Human rights activists around the world were subject to murder, assaults, imprisonment and other forms of repression in 2005 according to a joint report issued Wednesday by the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) . The study revealed more than 1,100 reported cases of repression against [...]

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Wednesday reduced the life sentence of former Bosnian Serb mayor Milomir Stakic to 40 years in prison. Stakic was a top official in the Prijedor Municipality in northwest Bosnia during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War and was a prominent member of the [...]

Leading Wednesday's environmental law news, Canadian Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice announced a new plan to improve drinking water in "First Nation communities," i.e., Indian reservations. The plan includes mandatory training for treatment plant operators and standards for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of First Nation community water systems. The Canadian Press has [...]

British Judge Advocate John Bayliss ruled Wednesday that Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, the first British officer to face criminal charges after challenging the conflict's legality will face a court-martial on five charges of failing to comply with a lawful order. Kendall-Smith , a medical officer who had served twice in southern Iraq [...]

The British government said Wednesday it would take up the case of one British resident currently held by the US at Guantanamo Bay , but stood by its decision not to intervene on behalf of five others. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) announced it would help Iraqi-born Bisher al-Rawi the same day as [...]

Consumer protection organization Public Citizen Tuesday filed suit in federal court in Washington, DC, challenging the constitutionality of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 , which cuts approximately $39 billion in federal programs. In its suit, Public Citizen alleges that the version of the bill signed by the President was passed by the US Senate, [...]

The government of Afghanistan said Wednesday that a court would rule on whether Abdul Rahman, accused of converting to Christianity, will face the death penalty for his conversion. Under Islamic law, apostasy is a capital offense. The case against him has shocked many members of the international community, including the US , and has prompted [...]

Chilean Judge Victor Montiglio on Tuesday announced indictments and ordered the arrests of 13 retired Chilean military officers accused of directly participating in the Caravan of Death , one of the most notorious events during the reign of former dictator Augusto Pinochet . The Caravan of Death occurred in the month following Pinochet's Semptember 1973 [...]

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday held that a police search of a couple's home, where one resident gave permission for the search but the other resident "unequivocally refused to give consent", is unconstitutional as to the resident who refused consent. The Court considered an appeal in Georgia v. Randolph , 04-1067, a case which [...]

As preparations continue to establish a tribunal to prosecute those accused of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday said that a mixed tribunal, with both international and Lebanese participation, is necessary to ensure that justice is done in the case. He noted particularly that Hariri's murder has [...]