South Africa on Thursday repealed the oppressive Black Administration Act , ending the last vestige of apartheid. The 1927 Act had provided a uniform system of administration and regulation for black people by empowering tribal chiefs and regulating the succession of estates. Its enforcement also thwarted attempts by black women to purchase or lease property [...]

Leading Thursday's states brief, a New York appeals court ruled today that a member of a Vermont civil union has no standing to sue a Manhattan hospital for malpractice in the death of his partner. In finding that the partner had no standing, the court stated, "any contrary decision, no matter how circumscribed, will be [...]

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that hundreds of individuals accused of minor crimes in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina struck are still detained in temporary local correctional facilities, awaiting a hearing before a judge. The chaos in the days after the hurricane forced parish prisons to be evacuated and courthouses to be closed. One parish [...]

Uzbek police have arrested activist Mukhtabar Tojibaeva , hours before she was expected to attend a human rights conference. Tojibaeva, who heads up the human rights organization Fiery Hearts, has been a vocal critic of the Uzbek government's alleged massacre of 200 Uzbek citizens during an uprising in the town of Andijan on May 13. [...]

The US Department of Justice on Thursday announced that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will plead guilty to charges that it conspired with other technology companies to fix prices on some of its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips. Under the plea deal, Samsung has agreed to pay $300 million in fines, the second largest antitrust [...]

Harriet Miers will not withdraw her nomination to the US Supreme Court, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Thursday. McClellan, when asked if Miers might withdraw her name, insisted that, "no one that knows her would make such a suggestion." The Miers nomination continues to be a favorite target of conservative critics who have [...]

The Association of Muslim Scholars on Thursday urged Iraqis to reject the draft Iraqi constitution when it comes up for referendum on October 15 . A spokesman for the influential Sunni group asserted that even with the Iraqi government's latest agreement intended to win Sunni support, the draft constitution still risked a breakup of the [...]

Faced with a growing problem of overcrowded jails, British officials are considering fitting some prisoners with electronic tags and releasing them, a government minister said Thursday. According to a report in the Times, the plan calls for criminals sentenced to four years in prison to be freed after just 18 months, while those sentenced to [...]

The Mexican government is concerned that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "Operation Linebacker," a pledge of $9.7 million to beef up security along the US-Mexico border, will lead to human rights violations. In a statement released late Wednesday, Mexican officials said that their government remains committed to combating crime on both sides of the border, but [...]

Following up on a report in JURIST's Paper Chase earlier today, Saddam Hussein will likely face charges of premeditated murder, torture and forced expulsion and disappearances for his alleged role in a 1982 massacre of Shiites when his trial begins next week, a court official said Thursday. Hussein was charged in July in connection with [...]