JURIST - Paper Chase: Saturday, November 13, 2010

[JURIST] The Myanmar Police Force [official website] on Saturday released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], ending her almost eight years under house arrest. Police left the area and a barbed-wire fence near her home was removed, allowing Suu Kyi to address supporters [AP report] that had gathered. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed [press release] Suu Kyi's release from "unjustified detention," while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] offered similar praise and encouraged the country to release all political prisoners [press release]. Both statements stressed the importance of ensuring that her release is unconditional, and her lawyers have indicated that any attempts to impose conditions are unacceptable. Suu Kyi's release comes days after the Myanmar Supreme Court rejected an appeal [JURIST report] challenging the conditions of her house arrest. Though the challenge was originally scheduled to be heard in October, the court waited until after Sunday's controversial elections [JURIST report] to issue its ruling. The elections were the first held in the country in 20 years, and have received heavy international criticism. It is anticipated that Suu Kyi will assist in a challenge [AP report] against the election results in which the ruling party maintained its hold on power.

Suu Kyi was prohibited from participating in the election under current Myanmar election laws [JURIST report]. In October, Suu Kyi filed an appeal [JURIST report] to the Supreme Court challenging the dissolution of the National League for Democracy (NLD) [party website]. In June, an independent UN human rights expert called for the release [JURIST report] of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar, claiming their continued detention "contravenes international human rights law and casts a long shadow over planned elections in the country." Suu Kyi originally challenged the election law [JURIST report] dissolving the NLD in April, but her suit was rejected. In March, the NLD announced that it would not take part in the elections after the court rejected [JURIST reports] a lawsuit brought by the NLD to repeal the election laws preventing Suu Kyi from participating.

[JURIST] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [official profile] has urged Hezbollah [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive] not to resort to violence [text] in an attempt to impede the investigation of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) [official website] into the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. In an interview published Friday by the Lebanese Newspaper An-Nahar [official website], Clinton reiterated US support for Lebanon and noted that the work of the STL is "legitimate and necessary." She also stressed the independence of the tribunal and that "no one knows what the Special Tribunal is going to do, who it might indict, or when it might choose to move forward." Clinton's interview followed remarks made Thursday by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah [BBC profile], who said he would "cut off the hands" [AP report] of any person attempting to arrest a Hezbollah member in connection with the murder. Last month, Nasrallah called for all Lebanese to boycott the STL [JURIST report] after information surfaced suggesting that the tribunal is set to implicate members of Hezbollah as participants in the assassination of Hariri.

Earlier this month, STL rejected two motions [JURIST report] requesting the disqualification of judges on the grounds of bias. Judge Antonio Cassese denied the motions filed by Lebanese General Jamil El-Sayed, determining that El-Sayed failed to provide convincing evidence that judges Afif Chamseddine [motion, PDF; judgment, PDF] and Ralph Riachy [motion, PDF; judgment, PDF] are biased. El-Sayed had argued that, because the judges were nominated by the government of Lebanon, which was subsequently "condemned" by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, they were biased or at least appeared biased. In August, Hezbollah officials submitted evidence to the STL linking Israel to Hariri's death in response to a request by the tribunal [JURIST reports] to turn over all information relating to the assassination.
The STL is expected to issue indictments [UPI report], possibly in December. The STL was created at the request of Lebanon's government to investigate Hariri's murder and began its work in 2007.

[JURIST] Canadian UN ambassador John McNee [official profile] on Friday announced that the country has endorsed [press release] the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [text], reversing the government's initial opposition to the declaration. Though the government reiterated its concerns about several of the declaration's provisions, it cited [statement] encouragement from community leaders and other countries' experiences in reversing its position on the document. The Canadian government described the move as one intended to strengthen relationships with indigenous communities, saying:

The Declaration is an aspirational document which speaks to the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, taking into account their specific cultural, social and economic circumstances. Although the Declaration is a non-legally binding document that does not reflect customary international law nor change Canadian laws, our endorsement gives us the opportunity to reiterate our commitment to continue working in partnership with Aboriginal peoples in creating a better Canada.

Shawn A-in-chut Atleo [official profile], National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations [official website], praised [press release] the endorsement, saying that the occasion marks "a new era of fairness and justice."

The declaration was adopted by the UN [JURIST report] in 2007 after 143 member states voted to adopt the treaty, though Canada was among four-including Australia, New Zealand and the US-that declined to do so at the time. The four originally cited concerns that it conflicted with their countries' own laws, among other contentions. New Zealand endorsed [AFP report] the declaration in April, as did [JURIST report] Australia in 2009. The declaration seeks to negate past wrongs to indigenous people worldwide by ensuring equal enjoyment of the laws in each member nation and by prohibiting state sanctioned racial discrimination, forced removal from native lands, and forced assimilation into mainstream national culture.