The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) , representing Inuit indigenous peoples in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, has filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) accusing the US government of violating Inuit human rights by failing to adequately fight the thaw of Arctic ice. The ICC argues that climate change is undermining [...]

A and others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, UK House of Lords, December 8, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinions of the Lords of Appeal . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote Jr. has said that church-run and other private hospitals will be able to opt out from a new state law requiring emergency room doctors to offer emergency contraception to rape victims. Cote's office expects to issue regulations next week that will allow private hospitals to opt out based on [...]

European officials have said they are satisfied with assurances by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that US policies on the treatment of terror detainees fall within the bounds of international law. Rice is currently in Europe and on Wednesday met with foreign ministers from NATO and European Union countries. Officials emerged from the meeting [...]

Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer said Thursday that he was threatened by three men when boarding a flight from Baghdad to Jordan, and that the three individuals were escorted from the plane by security personnel. Khalil Dulaimi said he knows the men but will not reveal their names and did not indicate exactly how he was [...]

The Chinese government said Thursday that it will make court proceedings on death penalty appeals open to the public to "improve human rights protection" following a notice from the Supreme Court of China . On January 1, the public will have access to death sentence cases involving "major controversy," and on July 1, the public [...]

House and Senate negotiators are continuing talks to reconcile versions of a defense appropriation bill, with both sides largely agreeing to a torture ban proposed by Sen. John McCain , but with other provisions remaining in dispute. Negotiators hoped to reach a final bill by the end of this week, but additional provisions dealing with [...]

The Congressional Black Caucus is expected to announce Thursday its opposition to the confirmation of US Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. . The Caucus is made of 42 Democratic House members and Sen. Barack Obama , who said he has not yet decided on whether he will vote for Alito. Caucus Chairman Rep. [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Donna Arzt, Director of the Center for Global Law and Practice at Syracuse University College of Law, says that when the incoming president of Liberia takes office in January she should ask Nigeria to extradite former Liberian president Charles Taylor – indicted for war crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone [...]

A former Rwandan mayor on Wednesday pleaded guilty to aiding the 1994 genocide as part of a plea deal with prosecutors for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) . Under the plea deal, Paul Bisengimana, former mayor of Gikoro, pleaded guilty to murder and extermination as crimes against humanity, but three other charges of [...]