Homosexuality and same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] remain controversial subjects in the US. On Thursday the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [text; JURIST news archive], which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state's right to define marriage. Earlier this week, 25 gay and lesbian couples filed two lawsuits [JURIST report] against Illinois Governor Pat Quinn challenging the constitutionality of the state's same-sex marriage ban. National gay rights advocacy group Lambda Legal [advocacy website] filed suit in April on behalf of eight same-sex couples against the state of Nevada claiming that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment [text] of the US Constitution.

I know that it's a very complicated thing, this diplomacy between big countries. But no matter how you put it, human rights is a very basic human value. If this very—if you can't even care about these such fundamental human values, the other interests are very superficial by comparison. We say in China, you don't want to care only about the branches and forget about the core. You're an ordinary Chinese citizen, but you wouldn't understand the situation in rural villages. What—you know the attitude of the ordinary—so from the viewpoint of the ordinary Chinese, would you—what would they like to see the American government to do? If you can't talk about it now, maybe in a year's time.

Chen arrived in New York last week after he left the US embassy [JURIST reports] earlier this month. His arrival resolved a US-China struggle that began when he escaped [JURIST report] from his house arrest and sought refuge in US embassy in Beijing in April. He was placed under house arrest after he served four years in prison to which he was sentenced [JURIST reports] for damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic."

This rejection came only a day after the appeals chamber of the ICC upheld [JURIST report] the pre-trial chamber's decision that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to try Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana [ICC materials]. Mbarushimana was accused of having relations to the murder, rape and torture of Congolese villagers by Hutu militia in 2009.

Tymoshenko is currently being prosecuted in the Ukraine on charges of tax evasion. Earlier this month her trial was postponed for the second time [BBC report] at the request of the prosecution and is scheduled to resume on June 26. The trial was postponed in April [JURIST report] due to concerns about Tymoshenko's health. Earlier that month Tymoshenko was returned to prison after being sent to a clinic for medical treatment. The former prime minister has refused to be treated [JURIST report] by prison doctors for back problems she has been experiencing, as she believes they are under the direction of political rival Yanukovych. She is currently appealing a conviction and seven-year prison sentence [JURIST reports] to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and has discontinued all appeals [JURIST report] in the Ukraine on that issue. Although her previous conviction was on charges of corruption and abuse of power during her time as prime minister, Tymoshenko is now accused of hiding $165 million of corporate revenue and accumulating $5.8 million through tax fraud while the head of the UESU.

In September, the ICJ started to hear the oral arguments from Germany and Italy after Germany filed a lawsuit [JURIST reports] against Italy in the ICJ to block Italy from enforcing a 2008 ruling [AGI report, in Italian] that ordered Germany to pay 1 million euros (USD $1.3 million) in damages. Germany had refused the judgment arguing that the judgment was unenforceable under the principle of state immunity and because it already compensated [La Repubblica report, in Italian] Italy under a 1961 agreement.

Earlier this month, Barbier gave preliminary approval [JURIST report] to a proposed settlement between BP and individuals and businesses adversely affected by the 2010 oil spill. BP and a group of plaintiffs' attorneys sought a preliminary approval from the judge in April on the settlement that they reached [JURIST reports] in March. BP had announced that it will settle with the majority of the spill victims for $7.8 billion which comprised of two agreements. The first one was to resolve economic loss claims while the other to resolve medical claims. The parties reached to the settlement agreement a month after Barbier postponed [JURIST report] the trial to allow the parties more time to reach an agreement.

Many Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today. One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage. Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest.

The court heard arguments [JURIST] on the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA in April. Although the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed its initial brief in the case in January 2011, it announced a month later that it would no longer defend DOMA [JURIST reports]. Later that month, the DOJ withdrew from the appeal [letter to court text, PDF]. When they declined to pursue this case further, House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) DOMA defense group [JURIST report] took over the defense. As a portend for future legal battles, the DOJ argued that laws affecting LGBT citizens should receive "heightened scrutiny" above rational basis [Cornell LII backgrounder]. The case was on appeal from rulings by Judge Joseph Tauro of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts in two separate cases, one brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and another by an advocacy group representing married LGBT citizens [JURIST reports]. Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in both cases that DOMA's definition of marriage as between a man and a woman is unconstitutional because it interferes with the states' right to define marriage [JURIST report]. The Obama administration in March petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for an expedited en banc review [JURIST report] of two test cases on the constitutionality of DOMA.

A similar call [JURIST report] to the country was made earlier this month by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] for an anti-discrimination law that would protect the rights of religious minorities, the Roma population and LGBT individuals. The law was proposed in 2008 and is still studied and debated by the country's parliament. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] also expressed [JURIST report] her support for the proposed law in November.

The People's Assembly should not just let the law lapse, but should also pass legislation ending all exceptional measures that would not automatically expire with the law. It should require the interior minister to release all Emergency Law detainees or refer them to prosecutors to be charged, and ask the public prosecutor to transfer all Emergency State Security Court trials to regular civilian courts.

SCAF announced in January that Eygpt's state of emergency would be partially lifted [JURIST report] later that week. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of SCAF, did indicate that some of the powers from the state-of-emergency would remain in effect against certain crimes. Earlier that month, a report from HRW called on [JURIST report] Egypt's newly elected parliament to pursue an agenda to reform nine areas of Egyptian law that impede freedom and restrict rights. Among the suggestions was a call to lift the state-of-emergency. Egyptian prosecutors began their case [JURIST report] against Mubarak in January, who is facing charges of complicity by ordering the killings of at least 840 protesters [JURIST report] during the revolution. Some commentators have recommended [JURIST op-ed] that the SCAF separate its economic and political power to allow for greater prosperity in Egypt.

Earlier this year, the Romanian Parliament adopted [EDRI news report] the data retention law out of fear that the EU Commission would impose sanction on the country despite the fact that the country's senate rejected the draft law in 2011 and the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled parts of the law based on constitutionality in 2009. Since its approval [JURIST report] in 2006, the data retention law has been criticized by numerous countries. In March 2011 the Czech Republic's Constitutional Court [official website, in Czech] overturned [JURIST report] parts of the law reasoning that it is unconstitutional. In February 2009, the ECJ dismissed [JURIST report] a challenge to the data retention law. The court only addressed the issue of whether the law was valid in light of the ECT's trade provision and found that the law was valid because it standardized costs associated with retaining the data across the EU.

Last week, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered [JURIST report] the government to complete the final version of the new constitution by Sunday, rejecting the administration's request to extend the deadline by three months. The CA, responsible for drafting the constitution, was elected to a two-year term in 2008, but the term has already been extended four times [AP report] despite its pledge [JURIST report] to finish it by the end of April 2010. Nepal abolished [JURIST report] its monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal on December 28, 2007, and has since attempted to create a new constitution for the country, but has failed to do so.

Stevens was convicted in October 2008 on seven counts of making false statements relating to an alleged corruption scheme and for falsifying his Financial Disclosure Forms. Following his conviction, Stevens lost his re-election bid in November of that year to Senator Mark Begich. Stevens was charged [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] in July with accepting approximately $250,000 in gifts over an eight-year period from the founder of oil services and engineering company VECO Corp. [corporate website]. In August, A US district court judge denied Stevens' request to move the case from Washington, DC to Alaska, rejecting the argument that he needed to be in Alaska to campaign for re-election.

Arizona's immigration law has been the subject to heavy criticism and numerous legal challenges. In April, the US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [JURIST report] to determine whether SB 1070 is preempted by federal law. In February, two months after the Supreme Court agreed [JURIST report] to hear the case, attorneys for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer [official website] filed [JURIST report] an opening brief asking the court to lift the injunction that barred the immigration law from taking effect.

The UN-backed ICTR continues its work to prosecute those most responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, but it has now begun transferring certain cases to Rwandan national courts. Earlier this month, the Referral Chamber of the ICTR transferred [JURIST report] the case of Ladislas Ntaganzwa [case materials] to the Rwandan national court system, making his the fourth Rwandan genocide case to be transferred to a national court. Last month, the court confirmed and proceeded with the transfer [JURIST report] of former Rwandan pastor Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi [case materials]. The ICTR initially ordered the transfer [JURIST report] in June under Rule 11 bis, which authorizes the transfer of cases to appropriate national jurisdictions. Uwinkindi pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2010. The other two transferred cases are against Fulgence Kayishema [case materials; JURIST report], a former police inspector, and Charles Sikubwabo [case materials], former Bourgmestre of Gishyita, Kibuye Prefecture. Both suspects remain at large.

Homosexuality has been a highly debated issued in the recent past, especially with increasing numbers of states legalizing same-sex marriage. Up to date, nine jurisdictions—Maryland, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia [JURIST reports]—have passed laws that strengthen the rights of homosexuals by legally acknowledging same-sex marriage. Other states, such as Illinois [JURIST report], have taken a different approach, extending civil union rights to same-sex couples.

A Justice Ministry spokesperson said that the fired judges were likely involved in passing judgments in favor of family members of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Currently exiled to Saudi Arabia, Ben Ali is being tried in absentia in a military court for ordering the shooting deaths of dozens of civilian protesters during last year's Tunisian revolution. Ben Ali left office and the country [JURIST report] in January 2011, seeking exile in Saudi Arabia during the protests. He and his wife were tried and convicted [JURIST reports] in absentia on numerous charges related to corruption, including theft and unlawful possession of money and jewelry, and were sentenced to 35 years in prison and fined US$65.6 million. The Justice Minister announced the issuance of an arrest warrant for Ben Ali in January 2011, but the country has not received a response to its requests to extradite [JURIST reports] the former leader from Saudi Arabia.