Last February the US State Department [official website] dispatched [JURIST report] a team of international law experts to Haiti to assess how the country could reinforce the power and independence of its judiciary. That same month, UN Independent Expert Micael Forst said that Haiti is making significant progress [JURIST report] with respect to the rule of law, citing improvements such as the establishment of judicial offices and the adoption of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [text; PDF]. In January 2012 a Haitian judge convicted [JURIST report] eight police officers of shooting and killing at least 10 prisoners following the January 2010 earthquake. In December 2011 the UN urged an investigation [JURIST report] into alleged torture and unlawful killings perpetrated by the Haitian National Police (HNP) [official website, in French].

The ICTB has been controversial since it was established [JURIST report] by Bangladeshi officials in 2010 to investigate and prosecute crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Earlier this week the ICTB sentenced [JURIST report] Abdul Quader Mollah, leader of the Islamist party Jammaat-e-Islami (JI) [party website] to life in prison. In January the ICTB rejected [JURIST report] Mollah's plea for a retrial after he claimed that the trial procedures were compromised. In December, the chairman of the ICTB three judge panel announced [JURIST report] his resignation following allegations of impropriety. In June the ICTB rejected [JURIST report] a bail petition from JI leader and former parliament member Delwar Hossain Sayeedee.

This law violates privacy laws and basic constitutional rights, as well as conflicts with fundamental American values of fairness and equality. Instead of moving forward with a mean-spirited law that is doomed to fail, Alabama should join the rest of the country and focus on common-sense reforms that benefit citizens and immigrants alike.

Alabama is currently litigating a challenge to another portion of its immigration regulations. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange last month asked the US Supreme Court [JURIST report] to overturn a recent decision striking down provisions of Alabama's HB 56. The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied a request [JURIST report] by the state of Alabama to reconsider its ruling in November. Alabama's appeal is from a decision [JURIST report] issued last August by the Eleventh Circuit which struck down several provisions of HB 56, including a provision that requires public schools to check the immigration status of students and makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants to solicit work.

"[P]rovide an important platform to expose abuses linked to poverty, discrimination and neglect, which up until now victims have had to endure without any possible recourse at the international level. It will provide a way for individuals, who may otherwise be isolated and powerless, to make the international community aware of their situation."

The Protocol only has effect on the nations which have individually ratified it meaning that when the Provision takes effect only Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Uruguay will be subject to its provisions. Some critics have suggested the opt-in nature for the Protocol means that many suspect nations will not be governed by the instrument, leaving those people most in danger of rights abuses with no change in their means to report those abuses.

The Turkel Commission released the first part of its report [JURIST report] in January 2011, finding that Israel was in full compliance with international law regarding both security maritime regulations and humanitarian obligations during the Gaza flotilla raid, which resulted in the deaths of nine pro-Palestine activists. In September 2010 the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] agreed to adopt a report that criticized Israel's raid [JURIST reports] of the Gaza-bound flotilla and finding that the country committed various violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. One month prior, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website] testified before the civilian commission [JURIST report] and expressed confidence that the commission would find Israeli actions to be in compliance with international law, explaining the Israeli response to the flotilla in the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In July 2010 an Israeli military probe into the flotilla incident found insufficient intelligence and planning, but concluded that no punishments were necessary [JURIST report]. The incident took place on May 31, 2010 when Israeli forces raided six ships attempting to deliver more than 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza. International law scholars have disagreed about the propriety of the IDF's raid, with some claiming that there were clear violations of international law while others found the raid necessary and proportionate [JURIST op-eds].

The two Kenyans had announced [JURIST report] in December that, despite their upcoming trials, they will be running together in the next presidential election, scheduled to take place next month. Concern surrounding the trial has been growing as the trial and election draw closer. In October the ICC called for complete cooperation [JURIST report] from the Kenyan government in the investigation and trial process. In June the ICC expressed its desire to start the two Kenyan trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election. William Ruto [case material], who also faces charges for crimes arising out of the 2007 post-election violence, is considered a leading candidate in the election which will take place March 4. In May the appeals chamber of the ICC rejected [JURIST report] the jurisdiction challenges in the cases, clearing the way for trial. The defense lawyers had argued that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over them. The appeal stemmed from the pre-trial chamber's decision to confirm the charges [JURIST report] against the four men in January. The ICC claimed jurisdiction over the case despite Kenya's calls for dismissal [JURIST report]. The Kenyan government argued that it was capable of prosecuting the accused men domestically.

Thursday's news is the latest in the ongoing effort by Libya to try Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi [BBC profile], and al-Senussi nationally rather than turn them over to the ICC. Last month, the ICC asked Libya to address reports [JURIST report] that it planned to try Saif al-Islam and al-Senussi. In October, Libyan government lawyers urged the ICC [JURIST report] to allow the men to be tried in Libya and promised that the trial would be fair. In August, Saif al-Islam stated that he preferred to be tried by the ICC [JURIST report] out of fear that Libya would not try him fairly. In June, four ICC staff members who traveled to Libya to speak with Saif al-Islam were detained by Libyan security forces [JURIST report] and were in custody for nearly four weeks before being released. The ICC issued arrest warrants [Al Jazeera report] for both men in June 2011.

The announcement is the latest development in the transition of the Libyan government after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Last December, martial law was declared [JURIST report] in Southern Libya. In August, the Libyan national assembly elected [JURIST report] a Gaddafi opponent as interim president. Last January, the Libyan NTC published [JURIST report] a draft law for electing constitutional assembly.

Last month court denied [JURIST report] the band's appeal of an Internet ban on their videos. The court ruled that the band's videos questioning the role of religion in Russian government was "extremist" and President Vladimir Putin argued that the ban is protecting the beliefs of the Russian Orthodox population. During the same month a court denied [JURIST report] a sentencing deferral for band member Alekhina, despite her having a young child. In October Alekhina and Tolokonnikova were transferred to separate regional prisons [JURIST report] generally reserved for dangerous criminals to serve their two-year sentences. Earlier in October Samutsevich was freed on appeal [JURIST report] because she did not actually participate in the protest song, and she vowed to take the band's case to the ECHR on charges that the Russian government had illegally detained them and also violated the rock group's right to free speech.

Controversy surrounding this provision has escalated since it was originally struck down [JURIST report] by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] last September. In December Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied a request to block the law after challengers of the law appealed [JURIST reports] to the Supreme Court to block its enforcement. The district court's order striking down the law was stayed [JURIST report] by the Second Circuit just after the district's ruling in September. The Second Circuit then extended [JURIST report] the stay until it could officially rule on the issue.

The oil-for-food program was established in 1996 by the UN, allowing Iraq to sell oil in order to finance the purchase of food, medicine and other goods for those citizens hurt by international trade sanctions [JURIST report] in the wake of the first Gulf War. Since its inception, several companies and individuals involved with the program have been accused of corruption. In July 2010 General Electric Co. (GE) [corporate website] agreed to a $23.5 million settlement after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint accusing GE of bribing Iraqi officials [JURIST report] to receive contracts under the oil-for-food program. That April a Paris judge charged [JURIST report] French oil company Total [corporate website] with bribery and complicity in connection with the program. According to the 2005 Volcker report, published by a UN-appointed Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] investigating corruption in the oil-for-food program, oil companies like Total allegedly paid Iraqi officials over $1.5 billion in illegal kickbacks [materials] in exchange for being selected as oil purchasers. Additionally, oil company Chevron [corporate website] also paid a large settlement to the SEC concerning misuse of the program, and two Texan oil barons, David Chalmers and Oscar Wyatt Jr. [JURIST reports], were sentenced to prison for their roles in the scandal. In 2005, Grundfos, a Danish company that produces industrial pumps, admitted [JURIST report] that two employees paid kickbacks to authorities in Saddam Hussein's government under the oil-for-food program.