Last year, nine ethnic Albanians were convicted of war crimes [JURIST report] committed in 1999 as officers in the Kosovo Liberation Army after the Bosnian civil war. In 2008, the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, now Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, was convicted in absentia of terrorism charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison for crimes committed during the war. That same year, the Kosovo parliament officially adopted its declaration of independence [JURIST report] from Serbia, which the Serbian government denounced as illegal and condemned [press release].

In March, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on all nations [JURIST report] to ensure that people with disabilities are given equal "enjoyment of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights." Pillay's statements came at the Human Rights Council's annual discussion on rights of people with disabilities. Pillay said that ratification of the CRPD was important, but mere ratification was not enough. To date, the CRPD has been ratified by 109 states and its Optional Protocol has been ratified by 66 states. The UN General Assembly adopted the convention [JURIST report] in December 2006 as the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century.

Algeria also passed a controversial media law [JURIST report] in December, which prevents journalists from undermining the Algerian government and its policies and security. This law was also criticized for being too vague and capable of restricting freedom of expression. Last year, a UN rights expert called on Algeria to guarantee freedoms [JURIST report] of opinion and expression to its people. This came a week after Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised to reform [JURIST report] the country's constitution and change its election laws to appease political protesters. The government lifted its 19-year state of emergency [JURIST report] the month before amid protests.