In June, the Philippines Supreme Court [official website] said that it would allow the live broadcast [JURIST report] of the November 2009 Maguindanao Massacre [CSM backgrounder; JURIST news archive] trial subject to guidelines set by the court. In September 2010, US federal judges reached an agreement on a pilot project allowing certain civil trials to be televised [JURIST report]. Federal appellate judge David Sentelle [official profile] said that, while the details still needed to be worked out, the judges agreed that the faces of jurors and witnesses will not be recorded and that either party to the suit can opt out of the trial being televised.

In July, a Ukrainian court dismissed [JURIST report] Serhiy Vlasenko, a lawyer representing Tymoshenko, from judicial proceedings. Vlasenko had been defending Tymoshenko in a criminal case related to United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU), an energy company at one time headed by the former prime minister. The Pechersky District Court of Kiev dismissed Vlasenko saying he was responsible for systematic violation of order in the court, in contempt of court and responsible for obstruction of justice with disregard for the rule of law. Also in July, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) [official website, in Ukrainian] announced that they are launching a criminal investigation [JURIST report] into UESU, an energy company at one time headed by former Tymoshenko. The SBU is investigating UESU's potential embezzlement of USD $405 million from the government.

At the height of the "war on terror", Poland, Romania and Lithuania extended quite extraordinary permissions and protections to their American partners—while respecting conditions of total secrecy. Today, years later, darkness still enshrouds those who authorised and ran the Black Sites on European territories. The full truth must now be established and guarantees given that such forms of co-operation will never be repeated. Effective investigations are imperative and long overdue.

Many have come under fire for special detention and torture practices. In June, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] announced that he would continue investigating the deaths of two detainees [JURIST report] who died during interrogations by the CIA. In January, a federal judge told the CIA that it must investigate the destruction of the interrogation tapes [JURIST report] related to individuals detained after 9/11 [JURIST news archive] and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. In February, human rights advocacy groups urged the signatory states of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) [text] to pursue criminal charges [JURIST report] against former US president George W. Bush [JURIST news archive] in connection with allegations of enhanced interrogation techniques. Advocacy groups have also called for investigations into Bush-era torture practices by the Spanish government [JURIST report].

These appeals come days after Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa [official profile] announced he would dismiss charges against some of the protesters [JURIST report] detained for their participation in pro-democracy demonstrations in the country. In June, the 21 activists were sentenced [JURIST report] after being charged [charges, PDF] with "plotting to topple the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain." Also in June, Khalifa announced that an independent commission will investigate human rights violations [JURIST report] related to the country's pro-democracy protests. Earlier that month, the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights announced that Bahrain agreed to permit a UN commission [JURIST report] to investigate human rights violations related to protests. The National Safety Courts were instituted in mid-March and have been internationally criticized, most recently [JURIST report] by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The court also sentenced nine citizens [JURIST report] to 20 years in prison for kidnapping a police officer in May. In April, the court handed the death sentence to four protesters, a rarity in Bahrain, and upheld the sentences [JURIST reports] for two of the men, who were accused of murdering police officers.

The newly formed commission comes on the heels of a visit by UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana [official profile], who urged the government [JURIST report] to improve its rights record [press release]. Quintana said that continued ethnic violence [JURIST report] in Myanmar presents "serious limitations" to the government's transition to democracy. In May, Myanmar began releasing close to 15,000 prisoners, but many human rights groups claim the government is still holding many more political prisoners. Quintana urged Myanmar's military government to release 2,202 political prisoners [JURIST report] last December. He called for the release of the "prisoners of conscience," many of whom, he says, suffer from health problems as a result of the harsh detention conditions. Quintana claims the release is necessary to promote democracy. In March, Myanmar underwent a transfer of power [BBC report] from a military regime to a civil system after holding its first elections in 20 years. However, critics argue that the new regime is merely a sham since it is made up of military generals and with the military party winning 80 percent of the vote.

It would be difficult to over state the magnitude of the crimes perpetrated in Sarajevo. The siege lasted for nearly four years during which Sarajevo civilians endured conditions of terror due to the indiscriminate nature of the attacks. Thousands of men, women and children were killed, and tens of thousands injured. In particular, Sarajevo civilians were regularly shelled and sniped in the course of [Perisic's] tenure as Chief of the VJ General Staff, a lengthy time span. ... Civilians were targeted in their homes, at places of worship, in hospitals and schools. Women, children, and the elderly were not spared.

In March, UN prosecutors demanded that Perisic receive a life sentence [JURIST report] for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Bosnian Muslims in the early 1990s. Perisic's trial began [JURIST report] in October 2008, and closing arguments concluded at the end of March. ICTY Prosecutor Mark Harmon said Perisic was one of the "principal collaborators" of late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], claiming in his opening statement that Perisic "created an environment of impunity, wherein his subordinates were encouraged and did persist to commit crimes, knowing there would be no consequences." Perisic turned himself in to the UN in 2005, surrendering to officials [JURIST reports] from the ICTY.