International brief ~ Afghan electoral commission releases final candidates list News
International brief ~ Afghan electoral commission releases final candidates list

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, the Joint Electoral Management Body [official webiste] in Afghanistan released the final list of approved candidates [official JEMB list] on Tuesday for the upcoming national parliamentary elections currently scheduled for September 18 [JURIST report]. Under Afghanistan's new constitution [text] in force since January 2004, candidates wanting to run for office must first be approved by an independent complaints body that excludes any candidates violating the rules governing the holding of office. Nearly 6,000 individuals gained approval to run for office, with only 17 people being listed as officially barred, most for ties to illegal armed groups or militias. Read the JEMB press release [official PDF text]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Afghanistan [JURIST news archive]. BBC News has more.

In other international legal news …

  • The UN Security Council [official website] issued a statement Monday urging the Ethiopian government [DC Embassy website] to accept the finality of the 2002 ruling by the UN-sponsored independent border commission [official website] which awarded the contested town of Badme to Eritrea. Ethiopia refused to accept the division in 2002, and later claimed to accept the ruling in principle in 2004 but wanted to conduct diplomatic talks with Eritrean officials in the capital city of Asmara first. Eritrea refused and reiterated its insistence that Ethiopia abide by the terms of the 2000 peace agreements that gave the independent border commission binding authority. Eritrea has recently appealed to the international community and the UN to enforce the decision against Ethiopia, warning that recent shooting in the UN-patrolled border zone [UN Mission official website] would only escalate the longer that Ethiopia thought it could use violence to avoid implementing the decision. Read the official press statement. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage. The UN News Centre has more.
  • Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] released a critique of the Indonesian judicial system Tuesday following an Indonesian appellate court overruling [JURIST report] of a 2004 human rights court conviction of 12 soldiers involved in the alleged massacre of 24 people in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port area [official website] in 1984. HRW alleged that the overturning of the human rights court's decision only further reinforced the reality that the Indonesian military was not properly controlled and was capable of twisting justice to its own ends. Advocates of the relatively recent human rights courts argued against normal appellate court review of their cases, saying that it would simply preserve the status quo of impunity for military personnel. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia. Read the official HRW press release. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.