RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: UN Asked to Counter Former Junta’s Campaign

The United Nations must act to prevent Sierra Leone's ousted military alliance from continuing a gruesome campaign to kill and maim opponents in a bid to return to power, say leading human rights organisations.

RIGHTS-ICC: Preparing for a Victor’s Court

With negotiaions on establishing an International Criminal Court (ICC) grinding to a close this week, it's worth remembering that the reason 173 governments came together in Rome was to create a system of justice that would be more than just another 'victor's court' - like Nuremberg or the recent UN tribunal for Rwanda.

RIGHTS-ICC: Statute Mired in Political Minefield

When 159 governments gathered in Rome in mid- June to negotiate the details of an International Criminal Court (ICC), they made a commitment to create that body by the end of a five-week conference. Fulfillment of that promise seems less likely with every passing day.

RIGHTS: Human Rights Group Wants Congo Killers Prosecuted

Less than 24 hours after the United Nations blamed Congolese soldiers and their allies in the Rwandan army of killing unarmed Hutu refugees in 1996 and 1997, a leading human rights organisation pressed for the killers to be prosecuted.

RIGHTS-ICC: We’re not Obstructionist, Arab Delegations Say

Delegates charged with laying the ground rules of an International Criminal Court (ICC) are embroiled in argument over whether Arab governments labeled "osbtructionist" are intent on derailing the process.

RIGHTS-WOMEN: Women’s Groups Urge Caution on Compromises

As the five-week Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) drags on, women's rights activists are increasingly worried that governments are seeking to adopt compromises that could jettison their main concerns.

RIGHTS: So Far So Good at ICC Parley But…

In general, the conference to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC) has been going smoothly in Rome. There have been no derailments, no walk-outs by angry delegations and no deal-breaking controversies in the since negotiations began June 15.

DISARMAMENT-UN: Non-Aligned Nations take on Nukes at ICC

Non-aligned nations are gearing up for a fight to include nuclear weapons on the list of prohibited weapons, the use of which would constitute a crime under the statuites of the proposed International Criminal Court (ICC).

RIGHTS: ICC Must Take Torture Seriously, say Activists

The evolution of the U.N's approach toward torture underscores the much-needed attention that subject deserves and also shows how far nations still have to go to combat the use of torture, activists say.

RIGHTS-ICC: Death Penalty Dispute Rankles Trinidad

Trinidad and Tobago, like other nations in the Caribbean, is troubled by the rise in brutal murders and other crimes associated with drug trafficking. Here in Rome, also like some other nations, it has a special worry: how to support a global court that could try the worst crimes, but would not apply the death penalty.

RIGHTS-BOSNIA: ICC Must Avoid UN Tribunal’s Pitfalls

The proposed International Criminal Court (ICC) must go beyond the U.N. tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia and prosecute top officials in its efforts to deter future atrocities, says Bosnia's U.N. ambassador, Muhamed Sacirbey.

POLITICS-US: New US Ambassador to UN Faces Increasing Isolation //REPEATING, AND CORRECTING GARBLED COPY//

Bill Richardson's last speech as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations before the announcement of his new posting as Energy Secretary typified Washington's dilemma: He stood alone, defending U.S. interests in words few diplomats wanted to hear.

RIGHTS-UN: UNICEF Wants Children Off the Battlefield

The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) wants an end to children being involved in gruesome wars around the world and is looking to the proposed International Criminal Court (ICC) to criminalise the recruitment of soldiers below the age of 18.

POLITICS-US: New US Ambassador to UN Faces Increasing Isolation

Bill Richardson's last speech as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations before the announcement of his new posting as Energy Secretary typified Washington's dilemma: He stood alone, defending U.S. interests in words few diplomats wanted to hear.

RIGHTS-CHINA: Children’s Supporters Clash with China on ICC

The two faces of modern China were on view here Tuesday as Chinese delegates offered fulsome - if qualified - support for an International Criminal Court (ICC), at the same time as Beijing blocked the holding of a U.N. news conference by children's advocates.

CINEMA-USA: All the World’s a Stage in ‘The Truman Show’

The modern United States in some ways is Franz Kafka's strangest vision come to life: a nation in which someone can be plucked from obscurity, like Monica Lewinsky, and then analysed, hounded and investigated by the pervasive inquisitors around them.

RIGHTS-UN: Hopes for Justice Greet Opening of ICC Conference

When diplomats from more than 180 nations begin five weeks of meetings here on Monday, the task they face will be formidable, human rights activists say: the end of impunity for all future mass murderers.

IRAQ-UN: Security Council Puts Pressure on Weapons Inspectors

Richard Butler, chairman of the U.N's special team of weapons inspectors, returns to Baghdad this week under heavy pressure to negotiate further checks of Iraq's arsenal of missiles.

CINEMA-USA: You Don’t Have to be Crazy to Believe in Aliens

Aliens are everywhere, at least in the United States - where the number of people who believe in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) outnumbers those who voted for Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

RIGHTS-US: Pentagon Criticism of Criminal Court Raises Stakes

The U.S. Defense Department has made no secret of its opposition to the idea of global court to try war crimes - but its campaign against an International Criminal Court is having unintended effects.

DISARMAMENT-UN: India, Pakistan Make Strange Bedfellows

Although Indian and Pakistani leaders heaped abuse on each other while renewing their arms race these past weeks, diplomats from the two countries appeared united in an effort to avoid U.N. criticism of their nuclear weapons programmes.