International brief ~ US Senators call for UN sanctions against Sudan News
International brief ~ US Senators call for UN sanctions against Sudan

[JURIST] In Thursday's international brief, two US Senators have called for the UN Security Council [official website] to impose heavy sanctions on the Sudanese government [official website] for forcing the genocide of thousands in Darfur to end. Senators Sam Brownback [official website] and Jon Corzine [official website] introduced a bill Wednesday that calls for the US government to push for economic and diplomatic sanctions from the Security Council. The legislation would authorizes US President George Bush to appoint a special envoy from the White House to the region and additionally calls for the imposition of an arms ban against the ruling government in Khartoum, the placement of travel restrictions on Sudanese government officials, and the freezing of monetary assets of companies controlled by the ruling party that do business abroad. Read the introduced legislation [official PDF text]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news …

  • More members of the Nepali Congress [advocacy website] were arrested Thursday in Nepal, as they demonstrated in Kathmandu in contravention of the ban on public protests put in place by the February 1 declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report] by King Gyanendra [BBC profile]. At least 6 members of the pro-democracy organization were taken into custody, including central committee member Baldev Sharma Majgainya. The arrests are the second wave of government crackdowns on the Nepali Congress. Seventeen members of the student branch of the Congress, the National Student's Union, were arrested Sunday [JURIST report]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST Country news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.
  • The major Togolese opposition party agreed Thursday to an election for a new president proposed by the Togolese government official website], even though the national constitution prohibits their chairman from standing in the vote. The Union for Forces for Change [party website in French] is the largest opposition party in Togo – its current chairman, Gilchrist Olympio [BBC profile], has been living in Paris since a 1992 assassination attempt on his life. The Togo Constitution requires candidates for president to have lived in Togo for 12 months prior to the election. Olympio stated that the return of Togo to a democratic government does not require him as a leader, and that he would lend his support to whomever the UFC nominated. The UFC was joined by the Action Committee for Renewal and the Democratic Convention of the African People [party website in French], the two next largest opposition parties, in approving the upcoming election. Though no official date has been set for the elections, regional officias believe it will be held shortly after April 24. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Togo [JURIST Country news archive]. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.
  • Human rights activists in Cambodia [government website] called Thursday for the creation of a protection plan for witnesses that testify in the UN-backed tribunal for the prosecution of former Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] leaders. The Khmer Rouge trials [official website] are national trials funded by the United Nations that will prosecute former Khmer Rouge officials for the perpetration of crimes against humanity and human rights violations during the period of Democratic Kampuchea under the rule of the dicatator Pol Pot. The tribunal is tentatively scheduled to open later this year and human rights groups have been expressing concern that witnesses would refuse to testify for fear of retribution from pro-Khmer Rouge dissidents. Read the UN-Cambodia agreement on the special tribunal [official PDF text]. BBC News has more.