In a 2002 FBI document made public Wednesday, an FBI agent wrote that a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay naval base claimed that military jailers flushed the Koran down the toilet, a claim paralleling one made in a recent Newsweek report which was later retracted after deadly riots in Afghanistan and backtracking by an anonymous [...]

Report 2005, Amnesty International, May 25, 2005 . Excerpt: During 2004, the human rights of ordinary men, women and children were disregarded or grossly abused in every corner of the globe. Economic interests, political hypocrisy and socially orchestrated discrimination continued to fan the flames of conflict around the world. The "war on terror" appeared more [...]

Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, passed by the US House of Representatives on May, 24 2005 . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has asked the UN Security Council to renew resolution 1546 , authorizing a US-led multinational force to remain in Iraq. Citing the latest wave of violence and the limited number of trained Iraqi security forces, Zebari has requested that the resolution be extended until the political transition is completed, or [...]

Hong Kong acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang tendered his resignation Wednesday, shortly after the Legislative Council passed a controversial amendment to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance that will cut short the term of the next chief executive. Tsang's resignation will allow him to campaign for the July election to replace Hong Kong's former leader, Tung [...]

Leading Wednesday's international brief, South Africa's Constitutional Court has issued a unanimous ruling ordering the South African Department of Justice to expedite the alternative sentencing of the 62 individuals currently sitting on death row. South Africa placed a moratorium on all executions in 1989 and abolished the death penalty in 1995. Part of that ruling [...]

After three hours of talks Wednesday, Iran agreed to maintain a suspension of its nuclear program while European Union foreign ministers agreed to come up with further proposals and give them to Iran in July or August of this year. The European group, including ministers from Britain, Germany, and France met with Iranian officials after [...]

With the last ten opinion polls putting the no camp ahead, suggesting that the European Union constitutional treaty will be rejected when French voters go to the polls Sunday, those members of the yes campaign not resigned to losing are desperate to reach undecided voters. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has said that with up to [...]

Activists calling for a boycott of the government-supported referendum on constitutional changes to clear the way for multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt were beaten and arrested by policemen and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday. The demonstrators say the referendum offers no real democratic changes and instead insures that Mubarak will not face any [...]

The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the US Circuit Court of Appeals by a 56-43 vote that fell largely along party lines. The vote was the first to confirm one of President Bush's disputed judicial nominees and was made possible by the compromise implemented to avert the "nuclear [...]