Guatemala's government has been plagued with accusations of corruption and impunity for government officials, including law enforcement. In August, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) [official website, in Spanish] announced that it had issued arrest warrants for former government officials including those for former interior minister Carlos Vielmann, former police director Erwin Sperissen and former prison director Alejandro Giammettei in relation to the extrajudicial killing of several inmates [JURIST report]. In June, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court removed Attorney General Conrado Reyes from power [JURIST report]. Reyes was appointed to the position by Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, but he came under close scrutiny when the former head of the CICIG, Carlos Castresana, resigned accusing Reyes of having ties to organized crime [JURIST report]. In March, Guatemalan authorities arrested two high-ranking police officials leading the country's war on drugs on charges of corruption and drug trafficking in connection with a drug-related shoot-out [AP report] last year between drug traffickers and a gang of police accused of stealing large quantities of cocaine for profit. In January, Guatemalan authorities issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] for former president Alfonso Portillo [CIDOB profile, in Spanish], after the US government requested his extradition to face charges of money laundering.

[T]he United States has repeatedly condemned the epidemic of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world and continues to speak out on this issue. We support efforts to protect local populations against sexual and gender-based violence and to bring to justice those who commit such atrocities. We are reacting to reports of rapes along the Angola-Congo border and we encourage Angolan officials to investigate these allegations and determine who perpetrated the alleged human rights violations against Congolese women before their deportation.

Many in the international community have grown concerned by mass rapes in the Congo region recently. Earlier this month, UN peacekeepers and DRC forces arrested [JURIST report] rebel group Mai Mai Cheka [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] leader Lieutenant Colonel Sadoke Kokunda Mayele for allegedly leading mass rapes [JURIST news archive], along with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) [Global Security backgrounder] and other rebel groups, in the DRC in late July and early August. Earlier this month, the UN released a report on war crimes [text, PDF; JURIST report] and human rights abuses in the DRC. The report, originally expected to be released in September [JURIST report], lists 617 of the most serious violations of human rights, including violence against children, genocide and mass rape, committed between 1993 and 2003. Last month, the UN Security Council [official website] issued a statement condemning the recent mass rapes [text; JURIST report] and calling for justice for the victims. Also last month, Wallstrom called for perpetrators of mass rapes, including heads of DRC militias, to face war crimes charges [JURIST report].

The Supreme Court has been reluctant to allow its proceedings to be televised. In April, Justice Stephen Breyer said he was wary [WP report] of cameras in the court because it would put pressure on the trial courts to do the same and that only showing the oral arguments would be insufficient for the public to understand what was happening. Specter, on the other hand, has pushed for cameras in the court [WP op-ed], citing the controversial Bush v. Gore case, where cameras covered the events following the 2000 presidential election up to the point it went before the court. Professor Majorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, has written about the need for more television coverage of the court and, in January, criticized [JURIST Op-Ed] the court for stopping the federal trial court hearing California's Proposition 8 case as a way to use procedural excuses to keep a controversial issue hidden.

Black originally faced 17 counts of fraud, obstruction of justice, racketeering and tax evasion. He was accused [indictment, PDF] by the US government of diverting more than $80 million from Hollinger International and its shareholders [JURIST report] during Hollinger's $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers. In July 2007, Black was convicted of mail fraud and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 78 months in prison. The court of appeals initially rejected Black's appeal, holding that § 1346 may be applied in a private setting regardless of whether the defendant's conduct risked any foreseeable economic harm to the victim. The Supreme Court granted certiorari last year to determine the scope of the "honest services" clause, and held that Black had properly objected to the jury instructions at trial concerning the honest service doctrine and remanded the case to the circuit court for an opinion consistent with the judgment in Skilling v. United States [JURIST report]. Black is also currently facing charges before the US Tax Court for failure to pay nearly $71 million in taxes [Bloomberg report]. He denies being obligated to pay the taxes because he is not a US citizen.

In August 2009, the Iraqi Government [official website, in Arabic], announced the drafting of a law that proposes a framework to safeguard Iraqi journalists [JURIST report]. The proposed law has been stalled in the Parliament since its proposal [AP report]. In July 2008, Soran Mama-Hama, an investigative reporter for Livin Magazine who had written articles critical of Kurdish authorities, was assassinated in Kirkuk. Several journalists have fled Northern Iraq after receiving threats following critical articles about the two leading political parties. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) [advocacy website] ranked Iraq 130 in their 2010 Press Freedom Index. In September, RWB released a report detailing the 230 murders of journalists [materials] that have occurred since 2003. Their profile of Iraq lists several journalists who have faced lawsuits and have been victimized by violence [materials].

China is a nation governed by law. Its judicial sovereignty brooks no interference and the dignity of the judiciary must be safeguarded. Anyone, who violates Chinese law, must be punished according to law. ... China's judicial organs will strictly follow Chinese law and the court verdict, which has come into effect, to execute the punishment given to Liu. ... We strongly oppose some people making arbitrary criticism on China's judicatory with double standards.

The Nobel committee announced that Liu won the 2010 award for being one of China's most prominent non-violent activists. His alleged subversive acts include co-authoring Charter 8 [text], a document critical of China's position as a single-party state and alleged human rights violations, and being a participant in the Tiananmen Square protests [BBC backgrounder]. Liu's initial involvement in Tiananmen Square resulted in a two-year prison sentence, while his current 11-year sentence began following a December 2009 trial [JURIST report]. Liu appealed his sentence, and a Chinese appeals court upheld the judgment [JURIST report] in February. Sarah Cook, the Asia Research Analyst and Assistant Editor for Freedom House, called the sentence [JURIST comment], "symptomatic of more systemic problems and politicization of the Chinese legal system."

Suu Kyi's detention is widely believed to be focused on preventing her participation in the upcoming election. Under Myanmar's current election laws [JURIST report], a provision prohibiting political prisoners from seeking public office prevents Suu Kyi from participating as long as she remains under house arrest. As part of the final appeal of the house arrest term extension, Suu Kyi also seeks annulment of that portion [JURIST report] of the controversial law. The suit also seeks to stop the dissolution of her opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and requests the establishment of a parliament of lawmakers who won in the 1990 elections. Suu Kyi, a democracy advocate and Nobel Laureate, has spent 14 of the past 20 years in prison or under house arrest for alleged violations of an anti-subversion law [text, PDF].

Earlier this week, the ICC requested that Kenya arrest al-Bashir [JURIST report] when he visits the country for an Intergovernmental Authority for Development summit. In August, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan [official profile; JURIST news archive] urged Kenya to reaffirm its commitment [JURIST report] to the ICC after it welcomed al-Bashir to a celebration for the country's adoption of a new constitution [JURIST report]. Days earlier the ICC reported Kenya [decision, PDF; JURIST report] to the UN Security Council and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute over al-Bashir's visit. The ICC also reported Chad [decision, PDF], another member state, for welcoming al-Bashir in July. During al-Bashir's visit to Chad, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] pledged that al-Bashir would eventually face trial before the ICC [JURIST report].

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki [official profile] signed the new constitution into law in August, weeks after it was approved [JURIST report] by popular referendum. The document's creation was part of a power-sharing agreement [JURIST report] reached in 2009 between Kibaki and opposition leader Prime Minister Raila Odinga [official website] that brought an end to the civil unrest that followed the contested 2007 presidential election [JURIST report]. Election officials sought to make the referendum as inclusive and peaceful as possible by allowing prisoners to vote and prosecuting those who suggested violence in reaction to the changes [JURIST reports] under hate speech laws.