http://jurist.org/paperchase/ JURIST's weblog of legal news and resources worth thinking about, by Professor Bernard Hibbitts and law students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. 2012-05-16T15:20:00-04:00 en-US http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/ai-sudan-government-must-stop-harassment-of-journalists.php [JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] urged [press release] the Sudanese government on Tuesday to stop its alleged press censorship. AI reports that Sudanese authorities have on several occasions have seized newspapers from the printing press. Additionally, a prominent columnist was arrested and remains in custody after publishing a report on an alleged rape by a Sudanese security agent. In a statement, AI's Sudan researcher Jean-Baptiste Gallopin condemned the government's actions:The Sudanese government is continuing its relentless harassment of journalists... 2012-05-16T15:20:00-04:00 2012-05-16T15:20:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/families-of-bombing-victims-win-lawsuit-against-syria-iran.php [JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Monday awarded [opinion, PDF] victims' families over $300 million dollars in damages from the governments of Syria and Iran for their roles in an April 2006 terrorist attack in Israel. The lawsuit was filed by the Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center [advocacy website] on behalf of plaintiffs who were injured or lost family members in a suicide bombing attack at the Rosh Ha'ir restaurant... 2012-05-16T14:07:00-04:00 2012-05-16T14:07:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/mali-facing-human-rights-crisis-amnesty.php [JURIST] Mali is facing its worst human rights crisis [press release] since it gained independence in 1960, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy report] reported Wednesday. In a report [text, PDF], "Mali: Five months of crisis, armed rebellion and military coup," AI claims that hundreds of thousands of citizens have been displaced while dozens have been subjected to arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions or sexual violence. After a three-week research mission to the country, AI concluded that all parties to the conflict are... 2012-05-16T12:01:00-04:00 2012-05-16T12:01:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/incommunicado-detentions-persist-at-iraq-prison-earmarked-for-closure-hrw.php [JURIST] Mass arrests and incommunicado detentions persist at Camp Honor, a prison in Iraq's capital Baghdad that the Iraqi government promised to close [JURIST report] last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website], reported [text] Tuesday. According to HRW, the Iraqi government is reportedly holding hundreds of detainees incommunicado for months at a time at Camp Honor, as well as two unnamed facilities in the Green Zone. Those being held at these facilities were reportedly rounded up by security troops... 2012-05-16T10:08:00-04:00 2012-05-16T10:08:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/rights-experts-urge-mexico-to-end-threats-on-journalists-advocates.php [JURIST] UN experts and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] on Monday urged [press release] an end to the threats and killings of human rights advocates and journalists in Mexico. The UN and IACHR called on the Mexican government to implement the "Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists" in order to avoid the imminent threats faced by these two groups in Mexico. Both chambers of Congress have already approved this bill in hopes... 2012-05-16T07:48:00-04:00 2012-05-16T07:48:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/icc-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-of-two-drc-rebel-leaders.php [JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced Monday that his office will seek arrest warrants [press release] for two rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The office filed an arrest warrant application [UN News Centre report] for Sylvestre Mudacumura [ICC fact sheet, PDF], a foreign militia leader in the DRC, and sought a warrant establishing additional charges against General Bosco Ntaganda [JURIST news archive],... 2012-05-15T08:05:00-04:00 2012-05-15T08:05:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/bangladesh-war-crimes-tribunal-indicts-89-year-old-opposition-leader.php [JURIST] The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh (ICTB) [Facebook page] on Sunday indicted a former opposition leader for alleged human rights atrocities committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] against Pakistan. Ghulam Azam, 89, is the former head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party (JI) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. He opposed the independence of Bangladesh and reportedly aided the Pakistani Army during the war. Azam stands accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, rape, arson and other international crimes carried out during... 2012-05-14T13:56:00-04:00 2012-05-14T13:56:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/lra-commander-captured-by-uganda-military.php [JURIST] Ugandan military forces Saturday captured one of the highest leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) [BBC backgrounder], the rebel militia group headed by alleged Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) ambushed and captured [Al Jazeera report] Major General Caesar Achellam along the banks of the River Mbou in Central African Republic (CAR). Achellam is said to be a top rebel military strategist [BBC News report] and close ally... 2012-05-14T12:24:00-04:00 2012-05-14T12:24:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/un-human-rights-chief-comments-on-visit-to-south-sudan.php [JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] on Friday remarked on her visit [press release] to South Sudan, praising the country's development and calling on the new nation to commit to a human rights infrastructure of laws, institutions and practices. Pillay met with top government officials, civil society organizations and other UN divisions working in the country, offering the continued support of her office and urging South Sudan's speedy ratification of all the main international human... 2012-05-14T11:00:00-04:00 2012-05-14T11:00:00-04:00 http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/05/nato-has-failed-to-acknowledge-civilian-deaths-in-libya-hrw.php [JURIST] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) [official website] should acknowledge civilian casualties from air strikes in Libya and investigate possible unlawful attacks [press release], Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged Monday. In a 76-page report [text, PDF], "Unacknowledged Deaths: Civilian Casualties in NATO's Air Campaign in Libya," HRW examined eight NATO air strikes which resulted in 72 civilian deaths, claiming that "the absence of a clear military target at seven of the eight sites Human Rights Watch visited... 2012-05-14T10:17:00-04:00 2012-05-14T10:17:00-04:00