The International Court of Justice , ruled Monday that Uganda violated the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo during a 1998-2003 war and was responsible for human rights abuses and the plundering of Congolese natural resources. The UN court ordered Uganda to pay reparations for the plunder of the Congo's gold, diamonds and timber; [...]

At least 24 former officials from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein have been released from jail, an Iraqi lawyer said Monday. The former officials released include Rihab Taha , the biological weapons expert known as "Dr. Germ", and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash , better known as "Mrs. Anthrax". Iraqi lawyer Badee Izzat Aref [...]

A German court on Monday acquitted former Nazi commander Ladislav Niznansky on murder charges stemming from three World War II massacres in Slovakia. The 88-year-old former Slovak army commander faced 164 counts of murder in connection with massacres in two Slovak villages and a later uprising against the Nazi puppet regime in Slovakia. Niznansky was [...]

The US House of Representatives early Monday morning passed legislation that would ban the torture of terror detainees and would require that detainees in US custody be treated humanely. The military spending bills also contain provisions that would limit the ability of Guantanamo Bay detainees to challenge their detention in federal court and would allow [...]

During a press conference Monday morning, US President George W. Bush defended his authorization of the National Security Agency's eavesdropping on US residents , saying he has the constitutional responsibility and constitutional authority as commander-in-chief to protect Americans from the ongoing terror threat. Bush also referred to a 2001 Congressional resolution authorizing the use of [...]

Eight detainees held at Guantanamo Bay have told their lawyers that they were tortured at a secret prison in Afghanistan, according to report released Sunday by the New York-based Human Rights Watch . The detainees separately provided "consistent accounts" of being flown to Afghanistan in 2002-2004 following arrests in Asian and Middle Eastern countries and [...]

Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005, passed by the US House of Representatives, December 17, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Defense lawyers for former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein and seven other former officials on trial are expected to call 40 witnesses, a prosecutor in the case said Sunday. Included among the 40 are three former ministers in Saddam's government and others currently being held by the US in Iraq. Testimony from some of the witnesses [...]

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Sunday called for a congressional investigation into the Bush administration's use of domestic spying on terror suspects. Reid called for an investigation and hearings into the intelligence program overseen by the National Security Agency . Reid acknowledged being briefed about the program several months ago and he called for [...]

Opposition parties in Kazakhstan on Sunday announced they have challenged the results of an election on Dec. 4 that saw President Nursultan Nazarbayev win another term. According to the opposition group "For a free Kazakhstan," it filed an appeal with the country's supreme court to have the results overturned. The results certified by the Central [...]