The Cuban government has released a second imprisoned political dissident in less than a week, the National Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) said Wednesday. Labor movement activist Lazaro Gonzalez Adan was imprisoned in 2004 after refusing police orders to remove quotes painted on his home that were deemed critical of the Cuban [...]

More than 300 Kenyan journalists marched in the capital city of Nairobi Wednesday, voicing their opposition to a provision in a proposed law that would give courts the authority to force journalists to disclose confidential sources. The provision, part of a proposal to establish an independent council to adjudicate complaints against the media, was introduced [...]

Jurors in the terror trial of Jose Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi began deliberations Wednesday after federal prosecutors and defense lawyers completed closing arguments . All three defendants are accused of conspiring to murder US nationals, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists. They [...]

Iranian judiciary spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi confirmed Wednesday that Iranian authorities have detained journalists Masoud Bastani, Farshed Gorbanpour, and Soheli Assefi, accusing the three of "publishing false statements and lies" about the Islamic Republic of Iran. Jamshidi said that Assefi, who has been detained since August 4 , has been granted a $162,000 bail. A judiciary [...]

US forces in Iraq have detained an additional 5,000 people in the four months since the "troop surge" instituted by the Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) , increasing the number of detainees in American custody from approximately 18,000 to 23,000, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Detainees held in Iraqi-operated detention facilities have also risen to [...]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to postpone its implementation of proposed guidelines intended to limit how federal courts can review state-issued death sentences. In a letter sent to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales obtained by AP Tuesday, the senators [...]

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should deploy observers to monitor the status of human rights in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged in a briefing paper released Tuesday. HRW Africa director Peter Takirambudde called on SADC members to "take strong and effective action" in order "to deal with one of the region's most grave [...]

Defense lawyers for Jose Padilla said in closing arguments Tuesday that the government had failed to prove its case against their client, saying that Padilla had traveled overseas to study Arabic and not to engage in terrorism as argued by prosecutors. Closing arguments began Monday, with federal prosecutors urging jurors to convict Padilla and co-defendants [...]

Steven J. Hatfill, M.D., v. Alberto Gonzales, et al, US District Court for the District of Columbia, August 13, 2007 . Read the full text of the decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A German state administrative court affirmed a ban on religious headscarves in the federal district of North Rhine-Westphalia Tuesday, rejecting a teacher's argument that her headscarf was merely a "fashion accessory" and ruling that it was a symbol of her religious belief. In June, the same court upheld the ban , saying that the public [...]