Modern day piracy has real and serious consequences, disrupting commerce and threatening Americans' lives. It is a crime against the international community, a form of terrorism on the high seas. Today's charges should send a clear message to those who attempt to engage in piracy against Americans or American vessels: even on the open ocean, you are not beyond the reach of American justice.

Piracy near the continent of Africa has become an increasingly serious problem for private shipowners and many nations. In January, the UN Secretary-General's special adviser on maritime piracy Jack Lang [official profile] proposed an international piracy court [JURIST report]. Due to the lack of such a court, several nations have been conducting piracy trials. A German court began the trial [JURIST report] of 10 suspected Somali pirates in that country's first piracy trial in 400 years in November. A Yemeni court sentenced [JURIST report] a group of 10 Somali pirates to five years in prison. Prior to these trials, Kenya was conducting the bulwark of piracy trials. However, the high court of Mombasa ruled that Kenya does not have jurisdiction [JURIST report] outside of its national waters, releasing nine suspected Somali pirates. Other nations that have conducted such trials include the Netherlands, Seychelles, Mauritius, Somalia, and Spain [JURIST reports].

The initiative includes transferring government power to an elected parliamentary system by the end 2011, shifting the local authority to full-power local ruling, establish Yemeni regions on the grounds of economic and geographical criteria and prepare a new election law includes proportional representation in addition to forming a new government of national unity.

Protests, largely organized by the Joint Meeting Party (JMP), have been ongoing in Yemen [BBC Profile] since February, largely calling for Saleh to step down. Saleh has been in power since 1978 and is considered popular in Yemen and the international community. However, he and his party, the General People's Congress (GPC) have caused mounting political tensions due to attempts to remove presidential term limits [JURIST report] and expand their political power. In December, the parliament stoked outrage among opposition parties and independents when it amended the constitution [AFP report] to eliminate provisions requiring that opposition parties be represented on the high election commission. Although the government has maintained control urban areas, the northern and southern parts of the country remain unlawful and dangerous, plagued by southern separatists groups and al Qaeda [JURIST news archive]. Due to this, Saleh and Yemen have allied to the US in the war on terror, accepting military aid and allowing drone strikes to defeat al Qaeda. The protests in Yemen have been analyzed in two recent JURIST op-eds: Constitutional Enforcement in Tunisia, Yemen, and Egypt by L. Ali Khan, Professor of Law at Washburn University, and The Middle East protest movements: each with a story, all with uncertainty by Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President of Research, Foundation for Defense of Democracies [advocacy organization].

Last month, the same court found Lt Col Kibibi Mutware guilty of involvement in mass rapes [JURIST report] that took place on New Year's Day and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment, dismissing him from the military. Eight of his troops were also given prison sentences of between 10 and 20 years and expelled from the army for their involvement in the attack. The DRC has been called the rape capital of the world [BBC report] by senior UN officials. Members of the UN Security Council [official website] expressed "outrage" [statement] last August over a different mass rape in the DRC, calling for justice for the victims [JURIST report]. In December 2009, HRW urged the UN Organization Mission in DR Congo (MUNOC) [official website] to stop funding military groups [JURIST report] in the country that are committing human rights abuses. MONUC has been operating in DRC since 1999. The conflict in the DRC has claimed more than four million lives and has been ongoing since 1983. MONUC has overseen elections and continues to provide armed protection for civilians in certain areas, particularly the North and South Kivus provinces.

Our ultimate objective is to strengthen the foundations for a Moroccan regionalization system throughout the Kingdom, particularly in the Moroccan Sahara provinces. It should be based on good governance which guarantees a new, more equitable system for sharing not only powers, but also resources between the central authority and the regions. What I do not want is a two-speed regionalization, with fortunate regions that have the resources required for their progress on the one hand, and underprivileged regions lacking the requisites for development, on the other.

The announcement of the constitutional reforms comes less than a month after thousands of Moroccans demonstrated [AFP report] across the country, demanding limits on the power of the monarch, as well as more sweeping political reform. Similar protests have occurred recently throughout the Middle East and North Africa [BBC backgrounder], and have resulted in the resignations of Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak [JURIST reports]. Protests continue in Libya, where leader Muammar Gaddafi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his inner circle have been accused of perpetrating violence against protesters [JURIST report]. Last month, the UN Security Council [official website] voted unanimously to impose sanctions [JURIST report] on Libya and to refer ongoing repression of demonstrators in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] has announced that the ICC will fully investigate allegations of crimes against humanity in Libya and that the ICC will not grant immunity [JURIST reports] to any person perpetrating those crimes.

This bill is the latest attempt by the Oklahoma legislature to place restrictions on abortion. In July, an Oklahoma district judge extended a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of a new law [JURIST report] requiring women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and hear a description of the fetus. In May, Oklahoma lawmakers overrode a veto [JURIST report] by Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry [official website] and approved a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to complete a questionnaire containing information on marital status, reason for seeking the abortion and whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. In April, Henry signed three abortion bills into law [JURIST report]. The first bill prohibits abortions performed because of the gender of the fetus. The second bill creates the Freedom of Conscience Act and protects medical employees who refuse to participate in procedures such as abortion based on religious beliefs. The third bill regulates the use of RU-486, or mifepristone, a chemical used in abortion procedures.

Members of the Kenyan government have previously rejected the ICC's authority to try cases relating to the post-election violence. In December, the Kenyan Parliament [official website] approved a motion to withdraw [JURIST report] the country from the ICC. The motion was approved after ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] identified the six suspects targeted by the ICC and rejected the notion [JURIST reports] that threats of violence would delay the prosecution. In November, the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights, which implicated former Cabinet minster William Ruto of interfering with the ICC investigation, denied accusations that it had bribed witnesses [JURIST report]. Moreno-Campo had also said that the court will not use testimony [JURIST report] from three Kenyan witnesses who claim they were bribed to provide false evidence against a high-ranking government official. In September, Kenyan businessman Joseph Gathungu filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality [JURIST report] of the ICC investigation into the post-election violence. Violence following the election left more than 1,100 people dead, 3,500 injured and up to 600,000 forcibly displaced. In addition, there were hundreds of rapes and more than 100,000 different properties were destroyed in Kenya.