Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has again said that he plans to revise the country's constitution to allow the country to better defend itself and to assist in international security efforts. In an interview published Tuesday by the Financial Times, Abe said that provisions in the current constitution, which was written in 1947 after World [...]

Turkey's bid for European Union membership could be further damaged by an unreleased report on the country's human rights record, a draft version of which was obtained by the Independent. The report condemns Turkey's refusal to compromise on free speech issues or to allow ships from Cyprus to dock in Turkish ports. An emergency negotiation [...]

Serbian war crimes suspect and former nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj , was removed from a court hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Wednesday after he disrupted proceedings on several occasions. An ICTY appeals panel last month ruled that Seselj could represent himself during his trial, but also appointed two lawyers [...]

A UN human rights expert expressed concern Tuesday about human rights violations allegedly committed by a Mexican paramilitary group in the Mexican province of Oaxaca during clashes between protesters and the police. Rodolfo Stavenhagen , the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, cited "the killing and [...]

A Chinese intermediate appellate court has overturned and remanded back to the trial court the case of Chen Guangcheng , a blind Chinese human rights legal activist who was sentenced in August to four years and three months in prison for damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic." Chen's lawyers argued that the [...]

The government of Vietnam will repeal or abolish administrative Decree 31/CP , which authorizes restrictions on citizens who commit security violations not rising to the level of criminality, in advance of US President George W. Bush's scheduled November trip to the country, according to a US official speaking to AFP. AFP's State Department source said [...]

A federal appeals court on Tuesday stayed an August district court ruling finding tobacco companies liable for civil racketeering charges , thus delaying enforcement of the accompanying remedial order that required the tobacco companies to publish "corrective statements" about the health impacts of their products and pay DOJ case costs . The temporary stay will [...]

US District Judge James Munley granted a temporary restraining order late Tuesday prohibiting the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania from enforcing the city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act and Landlord Tenant Ordinance . The local laws, designed to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to reside or work in the town, were set to take effect [...]

US officials plan to request that convicted sex offender Malcolm Watson serve his three-year probation in New York instead of Canada. According to Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark , the request is motivated by complaints from Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant . Although Watson was sentenced by a New York court last week [...]

An attorney for US Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) argued before the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday that the leaking of an illegally-obtained phone call to the news media should be protected by the First Amendment. In March, a three-judge panel of the court ruled against McDermott for releasing the tape of a phone [...]