The decades-old rules limiting the collection and retention of US citizen and resident information by the intelligence community and the military existed for a very good reason: to ensure that the powerful tools designed to protect us from foreign enemies are not turned against Americans. Authorizing the "temporary" retention of non-terrorism related citizen and resident information for five years essentially removes the restraint against wholesale collection of our personal information by the government, and puts all Americans at risk of unjustified scrutiny.

In September the ACLU released a report [JURIST report] claiming that the US has been diminishing its "core values" with regard to various counterterrorism measures put in place during the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks [JURIST backgrounder]. One practice that the ACLU report criticized was the government's practice of using cell phone location data to track individuals suspected of terroristic or criminal acts. The ACLU is currently involved in litigation and investigations pertaining to requests for information filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text] regarding the Department of Justice's (DOJ) [official website] use of this practice. The ACLU also supports the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act [materials], introduced to Congress in June of 2011, which would require government agencies to obtain a probable cause warrant before seeking location data. In March 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court [official website, in German] overturned [JURIST report] a law requiring telecommunications providers to store information on telephone calls, e-mails, and Internet use for six months for use in possible terrorism investigations, citing privacy issues.

Bales will not be the first US soldier prosecuted in relation to deaths of civilians in Afghanistan. In February, the US Army dropped charges against Army Specialist Michael Wagnon, the last of five soldiers to be charged in connection with the killing of three Afghan civilians. In November, US Sgt. Calvin Gibbs was convicted on 15 charges [JURIST report] of murder, assault and conspiracy in the same case. Before Gibbs was convicted, in March of last year, Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock admitted to three counts of murder [JURIST report] as part of a plot with him and other soldiers to kill Afghan civilians.

Antibiotics are typically used in bulk in livestock feed to promote healthy and robust animals. The primary concern of this practice is that the antibiotics were passed to humans, where there has been evidence presented by the FDA of increased disease resistance to the antibiotics. The FDA has previously banned [agency backgrounder] the use of other antibiotics, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones, from agricultural livestock feed.

A similar lawsuit over water contamination has been filed in the US [JURIST report]. The US Supreme Court [official website] granted certiorari in two cases last October to determine whether political organizations and oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, are immune from US lawsuits [JURIST report] under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). The plaintiffs in both cases allege human rights violations against an entity other than an individual person and the circuit courts have reached conflicting decisions with respect to interpretations of the ATS. The Supreme Court's decision will likely have an impact on the outcome of the Nigerian villagers' lawsuit. This case in not the first time Shell has faced legal action in Nigeria, however. A $15.5 million settlement [JURIST report] was reached in June 2009 between Royal Dutch Shell and the families of nine Nigerian activists who were killed in 1995. In 2006, a Nigerian court ordered Shell to pay [JURIST report] $1.5 billion for its role in environmental damages that took place within the country.

The Sri Lankan government has faced various allegations of human rights violations and war crimes by civil rights organizations and the UN since the end of its civil war in 2009. A report released earlier this month detailed how current government policies may make it difficult to maintain peace [JURIST report] with minority groups. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] released a report the same week [JURIST report] alleging unlawful detentions and torture. In November, the Sri Lankan government was subjected to criticism [JURIST report] for its failure to investigate issues of torture and past human rights violations, and its failure to enforce laws against continued torture and ill-treatment by government officials against civilians. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] in September sent a report to the UNHRC accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians [JURIST report] during clashes with the LTTE.

On Wednesday the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the victims of Stanford's $7 million Ponzi scheme would be allowed to pursue a class action. Earlier this month Stanford was convicted [JURIST report] of defrauding victims in the US and Latin America. He was convicted on 13 of 14 charges, including conspiracy to commit wire or mail fraud, conspiracy to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] investigation, obstruction of an SEC investigation and conspiracy to commit money laundering in addition to five counts of wire fraud and five counts of mail fraud. He was acquitted on one charge of wire fraud. He may face 20 years of imprisonment. The trial against Stanford began in January after a judge ruled that he was competent to stand trial, overruling a previous ruling [JURIST reports] to the contrary. In February 2011 Stanford accused [JURIST report] several federal agents of having deprived his constitutional rights by using abusive law-enforcement methods. Stanford was first indicted [JURIST report] in 2009.

Since Wisconsin's voter ID [JURIST news archives] law was first introduced, there have been four challenges to it, with Thursday's appeal focusing on two of them. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Wisconsin and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty [advocacy websites] filed a federal lawsuit in December, as did the Advancement Project [JURIST reports] in February. There are now 31 US states [NCSL backgrounder] that require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, including 15 states that require photo ID, but the issue remains controversial.

The sharply escalating widespread, systematic and gross violations of human human rights and fundamental freedoms perpetrated by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters, refugees, human rights defenders and journalists, including recent deaths of Syrian and foreign journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, including of adolescents and children; ... The attacks against civilians in cities and villages across the country ... by units of the Syrian armed forces and diverse security forces; ... The extensive violations of children's rights committed by the Syrian authorities, including the killing of children during demonstrations and the widespread practice of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment; [t]he sexual violence committed by the Syrian authorities, including against male detainees and children; [and] The deliberate destruction of hospitals and clinics, the obstruction and denial of medical assistance to the injured and sick, and the raids and killing of wounded protesters in both public and private hospitals.

The UN has continued to call for an end to the violence in Syria. Earlier this month, the UNHRC voted to pass [JURIST report] a non-binding resolution condemning Syrian authorities for continued bloodshed and violations of human rights. This official condemnation from the rights body came on the heels of a demand for a cease-fire [JURIST report] by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] in late February. Also in February, the UN-appointed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria accused the government of violating international human rights law [JURIST report] after finding that Syrian forces are engaging in torture and killings under orders from high level government officials. In the same month, both Pillay and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] called for an end to the violence in Syria, with Pillay asking the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria [JURIST reports] to the International Criminal Court. Pillay urged an investigation of Syrian government and military officials for possible crimes against humanity. The OHCHR reports that more than 5,000 people have died since anti-government protests began last March. The increasing unrest in Syria has garnered international attention and has sparked controversy in America about what its role should be [JURIST op-ed].

The Sri Lankan government has faced various allegations of human rights violations and war crimes by civil rights organizations and the UN since the end of its civil war in 2009. In November, the Sri Lankan government was subjected to criticism for its failure to investigate [JURIST report] issues of torture for past human rights violations and to enforce laws against continued torture and ill-treatment by government officials against civilians. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] in September sent a report [JURIST report] to the UNHRC accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians during clashes with the LTTE. In April, a UN panel of experts on Sri Lanka found credible allegations of war crimes [JURIST report] committed during the country's war with the LTTE, warranting further investigation. In June 2010, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] called for an international inquiry [JURIST report] into the conduct of the Sri Lankan government during its civil war. The LLRC was created by the Sri Lankan government in 2010 to investigate 2009 events in which civilians were killed.