The Court has also previously found, citing with approval the case-law of the former Commission, that legislation regulating the interruption of pregnancy touches upon the sphere of the private life of the woman, the Court emphasising [sic] that Article 8 cannot be interpreted as meaning that pregnancy and its termination pertain uniquely to the woman's private life as, whenever a woman is pregnant, her private life becomes closely connected with the developing foetus. The woman's right to respect for her private life must be weighed against other competing rights and freedoms invoked including those of the unborn child.

Abortion has long been a hotly contested issue domestically and internationally. On Tuesday, an Alaska Superior Court judge refused to block a law requiring parental notification for women under the age of 18 [JURIST report] to have an abortion. Last Month, Colorado voters struck down a ballot initiative [text, PDF] that would have amended the state's constitution [text] to extend rights to fetuses and would have effectively outlawed abortion [JURIST report]. Earlier this year, reform to Spain's abortion laws sparked widespread protests and elicited a constitutional challenge [JURIST reports] from Spain's conservative Popular Party.

In September, former Polish prime minister Leszek Miller denied any knowledge [JURIST report] of a secret CIA prison in Poland and indicated that he will not discuss allegations of torture until the Polish government's investigation is complete. Allegations against Poland came in a June 2007 report [text; JURIST report] to the Council of Europe [official website] by Swiss Senator Dick Marty. The report concluded that numerous European governments had cooperated with the CIA program. In February 2007, the European Parliament condemned more than a dozen European states [JURIST report] for their roles in the program. Several nations have been accused of obstructing European probes into the secret prison allegations, including Poland [JURIST report], which allegedly housed the largest CIA detention facility in Europe [JURIST report].

According to the original complaint [text, PDF], the plot was intended to "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks," according to one of the suspects. The plot could have destroyed parts of New York's borough of Queens [official website], where an underground fuel pipeline serving the airport runs. Authorities were tracking the plot for more than a year before making the arrests. Defreitas had said he formed the plot more than a decade ago when he worked as a cargo handler. He said he chose the airport because its destruction would put "the whole country in mourning."

Abdulmutallab fired his court-appointed lawyers [JURIST report] in September, accusing them of not serving his best interest and saying that he preferred to represent himself. Edmunds cautioned Abdulmutallab about proceeding without representation and questioned him for approximately 30 minutes regarding his knowledge of the law and criminal procedure. She ultimately allowed Abdulmutallab to dismiss his court-appointed lawyers, although she indicated that she believed the decision was not wise. In June, Edmunds denied a motion [JURIST report] filed on behalf of the Nigerian government seeking to formally observe Abdulmutallab's trial, stating that the court record is already open to the public. The government sought to observe the proceedings [Bloomberg report] in order to guarantee that Nigerian-born Abdulmutallab received a fair trial and that the reputation of Nigeria was protected, but the lawyer for the government later asked to withdraw the motion. In February, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] defended his decision [JURIST report] to try the accused bomber in federal court rather than a military tribunal. Abdulmutallab has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charges against him for allegedly attempting to set off an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 bound from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Other Latin American countries have recently taken steps to end amnesties for their military dictatorships. In March, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] urged government officials in El Salvador [JURIST report] to repeal [press release] a 1993 amnesty law that prevents any investigation [JURIST report] into killings committed during the country's 12-year civil war [PBS backgrounder], including the killing of respected Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero [BBC backgrounder, JURIST news archive]. Last year, the Uruguayan Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] the country’s Expiry Law, which granted amnesty to military officials accused of human rights violations during the country's 1973-1985 dictatorship. In 2005, Argentina's Supreme Court struck down similar amnesty laws [JURIST report] adopted in the 1980s to protect potential defendants, prompting the government to reopen hundreds of human rights cases.

The most recent UN Security Council resolutions mark a turning point for Iraq and an end to the UN oil-for-food program that generated international scandals. In July, General Electric Co. (GE) [corporate website] agreed to a $23.5 million settlement [press release; JURIST report] after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] filed a complaint [text, PDF] accusing GE of bribing Iraqi officials to receive contracts under the oil-for-food program. The SEC claimed that, between 2000 and 2003, four of GE's subsidiaries gave millions of dollars worth of computer equipment, medical supplies and services to the Iraqi Health Ministry in exchange for contract deals. In April, a Paris judge charged [JURIST report] French oil company Total [corporate website] with bribery and complicity in connection with the scandal. According to the 2005 Volcker report, published by a UN-appointed Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] investigating corruption in the oil-for-food program, oil companies like Total allegedly paid Iraqi officials over $1.5 billion in illegal kickbacks [materials] in exchange for being selected as oil purchasers. Over the last three years, oil company Chevron [corporate website] also paid a large settlement to the SEC concerning misuse of the program, and two Texan oil barons, David Chalmers and Oscar Wyatt Jr. [JURIST reports], were sentenced to prison for their roles in the scandal. The oil-for-food program allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, under UN sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War, to sell limited stocks of oil in return for foodstuffs and other humanitarian supplies.

Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was seized on the streets of Milan in 2003 by CIA agents with the help of Italian operatives, then allegedly transferred to Egypt and tortured by Egypt's State Security Intelligence before being released [JURIST reports] in February 2007. In September 2009, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] a lawsuit brought by former State Department official Sabrina De Sousa seeking diplomatic immunity against the Italian charges. De Sousa was one of the Americans whose sentence was increased to seven years. The CIA's rendition program has been the source of much controversy and litigation. Last year, President Barack Obama announced [JURIST report] the US would continue its practice of sending terror detainees to third countries for interrogation with increased oversight by the State Department to prevent torture.