of 15 global terror organizations, submitting a draft list to Parliament of groups to be prohibited under the Terrorism Act 2000 . Clarke cited "recent events in London and elsewhere in the world" as the impetus for the proposal since "the threat posed by global terrorism [...]

The Council of Europe , Europe's top human rights organization, Monday called for the United States and Japan to set an example for other countries by abolishing capital punishment. COE Secretary General Terry Davis used World Day Against the Death Penalty to press the two countries and Russia to put an end to the death [...]

In the latest reversal for African asylum seekers heading for Europe, the north African state of Morocco Monday began deporting potential immigrants, sending a plane carrying 140 West Africans off to Senegal. A second flight carrying another 140 Senegalese was to take off for Dakar later Monday and another 600 migrants are slated for deportation [...]

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia commented Monday that the Supreme Court confirmation process was too politicized and that he would not want to experience it again. Scalia, when asked during an interview on NBC's "Today" program if he thought he could again be confirmed by the Senate, said "I don't know. I wouldn't want [...]

Former head of Russia oil giant Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky was transferred Monday from the pre-trial detention facility where he was being held, reportedly to the prison where he will serve his 8-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud. When members of the legal team representing Khodorkovsky's jailed colleague, Platon Lebedev, attempted to speak to their [...]

The Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington announced Sunday that five of the 11 Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo Bay would "soon" be released to the government of Kuwait and tried before a court in that country. Sheikh Salem Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah did not provide a specific date but said the countries were in negotiations for the specifics [...]

A request made by lawyers for Saddam Hussein to delay the October 19 start of his trial on charges stemming from a 1982 massacre at Dujail was rejected Sunday by the Iraqi Special Tribunal considering his case. If convicted, Hussein faces the death penalty and statutes require that execution by hanging takes place within 30 [...]

Shiite and Kurdish officials held last-minute negotiations with Sunni Arab leaders Sunday in an attempt to win Sunni support of Iraq's proposed constitution . The document, which will be voted on in an October 15th referendum , has divided both sides, especially over the issue of federalism. Many influential Sunnis are calling for a "no" [...]