UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Friday called for an international investigation into present conditions in Iraqi jails after 173 malnourished, beaten and possibly tortured detainees were found in a secret Iraqi Interior Ministry prison facility earlier this week. The Iraqi government has already announced plans to investigate the prisoner abuse itself, and [...]

A Bosnian Serb court Thursday handed down its first war crimes ruling since the end of the Bosnian war in 1995 by sentencing three former Serb police officers to up to 20 years in prison for the deaths of six Muslim citizens. The three officers were originally accused of murder in 1994, but were released [...]

Federal immigration officials Thursday raided a Wal-Mart distribution center construction site in Pennsylvania and arrested over 120 workers for immigration violations. Agents from the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with the US Department of Labor , the US Social Security Administration , Pennsylvania State Police, and the local sheriff's office to [...]

United Nations human rights representatives Friday rejected an offer to visit the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay after US officials formally refused their demand for unconditional access to the detainees earlier this week. The envoys from the UN Commission on Human Rights had wanted free access to interview the 500 prisoners currently being held. [...]

Legislation to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act , many provisions of which are due to expire at the end of the year if not renewed, stalled Thursday as members of the bill's negotiating committee worked to appease some senators who are concerned about the removal of civil liberties protections. Senators on the committee have not [...]

US v. Conrad M. Black et al, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois . Read the full text of the indictment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Voting Rights Act Section 5 Recommendation Memorandum on the Georgia voter ID law, US Department of Justice, August 25, 2005; released by the Washington Post November 17, 2005 . Review the full text of the documents via the Post. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's office Thursday announced the launch of a nationwide investigation into allegations of widespread abuse occurring at Iraqi-run prisons. 166 Sunni Arabs and 3 Shiite Arabs were found by Americans Sunday night at a secret police prison in Baghdad, and a journalist for Voice of America present for the prisoner transfers said [...]

Sweden opened up an investigation Thursday into allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) may have landed planes containing terror suspects at Swedish airports several times since 2002. The investigation is one of many currently underway in various European countries, including Iceland, Scotland, Spain, Romania, and Poland. The government has requested a complete investigation before [...]

Three Bahraini citizens, released from Guantanamo Bay earlier this month, announced Thursday their intention to sue the United States government for detaining them for over four years without a trial at the prison facility. Additionally, the three former detainees accused military officers of torture and desecrating the Koran. In similar stories, in October of last [...]