A spokesman for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in Kandahar said Friday that some 34 Afghan civilians were killed in a US airstrike on a village in the south of the country earlier this week along with about 35 "unknown people" believed to be militants. The number of estimated civilian deaths is over twice [...]

As many as 300 reformist judges in Egypt who have called for more judicial independence from the government led by President Hosni Mubarak staged a silent protest in front of the High Court Thursday as hundreds of protesters cheered. Though protesters were greatly outnumbered by riot police, the demonstration unfolded without the violent confrontations with [...]

In a reversal of his position from only a day earlier, Bosnian Prime Minister Adnan Terzic announced Thursday that he would form a commission to probe war crimes carried out in the current capital city of Sarajevo during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Terzic, who has been pushing Bosnia toward greater integration with Europe, [...]

The US Senate has approved the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 by a vote of 62-36 . The bill would set millions of illegal immigrants on a path to potential citizenship and would authorize a temporary worker program. Thirty-two of the thirty-six senators voting against the bill were Republicans, including Trent Lott, Rick Santorum, [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard defense arguments in the appeal of three guilty bench verdicts handed down in 2004 to three US Muslims in the 'Virginia Jihad network' case . Masoud Khan was convicted of conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to contribute services [...]

Following an order from the British Information Commissioner, UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith on Thursday made public additional details concerning the process surrounding the release of his March 7, 2003 memorandum expressing some reservations about the legality of the pending war against Iraq and events leading up to his March 17, 2003 statement to Parliament [...]

The US House Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 20-13 to approve the full committee markup of the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 , the 'net neutrality' bill sponsored by Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). The bill applies federal antitrust law to alleged breaches of 'net neutrality,' or situations where broadband service providers either [...]

The US Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it will no longer defend in court the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone calls , and will issue refunds to taxpayers of all monies paid on the tax since litigation began three years ago. Treasury Secretary John Snow estimates the refund, which will be included in [...]

Lawyers for former Russian nuclear minister Yevgeny Adamov announced Thursday their intention to appeal to the Russian Supreme Court a Moscow City Court decision to extend Adamov's detention until June 8. The defense lawyers said the extension was "groundless," and argued that prosecutors signed a document certifying that they have finished case preparations, while the [...]

In the Matter of the Search of Rayburn House Office Building Room 2113, Washington DC, US District Court for the District of Columbia, May 21, 2006 . Read the full text of the warrant via Bayoubuzz. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.