http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/ JURIST's weblog of legal news and resources worth thinking about, by Professor Bernard Hibbitts and law students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 en-US http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/nigeria-police-to-charge-49-with-murder.php [JURIST] Nigerian police officials said Wednesday that 49 people, predominately Muslims, will be charged with murder following the recent killing of Christian villagers near the city of Jos. Reports have varied [BBC report] as to the number of people killed in the weekend attack, but police now 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/rights-group-urges-afghanistan-to.php [JURIST] The Afghan government should retract a law granting amnesty [press release] for war crimes and human rights abuses committed prior to December 2001, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Wednesday. The National Stability and Reconciliation Law was originally passed by the 2010-03-10T14:24:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/italy-parliament-approves-bill.php [JURIST] The Italian Senate [official website, in Italian] on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill [materials, in Italian] that would allow cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], to postpone criminal proceedings against them on the 2010-03-10T12:20:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/myanmar-junta-announces-new-election.php [JURIST] Myanmar's military junta announced the implementation of another election law on Wednesday that establishes procedures for the country's first election in 20 years. The Political Parties Registration Law prevents [IANS report] political prisoners from participating in the election and 2010-03-10T11:24:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/iran-court-begins-trial-of-prison.php [JURIST] An Iranian court on Tuesday began the trial of 12 Iranian prison officials accused of torturing three prisoners to death, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) [official website, in Persian]. The three victims, identified as Mohsen Rouholamini, Mohammad Kamrani, 2010-03-10T10:18:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/international-lawyers-urge-un-to.php [JURIST] An international group of human rights lawyers on Tuesday petitioned [text, PDF; press release, PDF] the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [official website] to condemn to the detention of Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng [advocacy website; JURIST news archive], missing for 2010-03-10T09:09:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/india-upper-house-approves-quota-for.php [JURIST] India's upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha [official website], on Tuesday approved a bill to ensure that one-third of seats in parliament are reserved for women. The Women's Reservation Bill [2008 text, PDF], introduced [JURIST report] Monday, would increase the number of women 2010-03-09T15:55:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/un-rights-experts-urge-civilian-trials.php [JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin [official website] on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to hold civilian trials for accused 9/11 conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [JURIST news archives]. Scheinin called [Reuters report] the 2010-03-09T14:39:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/china-india-agree-to-non-binding.php [JURIST] China and India agreed Tuesday to endorse the non-binding Copenhagen Accord [text, PDF], which calls for self-imposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions [JURIST news archive]. Some 100 countries have already agreed [NYT report] to be associated with the non-binding accord, which arose 2010-03-09T13:16:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/03/myanmar-junta-announces-election-laws.php [JURIST] Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday unveiled [NLM report] the first of five laws that will set the stage for the country's first election in 20 years. The Union Election Commission Law, the first of the five laws enacted [Al Jazeera report] Monday to be published in state-run newspapers, 2010-03-09T11:49:00-05:00 2010-03-10T15:30:00-05:00