JURIST - World Legal News

[JURIST] Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera signed into law Tuesday a constitutional amendment that will allow President Evo Morales [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to run for a third term. The Bolivian Constitution [text, in Spanish] only allows a president to serve two terms. However, last month the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal ruled [JURIST report] that the two consecutive term limit should not be applied retroactively, and because the country's constitution was amended [JURIST report] after Morales began his term,...... [full story]

[JURIST] The Guatemala Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] on Tuesday overturned the genocide conviction of ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt [JURIST news archive] and ordered the trial to resume from the point that it was stopped on April 19. Earlier this month Rios Montt was found guilty of the genocide, torture and rape of 1,771 indigenous Ixil Mayans during his 1982-83 rule. The ex-dictator was sentenced [JURIST report] by a three-judge panel headed by Judge Jasmine Barrios to 80 years...... [full story]

[JURIST] The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UN Women [official websites] on Monday urged [press release] Afghanistan's government to fully respect and defend the fundamental rights of women and girls by ensuring the implementation of and respect for women's rights legislation. This call comes in response to the Afghanistan parliament, which blocked legislation [JURIST report] on Saturday that would have protected provisions of the 2009 Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) [text, PDF] from being repealed...... [full story]

[JURIST] A UK immigration tribunal denied bail for radical cleric Abu Qatada [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] Monday due to the high risk of escape. Qatada's lawyers insist that he should be able to spend time with his family before he leaves the UK for Jordan, where he will stand trial for terrorism. Qatada was convicted in absentia for organizing and encouraging terrorist attacks in Jordan in 1999 and 2000. Justice Stephen Irwin of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)...... [full story]

[JURIST] Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was granted bail Monday by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC), but he remains on house arrest over the murder of former prime ministerBenazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Judge Habibur Rehman ordered Musharraf to pay two bonds each worth one million rupees (approximately USD $10,163). Musharraf has been held at his Islamabad farmhouse since April 19. The ATC is a special court established in April for hearing a...... [full story]

[JURIST] The EU expressed concern [press release, PDF] with Russia's human rights record Sunday, focusing on the country's recent adoption of restrictive legislation, the prosecution of political activists and efforts towards establishing an independent judiciary. At the human rights consultation in Brussels the EU confirmed its intention to continue to monitor the implications of Russia's recent "Foreign Agents" law and urged Russia to refrain from adopting legislation on "homosexual propaganda," which the EU believes could "increase discrimination and violence against...... [full story]

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [press release] Monday that no progress has been made in Sri Lanka regarding respect for basic rights and liberties in the four years since the end of the country's brutal 26-year civil war [JURIST backgrounder]. According to HRW, the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] has failed to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes, has cracked down on media and human rights activists, and has continued to abuse suspected...... [full story]

[JURIST] A senior judge for the Judiciary of England and Wales [official website] on Friday partially upheld [Reuters report] a request by British Foreign Secretary William Hague [official profile] to withhold certain information from the investigation into the 2006 death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko [JURIST news archive]. Litvinenko was a member of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) [official website, in Russian] when he was poisoned to death. Sir Robert Owen was appointed [press release] in...... [full story]

[JURIST] The Afghanistan parliament on Saturday blocked legislation that would have worked to strengthen women's rights in the country. If passed, the legislation would have protected provisions [AP report] of the 2009 Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) [PDF], which was originally implemented by presidential decree, from being repealed by a future Afghanistan president. The law criminalizes child marriages and forced marriages and states that rape victims should not be charged with adultery or fornication. Fawzia Koofi [official...... [full story]

[JURIST] Five human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website], sent a letter letter [text] Cameroon authorities on Friday to drop the charges against two transgender youths rather than undergoing an appeal to the Cameroon Supreme Court [official website]. The defendants, who identify as women, were arrested [press release] in July 2011 and prosecuted on charges of homosexual conduct. Police who saw them dressed in women's clothing and stopped their vehicle, claiming the people in the car were...... [full story]

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