Bales allegedly went on a shooting rampage [JURIST report] in a Kandahar village in March and immediately turned himself in at his base. He is not the first US soldier prosecuted in relation to deaths of civilians in Afghanistan. In February, the US Army dropped charges [JURIST report] 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 other soldiers to kill Afghan civilians.

The issue of the death penalty continues to be heavily debated on both national and international levels. Last month the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] urged Iran [JURIST report] to immediately stop all executions, including 11 planned for the following day. The UN has repeatedly called on Iran to abandon the death penalty, but instead the country has increased the number of people it is executing. In August a UN human rights expert condemned Iraq [JURIST report] for the executions of 21 people and an additional five only two days later. Also in August UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] urged the Gambia [JURIST report] to enact a moratorium on the death penalty. In July Singapore announced [JURIST report] it planned to relax mandatory death sentences in certain cases [JURIST report]. Only a week earlier UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] called for an end to capital punishment [JURIST report]. In April, an initiative in California dealing with overhauling death penalty laws in the state [JURIST report] made it on to the ballot for a November vote.

An intense discussion and debate is natural in this process. No individual or institution has the monopoly to decide what is right or wrong in defining the ultimate national interest. It should emerge only through a consensus, and all Pakistanis have a right to express their opinions. The constitution provides a clear mechanism for it. We all have a great responsibility to shoulder. We should learn from our past, try to build the present and keep our eyes set on a better future. We all agree that strengthening the institutions, ensuring the rule of law and working within the well defined bounds of the constitution is the right way forward. Weakening of the institutions and trying to assume more than one's due role will set us back. We owe it to the future of Pakistan, to lay correct foundations, today. We should not be carried away by short term considerations which may have greater negative consequences in the future.

This decision to bring charges against the former military chief comes in the wake of years of hearings dating back to the 1996 petition filed by Khan, a former Air Marshal. The petition resurfaced in the Supreme Court in February [CNN report]. The 1990 election was a victory for the right-wing political party [BBC timeline], the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA). It resulted in the defeat of a number of different PPP officials, including the highly-revered former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Bhutto was assassinated [JURIST report] in a suicide attack in 2007 at a rally in Rawalpindi while campaigning for her party in the lead-up to the 2008 parliamentary elections.

Although ASEAN agreed to extend human right protections [JURIST report] in April, several southeast Asian nations have been subject to close scrutiny on human rights recently. In August a report released by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) [advocacy website] found that Myanmar's army is still committing human rights abuses [JURIST report] against ethnic minorities in Karen state. Earlier that month a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] alleged [JURIST report] that Myanmar security forces committed killings, rape and mass arrests following an outbreak of sectarian violence in western Rakhine State. In July two UN Special Rapporteurs urged [JURIST report] the government of Philippines to protect human rights defenders and ensure that they can pursue their work without interference. In April HRW urged the Philippines military to act on human rights abuses [JURIST report] and hold violators accountable. Also in April UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] urged the government of Cambodia [JURIST report] to give its full cooperation to the judges that will be appointed to investigate the genocide during Khmer Rouge regime [BBC backgrounder].

The order is in breach of the legal obligations of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan under the Charter of the United Nations. I have therefore been in discussions with the highest levels of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to seek clarification on the reasons behind the order and to protest against this decision ... Human rights monitoring, investigation and reporting, and building capacity, is a core element of the mandate of UNMISS which must be protected ... The United Nations is committed to continue assisting South Sudan in fulfilling this important promise to its people.

South Sudan is still facing human rights violations and need for improving the situation with Sudan. In late June UNMISS urged [JURIST report] the government to adopt a plan to prevent further inter-communal violence [press release] in Jonglei State. UNMISS provided nine recommendations for the country to avoid similar violence and conflicts in the future, including the development a "comprehensive, multi-sectorial plan with short, medium and long-term actions to respond to the main causes of the violence in Jonglei State" while maintaining support for the peace process that has already launched. In February Human Rights Watch called on [JURIST report] South Sudan to investigate the ethnic conflict sparked by the attacks made on Murle villages and to prosecute those responsible for the violence. In December around 6,000 to 8,000 armed Lou Nuer youths calling themselves "White Army" invaded the Murle villages for 12 days, robbing and burning houses and killing thousands of people. In response the Murle groups initiated retaliatory attacks on Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka areas which lasted until February 4. In April the Sudanese government declared a state of emergency [JURIST report] on the South Sudan border after the arrest of four people who the Sudanese claim were arrested for aggression against the north in the contested Heglig oil fields.

The Working Group is encouraged by the number of initiatives undertaken to embed the Guiding Principles into global governance frameworks since their adoption, and by dissemination and implementation initiatives led by stakeholders, some of which are outlined below. Notwithstanding, significant challenges and gaps exist towards achieving the effective dissemination and implementation of the Guiding Principles. Addressing these issues requires greater, sustained and scaled-up efforts from all stakeholders for long-lasting change to prevent, reduce and address adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activities.

Last week the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief presented a report to the General Assembly urging all member states to protect freedom of belief as applied to religious conversion [JURIST report]. Earlier that week Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Gabriela Knaul [official profile] made her annual presentation to the General Assembly, suggesting a policy of "strengthening the judiciary from within" in which governments develop anti-corruption bodies to ensure that judges act impartially and are free from political influence [JURIST report]. Earlier this month the special rapporteur on human rights in Iran released a report indicating that the government of Iran is torturing human rights activists [JURIST report] and threatening the activists' families with rape or death. Last month Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation Catarina de Albuquerque [official profile] lauded a new California law that creates a right to safe drinking water [JURIST report].

Tension continues to grow between the Sri Lankan government and the judiciary after an outspoken judge was assaulted last month [JURIST report]. Sri Lanka is still struggling to establish rule of law in the wake of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. In July the government of Sri Lanka said that it may take up to five years to prosecute people accused of war crimes [JURIST report] during the civil war it fought with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [CFR backgrounder]. Earlier in July Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged Sri Lanka to stop arresting journalists who criticized the government [JURIST report]. Last 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. In April 2011 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.

In May Malawi President Joyce Banda announced in her first national address [text] that she would decriminalize homosexual acts [JURIST report]. This announcement came as a move to normalize relations with Malawi's development partners in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration [official websites] pledging to promote LGBT rights when granting foreign aid [JURIST report]. In September 2010 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] called for countries around the world to abolish laws discriminating against gay and lesbian individuals [press release; JURIST report].