JURIST - Paper Chase: Tuesday, August 23, 2011

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on human trafficking Joy Ngozi Ezeilo [official profile] on Monday urged the government of Thailand to improve measures to combat human trafficking [press release], as well as protect the rights of migrant workers. The trafficking trade in Thailand is predominantly used for sexual and labor exploitation, with child trafficking especially rampant. Individuals are forced into prostitution, pornography, domestic work and surrogacy, among other abuses. Ezeilo described Thailand as a "source, transit and destination" country, meaning citizens are recruited in Thailand and the country both receives and sends individuals through trafficking channels. The special rapporteur applauded the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008 [text, PDF] and the multidisciplinary teams that are stationed in Thai provinces and tasked with addressing trafficking problems, but said the implementation and enforcement of anti-trafficking measures were weak. Ezeilo called for a proactive stance against human trafficking and urged Thailand to combat trafficking on an international level:

In the context of Thailand, the role of prevention is critical in ensuring that the crime of trafficking does not occur in the first place. The Government must not neglect the development and implementation of comprehensive and systematic prevention measures as it continue to intensify efforts to developing assistance programmes for survivors of trafficking and to prosecute traffickers and stop the impunity of human trafficking. Finally, I urge Thai government to show clear leadership in the ASEAN region and beyond in combating human trafficking, protecting the rights of migrant workers and their vulnerabilities to trafficking in persons.

Ezeilo made numerous recommendations for implementing effective measures to combat trafficking, including a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and trafficking, as well as the creation of shelters for victims.

Thailand is not the sole country facing human trafficking challenges. In June 2010, the US State Department (DOS) [official website] released its annual report [text, PDF] on human trafficking conditions across the globe, finding that the US adequately complies [JURIST report] with international regulations but still has a "'serious problem with human trafficking, both for labor and commercial sexual exploitation." It was the tenth annual report on human trafficking by the DOS, following reports in 2009 [JURIST report], 2008 [materials], 2007 and 2006 [JURIST reports]. That same month, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [official website] released a report [text, PDF] detailing the ongoing problem of human trafficking [JURIST report] in Europe. According to the report, European criminal organizations make a yearly profit of around $3 billion from trafficking humans for sexual exploitation or forced labor. In January 2010, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled that sex trafficking violates conventions [JURIST report] against slavery and forced labor. The US and the EU announced in October 2009 an international criminal treaty [JURIST report] that will greatly increase cooperation between the two governments in fighting the trafficking of humans and the sale of illegal drugs.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] that a music file-sharing site could be held liable for contributory copyright infringement. EMI [corporate website], along with a number of record companies and music publishers, sued MP3tunes [official website], a music site offering "cloud" music services, for copyright infringement. Judge William Pauley, however, ruled in favor of the defendants on several key issues, holding that MP3tunes qualified for safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) [text, PDF] with respect to certain sideloaded music and that MP3tunes complied with DMCA guidelines for responding to certain takedown notices. Michael Robertson, founder of MP3tunes, called the ruling a "99 percent victory" [press release] for his company:

Today a ruling was published in EMI v MP3tunes and it is definitely a victory for cloud music and MP3tunes' business model after a multi-year litigation battle. Consumers can have confidence that they'll be able to store, play, and enjoy music using cloud-based services like MP3tunes. Those in the industry that are building or contemplating personal music service like Amazon, Google, Grooveshark and Dropbox will surely have renewed confidence in offering similar unlicensed services.

The case will proceed to trial [NYT report] to determine damages, which could amount to tens of millions of dollars. Robertson indicated that he is currently exploring appeal options.

The US music industry has been actively litigating alleged copyright infringement in person-to-person online file sharing. In July, a federal judge reduced [order, PDF] a $1.5 million jury verdict against a Minnesota woman who was found to have willfully shared music files to $54,000. Chief Judge Michael Davis of the US District Court for the District Court of Minnesota [official website] called the award "appalling" and inconsistent with due process. Davis emphasized that the defendant was an individual consumer who downloaded music for her own use and not for profit and also said that the damages to the plaintiffs, members of the Recording Industry Association of America, did not support the verdict. The RIAA appealed the damages reduction Tuesday. In May, several major record companies announced that they had reached a $105 million settlement [JURIST report] with music file-sharing website LimeWire [website]. In 2008, the RIAA said that it would discontinue its controversial policy [JURIST report] of suing suspected file-sharers and instead will seek cooperation with major Internet service providers to cut off access to repeat offenders.

[JURIST] The National Election Commission (NEC) [official website] of Liberia distributed defective paper ballots for Liberia's constitutional referendum Tuesday. Liberians were slated to vote today [Front Page Africa report] on four constitutional amendments, including a provision to change the election date to avoid the rainy season, as well as a stipulation to alter the residency requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates. In the midst of the first national referendum to be held in the country in 25 years, voters reportedly found an error on the ballot proposing a change to the retirement age of Supreme Court judges. The error left voters confused when casting their ballots. Deputy Coordinator of the referendum organizing team, Amos Koukou, said instructions for voting with the defective ballots had been placed at voting stations.

Despite the referendum, Liberia has been criticized for its poor human rights record in recent years. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] emphasized [UN News Centre report] in a 2010 progress report [text, PDF] that reconciliation in Liberia [JURIST report] hinges on the development of its national security and its legal institutions. Liberia struggles [JURIST report] with corruption in its criminal justice system, poor detention conditions and sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and forced marriage, according to a UN Mission in Liberia [official website] combined quarterly report [PDF text; press release] released in April 2008. In 2007, the UN independent expert on the promotion and protection of human rights in Liberia urged the country to accelerate its human rights efforts [JURIST report], and in particular called on the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) [official website] to begin operations. The TRC held its first public hearings [JURIST report] after several months delay due to lack of funding. The TRC is investigating possible war crimes that occurred during the civil war that ended in 2003, but does not have the authority to try cases. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] is currently awaiting a verdict from the Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] for crimes against humanity. He has been charged [PDF indictment; summary] by the SCSL with 11 counts of crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of international humanitarian law.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women [official website] Rashida Manjoo [official profile] called Tuesday on the US government to reevaluate its domestic violence policies [press release]. The request comes in response to a report [text, DOC; press release] published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] last week attributing to the US government human rights violations against Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales), who was a victim of her husband's domestic abuse. Lenahan's former husband killed their three daughters, despite a restraining order and Lenahan's repeated efforts to contact law enforcement officers. In an effort to prevent similar domestic hostility, Manjoo urged the US government to reexamine laws currently in place:

Violence against women is the most pervasive human rights violation which continues to challenge every country in the world, and the US is no exception. The US Government should reassess existing mechanisms for protecting victims and punishing offenders, and establish meaningful standards for enforcement of protection orders and impose consequences for a failure to enforce them.

Manjoo also made recommendations for crafting and implementing new legislation, emphasizing that women are affected differently by domestic violence particularly with respect to their social, economic and cultural positions. Furthermore, she said, "structural and institutional discrimination perpetuate and exacerbate women's experiences of abuse."

Domestic violence laws created in response to Lenahan's circumstances have faced challenges. The California Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] in November 2008 that the residency requirements associated with Proposition 83 [DAPO backgrounder] amount to additional punishment for sex offenders [JURIST report]. Proposition 83, or Jessica's Law, prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park where children regularly gather. Californians voted in favor of Proposition 83 in November 2006. The law faced an immediate legal challenge [JURIST report] from unidentified registered sex offenders, and a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order [JURIST report] to prevent the enforcement of the law's residency requirements, pending a ruling on the merits. In February 2007, a federal district judge barred the law [JURIST report] from applying retroactively. By September 2007 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation [official website] had notified [JURIST report] the 2,741 paroled sex offenders in the state that they were required to move under the Proposition 83 requirements. The US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in May 2005 that Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police enforcement of the restraining order in place against her husband and that police officers are immune [JURIST report] from suits based on how they enforce restraining orders.