The ruling is another test for legal boundary lines between prohibited hate speech and constitutionally guaranteed free speech in Africa's largest democracy. JURIST guest columnist Gregory Gordon recently called for a more accurate understanding [JURIST op-ed] of the nascent and rapidly evolving area of international speech crime law. In June, Dutch politician Geert Wilders [personal website; JURIST news archive] was acquitted of all charges [judgment text, in Dutch], the court finding his anti-Islam statements were not hate speech or discriminatory [JURIST report]. Wilders has made several "anti-Islam" comments as a political official, including: several comments similar to "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam"; comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf and calling for it to be banned; proposing a tax on wearing a hijab, or burqa; proposing a halt to Muslim immigration to the Netherlands. In December, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] issued summonses [JURIST report] for six Kenyan citizens [press release] believed to be responsible for post-election violence in 2007 [JURIST news archive] that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths in that country. Among those summoned was radio broadcaster Joshua Arap Sang [BBC profile] who is accused of committing crimes against humanity (persecution on political grounds) in part through broadcasting messages urging violence against certain Kenyan ethnic groups following the controversial 2007 presidential election.

Last month, Pillay called on the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official websites] to investigate the violent suppression of anti-government protests [JURIST report]. Pillay's remarks came after the Fact-finding Mission in Syria published its 22-page report concluding that Syrian government forces cracking down on the opposition may be committing crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. The Fact-finding Mission was established [JURIST report] by the HRC in April but was not permitted to enter the country. Also last month, the Los Angeles Times reported that an unknown Western country is funding an investigation [JURIST report] into Syria's recent human rights abuses. In July, two UN rights officials expressed concern over reports of violence [JURIST report] used by Syrian authorities against the country's own people.

1:30 PM ET ~ The UNHRC has named a three-person panel of international experts to investigate allegations of human rights violations including possible crimes against humanity in Syria.

Last month, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] testified against [JURIST report] Tymoshenko, his former prime minister. That same month, the Kiev Appeals Court refused Tymoshenko's appeal of her detention for contempt charges [JURIST reports]. Also in August, Kireyev rejected a request [JURIST report] from Tymoshenko to release her from prison. In July, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) [official website, in Ukrainian] announced that they are launching a criminal investigation [JURIST report] into United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU), an energy company at one time headed by Tymoshenko. In June, Tymoshenko filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the European Court of Human Rights alleging violations of the European Convention of Human Rights [text, PDF]. The complaint argued that the charges against Tymoshenko are politically engineered by Yanukovych. Last May, prosecutors reopened a separate criminal investigation [JURIST report] into allegations that Tymoshenko attempted to bribe Supreme Court judges. Tymoshenko's government was dissolved in March 2010 after she narrowly lost the presidential election to Yanukovych. Tymoshenko had alleged that widespread voter fraud allowed Yanukovych to win the election.

Afghanistan has received much criticism for its human rights record. Corruption, abuse of power and a focus on short-term security goals in Afghanistan have intensified the issue of poverty [JURIST report], affecting more than two-thirds of the population, according to a March 2010 report [text, DOC] from the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website]. Earlier that same month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] delivered a report [JURIST report] to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] that said Afghanistan's human rights progress has been thwarted by armed conflict, censorship, abuse of power and violence against women. In February 2009, the US State Department (DOS) [official website] released its annual 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [DOS materials], criticizing Afghanistan [JURIST report] for its continued use of child labor. In November 2008, Pillay urged [press release] Afghan President Hamid Karzai to put a stop to executions [JURIST report] and join nations calling for a death penalty moratorium after five prisoners were executed over the course of four days.

In October 2008 the Court of Cassation awarded the damages [Corriere della Sera report, in Italian] in a case against Max Josef Milde, a German sergeant present at the Civitella attack, who was sentenced in absentia to life in prison. Under Italian law, crime victims may seek civil damages as part of a criminal proceeding. Germany had argued that the 1961 Bonn Treaty, where Germany agreed to pay 40 million marks to Italy for war crimes committed, closed all further financial compensation claims [JURIST report], but the Italian court held the treaty only applied to treatment of the Jews. International agreements that govern situations in which a nation may claim immunity include the European Convention on State Immunity [text], ratified by members of the Council of Europe in 1972, and the UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property [text, PDF], adopted in 2004. JURIST Guest Columnist Laurie Blank [academic profile] discusses the implications of sovereign immunity [JURIST op-ed] in cases like Germany v. Italy that involve war crimes and other atrocities.