Iran judiciary chief says abuse by Iranian police as bad as "what the Americans do"
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi , head of the Iran Judiciary took the unusual step Thursday of criticizing the treatment of criminal detainees by Iranian police, and compared their interrogation techniques to those employed by US soldiers...
JURIST Contributing Editor Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law says that the ostensibly-successful Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, now under review in a month-long conference at the UN, may be on its last legs... Recognizing "the devastation that would be...
UN investigator urges countries to disclose death penalty stats
Philip Alston , a UN human rights investigator speaking in Geneva Friday, urged countries to remove their "cloak of secrecy" and disclose the numbers of prisoners executed and those waiting on death row. Alston, an Australian jurist...
At least 3,797 people were executed in 2004 and at least 7,395 people in 64 countries were sentenced to death last year, according to the annual report on the use of capital punishment released by Amnesty International ...
JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego notes that with the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Roper v. Simmons, the United States has finally joined the community of nations that says the state-sanctioned...
County Reports on Human Rights Practices, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 28, 2005 [delivering sharp criticisms of rights situations in US Middle Eastern allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. The document also censuring China, Russia and the...
The US State Department Monday released its 2004 annual reports on human rights practices in 196 countries, delivering with sharp criticisms of rights situations in Middle Eastern allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. The document also censured...
International brief ~ Zimbabwe Supreme Court says voting not 'fundamental right'
In Thursday's international brief, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe held Wednesday that while voting was constitutionally protected in the country, it was not a "fundamental right." The ruling was made at a hearing for Zimbabweans who are petitioning the...
Iranian blogger sentenced to 14 years for political opinions
Prominent Iranian blogger Arash Cigarchi was sentenced to a 14-year prison term Wednesday for publishing critiques of the government on his online blog and in the international press. Cigarchi was charged with aiding and abetting hostile governments and opposition...
Iran claims international right to production of nuclear materials
An Iranian official has said that Iran's nuclear program does not violate international law and that Iran is merely exercising its internationally recognized right to produce nuclear material. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said that Iran was following all...
