Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said Monday that outbreaks of racial violence that began in Sydney Sunday could undermine the country's strict new anti-terror law by making it more difficult for police to build bridges with Muslim youth who might already feel targeted by the legislation. On Monday, eleven more people were arrested and [...]

The Afghan government has adopted a plan to investigate war crimes and human rights violations committed from 1978 until the end of the Taliban rule. The Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan comes after months of pressure from international human rights groups . Members of the new parliament are among those accused. [...]

Statement of Decision denying clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, December 12, 2005 . Read the full statement of decision . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

AP is reporting that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to grant clemency to Crips gang co-founder and convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams , set to be executed just after midnight tonight. In denying clemency, Schwarzenegger wrote: Williams claims that he is particularly deserving of clemency because he has reformed and been redeemed for his [...]

German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis Monday submitted a new report to the UN Security Council on the February bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , including additional evidence of Syrian involvement in the murder. Mehlis will brief the Council Tuesday on the latest report of his ongoing investigation , the text of which [...]

Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark , currently a member of the defense team representing deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has said that Hussein is being poorly treated in detention, kept in isolation and forced to go for days without a shower or change of clothes. He told NBC's Today program that the Iraqi ex-president [...]

AP is reporting that a federal judge has ruled that FEMA cannot end its hotel accommodation program for hurricane refugees until Feb. 7, one month later than the agency had planned. Lawyers for Katrina victims launched a lawsuit against FEMA in November for denial of temporary housing; two weeks ago they filed for a court [...]

The Prosecutor v. Ante Gotovina, Amended Indictment, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, February 19, 2004 . Read the full text of the indictment . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A special high-security war crimes court sitting in Belgrade Monday convicted 14 former members of Serb militias for killing some 200 Croatian POWs and wounded at a pig farm near Vukovar in 1991 at the end of a three-month siege there. Sentences ranging from five to 20 years were handed down. Two accused were acquitted. [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday granted certiorari in four consolidated cases concerning a 2003 Texas electoral redistricting plan strongly supported by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay that effectively reduced the number of Democratic US Representatives from the state and increased the Republican majority in the House. As revealed by press reports earlier this month, [...]