Late last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged Ivory Coast to investigate [JURIST report] human rights violations and war crimes. Earlier last week, International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] told reporters that he is willing to investigate [JURIST report] alleged war crimes in the Ivory Coast, but a lack of referrals is impeding the process. Earlier this month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] reported the deaths of at least 800 civilians [JURIST report] in the Ivory Coast town of Duekoue as a result of intercommunal violence that took place. Also this month, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] urged all parties to show restraint [JURIST report]. Last month, the OHCHR called for an independent investigation into post-election violence [JURIST report]. In January, UN officials expressed "grave concerns" [JURIST report] regarding the post-election violence, cautioning that genocide could be imminent. In February, Gbagbo dissolved the country's parliament [JURIST report] and electoral commission based on allegations of voter fraud in the long delayed presidential elections. On disbanding the government, Gbagbo charged Prime Minister Guillaume Soro [BBC profile] with creation of new government and new election format. The violence stems from Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to president-elect Alassane Ouattara, who won the November 2010 runoff election according to international observers. Gbagbo was elected president in 2000 to serve a five-year term, but he has managed to stay in office, delaying six successive elections.

Friday's protests reveal Egyptians' growing frustration with the pace at which the current military council is pursuing the punishment of the regime's political corruption [JURIST reports]. In March, a commission of Arab and Egyptian human rights groups accused Mubarak and the police of murdering protesters during the demonstrations in Egypt, according to a local newspaper [Al-Ahram report, in Arabic]. The joint commission submitted their report to Egypt's top prosecutor for further investigation. The Supreme Military Council of Egypt, which assumed power after Mubarak's resignation, instructed Egypt's top prosecutor to investigate the death of protesters [Ria Novosti report] during the three weeks of demonstrations in the country. Following the demonstrations, Egypt's chief prosecutor requested in February that Foreign Ministry officials take steps to freeze any foreign assets [JURIST report] belonging to Mubarak and his family.

The actions of Gaddafi's forces in Libya have been condemned by a number of human rights as well as governmental organizations. Just this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] asserted that indiscriminate government attacks on Libyan civilians violate international humanitarian law [JURIST report]. The attacks, led by forces supporting Gaddafi, have claimed more than 250 civilian lives within the last month in the city of Misrata. According to international law, attacks from either party in conflict that do not differentiate between civilians and combatants are impermissible. Furthermore, the law requires that any force applied must take all measures to reduce the harm to civilians. Although the Libyan government denies using indiscriminate force on citizens, many civilians have reported abuse including shootings in medical facilities and populated areas where there is no threat of of war. Earlier this month, the UN announced that investigators would enter Libya [JURIST report] to begin looking into alleged human rights abuses by both rebels and the armed forces of Gaddafi. The inquiry into the conditions in Libya was approved by a unanimous vote [JURIST report] of members of the UN Human Rights Council on February 25. The investigatory panel will cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], which last month opened its own investigation [JURIST report] into alleged abuses in Libya.

Up to now, the Iraqi authorities in both Baghdad and the Kurdistan region have sought to crack down on peaceful protestors. This must change. They should be cracking down on the use of excessive force and torture by their own largely unaccountable security forces, not on the right of people to peacefully protest. The Iraqi authorities should be upholding the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including the right to protest, not trying to suppress them. It is high time to do so.

Iraq has been closely scrutinized for human rights violations. AI issued a report in September alleging that the Iraqi government is unlawfully detaining and torturing [press release; JURIST report] thousands of detainees. In June, UN Special Representative to Iraq Ad Melkert urged the Iraqi government [JURIST report] to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [text]. Melkert stated that Iraq had made several advances in recognizing human rights violations, but the government's policy implementation still faces several obstacles. The convention was adopted by the UN in 1984 and has been ratified by 147 countries. Iraq remains one of 45 member-countries that have yet to ratify the treaty. Last April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] reported on the repeated torture [JURIST report] of Iraqi detainees in a secret prison in Baghdad. HRW reported that detainees held at the secret Muthanna facility, run by Iraqi authorities, were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks and sodomized during torture sessions that detainees faced every three to four days.

Maikel Nabil's three-year sentence may be the worst strike against free expression in Egypt since the Mubarak government jailed the first blogger for four years in 2007. The sentence is not only severe, but it was imposed by a military tribunal after an unfair trial.

The blogger's conviction raises doubts about the military's commitment to reform after Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile] stepped down. Last month, the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [NYT backgrounder] unveiled an interim constitution that allows the council to retain control over the country until an elected government is installed. The document vests the military council with presidential powers [Al-Ahram report], including the abilities to introduce legislation, veto existing laws and act as Egypt's representative to the international community. Last November, Egypt released blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil [advocacy website] after four years of imprisonment on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife on his blog [website, in Arabic]. Nabil, a former law student, was convicted in 2007 [JURIST report] for posting statements critical of Islamic authorities and former president Mubarak, calling him a dictator.

Gbagbo was captured on Monday [JURIST report] after six months of turmoil. Gbagbo had refused to surrender the presidency after he was defeated in the presidential elections last November. Last week, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report urged Ouattara to conduct an investigation [JURIST report] into alleged atrocities carried out by his forces in its attempts to secure the presidency. According to the report, the pro-Ouattara forces, known as the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire, killed more than 100 civilians, raped at least 20 supporters of Gbagbo and burned at least 10 villages in March. Earlier this month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] reported the deaths of at least 800 civilians [JURIST report] in the Ivory Coast town of Duekoue as a result of intercommunal violence. Earlier, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] urged all parties in the Ivory Coast to show restraint and called for an independent investigation into post-election violence [JURIST reports]. In January, UN officials expressed "grave concerns" [JURIST report] regarding the post-election violence, cautioning that genocide could be imminent.

Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippines for 20 years. It is estimated that he and his family stole approximately $10 million of government funds. Recouping the stolen money has been a challenge since much of it is believed to be secured in offshore bank accounts. Imelda Marcos and her family were allowed to return to the Philippines after Ferdinand Marco's death in exile. Imelda Marcos was recently elected to Congress [UPI report] to represent Ilocos Norte, the birthplace of her husband.

Last month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [Al Jazeera profile] ordered the formation of a committee [JURIST report] that will discuss repealing the country's 48-year-old state of emergency law that bans protests and allows police to detain civilians without charges. Al-Assad announced earlier in March that the government would consider ending the state of emergency [JURIST report]. Also last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] urged the Syrian government [JURIST report] to ensure protesters' rights to peaceful expression and to work toward addressing their concerns instead of responding with violence. As demonstrations continued throughout the country in March, the government freed 260 political detainees [AFP report] in an overture to the protesters. Last month, Syria appeared to be lifting the four-year-old ban [JURIST report] on social media sites Facebook [website; JURIST news archive] and YouTube [website; JURIST news archive] as a concession to avoid popular upheaval [DP report].