Indian authorities have given local communities scant information about the potential impact of a refinery expansion and mining project proposed by subsidiaries of Vedanta Resources in Orissa.
Controversial new legislation is believed to be an attempt to provide legal cover for ongoing impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations, including the Taleban.
Retired General Sarath Fonseka will reportedly
face a military Court Martial on charges that he revealed military
secrets and plotted the assassination of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Tan Zuoren was convicted for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party
and the government in his online articles and diaries about the handling of 1989's Tiananmen crackdown.
Ten years after the killing of scores of civilians in a suburb of the
Chechen capital Grozny, the relatives of those murdered are still
denied justice by the Russian authorities.
The UN Secretary-General has "missed an opportunity" by failing to make
an assessment of the credibility of Israeli and Palestinian
investigations into violations during the Gaza conflict.
The country's revised penal code stipulates prison sentences for girls and women who seek an abortion
and for health professionals who provide health services associated
with abortion.
Igor Koktysh had been held in a pre-trial detention centre since June 2007, when Belarus requested his extradition. He was considered to be a prisoner of conscience.
Dozens were killed by security forces during more than a year of anti-government protests, sparked by the closure of the Viva television station in December 2008.
