In many ways the death penalty today resembles the system struck down in 1972, when the Court could find no justification for the small number of death sentences and executions chosen arbitrarily from so many eligible cases. The new system approved in 1976 was supposed to carefully guide prosecutors, juries, and judges in administering a more rational system. Today, the promise of a fair, sensible, and effective system of capital punishment has proven false. As distrust of the system has grown, the death penalty is again infrequently applied, and a host of arbitrary factors still strongly influences who lives and who dies.

The death penalty remains a controversial issue across the US. Earlier this week North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue [official website] vetoed legislation [JURIST report] that would have essentially repealed the state's Racial Justice Act [text, PDF]. The 2009 law, which allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences based on statistical evidence of racism, was designed to address concerns that racial bias plays a role in sentencing. Last month the Connecticut Supreme Court [official website] upheld [JURIST report] the constitutionality of the state's death penalty law. Also in November the Ohio Supreme Court [official website] announced that it was forming a committee to ensure that the death penalty is not administered arbitrarily [JURIST report]. In 2009, New Mexico repealed its death penalty [JURIST report] on similar grounds to Illinois, asserting that the state could not possibly administer the death penalty impartially.

A Malaysian court ruled [JURIST report] in May that prosecutors had enough evidence to continue to pursue a sodomy case against Anwar. The opposition leader was arrested in July 2008 after he filed a lawsuit against his accuser [JURIST reports] in late June. Last December, Anwar filed a complaint [JURIST report] in a Malaysian court over a WikiLeaks [website] cable published by Australian newspapers stating he had engaged in sodomy. Last year, the Federal Court of Malaysia [official website], the country's highest court, rejected Anwar's 2006 defamation suit [JURIST report] against against former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad [BBC profile] for allegedly suggesting at a human rights conference that Anwar was unfit for office because of his supposed homosexuality. Anwar was Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister under former Mahathir Mohamad until he was fired in 1998 following earlier sodomy charges of which he was initially convicted but later acquitted. He reentered Malaysian politics following the expiration of a 10-year ban [JURIST report] against him for unrelated corruption charges.

The commander of our regiment, Brigadier General Ramadan Ramadan, usually stayed behind the lines. But this time he stood in front of the whole brigade. He said, "Use heavy shooting. Nobody will ask you to explain." Normally we are supposed to save bullets, but this time he said, "Use as many bullets as you want." And when somebody asked what we were supposed to shoot at, he said, "At anything in front of you." About 40 protesters were killed that day.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] has previously urged [JURIST report] the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC [press release]. She has reported that more than 5,000 people, including 300 children, have been killed in Syria since the start of the protests in March, and that many of the killings, detentions, and acts of torture qualify, in her view [video], as crimes against humanity. Pillay has also called on the Syrian government to allow human rights monitors into the country and to cooperate fully with the investigations. Earlier this month, the UN Human Rights Council [official website] adopted a resolution strongly condemning the recent violence [JURIST report] in Syria. Similarly, in November, the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee approved [JURIST report] a draft resolution [materials] condemning Syria's human rights violations and calling for their immediate end. Pillay also called for an ICC probe [JURIST report] into the situation in Syria in August.

The death penalty remains a controversial issue across the US. Last month Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber issued a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Gary Haugen and called for an end [JURIST report] to the state's death penalty. Earlier that month the Connecticut Supreme Court [official website] upheld [JURIST report] the constitutionality of the state's death penalty law. Also in November the Ohio Supreme Court [official website] announced that it was forming a committee to ensure that the death penalty is not administered arbitrarily [JURIST report]. In March, Illinois abolished capital punishment [JURIST report], concluding that there was no way to rid the capital punishment system of its discriminatory flaws. In 2009, New Mexico repealed its death penalty [JURIST report] on similar grounds to Illinois, asserting that the state could not possibly administer the death penalty impartially.

The blogger's conviction has raised doubts about the military's commitment to reform after Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile] stepped down. In March, 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.

The news marks the end of the contentious debate surrounding passage of the annual defense spending bill. The version of the bill containing the controversial terrorism provision passed in the Senate [JURIST report] early this month. Also this month, the Senate rejected an amendment to the bill [JURIST report] that would have struck a provision authorizing the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to detain individuals suspected of terrorism and instituted a timeline to allow further study and investigation on the issue of counterterrorism by Congress. The terrorism provision was approved [JURIST report] earlier this month by the Senate Armed Services Committee in a unanimous vote after disagreements regarding the provision had blocked their passage for months [CNN report]. The passage by the Committee 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].

In April, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression Frank LaRue [official website] called on Algeria [JURIST report] to "guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression" including decriminalizing defamation. LaRue noted that, despite significant progress since the 1990s, which saw more than 100 journalists killed, a number of challenges remain. LaRue highlighted that the television and radio sectors remain under government control and do not provide unbiased coverage. He also cautioned that the restrictive legal framework continues to impair important rights including peaceful assembly. Earlier that month, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika [official profile, in French] declared an initiative for sweeping constitutional and political reforms [JURIST report] in order to increase the role of democracy in the African nation.

While the verdict brings an end to this particular trial, Chirac still faces other legal woes. In September the prosecutor's office began an inquiry into allegations [JURIST report] against Chirac and his prime minister Dominique de Villepin over the receipt of millions of dollars from African leaders. The accusations against the two former French officials were made by a lawyer who worked as an aide to Chirac and claims to have participated in the passage of over $20 million in cash from African leaders to be used as political donations. All of the alleged donations came from leaders of former French colonies. An investigation has also been launched by the Paris Bar into the actions taken by the accuser as his involvement with the passage of these funds is unethical within the legal profession. Villepin, like Chirac, had also been the subject of another trial, which involved accusations that he participated in a smear campaign against current President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French], but was recently acquitted [JURIST report].