Serbian authorities captured Mladic [JURIST report] in May, ending a 16-year manhunt for the former general colonel and commander of the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mladic made his first appearance [JURIST report] at the ICTY in June, contesting the charges while simultaneously asking for more time to review them, which he was granted. At his second appearance [JURIST report] he refused to enter a plea. Before that, he had lost his final appeal in Serbia to avoid extradition, and was transported to The Hague [JURIST reports]. Mladic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, political persecution, forcible transfer and deportations, cruel treatment and the taking of peacekeepers as hostages. He is most infamous for allegedly ordering the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the massacre of Srebrenica during the Bosnian civil war, the largest European genocide since the Holocaust.

Over the last year, Oklahoma has increased the restrictiveness of its abortion laws. In April, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin [official profile] signed into law [JURIST report] House Bill 1888 [materials], prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks. The law allows abortions past the 20-week mark only in certain extenuating circumstances where the mother faces death or serious injury. A doctor who performs an abortion in violation of the time limit would be subject to criminal prosecution for a felony, but the woman undergoing the procedure would not face a penalty. Last year, an Oklahoma state judge extended a temporary injunction [JURIST report] blocking enforcement of a law [HB 2780 text, RTF] that would require women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and hear a description of the fetus. In May 2010, the Oklahoma Senate [official website] voted to override the veto of a bill [HB 3284 text, RTF] that would require women seeking an abortion to complete a questionnaire, answering questions such as marital status, reasons for seeking the abortion, and whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system. ... Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pretrial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles.

Poor prison conditions have drawn criticism worldwide. In July, jailed Iranian journalist Isa Saharkhiz [Iran Press profile] urged [letter, DOC, in Persian] UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Dr. Ahmad Shaheed to investigate prison conditions in Iran [JURIST report]. Saharkhiz alleged that the treatment of both political and general prisoners in Iran amounts to crimes against humanity [RFE/RL report]. At least 400 inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison [official website] in California initiated a hunger strike [JURIST report] in June in protest of solitary confinement. Inmates of Pelican Bay's Security Housing Unit (SHU), a long-term isolation ward where one-third of the prison's population is held in solitary confinement, are the instigators of the strike, and most of the strikers from other prisons are inmates in solitary confinement. The Washington Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] 7-2 in January that holding death row inmates in solitary confinement indefinitely [JURIST report] is not an impermissible increase in the severity of punishment.

Earlier this month, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] called for Kosovo to institute an independent witness protection program [JURIST report]. Spokesperson Rupert Colville made the comment in reaction to the recent death of Agim Zogaj [B92 report], a major witness for the prosecution against senior Kosovo politician and parliamentarian Fatmir Limaj. Limaj, a former member of the KLA, is awaiting trial on charges of war crimes stemming from the 1998-99 Kosovo war with Serbia. Zogaj, known as Witness X, was a KLA member under Limaj's direct command during the alleged Klecka massacre [Centre for Peace in the Balkans backgrounder]. Although authorities are still investigating, Zogaj's death has been tentatively ruled a suicide. Since Zogaj's death, at least one witness has decided not to testify [B92 report]. EULEX has not commented on how severely this affects their case against Limaj and nine others, nor if it will delay the trial, which was expected to begin this month.

Last month, Chavez criticized the IACHR [JURIST report] for ruling in favor of Lopez. Chavez called the ruling politically motivated [CSM report]. He further claimed that the Costa Rica-based international court is part of a system that protects corrupt behavior and is influenced by the US and the wealthy. The Venezuelan presidential primary election, where voters will select an opposition leader to challenge Chavez, will be held in February, and the presidential election will be held in October 2012. This is not the first time the Venezuelan government and the IACHR have disagreed. In June 2010, the IACHR sent a letter to the Venezuelan government expressing concern [JURIST report] over the increasing threat to freedom of expression [press release] in the country, citing three recent cases that caused particular concern. In February 2010, the IACHR released a report [JURIST report] providing a detailed analysis on the state of human rights in Venezuela, which ultimately concluded that not all citizens are ensured full enjoyment of their basic human rights. The top Venezuelan human rights official criticized the report [JURIST report] and said that the report makes unfair characterizations and undermines Venezuelan democracy.

Despite being the province of the federal government, varying immigration laws have been proposed by several state legislatures, often resulting in lengthy court battles. Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] temporarily blocked portions of a controversial Alabama immigration law [JURIST report], which would require immigration status checks of public school students and make it a misdemeanor for an illegal resident not to have immigration papers. A coalition of civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit earlier that week in an attempt to block South Carolina's immigration law that allows police officers to check a suspect's immigration status [JURIST report] during a lawful stop, seizure, detention or arrest, and mandates that businesses participate in the federal E-Verify [official website] system to check the citizenship status of employees and job applicants. In August, the state of Arizona filed a petition for writ of certiorari [JURIST report] with the US Supreme Court [official website] seeking to overturn a lower court decision enjoining four provisions of Arizona's controversial immigration law [SB 1070 materials; JURIST news archive], on which the South Carolina and Alabama legislation is modeled. Several other state legislatures have also acted recently to implement so-called "Arizona style" immigration laws.

The court's decision is bittersweet—it acknowledges the devastating impact of global warming on polar bears and requires further review of the 4(d) rule, but stops short of fully disallowing an exemption for greenhouse gases. We will redouble our efforts to protect the polar bear's Arctic Ocean habitat, and continue to press the Obama administration to use all available tools, including the Endangered Species Act, to address greenhouse emissions and the climate crisis.

In 2009, the Obama administration received criticism for preserving the special 4(d) rule. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar [official profile] had received special permission from Congress to amend the rule, which prevented the use of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) [text, PDF] to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Polar bears are protected under the ESA, and environmentalists have argued that the release of greenhouse gases has contributed to global warming, which is destroying the polar bear's arctic habitat. The rule was put in place in December 2008 after the polar bear was listed as threatened on the endangered species list in May 2008. The Department of the Interior [official website] made the designation more than two years after the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council [advocacy websites] petitioned to protect the polar bear under the ESA. Shortly after that, then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin announced that her office would launch a court challenge [JURIST report] to the listing of the polar bear on the endangered species list. Palin argued that the designation of the polar bear as "threatened" would have a negative impact on development in Alaska.

[Shaheed] stresses the urgency for greater transparency from the Iranian authorities and closer engagement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the international community in strengthening human rights safeguards for its citizens. ... [He] wishes to stress the importance of freedom of expression and assembly for a democratic, open society governed by the rule of law, and encourages the Government to refrain from repressing dissent. The Special Rapporteur would also like to underscore the importance of perpetuating a culture of tolerance, and urges the Government to prevent discrimination against women, as well religious and ethnic minorities, in all spheres of public life and services, and to protect their freedoms to freely associate and express themselves.

Iran has been heavily criticized for its alleged human rights abuses. Jailed Iranian journalist Isa Saharkhiz [Iran Press profile] in July urged [letter, DOC, in Persian] Shaheed to investigate prison conditions in Iran [JURIST report]. In May, rights groups decried [JURIST report] Iran's persecution of lawyers. In January, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran [official website] claimed that Iran is on an "execution binge" [JURIST report], killing one prisoner every eight hours. In January, prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced [JURIST report] to 11 years in prison. Sotoudeh was found guilty [Guardian report] of "acting against national security" and "making propaganda against the system" for which she will serve five and one years, respectively. She was the lawyer for Arash Rahmanipour, who was arrested for his role in the post-election protests on charges of moharebeh, or being an enemy of God. Rahmanipour was executed [JURIST report] in January 2010. Also in January, Iranian chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi delivered a speech at Tehran University indicating that he would prosecute opposition leaders [JURIST report] for political unrest that took place after the country's 2009 presidential election [JURIST news archive].