No fly lists and other blacklists have been an issue of international concern in the wake of growing worry over terrorism. In July 2010 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed suit on behalf of 10 US citizens and legal residents against the US government challenging their inclusion on the US no fly list [JURIST report]. Just like Abdelrazik, the ACLU argues that their inclusion on the US no fly list, without ever being informed as to why they were included, has left these individuals stranded abroad. In 2006, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration [official website] agreed to pay the ACLU $200,000 in attorney's fees to settle a case brought by the civil rights organization in 2003 challenging the government's no-fly list [JURIST report] and requesting the disclosure of records. The documents noted that construction of the list was based on "two primary principles," but that there were "no hard and fast" rules governing decisions of who was put on the list. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled in 2008 that those placed on the government's "no-fly list" can challenge their inclusion on the list [JURIST report] in federal district courts. The court held that the Terrorist Screening Center, which actually maintains the list, is a subsection of the FBI and is therefore subject to review by the district courts. Also in 2008, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) [official website] issued a report [text, PDF] saying that the FBI had submitted inaccurate information to the list [JURIST report], that the information was rarely reviewed before its submission and even if discrepancies become apparent they were often left unchanged.

The Commission's report documents widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by Syrian authorities by acts such as: killing of children by beating or shooting during demonstrations, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment. It records at least 256 deaths of children—I understand since increased to 307 children—and instances of schools being used as detention facilities, demonstrating the State's disregard for children's right to education and personal safety. The Commission collected evidence of sexual violence against civilians, especially sexual torture of male detainees and children and sexual assaults upon women in places of detention.

The Syrian government has faced numerous allegations of human rights violations since March when the first anti-government protests started. On Wednesday the Syrian National Council [official website], a civilian opposition group, agreed to coordinate resistance efforts with the Free Syrian Army, the main military opposition group composed of Syrian military defectors. On Monday the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria reported that the Syrian Arab Republic has committed numerous human rights violations [JURIST report] including torture, sexual violence, use of excessive force and violations of the right to peaceful assembly. Last week, the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee approved [JURIST report] a draft resolution [text, PDF] condemning the Syria's human rights violations calling for an immediate end to them. Pillay previously called for an ICC probe [JURIST report] into the situation in Syria in August.

Lawsuits against JPMorgan continue to be brought to court. Last month, two former Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive] investors filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against JP Morgan seeking recovery of $19 billion for allegedly aiding Madoff in orchestrating his Ponzi scheme. Another case from earlier this year was dismissed [opinion] against HSBC Holdings [corporate website] because the trustee had "no personal stake in the outcome of the controversy." Picard plans to appeal this decision. The first payouts to Madoff's victims were approved [JURIST report] by the court in July. Picard filed almost 60 lawsuits [JURIST report] for victims of Madoff's fraud in December 2010 after being appointed trustee [order] in 2008. Madoff pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to 11 counts of securities fraud stemming from his Ponzi scheme in March 2009, and was sentenced [JURIST report] in June 2009 to 150 years in prison.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that security forces shall apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms. They may use lethal force only when it is strictly necessary to protect life. The Basic Principles state that, "Governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offence under their law."

The DRC has faced significant international pressure to ensure fair elections and prevent election violence. On Thursday, top UN officials with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) [official website] decried [JURIST report] post-election violence in the DRC and called for restraint. MONUSCO urged all parties to remain calm and await the decision of the seven-member Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) on the preliminary results of the elections. Last month, International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] said his office would prosecute individuals involved election violence [JURIST report] in the DRC. The chief prosecutor's warning came just days after the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) [official website] on urged the DRC government to take action to abolish election-related violence [JURIST report] before the presidential election on November 28.

The evidence shows that directly and through Mr. Harun, Mr. Hussein played a central role in coordinating the crimes, including in recruiting, mobilizing, funding, arming, training and the deployment of the Militia/Janjaweed as part of the Government of the Sudan forces, with the knowledge that these forces would commit the crimes.

This will be the fourth case the ICC will be hearing in relation to crimes committed in Darfur. The ICC has already issued warrants for Ahmad Muhammad Harun [arrest warrant, PDF], former Sudanese interior minister and current humanitarian affairs minister, President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir [case materials, PDF], and Ali Kushayb [arrest warrant, PDF], former senior Janjaweed commander. Sudan continues to be uncooperative [JURIST report] in executing these warrants which prompted Ocampo to file for a non-cooperation ruling under article 87 of the Rome Statute [text] in April, 2010. Sudan has repeatedly rejected the ICC's jurisdiction [JURIST report] over the Darfur situation.

Last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) urged [brief, PDF] the US Supreme Court [official websites] not to hear Arizona's appeal of a decision [opinion, PDF] enjoining four provisions of SB 1070. The Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction in April before the law ever took effect, and Arizona is now asking the high court [JURIST reports] to address whether the state law is preempted by federal immigration legislation. In a preview of how it might rule should it decide to hear the case, the Supreme Court in May ruled [JURIST report] in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting [opinion, PDF] that Arizona's controversial employment related immigration law [materials] is not preempted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) [text]. The DOJ sued [JURIST report] the state of Arizona and Brewer over SB 1070 last year, arguing that both the Constitution and federal law "do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country."

[T]he amendment in the Cr.P.C. and RPC to create a protective cover for the armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir is virtually incorporation of the provisions of AFSPA and create permanent protection to the Armed Forces for their anti-human actions and Bar Association should resist such a move and educate the public at large and political parties should mobilize public opinion against this state adventure.

Kashmir has consistently faced criticism of its laws over the course of the year, particularly in light of the uneasy circumstances throughout the region. In October, Abdullah's government amended [JURIST report] its highly-criticized Public Safety Act (PSA) [text], which formerly treated those persons 16 years and older as adults, allowing them to be arrested. Jammu and Kashmir has been plagued with unrest [JURIST report] since it became part of India in the middle of the twentieth century. Although the state is officially part of India, the territory has been disputed by Pakistan and India since 1947. This friction within the region has led to several conflicts, including the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947-1948 and 1965. There was also a large show of military force by both nations in the region in 2002 which caused international alarm in light of both nations possessing nuclear weapons. India has long-attempted to parry the unrest and a burgeoning separatist movement in the region by detaining human rights political activists.

The lawsuit challenging the application of the law to bone marrow donation was brought by a non-profit organization called MoreMarrowDonors.org [advocacy website], as well as plaintiffs who claimed they were unable to find bone marrow donors because it is more difficult for ethnic minorities and people of mixed race to find genetic donors for bone marrow. MoreMarrowDonors.org plans to begin a pilot program that would offer $3,000 in compensation [AP report] in the form of scholarships, housing allowances or gifts to charity, to bone marrow donors who undergo the apheresis procedure, in the hopes they will attract more minority donors, thereby increasing the number of potential genetic matches. According to the plaintiffs, nearly 3,000 Americans die each year [San Francisco Chronicle report] while attempting to find a genetically appropriate bone marrow donor. Use of the traditional "aspiration" method of bone marrow extraction, contributed to the lack of appropriate donors due to the invasive, painful method of the procedure which required extraction of the marrow from the donors' bones using a long needle. Under the court's ruling, compensation for aspiration bone marrow transplants remains illegal because it was specifically prohibited by Congress under the statute. Aspiration bone marrow transplants currently account for approximately 30-percent of bone marrow transplants, while the remainder of bone marrow transplants are performed using the less invasive apheresis method.

The provision was approved [JURIST report] earlier this month by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) [official website] in a unanimous vote after disagreements regarding the provision had blocked their passage for months [CNN report]. The passage by the SASC came shortly after an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] report [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 certain US 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 archive], but stated that other questionable practices remain "core elements of [US] national security strategy today."

shares the concerns expressed by the observer missions, in particular with regard to the reported irregularities and the need to assess their impact on the electoral process. He also deplores the violence that marred the elections in certain areas throughout the country and calls on all political leaders to urge their partisans to refrain from any violence or other acts that may disrupt the electoral process.

The DRC has faced significant international pressure to ensure fair elections and prevent election violence. Last month, International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] said his office would prosecute individuals involved election violence [JURIST report] in the DRC. The chief prosecutor's warning came just days after the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) [official website] on urged the DRC government to take action to abolish election-related violence [JURIST report] before the presidential election on November 28. UNJHRO reported 188 cases of human rights violations related to the electoral process during the period between November 2010 and September 2011. a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/New-Congolese-Electoral-Body-to-Organize-Next-Years-Election--99733769.html">Established in 2010 to organize the presidential elections [VOA report], CENI replaced the previous election commission that was widely discredited when six officials were arrested for electoral fraud [JURIST report].