[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [JURIST news archive] Friday issued three executive orders favoring organized labor and departing from the pro-employer labor policies of the previous Bush administration. Notification of employee rights under federal labor law [PDF text] requires employers working under government contracts to clearly notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act [text]. The order says that it is "designed to promote economy and efficiency in Government procurement":

When the Federal Government contracts for goods or services, it has a proprietary interest in ensuring that those contracts will be performed by contractors whose work will not be interrupted by labor unrest. The attainment of industrial peace is most easily achieved and workers' productivity is enhanced when workers are well informed of their rights under Federal labor laws, including the National Labor Relations Act (Act), 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. As the Act recognizes, "encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and . . . protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection" will "eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce" and "mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred."

A carryover work force reduces disruption to the delivery of services during the period of transition between contractors and provides the Federal Government the benefits of an experienced and trained work force that is familiar with the Federal Government's personnel, facilities, and requirements.

[JURIST] The government of Myanmar [JURIST news archive] must stop systematically persecuting the Rohingya Muslim minority [BBC profile], and neighboring states should offer assistance to refugees, according to an open letter [text, PDF] sent Friday by Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website]. In a letter to the governments of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, AI called for Myanmar to end persection against the Rohingya minority, calling it the "root cause of the crisis." AI also called on surrounding states to fulfill their obligations under the UN International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) [IMO backgrounders], and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) [text], by offering aid to Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar by sea. AI also called on all states to ratify the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and the UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons [texts].

Last month, the UN General Assembly [official website] adopted a resolution [press release; JURIST report] criticizing human rights violations in Myanmar. In June, The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] criticized the government of Myanmar [JURIST report] for its continued human rights abuses and refusal to cooperate with humanitarian groups. The resolution called on the Myanmar government to free political prisoners, stop recruiting child soldiers, and to implement earlier UNHRC resolutions [S-5/1 text, PDF] regarding the country's human rights situation. The UNHRC passed a similar resolution [press release; JURIST report] in March condemning the Myanmar government for continuous abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

[JURIST] Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos [official profile] has said he will push for legislation limiting the country's universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder] policies to prevent the investigation of Israeli officials, according to Friday statements [Ynet report] by Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni [official profile]. The pledge follows a decision by Spanish judge Fernando Andreu [JURIST news archive] to issue an order [PDF text, in Spanish] opening an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed in a 2002 Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip [El Pais report, in Spanish; JURIST report]. Spanish vice-president Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega [official profile, in Spanish; Euroresidents profile] also said Friday, however, that the country's courts are independent of politics, and the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation [official website] has yet to make any official announcement confirming Moratinos' comment. Israel is cooperating with the investigation, and recently turned over documents relating to the 2002 attack [El Pais report].

The investigation concerns the 2002 bombing of former Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh's home in Gaza City that killed 15 people [NYT report], including Shehadeh and his family. Israel has heavily criticized [Haaretz report] Article 23.4 [UN backgrounder] of the Judicial Power Organization Act, which allows Spanish courts to prosecute people outside of Spain for war crimes, even when no Spanish citizens are involved. Spanish courts have attempted to use the principle of universal jurisdiction in several other international cases, including allegations of war crimes and genocide in Rwanda, Tibet, Guatemala, Chile, and China [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] Former US detainee and Canadian citizen Maher Arar [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] said Thursday that he was shocked and saddened to learn that US government officials had testified at the US military commission trial [JURIST report] of fellow Canadian citizen Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] that Arar had lived with terrorists in Afghanistan. FBI agent Robert Fuller testified that Khadr had identified Arar as among those living with suspected terrorists. Arar made the statement at a panel [press release] sponsored by the Canadian Journalism Foundation [advocacy website] in order to highlight the intense media scrutiny [Toronto Star report] that he has felt subjected to since his arrest and detention in 2002. Arar accused the media [CBC report] of a lack of attention to facts and a willingness to promote false allegations made by US sources.

Arar was detained by the US in September 2002 after flying to New York from Tunisia on his way home to Canada. The US government deported him to Syria in 2002, where he was tortured despite Syrian assurances that he would not be. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit began an en banc rehearing [JURIST report] of Arar's case, in which he is challenging the US government's policy of extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] under the Torture Victim Protection Act [text] and the Fifth Amendment [text] of the US Constitution. US lawmakers apologized [JURIST report] in 2007 for his arrest, deportation and, torture at the hands of Syrian Officials.

[JURIST] Pakistani Minister for Law and Justice Farooq Naek told reporters Friday that the superior court judges the government had returned to office after their November 2007 ouster under then-president Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule [JURIST report] had been 'reappointed', not reinstated, because Pakistan's constitution [text] does not provide for such a procedure. Naek also rejected [APP report] the latest claim by ousted chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] that his removal was unconstitutional. Naek urged members of the lawyers' movement [NYT backgrounder, JURIST news archive] calling for Chaudhry's reinstatement to seek justice in the courts, rather than in the streets.

In December, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) voted down [JURIST report] a challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of current Pakistan chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar. Although Pakistani officials have now restored most of the more than 60 judges ousted by Musharraf, Naek has repeatedly insisted that Chaudhry will not be returned to office [JURIST report] because Dogar was legitimately appointed [JURIST report].

[JURIST] China's State Council [official website] on Friday ended the authority of the state-run Xinhua News Agency [media website] to screen foreign financial and other news entering the country. In a decree signed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao [official profile], the government reassigned the power [Xinhua report] to the State Council Information Office [official website, in Mandarin]. A reason for the change was not given, but it may have been designed in part to more tightly control negative financial news entering the country.

In September 2006, China released the media regulations [text] that gave Xinhua ultimate rights of approval [JURIST report] over the distribution and domestic release of foreign news content in China. Criticism of China's restrictions on press freedoms peaked during the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, and in October 2008, Jiabao indefinitely extended [JURIST report] certain foreign press privileges that had been put in place for the event. Rights and media groups continue to call for a liberalization of restrictive rules and practices [HRW press release] applying to Chinese domestic media.

[JURIST] Former Cuban president Fidel Castro [BBC profile] on Thursday called [op-ed text, in Spanish] on US President Barack Obama [official website] to turn over control of the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military base to Cuba once the detention facility there is closed. In an op-ed published in the online newspaper CubaDebate [media website], Castro wrote that continuing to hold the base would be a violation of international law. Castro scoffed at Obama's pledge to return the base to the country after it instituted a democratic government, and said the move should be made unconditionally. He also criticized the new administration's support of Israel [WH materials], suggesting that the United States' support for Israel's treatment of the Palestinians further illustrates the country's arrogance.

The tone of Castro's article departs from that which he used in a January 22 statement [text, in Spanish], when he expressed his approval of the new president, while maintaining caution in waiting to see how Obama would address the "insoluble antagonist contradictions of the system." Following Obama's executive order [text; JURIST report] last week that Guantanamo be closed, world leaders hailed the news [JURIST report], but Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque issued a call to the US to return Guantanamo completely to the Cuban people.

[JURIST] The Cameroon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] government has participated in and encouraged unlawful executions, torture, and other human rights violations [press release] of political dissenters, according to an Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF; abstract] released Thursday. The report alleges that such violations have been taking place for more than 10 years and may increase with the current global economic crisis and continued political unrest. According to the report, the actions by many governmental officials violate national law as well as the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text]. The report includes examples of unlawful detentions and executions, threats against free speech, harsh prison conditions, torture, and persecution. AI alleges that much of the violence stems from government suppression of political opposition and is largely aimed at journalists, politicians and human rights advocates. The report encourages foreign embassies in Cameroon to support the work of local advocates and journalists and also includes an appeal to the Cameroonian government:

to take all necessary political and legal measures, as well as to provide resources to promote and protect human rights, including by bringing an end to the widespread and persistent impunity enjoyed by the security forces and government officials.