A delegation from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] released a report [text, PDF] earlier this month announcing a humanitarian crisis in Yemen [press release] that requires immediate intervention [JURIST report]. Rights groups have also criticized Yemen for its handling of pro-democracy protests that have persisted since February. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] released a report [text; PDF] in April urging the international community to pressure Yemeni authorities to investigate protestor deaths [JURIST report]. Just days earlier, the OHCHR urged the Yemeni government [JURIST report] to stop using force against peaceful protesters. The Yemeni Parliament enacted several emergency measures [JURIST report] in March at the request of Saleh in an effort to end anti-government protests. Saleh, who agreed to step down in April [JURIST report], and his party, the General People's Congress (GPC), had 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. 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 website].

Libyan leaders continue to make progress within the international community. Last week, the new ruling regime vowed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses after the World Bank [official website] recognized the NTC [JURIST report] as the official government of Libya. The NTC was responding to an Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] report alleging that both sides [JURIST report] of the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder] are responsible for human rights abuses, and warning the NTC to act quickly to investigate these allegations. The World Bank said it would engage the NTC as the official Libya government [press release] and is helping to rebuild the economy and infrastructure of the nation. Additionally, during a meeting earlier this month chaired by French President Nicholas Sarkozy [BBC profile], the NTC assured world leaders [JURIST report] that Libya will be a society of tolerance and respect for the rule of law.

The possible effects to the economy of environmental regulations has made their passage and implementation difficult as of late. Earlier this month, Obama requested the withdrawal of national smog standards [JURIST report] proposed by the EPA. The draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards [materials] would have reduced the amount of smog emissions to between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million (ppm) from the previous 0.075 ppm. The EPA estimates that these changes would help reduce the effects of climate change and improve public health, saving the US between $13 billion and $100 billion in health care costs. The stricter smog standards, proposed by the EPA in January 2010 [JURIST report], would have replaced the Bush administration's broader 2008 national smog regulations [text], complying with scientific recommendations. In his statement, Obama recognized recent efforts to improve environmental protection, but emphasized the need to trim down regulations in light of the economic downturn.

Mark Ciavarella, also a former Pennsylvania judge implicated in the juvenile sentencing scandal, was sentenced to 28 years in prison [JURIST report] in August. A jury in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania reached a split decision [JURIST report] in Ciavarella's April corruption trial, convicting him of 12 counts, including racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy, and acquitting him of 27 counts, including extortion. Judge Edwin Kosik had previously rejected [JURIST report] joint plea agreements [text, PDF] from Conahan and Ciavarella, finding that plea bargaining to honest services fraud and tax evasion charges demonstrated that the men did not accept responsibility and that the disbarment and 87-month prison sentences were too lenient [JURIST op-ed]. Conahan and Ciavarella were indicted in September 2009, following a withdrawal of the guilty pleas they entered [JURIST reports] in February 2009.