WTO members should redefine how food security is treated in multilateral trade agreements so that policies to achieve food security and the realization of the human right to adequate food are no longer treated as a derivations from but as recognized principal objectives of agricultural trade policy. Food security is presently treated under the WTO as the grounds for exceptions for a very limited range of trade liberalization commitments...Members should preserve and create a range of flexibilities in the Doha Round Negotiations in order to ensure that the future international trade regime operates in lock step with multilateral and national efforts to address food insecurity.

Last month, De Schutter voiced his support for a reformation of the Mexican constitution [JURIST report] which will recognize the right to food. In 2010, De Schutter urged governments to institute legal reform to help fight hunger [JURIST report] and promote the right to food. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] in 2007 called for an increased effort to uphold the "fundamental human right" to food [JURIST report] for people around the world who suffer from chronic hunger. The right to adequate food is recognized in Articles 24(2)(c) and 27(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 12(2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and Articles 25(f) and 28(1) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [texts]. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights [text], adopted by the UN in 1948, states that "[e]veryone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food."

The trial of the other three surviving leaders is set to begin [JURIST report] on Monday, November 21. The prosecution will have two days for opening statements followed by half a day of opening statements for the defense. The first segment of the trial is expected to conclude by December 16 for Christmas recess and will resume after the holiday break on January 9. In September, the ECCC ordered the trials be split into a series of smaller trials [JURIST report]. The ECCC said that the separation of trials will allow the tribunal to deliberate more quickly [press release] in the case [materials] against the elderly defendants. The first trial will focus on the beginning two phases of population movement and allegations of crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution not on religious grounds and forced disappearances associated with the first phases of population movement. Subsequent trials will focus on the third phase of population movement, genocide, persecution based on religious grounds and violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 [ICRC backgrounder].

By the end of the 26-year civil war in 2009, Fonseka had successfully led the Sri Lankan army to victory over the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, and both he and Mahinda Rajapaksa became popular in the country's political scene. However, shortly after his political defeat in the January 2010 presidential election, Fonseka was arrested and found guilty in August 2010 for engaging in politics while still on active duty [JURIST report]. Even before his hearings first began [JURIST report] in July 2010, Fonseka has maintained throughout the ordeal that his treatment is against the rule of law, and that vast democratic improvements [JURIST report] are a necessity within the Sri Lankan government.

In 2009 the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction against release of the names, but in 2010 it decided [JURIST reports] release of the names was not a violation of the First Amendment. Referendum 71 [summary] was passed in 2009 by Washington voters, affirming approval of Senate Bill 5688 [text], to give domestic partnerships the same legal rights as married couples. It was put on the ballot by Protect Marriage Washington in a failed attempt to vote down Senate Bill 5688. Many opposing groups filed for release [AG website] of the names on the petitions, causing Protect Marriage Washington to file the ensuing lawsuits to protect signers' identities.

On Tuesday, Arroyo and her husband attempted to leave the country after posting bond, but the government refused to allow them transit until they received an official copy of the court order. A spokesperson for the government stated it would appeal the ruling. Oral arguments were set for November 22. Arroyo was president of the Philippines from 2001-2010. She left office after the Philippine Department of Justice (PDOJ) [official website] brought allegations of corruption. Arroyo was elected to the House of Representatives last year after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled her eligible to run [JURIST report], despite protests that she had an unfair advantage. In July 2010, current President Benigno Aquino [BBC profile] signed an executive order [JURIST report] to set up a "truth commission" to investigate allegations that the outgoing administration engaged in corruption and rights violations.

Russia has long struggled with the acceptance of homosexuality. In 2008, several Russian gay rights activists were arrested [JURIST report] by police in Moscow for holding events commemorating the 1993 law that put an end to government prosecution for homosexual activity in Russia. It was the third consecutive year Moscow Pride held events around the city to elude officials attempting to enforce a local ban on gay pride parades [JURIST report] that was put in place due to fears of violence. The UN has attempted to pass resolutions aimed at ending sexuality discrimination worldwide, but has faced difficulty passing resolutions on gay rights issues, due to no international consensus on the morality of homosexuality. In June, UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] passed the "Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity" resolution [text, PDF], which is the first resolution to call for an end to sexuality discrimination worldwide [JURIST report] and to recognize it as a "priority" for the UN. Last year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] called for countries around the world to abolish laws discriminating against gay and lesbian individuals [JURIST report]. Two years ago, the UN passed a gay rights declaration [text, PDF], which the US signed and sponsored [JURIST report]. The declaration, a nonbinding measure that does not have the full force of a resolution, called on states to end criminalization and persecution of homosexuals. This declaration was recalled by the new resolution. Although 85 countries signed the declaration [US Ambassador statement], 57 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, signed an opposing statement. The year before, the UN General Assembly [official website] was divided over the issue of decriminalizing homosexuality [JURIST report] as 66 nations signed a statement calling for decriminalization, and nearly 60 nations signed an opposing statement.

The Armed Services Committee's decision, which still must survive a vote in the full Senate comes on the heels of an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF] claiming that the US is diminishing its "core values" [JURIST report] with regard to various counterterrorism measures put in place during the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks [JURIST backgrounder]. To support this contention, the report cites to US policies regarding indefinite military detention for terrorism suspects, the use of torture on terrorism suspects and enemy combatants, racial and religious profiling, and domestic surveillance and wiretapping. The report posits that these policies run deeper than what is known by the American people, civil liberties continue to be violated in secret and that future violations are imminent. The ACLU acknowledged that the government has sought to cease certain questionable practices, citing President Barack Obama's directive to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison [JURIST news report], but stated that other questionable practices remain "core elements of [US] national security strategy today."