Egypt Wednesday called US criticism of its alleged rights violations "unacceptable," labeling a Monday White House statement about the closure of the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid as "interference" in Egypt's domestic matters. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the statement by the White House reflected its lack of understanding about Egyptian legal affairs. [...]

US President George W. Bush Tuesday withdrew John Rizzo as the White House nominee for CIA general counsel in light of concerns from Democrats over Rizzo's support for certain interrogation techniques. During a hearing on his nomination in June, Rizzo, currently serving as acting CIA general counsel, said he did not object to the definition [...]

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi urged all nations to institute a moratorium on capital punishment in an address delivered to the UN General Assembly Tuesday. Prodi said that such action would mark great progress in ethics and that: A United Nations resolution against the death penalty will prove that human beings today are better than [...]

US Army Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval pleaded not guilty at his court-martial in Iraq Wednesday to charges that he and two other soldiers killed three unarmed Iraqis and then placed weapons next to the bodies. Sandoval, along with Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley and Sgt. Evan Vela, was charged with premeditated murder and wrongfully placing [...]

Chinese lawyer and outspoken critic of the Chinese government Gao Zhisheng has been arrested again, this time for writing a letter to the US Congress asking the US to help the human rights situation in his home country, a friend of Gao said Tuesday. According to people close to Gao, he was taken from his [...]

Texas continued with the lethal injection execution of a convicted murderer Tuesday, despite the US Supreme Court's grant of certiorari in a case reviewing whether the method is cruel and unusual and therefore unconstitutional. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in Baze v. Rees (07-5439) on whether the use of a three-drug [...]

US federal Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack has ruled that the government must obtain warrants in order to place taps on phones that would reveal dialed digits. Under the Patriot Act , government agents are permitted to use a wiretap without a warrant so long as it did not include the "contents of any communication." [...]

Micronesian Legal Service Corporation (LSC) attorney Omar Calimbas said Tuesday that beginning October 15, 2007, the US will permit Micronesians living on the US mainland to receive free legal aid services. The decision will change a 1983 US Congressional act that prevented the representation of aliens, with the exception of certain documented persons, as a [...]

Gabor Rona : "The U.S. Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) has issued a decision overturning the dismissal of prosecution against Omar Khadr by a military commission. The case was dismissed because although Khadr was found by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal to be an "enemy combatant," there was no finding, as is required for [...]

Giovanni Di Stefano : "Al-Majid and 14 other former Saddam Hussein-era officials are on trial for their role in the government's violent response to the uprising, during which tens of thousands of civilians were killed. They are charged with crimes against humanity and will face the death penalty. The sentence of death passed upon Mr [...]