Author: JURIST – Paper Chase

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday adopted a resolution condemning Myanmar for rights violations and urging the ruling junta to conduct fair and free elections. The UNHRC also extended the mandate for the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, for an additional year. Friday’s resolution comes after several UN member states declared Thursday that Myanmar must release all political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The statement was adopted during a meeting of the “Group of Friends of Myanmar,” organized by UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon. During the meeting, developments in Myanmar, including the adoption of new election laws that bar Suu Kyi from running in the upcoming election, were discussed. The “Group of Friends of Myanmar” include Australia, Britain, China, the European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.
Earlier this week, Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit to repeal the election laws filed by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). In February, Myanmar’s Supreme Court dismissed Suu Kyi’s latest appeal to the 18-month extension of her house arrest. Suu Kyi appealed to the high court in November after a lower court found her guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest when she allowed an American to stay with her after he swam across a lake to her home. Suu Kyi, who has been in prison or under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years, will be released in November, according to a government official, likely after the upcoming elections have taken place.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Thursday sentenced a computer hacker to 20 years in prison for his role in the one of the largest identity theft cases in US history. Judge Patti Saris also ordered Albert Gonzalez to pay $25,000 and serve three years of probation. Gonzalez pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to hack into computer networks and stealing financial information relating to tens of millions of credit and debit cards. Gonzalez is reported to have worked as an informant for bank card thefts for the US Secret Service before he was arrested in 2008.
The US Department of Justice originally indicted Gonzalez along with two unidentified Russian hackers for wire fraud and conspiracy. He was accused of stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers by hacking into computer systems of companies including credit card payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, convenience store chain 7-Eleven, and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers. Gonzalez was charged in May 2008 in the Eastern District of New York and in August 2008 in the District of Massachusetts in separate conspiracies. Friday’s sentencing addressed both sets of charges.

[JURIST] The Indonesian Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to a controversial anti-pornography law. The law was purportedly designed to protect younger generations from pornographic and lewd materials. Critics challenged the bill for being too broad, discriminating against women, and targeting aspects of Indonesian tradition and culture, but the court rejected those arguments. Some areas of Indonesia, such as Bali, have refused to enforce the law. While Indonesia is officially secular, it is the world’s largest Muslim country by population, and some areas are ruled by Sharia law.
The Indonesian Parliament passed the law in 2008, criminalizing all “obscene” works and “bodily movements” that could violate public morality. Proponents of the law included President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his administration, who claimed that the law would protect Islam and cultural art while eradicating pornography.

[JURIST] The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on Friday banned Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, finding it in violation of laws against extremism. The step was taken pursuant to Article I of Russia’s Law to Combat Extremist Activities. According to the statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office, “he autobiographical book contains the ideas of Hitler’s National Socialism, presenting the militaristic outlook that justifies discrimination and destruction of non-Aryan races that led to the start of World War II.” Mein Kempf is readily available on Russian websites and also in bookshops throughout the country, but now people caught distributing or selling the book could be fined. Some political commentators believe this step could contribute to a decrease of hate crimes in Russia, but others remain skeptical, saying it will be too difficult to stifle distribution, particularly via the Internet. Mein Kampf has also been banned in Austria, China and Germany, and its access is limited is several other countries.
Russia is currently struggling to limit hate crimes, which decreased in 2009 according to the SOVA Center. The Center report that 71 people were killed and 333 wounded in Russia in racially motivated attacks in 2009, down from 110 killed and 487 wounded in 2008. In December, the Russian Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to shut down the Taganrog Jehovah’s Witness congregation and ban the distribution of 34 Jehovah’s Witness publications, finding both the Jehovah’s Witness congregation and the publications are to be extremist. In 2007, the Russian parliament approved legislative amendments to change the prevailing definition of extremist crime in Russian law to include activities taken for “political or ideological hatred.”

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a resolution denouncing discriminatory governmental policies directed at Muslim populations. In a 20-17 vote with eight abstentions, the council condemned Switzerland’s ban on the construction of minarets and encouraged efforts to cultivate a “culture of tolerance.” The resolution states that the council:
Strongly condemns in this regard the ban on the construction of minarets of mosques and other recent discriminatory measures, which are manifestations of Islamophobia that stand in sharp contradiction to international human rights obligations concerning freedoms of religion, belief, conscience and expression, and stresses that such discriminatory measures would fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences.The resolution was introduced by Pakistani representative Zamir Akram on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Akram noted that the declaration is intended to fight “defamation of all religions.”In December, a Swiss Muslim filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) challenging the ban on the grounds that it violates his freedoms of religion and from discrimination under Articles 9, 13, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Earlier that month, a group of Swiss intellectuals called for the ban’s reversal, while Swiss Supreme Court President Lawrence Meyer announced that two suits have been filed in federal court challenging the ban’s legality. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has condemned the ban as a form of religious discrimination. In 2008, the Swiss government announced that Swiss nationalist parties had gathered enough signatures on their initiative against the construction of minarets to force a national referendum on whether the country’s constitution should be amended to ban the structures. The initiative was originally sponsored by the anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party (SVP).

[JURIST] A Rwandan opposition politician pleaded guilty Thursday to charges connected to the 1994 genocide and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Joseph Ntawangundi, an aid to Hutu opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, was convicted in absentia in 2007, and originally sentenced to 19 years in prison. Ntawangundi pleaded guilty after returning to Rwanda after many years in exile and received a two-year reduction in his sentence. The panel of judges for the Gacaca, a system of local courts created to accelerate genocide trial proceedings, found Ntwangundi guilty of organizing the deaths of Tutsis while principal of a school in Gitwe. Ntwangundi originally maintained that he was not present in Rwanda at the time of the killing. The decision comes at a time when current Tutsi President Paul Kagame has received criticism from Human Rights Watch (HRW) for his treatment of opposition parties. Ingabire Umuhoza denied Ntwangundi’s participation, arguing that Ntwangundi left the country in 1992 and that the Gacaca courts are being used to undermine political opposition.
Rwanda continues to try and convicted individuals who were responsible for the 1994 genocide. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), was established for the prosecution of high-level officials responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law during the Rwandan genocide. Last week, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTR affirmed the genocide conviction of popular Rwandan singer-songwriter Simon Bikindi. The court also reversed the conviction for counts of genocide, murder, and extermination against Rwandan district attorney Simeon Nchamihigo. Earlier this month, the widow of assassinated Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, Agathe Habyarimana, was arrested in France on suspicions of complicity in genocide and was later released on bail. In January, the Rwandan government released a report concluding that the assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarimana, which sparked the genocide, was the work of Hutu extremists.

[JURIST] The Spanish Supreme Court on Thursday denied an appeal by National Court judge Baltasar Garzon, ruling that he may be formally charged for exceeding his jurisdictional authority. The five-judge panel upheld the ability to review Garzon’s actions related to his investigation into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. In October 2008, Garzon ordered the exhumation of 19 mass graves in Spain and ordered government agencies and the mayors of four cities to produce the names of people buried in mass graves in order to assemble a definitive national registry, despite a 1977 amnesty decree. The decision on whether to pursue charges is now returned to the same judge that issued a February ruling that Garzon may have violated the amnesty law. If charged and convicted, Garzon could face disbarment. He maintains that he acted within the bounds of the law and appropriately applied the law at all times.
The Supreme Court originally allowed the investigation into Garzon’s actions in May as a result of a complaint filed by Manos Limpias, a union of public servants in Spain that alleged Garzon acted in violation of Penal Code Article 446 when he began his probe into the crimes committed by the Franco regime. Garzon is widely known for using universal jurisdiction extensively in the past to bring several high-profile cases, including those against Osama bin Laden and former Latin American dictator Augusto Pinochet. In January, Garzon announced he will begin an inquiry into the suspected torture and ill-treatment of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. The Obama administration has not responded to Garzon’s questions regarding the open investigation of detainee abuses at the facility. Garzon’s inquiry has focused on Spanish citizen and ex-Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Abderraman Hamed, and three others whom Garzon has said have significant connections with Spain. The domestic focus is due to recently passed laws that limit the use of universal jurisdiction to offenses committed by or against Spaniards, or where the perpetrators are in Spain.

[JURIST] The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) human rights office on Thursday called on the government to repeal the controversial National Stability and Reconciliation Law, which provides amnesty for war crimes and human rights violations committed before December 2001. A representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan said at a press conference:
The lack of political commitment to the justice agenda is seen by the High Commissioner as an urgent concern exemplified by the Amnesty Law; it was gazetted in December 2008 but it only came to light at the end of last year. This Law relieves Afghan authorities of their obligation to investigate and prosecute, on their own initiative, those allegedly responsible for gross violations of human rights. It contravenes Afghanistan’s obligations under international law and it green-lights impunity and continued human rights violations. It ignores the grievances of victims and denies them access to justice. This Law also sends the wrong message to victims who have repeatedly called for justice and the removal of human rights violators from public office. The call for repeal comes the day after the annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Afghanistan was presented in Geneva to the Human Rights Council.Earlier this month, the Afghanistan Office of the President confirmed for the first time that the law had been enacted by a two-thirds passage in the Parliament, which, under the constitution, does not require the president’s signature. Afghanistan’s Parliament approved the controversial law in 2007, but international human rights groups only became aware of the law when it was published in Afghanistan’s latest official gazette. A week before the confirmation by the Office of the President, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the repeal of the law. HRW called the law an “absolute disgrace” and “a slap in the face to all the Afghans who suffered for years and years of war crimes and warlordism.”

[JURIST] Bangladesh officials on Thursday announced the establishment of a special war crimes tribunal that will hear cases against individuals accused of war crimes during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. According to Law Minister Shafique Ahmed, the tribunal will include three high court judges and six investigators retired from civilian, law enforcement, and military careers. The trials investigating the 1971 war crimes will take place under the recently amended International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973. Officials estimate that Pakistani soldiers and local militia participated in more than three million killings and 200,000 rapes.
On Monday, the Bangladesh Cabinet ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Although the ratification will not directly affect Bangladesh’s pending war crimes trials for the 1971 Liberation War because the ICC can only hear cases arising since its formation in 2002, it will require the country to update its laws to reflect provisions of the statute. Last month, the Bangladeshi government announced that the prosecutors and investigators for the country’s war crimes tribunal should be appointed in March. In July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to improve war crimes laws to bring justice to victims of the 1971 war. Last April, the UN agreed to advise the Bangladeshi government on the organization and operation of the tribunal.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution Thursday condemning North Korea for human rights violations. The resolution decries “grave, widespread and systematic human rights abuses in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in particular the use of torture and labour camps against political prisoners and repatriated citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” The council extended the assignment of Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn for one year and asked that North Korea and the UN General Assembly cooperate with and assist Muntarbhorn in his mission.
Earlier this month Muntarbhorn, who has not been admitted into North Korea, presented a report to the UNHRC that found the situation in North Korea was deteriorating and that sanctions had not improved human rights conditions. In October, Muntarbhorn criticized North Korea for human rights violations. Muntarbhorn said that North Korea was responsible for a broad range of human rights violations, including torture, public executions, and widespread hunger. In March 2009, Muntarbhorn told the UNHRC that he found egregious human rights violations in North Korea. In October 2008, Muntarbhorn urged North Korea to improve its treatment of prisoners and unsuccessful defectors, as well as to cooperate in locating kidnapped foreign citizens. In January 2008, Muntarbhorn made similar comments during his visit with a special UN envoy to Japan to assess the impact of the North Korean rights situation on that country. North Korea has frequently been accused of human trafficking, press repression, and “actively committing crimes against humanity”.

[JURIST] The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights recommended Thursday that the government review anti-terror laws and policies passed since the 9/11 attacks to make sure they are necessary and do not violate human rights. The committee found that, despite claiming to support human rights, many government policies appeared to threaten those rights, questioning whether policies that may have been appropriate in the aftermath of the terror attacks should be maintained indefinitely. Concerns cited in the report include the appearance that the government has intentionally turned a blind eye to torture, the increased use of secret evidence in court, and the possibility of detaining suspects without bringing charges. The committee stated, “e are concerned that the Government’s approach means that in effect there is a permanent state of emergency, and that this inevitably has a deleterious effect on public debate about the justification for counter-terrorism measures.” The report recommended establishing a commission to investigate the government’s complicity in torture in light of the recent judgment in the Binyam Mohammad case. The report also recommended creating an office for a term of five years to study terrorism legislation and report to Parliament on the legislation as it relates to human rights.
Earlier this week, members of Parliament and human rights organizations signed a letter calling for an inquiry into the UK’s role in torture and rendition. Last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown failed to deliver a promised public revision of guidelines given to UK intelligence officers for the treatment of detainees. Brown faces growing scrutiny of UK detainee procedures amid allegations from former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed that British intelligence officials were involved in his torture in Morocco. In February, rights group Reprieve initiated a lawsuit against the UK government over its alleged torture of detainees, claiming that its unwillingness to disclose detainee policies suggests that they permit illegal torture.

[JURIST] The Quezon City Trial Court in Manila on Thursday issued arrest warrants for 189 suspects for their alleged role in the November 2009 massacre in semi-autonomous Maguindanao province that left 57 dead. Eight more individuals are also wanted in connection with the killings, but they are already in custody on separate charges for allegedly mobilizing a rebellion to interfere with investigations into the massacre, including Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son. Also Thursday, the Philippine police reported that 142 of the wanted suspects are still at large. The arrest orders were issued only a day before the campaign period for the May 2011 parliamentary elections kicks off.
Last month, the Philippine Department of Justice (PDOJ) charged 197 people with murder in connection with the November 2009 killings. Among those charged was Andal Ampatuan Sr., a former political ally to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In December, the PDOJ began the trial of more than 600 people charged with rebellion for allegedly interfering with government operations following the killings. Several of Ampatuan Sr.’s sons, including Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of the southern Philippine town of Datu Unsay, have also been charged. Ampatuan Jr. has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts of murder. Following the killings, Arroyo imposed martial law and suspended habeas corpus in the province. She later lifted the conditions, following international pressure and domestic legal challenges.

[JURIST] US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday announced changes to the enforcement of the Don’t Ask Don’t, Tell policy to make it more difficult to expel openly gay service members from the military. The changes, set to take effect immediately, include raising the level of who can initiate and conduct investigations, revising what constitutes credible information to initiate an investigation, and revising what constitutes a “reliable person” for initiating an investigation. Gates believes that these changes provide:
a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved. Of course, only Congress can repeal the current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute. It remains the law, and we are obligated to enforce it. At the same time, these changes will allow us to execute the law in a fairer and more appropriate manner.The armed services have 30 days to conform their regulations to these new standards, which will be in effect until the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.Last week, retired US Marine Corps General John Sheehan testified before the US Senate that he believes the Dutch military’s inclusion of openly gay soldiers weakened their military. Earlier this month, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 was introduced in the Senate, which would allow gay soldiers to serve openly. US President Barack Obama has made clear that repealing the controversial policy is a top priority for his administration, pledging to end it in October and reiterating his commitment in the State of the Union address. In January, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, was advised to delay any internal efforts to repeal the policy until 2011. In 2008, more than 100 retired admirals and generals of the US military called for a repeal of the policy.

[JURIST] The US and Russia reached an agreement Wednesday to reduce nuclear arms, marking the first such agreement between the two nuclear powers in nearly two decades. According to an anonymous Kremlin spokesperson, the two countries have come to an agreement that will be finalized at a meeting Friday between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The new pact will supplant the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I Treaty), signed in 1991. The agreement treaty will be legally binding on both countries and will reduce long-range nuclear weapons by dropping the ceiling of 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675. The agreement will also limit the number of jets, land-bases, and submarines that can have nuclear warheads. It is expected that Obama and Medvedev will sign the agreement at a ceremony on April 8 in Prague.
The agreement comes after months of talks between the US and Russia since Obama and Medvedev came to tentative terms of the non-proliferation agreement in July. Both US and Russian officials have recently expressed desire to have the treaty in place prior to the upcoming Global Nuclear Security Summit in April, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May. Nuclear disarmament between the US and Russia, whose nuclear arsenals comprise 95 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, languished during the Bush administration. The treaty is considered a key part of easing tensions between the former Cold War rivals, which reached their worst point after the 2008 Georgia conflict.

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday denied a Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee’s habeas corpus petition on its merits, allowing the US government to prolong the detention indefinitely. Detainee Makhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi was captured during the 2001-2002 American intervention campaign in Afghanistan and maintains that he was only a medical clinic worker at the time. The US government alleges that Pentagon intelligence demonstrates Warafi was a trained jihadist. The order by judge Royce Lamberth cites a classified memorandum containing details of the reasoning, which was filed with the court security officer. Also Wednesday, Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court dismissed without prejudice the habeas corpus petition of Guantanamo detainee Zahar Bin Hamdoun, who was captured in 2002 in Pakistan. Hamdoun’s lawyers had requested that the court delay proceedings in order to confer with him over new developments pertaining to evidence in the case.
Earlier this week, Judge James Robertson of the DC District Court ordered the release of Mauritanian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who had been accused of planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Slahi has been in US custody for over seven years and brought a habeas corpus petition, claiming that he had been tortured in prison and had made confessions under duress. In late February, Kessler ruled that the government can continue to hold indefinitely two Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainees, even though Fahmi Salem Al-Assani and Suleiman Awadh Bin Agil Al-Nahdi had been cleared for release by the Bush administration two years ago. The US government has prevailed in 12 of the 46 habeas corpus cases decided in the DC District Court.

[JURIST] The US Senate voted 56 to 43 to pass a modified version of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 Thursday, after certain language in the original bill was altered to fix parliamentary problems highlighted by Republicans. The bill will now be sent back to the US House of Representatives for a final vote on the new language. Democratic leaders stated that the alterations, which involved student-lending legislation attached to health care bill, were minimal and should easily pass through the lower chamber. All Senate Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill, but it still passed because budget reconciliation bills require only a simple majority, rather than the standard 60-member super-majority, to advance. The House vote is slated for Thursday evening.
US President Barack Obama signed the original bill into law on Tuesday after it was passed by the House by a vote of 219 – 212. He has since signed an executive order continuing a prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortion except in cases of rape or incest or where a woman’s life would be endangered, as part of a compromise with conservative Democrats. The same day that the original bill was signed into law, the attorneys general (AGs) for 13 states filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the new law. Last week, Idaho Governor CL Otter signed into law a bill banning a federal mandate that citizens purchase health insurance. Earlier in March, the Virginia legislature passed a similar bill that Governor Bob McDonald has indicated he will sign. The AGs who filed suit Tuesday originally threatened the action in December, after the Senate passed its version of the health care overhaul bill.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a temporary stay of execution for convicted murderer Henry “Hank” Skinner who requested DNA testing be conducted in his case to prove his innocence. The court granted the stay just one hour prior to Skinner’s execution and will now decide whether to grant certiorari. Skinner is requesting access to DNA testing based on a civil rights claim under § 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 instead of a federal habeas corpus challenge. In his petition, Skinner argued that lower courts are unclear on whether a DNA access claim may granted under civil rights law or cnly under a habeas challenge following the Court’s decision in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne. The court is expected to make its decision to hear the case within the next few weeks. The French ambassador to the US had also pressed for a stay of execution for Skinner, who is married to a French anti-death penalty activist.
Skinner was convicted in 1995 of killing his girlfriend, Twila Jean Busby, and her two adult sons. Skinner has maintained his innocence saying he was not capable of committing the murders because of the amount of drugs and alcohol in his system on the day of the murders. While the prosecutors in the case did rely on some DNA evidence in the case, Skinner’s attorneys argue they were selective in the tests they conducted. In District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne, the court held that a defendant does not have the right to obtain post-conviction access to the state’s biological evidence in order to do DNA testing. The decision involved a claim for access under section 1983, but the majority rejected that approach saying it “would take the development of rules and procedures in this area out of the hands of legislatures and state courts shaping policy in a focused manner and turn it over to federal courts applying the broad parameters of the Due Process Clause.”

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for a renewed international commitment to eradicate all forms of slavery. Ban’s comments took place on the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which is held annually pursuant to General Assembly resolution A/62/L.32. In his statement, Ban said that the fight against slavery continues even though the practice may now take different forms than it has in the past:Slavery is abhorrent. It is explicitly prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations has reaffirmed this principle many times, including in the Durban Declaration adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism.
But slavery and slavery-like practices continue in many parts of the world. Slavery is mutating and re-emerging in modern forms, including debt bondage, the sale of children, and the trafficking of women and girls for sex. Its roots lie in ignorance, intolerance and greed.We must create a climate in which such abuse and cruelty are inconceivable. One way is by remembering the past and honouring the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. By reminding ourselves of past injustices, we help to ensure that such systematic abuse of human rights can never be repeated.Ban’s sentiments were echoed in a statement by Permanent US Representative to the UN Susan Rice.In January, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that sex trafficking violates conventions against slavery and forced labor, finding both Russia and Cyprus liable in the case of a young woman who came from Russia to work in a Cyprus cabaret and was later found dead. In November 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began proceedings for the trial of two Congolese Nationals charged with war crimes including sexual slavery. During the same month, the War Crimes Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted former Serbian commander Predrag Kujundzic of crimes against humanity, also accusing him of facilitating sexual slavery. In June 2009, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and racial segregation.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday passed three resolutions critical of Israeli practices towards Syrian and Palestinian territories. The resolutions were adopted during the 13th session of the UNHRC held in Geneva. One resolution titled “The grave human rights violations by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” passed by a vote of 31 to 9 and made specific demands on Israel including:… that the occupying Power, Israel, end its occupation of the Palestinian land occupied since 1967, and that it respect its commitments within the peace process towards the establishment of the independent sovereign Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peace and security with all its neighbours;
… that the occupying Power, Israel, stop the targeting of civilians and the systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people, in addition to the destruction of public and private properties, as laid down in the Fourth Geneva Convention… that Israel, the occupying Power, respect the religious and cultural rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the core international human rights instruments, the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Conventions, and that it allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites thereinThe other resolutions were critical of new and established Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, the Occupied Palestinian territories, and Golan and Israeli treatment of the Syrian people in Golan. A resolution supporting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination was also passed. Additionally, the UNHRC is expected to approve another resolution Thursday calling for Israel to compensate Palestinians who were injured during last year’s Operation Cast Lead.Israel has denounced the actions of the UNHRC many times in recent years. In October, the Israeli government rejected a UNHRC resolution endorsing the final report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the resolution “one-sided” and called on the international community to join Israel in rejecting it. In November 2008, an Israeli representative to the UN accused the UNHRC of “targeting Israel in an obsessive and discriminatory fashion” and “fail to uphold the basic standards of human rights in an impartial, universal, non-selective, and objective manner.” In April 2008, Israel announced that it would no longer allow a UNHRC envoy on Israeli human rights to enter either Israel or the Palestinian territories after he called current Israeli actions against Palestinians a “Holocaust in the making.”

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday lifted the stay blocking the extradition of former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega to France, where he is wanted on money laundering charges. This latest order comes two days after the US Supreme Court declined to reconsider Noriega’s petition to stop the extradition process. His lawyers filed the petition last month after the Supreme Court denied certiorari on the case in January. Noriega, who has been declared a prisoner of war, sought to enforce a provision of the Geneva Convention that requires repatriation at the end of confinement.
Noriega has been fighting extradition since 2007. He is wanted in France on charges of money laundering through French banks. Noriega and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail in 1999, but France has agreed to hold a new trial if he is extradited.