An international democratic order is one where all peoples have the opportunity to participate in global decision-making. We must build on the principles of self-determination, sovereignty, and respect for national identities and universal human dignity. Progress in democratization at the domestic level is also necessary to ensure a correlation between the true wishes of the people and the governmental measures, including foreign policy, that affect them.

De Zayas was appointed by the UN to look for ways to promote equality within the international order [UN News Centre report] in May. The job of his office is to identify systemic inequalities between nations and to propose solutions to achieve the UN's mandate [text]. De Zayas hopes that by "applying international law uniformly and not a la carte, by refraining from the threat or the use of force, by promoting a culture of dialogue" the international order can make progress towards a greater international solidarity.

FISA has been controversial since its inception in 1978 and remains controversial in post-9/11 America. In February, arguments were made that the law too heavily favors the government by creating an impossible evidentiary burden for defendants, and that Congress may have chosen to protect national security interests [JURIST op-eds] over those of criminal defendants without considering the constitution. Most recently, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] unanimously declared the law constitutional [JURIST report]. The House amendments to FISA in 2008 originally granted retroactive immunity [JURIST report] to telecommunications companies that participated in the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

Demjanjuk was convicted in a German Court [JURIST report] in May 2011 and sentenced to five years in prison, but he was released to a nursing home due to his age and deteriorating health. In May 2010, a German judge denied a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] the charges due to lack of evidence. He was found fit to stand trial [JURIST report] in that court in October 2009 against allegations by Demjanjuk and his family that he was too old and sick to go through a trial. He was deported to Germany [JURIST report] from the S in May 2009 after the US Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of a 2005 deportation order [JURST reports] by a US Chief Immigration Judge.

Also in her opening statement on Monday, Pillay addressed several other significant humans right issues [JURIST report] around the world. In addition to criticizing Bahrain for its treatment of opposition figures [JURIST report], she also condemned the country for its failure to use fair trial practices. In relation to western countries, Pillay also criticized France's eviction of the Romanian Roma minority from their camps and Greece's recent xenophobic attacks against migrants [JURIST reports].

In 2009, it was reported that 65 percent of China's organ donations [JURIST report] came from executed prisoners. China pledged in 2007 at a World Medical Association [profession website] meeting to end the practice [JURIST report] of harvesting prisoners' organs, except for donations to relatives. This decision came after criticism by the British Transplantation Society [advocacy website], which accused China [JURIST report] of selling organs harvested from executed prisoners. China denied these and other allegations [JURIST report], saying that all donors must give consent before their organs are used.

[T]he Trial Chamber has today reaffirmed its prior finding that the Accused Ieng Thirirth suffers from a progressive, degenerative illness (likely Alzheimer's disease) and that she remains unfit to stand trial. The experts have confirmed that all treatment options have now been exhausted and that the Accused's cognitive impairment is likely irreversible. As there is no prospect that the Accused can be tried in the foreseeable future, the Trial Chamber has confirmed the severance of the charges against the Accused Ieng Thirith...and indefinitely stayed proceedings against her.

Last week, the ECCC announced [JURIST report] that it would declassify more than 1,700 war crimes documents. The ECCC has only convicted one former Khmer Rouge leader, Kaing Guek Eav [case materials; JURIST news archive]. Ieng Thirith was indicted [JURIST report] in September 2010 along with Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea. The ECCC ruled in November that Ieng Thirith was unfit to stand trial [JURIST report], but the Supreme Court Chamber ordered that she remain in detention [JURIST reports] and that the Trial Chamber exhaust all measures so that she can stand trial. The other three went on trial [JURIST report] in November. In July the ECCC appointed a new judge to prosecute two new war crimes cases [JURIST report].

Forrest issued an injunction against the law in May, and clarified in the following weeks that her injunction should be interpreted broadly [JURIST reports]. Lawyers for the government filed their appeal [JURIST report] with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] in August. US President Barack Obama signed the NDAA into law [JURIST report] on December 31, 2011. Upon signing, he noted [statement], "I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation." Both houses of Congress reached an agreement [JURIST report] on the language of the NDAA's most controversial sections in mid-December.

This is the latest development in the ongoing reproductive rights controversy [JURIST backgrounder]. Earlier this week the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] narrowed the scope on a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] against a 1972 Idaho law that makes it a felony to end one's own pregnancy. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] upheld [JURIST report] Louisiana's Act 490, which allows the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) [official website] to revoke an abortion clinic's license immediately after a regulation violation, rather than allowing the abortion clinic time to comply with the regulation. In May Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs [JURIST report] that they "reasonably believe" might result in the termination of a pregnancy. JURIST Guest Columnist Chad Flanders [official profile] argues that resolution of the philosophical issues underlying the controversy is unlikely and that we should seek a pragmatic solution [JURIST op-ed] to the problem.

Conducting trials at Guantanamo Bay has stirred controversy recently, as alleged conspirators of both the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the USS Cole bombing are being tried. In February Pohl ruled [JURIST report] in al-Nashiri's case that attorney-client mail that was inspected at Guantanamo Bay can not be released by the Pentagon [official website]. Days before this ruling, defense lawyers in the case of another Guantanamo detainee filed a suit [JURIST report] challenging the order for officials to read all legal correspondence for suspected 9/11 conspirators. That same month, a Pentagon official denied a request [JURIST report] to extend the deadline for filing pre-trial motions for detainees accused of planning the 9/11 attacks. Defense attorneys said they needed more time because of trouble getting security clearance at Guantanamo.

Last month the Russian Presidential Council on Human Rights [official website, in Russian] also questioned the legitimacy [JURIST report] of the court's verdict and sentence against Pussy Riot. They were convicted [JURIST report] the previous week on charges of "hooliganism" the court said was driven by religious hatred. The trial and conviction came after the group performed a protest song in February outside of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. Pussy Riot's defense lawyers moved [JURIST report] earlier in August to have one of the judges recuse herself from the case, saying her decisions are politically motivated. Since the beginning of the trial [JURIST report], the group's lawyers and human rights groups have said the charges were politically motivated by President Vladimir Putin [official website; JURIST news archive] to discredit his opposition.