Rights News

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei has postponed its implementation of tough Islamic criminal punishments that were due to begin Tuesday and have drawn condemnation from the UN's human rights office and rare criticism at home.

Beijing - A Chinese court on Friday sentenced four anti-corruption protestors to between two and three-and-a-half years in jail over their role in small-scale demonstrations, furthering a crackdown on rights activists.

Beijing - A Chinese court jailed a blogger for three years on Thursday, state media reported, the first person to be sentenced in a government-led crackdown on so-called Internet rumours.

Istanbul - Gay rights groups in Turkey expressed alarm Tuesday at a government-led project to build prisons only for criminals who declare themselves gay, saying it would lead to more discrimination in a largely homophobic country.

Pyongyang - A growing black market economy in North Korea is increasingly allowing private citizens to engage in illicit activity that funnels hard currency to the regime, a US-based group said Tuesday.

London - Amnesty International accused the authorities in Algeria on Monday of silencing critics and stepping up curbs on freedom of expression in the run-up to its presidential election this week.

Beijing - A prominent Chinese legal activist defiantly denounced a court as "absurd" on Friday as it upheld his jail sentence for supporting anti-corruption protests, his lawyer said.

Beijing - A prominent Chinese legal activist defiantly denounced a court as "absurd" on Friday as it upheld his jail sentence for supporting anti-corruption protests, his lawyer said.

Spartanburg - On Monday, the University of South Carolina Upstate announced that they were cancelling an appearance by lesbian humorist, Leigh Hendrix.

Madrid - A retired Spanish policeman denied Thursday torturing people during the country's Franco dictatorship and repeated his refusal to be extradited to Argentina for trial on alleged crimes against humanity.