Blood-Stained Hands: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity, Human Rights Watch , July 6, 2005 . Excerpt: Many of the main commanders and political faction leaders implicated in the crimes detailed in this report are now officials in the Afghan government—serving in high level positions in the police, military, intelligence services, and [...]

Petition for writ of habeas corpus, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, July 6, 2005 . Read the full text of the petition here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Newly appointed World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz , the former US deputy defense secretary considered one of the most influential "neo-conservatives" in the Bush administration, said Wednesday in the run-up to the G8 summit that developed nations as well as developing countries in Africa have a responsibility to address widespread government corruption before the issue [...]

In an anticipated move Wednesday, Germany, Japan, Brazil and India, also known as the G-4, submitted their UN Security Council restructuring plan to the UN General Assembly. The resolution proposes changing the current UN Security Council structure by adding six more permanent seats, and delaying the veto rights of new members for 15 additional years. [...]

The Mediterranean island of Malta became the latest nation to ratify the proposed EU constitution Wednesday. Despite initial opposition from the country's Labour Party , the Maltese Parliament approved the draft with support from Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi . Last month, following “No” votes from France and the Netherlands, EU leaders decided to extend the [...]

Leading Wednesday's states brief, the New York Court of Appeals ruled today that the prior dismissed charges against four anti-war protesters are to be resealed and not used against the protesters in determining their sentences for later convictions. The state's highest court reversed a lower court decision that allowed the records to be unsealed by [...]

Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, communications Nextel is being sued by a distributing affiliate, Nextel Partners, that claims it was not given input into Nextel's impending merger with Sprint and wants to go to arbitration. The Washington state-based distributor had previously declared its intention to force Sprint-Nextel to purchase Nextel Partners . In [...]

New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch Wednesday issued a new report calling for Afghan President Hamid Karzai to establish a Special Court to try high-level government officials and others accused of taking part in atrocities committed during Afghanistan's civil war from April 1992 to March 1993. The authors of the report recommended thatthe court [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the US government Wednesday on behalf of a US citizen detained by US forces in Iraq since May 17. Cyrus Kar, a 44-year-old filmmaker , was in Iraq shooting a historical documentary when he was stopped at a checkpoint. According to the Pentagon, the taxi he [...]

A federal judge has ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller to jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity. Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, called the order a "draconian act." AP has more. 4:33 PM ET – Bloomberg has an updated report; a [...]