Gbagbo has refused to cede power to president-elect Ouattara, who won the November 28 runoff election according to international observers. Last week, the OHCHR announced [press release] that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] will send an independent international commission to investigate [JURIST report] allegations of serious human rights abuses during post-election violence in the Ivory Coast. Last month, the OHCHR called for an independent investigation [JURIST report] into post-election violence as part of a report to the UNHRC. In January, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] rejected the proposed recount [JURIST report] of November's Ivory Coast presidential runoff election results as a "grave injustice and unfortunate precedent." Also in January, UN officials expressed "grave concerns" [JURIST report] on continued post-election violence in the Ivory Coast, cautioning that genocide could be imminent. In December, UN officials urged all parties to the disputed presidential election in the Ivory Coast to honor the country's commitment to prevent genocide [JURIST report], crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing under the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document [text, PDF]. Also in December, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [official website] urged Gbagbo to step down, threatening the use of force [JURIST report] if he attempts to maintain power.

Several state legislatures have recently passed restrictions on abortions [JURIST report]. Last week, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard [official website] signed [JURIST report] HB 1217 into law, requiring women to seek counseling at a pregnancy center and wait three days before obtaining an abortion. Also in March, the Missouri House of Representatives [official website] voted in favor of legislation restricting late-term abortions [JURIST report] and imposing penalties on doctors who fail to comply with the new restrictions. The legislation, which is slated to become effective at the end of August, bans abortions of "viable" fetuses. The Oklahoma House of Representatives [official website] voted in March to approve a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation [JURIST report]. In February, the Kansas House of Representatives [official website] also approved several new restrictions on abortion [JURIST report].

Chavez has strong detractors within the Mexican human rights community because of his perceived failings in dealing with the murder of a large number of women in Ciudad Juarez, at a time when he was ratcheting up the fight against drug cartels. The killings gained international attention and leading human rights organizations at home and abroad charged Chavez with failing to energetically pursue the cases and even claimed that he had covered up evidence.

Mexico has struggled to combat the drug cartels' influence on the government and the country as a whole. There have been more than 27,000 drug-related deaths since 2006 [STRATFOR report], and the violence has steadily escalated over the last few years. In April 2009, Mexico's Senate passed a constitutional amendment [JURIST report] permitting the seizure of suspected drug traffickers' property prior to their conviction. In 2008, a former Assistant Attorney General was arrested for receiving bribes, and Mexico's prosecutor's office admitted that it had been infiltrated [JURIST reports] by the drug cartels.

On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] denied [order, PDF; JURIST report] the petition for initial hearing en banc in the health care reform law appeal, but confirmed that the appeal will nonetheless be expedited. Oral arguments are currently scheduled for June 8 before a randomly-selected three-judge panel. Last month, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli filed a petition for a writ of certiorari [JURIST report] with the US Supreme Court [JURIST news archive] asking the court to rule on the constitutionality of the law on an expedited basis, before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rules on the issue, but the Obama administration opposes the petition [JURIST report]

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty [official website] proposed the legislation [JURIST report] in May. The legislation is based on the recommendations of a seven-member panel appointed by Flaherty, which concluded last January that the global financial crisis [FT backgrounder] increased the need for a national securities regulatory system. It comes as a culmination of the efforts of successive Canadian governments to form a single securities regulator. To date, six provinces and territories have applied for status to oppose the federal legislation before the Supreme Court, leaving Ontario as the only province that will support the legislation.

Argentina continues to prosecute those accused of committing human rights abuses during the Dirty War. Last month, former general Luciano Benjamin Menendez, already serving a life sentence, was sentenced to an additional life sentence [JURIST report] for the attack and murder of five urban guerrilla group members. Also in March, an Argentine court commenced the trial of former dictators Jorge Videla [Trial Watch profile; JURIST news archive] and Reynaldo Bignone [JURIST news archive] for allegedly overseeing a systematic plan to steal babies [JURIST report] born to political prisoners. In December, Videla was sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for crimes against humanity. Videla's trial commenced in July after he was charged with an additional 49 counts [JURIST reports] of murder, kidnapping and torture in May following the identification of 40 bodies in Buenos Aires in 2009. Also in May, Argentine authorities arrested [JURIST report] former secret service agent Miguel Angel Furci on charges of human rights abuses. Furci, a former agent of the Secretariat of State Intelligence (SIDE), was charged with 70 kidnappings and the torture of detainees at Orletti.

In October, the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea [official website, in Korean] issued a report stating that it found the law unconstitutional [JURIST report], and calling for the law to be repealed. In the US, until recently, open homosexuality has been an exclusionary factor for service in the armed forces. In December, the Senate voted to repeal [JURIST report] the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy implemented during the Clinton administration. The House of Representatives had passed a bill repealing the law [JURIST report] earlier the same week.

The Court concludes that the facts in the record show that, between 9 August and 12 August 2008, Georgia did not attempt to negotiate CERD-related matters with the Russian Federation, and that, consequently, Georgia and the Russian Federation did not engage in negotiations with respect to the latter's compliance with its substantive obligations under CERD.

The dispute between Russian and Georgia is not limited to the proceedings before the ICJ. Last year, representatives from Russia met with prosecutors [JURIST report] from the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] to discuss claims of war crimes allegedly committed by Georgian soldiers during the conflict in South Ossetia in August 2008. That conflict occurred when Russia sent its military into Georgia in response to a Georgian bid to strike South Ossetia, an area heavily populated by Russians. The US has taken the position that both nations committed human rights violations [JURIST report] during that conflict. Georgia initially brought the case [JURIST report] before the ICJ in August 2008, shortly after Russia sent troops into Georgia.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration filed a brief [PDF] with the court contesting the plaintiff states' request [JURIST report] to have the appeal heard by an en banc court. Also this month, the Eleventh Circuit granted [JURIST report] the Obama administration's motion for an expedited appeal. Last month, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli filed a petition for a writ of certiorari [JURIST report] with the US Supreme Court [JURIST news archive] asking the court to rule on the constitutionality of the law on an expedited basis, before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rules on the issue, but the Obama administration opposes the petition [JURIST report]. In January, a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging a provision of the health care reform law. In October, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that the law is constitutional [JURIST report] under the Commerce Clause as it addresses the economic effects of health care decisions, and that it does not represent an unconstitutional direct tax.

The issue of same-sex marriage continues to be hotly debated in the US. Last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced that it would no longer defend the constitutionality [JURIST report] of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [text; JURIST news archive], which defines marriage for federal purposes as a legal union between one man and one woman, in court cases challenging the provision. Also in February, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a same-sex civil unions bill into law, while the Wyoming Senate approved a bill that would prevent the state from recognizing same-sex marriages [JURIST reports] and civil unions performed in other jurisdictions. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington, DC [JURIST reports].