I have a conscience; to have served my country in these years with all of my strength, and I am rewarded with a persistence on the part of some magistrates in Milan that have no historical equal. They want to tear down my image as a man, a businessman, and a politician. What saddens me most is to see the extent to which justice can be bent to political and ideological prejudices.

Berlusconi, who resigned as Italian prime minister in November 2011, has been a defendant in nearly fifty cases. Most recently, he is facing charges of publicly releasing private wiretaps, embezzlement, and paying for sex with an underage prostitute [JURIST reports]. The former Italian leader was hailed to a Milan court in April 2011 to combat the same tax fraud charges at issue now, but then, as acting prime minister, Berlosconi dismissed the charges as a "waste of time" and left the trial [AP report]. In January 2011, the Italian Constitutional Court [official website, in Italian] held hearings and subsequently struck down [JURIST reports] portions of an immunity law [materials, in Italian] supported by Berlusconi that would have granted the premier temporary amnesty from any charges while in office.

The US also has prison overcrowding concerns, particularly in California. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in Brown v. Plata [Cornell LII backgrounder] to uphold an order requiring California to release up to 46,000 prisoners [JURIST report] to remedy the state's overcrowded prisons [JURIST news archive]. California submitted a plan [JURIST report] to comply with the court's order, but the state's Legislative Analyst's Office has concluded that California is unlikely to meet [JURIST report] the Supreme Court's two-year deadline. According to the International Center for Prison Studies [official website], the US has the most prisoners per capita [text, PDF] in the world.

The life of each human being begins at conception;...The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.

Many states have recently been considering laws either limiting or banning abortions. Earlier this week, the Virginia House of Delegates [official website] passed a similar bill that would also define life as beginning at conception [JURIST report]. Earlier this month, the Virginia Senate approved legislation requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before an abortion [JURIST report]. Last November, Mississippi voters rejected [JURIST report] a ballot measure [Initiative 26 materials] that would have amended the state constitution to define the word "person" or "persons" to include "every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof." The initiative, which would have given fetuses rights from the moment of conception, was defeated by more than 55 percent of the state's voters. In October 2011, an Oklahoma state court judge issued a temporary injunction [JURIST report] against a new Oklahoma law that restricts how doctors may use abortion-inducing drugs to treat patients.

Mubarak's trial started [JURIST report] in August 2011 and has been making slow progress. The trial resumed in December in the Egyptian court after a two-month adjournment [JURIST reports] allowing the court time to rule on a motion made by lawyers representing the victims' families to have the three-judge panel in the case removed. The victims' families argued that they were not given enough time to question the Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi [GlobalSecurity profile], head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) [NYT backgrounder], who testified against Mubarak [JURIST report] in a closed session in September 2011, but left early and refused to be cross-examined by counsel of the victims. In December 2011 the court also rejected the prosecution's motion [JURIST report] for a new judge and fined the prosecution for making such request. The motion was based on the allegation that Judge Refaat was showing bias in favor of Mubarak [AFP report].

Issues surrounding same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] continue to occupy discussions among lawmakers and judges. On Tuesday the New Jersey Senate voted to approve a bill [JURIST report] that, if passed, would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed legislation [JURIST report] Monday legalizing same-sex marriage, making Washington the eighth jurisdiction in the US to offer marriage to same-sex couples. Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional [JURIST report]. In January, an Iowa District Court ordered that the Iowa Department of Public Health include both names [JURIST report] of married same-sex parents on children's birth certificates.

Lack of access has prevented the United Nations, the international community and humanitarian workers from knowing the full toll, yet credible reports indicate at least more than 5,400 people were killed as of last year. We have not been able to have credible information [on] how many more people have been killed between 1 January and today. Every day those numbers rise. We see neighborhoods shelled by tanks. Hospitals used as torture centers. Children as young as ten years old jailed and abused. We see almost certain crimes against humanity. The UN places the death toll around 5,000 people since the uprising started.

The growing unrest in Syria has drawn abundant international attention recently. Earlier this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile, JURIST news archive], in a speech to the UN General Assembly [JURIST report], called for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Pillay urged an investigation of Syrian government and military officials for possible crimes against humanity. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) [official website] claimed in early February that the past 11 months of violence in Syria have led to the deaths of hundreds of children [JURIST report]. In January, Ban demanded [JURIST reports] that al-Assad end violence against Syrian civilians.

Corona's impeachment trial began [JURIST report] in January before the Philippine Senate [official website]. If found guilty, Corona will likely be forced out of office. Aquino has targeted former president Arroyo in his anti-corruption efforts. Arroyo was recently arrested [JURIST report] in the hospital before she was able to leave the country to seek medical treatment. Corona presided over the court that voted to allow Arroyo to travel [JURIST report] to receive medical care, temporarily restraining the restrictions on Arroyo's travel in connection with several pending charges against her. 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 against her. Arroyo was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled her eligible to run [JURIST report], despite protests that she had an unfair advantage. In July 2010, Aquino 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.

In December of last year, a three-judge panel for the ICTY accepted a request brought by prosecutors to reduce the number of crimes [JURIST reports] they intend to prove against Mladic from 196 to 106. The request came days after the ICTY ordered a medical examination [JURIST report] of Mladic's physical condition in response to his absence from court the week prior due to illness. In October, the ICTY prosecutor refused to seek further appeal [JURIST report] of the tribunal's refusal to split Mladic's trial into separate actions: one for his conduct during the Srebrenica massacre [JURIST news archive], where approximately 8,000 people were killed, and one for all of his other charges during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archive]. Mladic made his first appearance [JURIST report] at the ICTY in June, contesting the charges while simultaneously asking for more time to review them, which he was granted. Before that, he had lost his final appeal in Serbia to avoid extradition, and was transported to The Hague [JURIST reports]. Serbian authorities captured Mladic [JURIST report] in May, ending a 16-year manhunt for the former general colonel and commander of the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Many detainees told Amnesty International that they had been beaten, including with sticks, whips and rifle butts. Several said they suffered other forms of torture, including electric shocks, burns, and threats of rape or death. Forensic examinations of some of those who died in detention provide further evidence that such methods are still being used.

Allegations of war crimes and human rights violations have been widespread during the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder]. In October of last year, AI alleged that Libyan forces arrested nearly 2,500 people who face ongoing torture and detainment [JURIST report] without formal charges. In September, the NTC vowed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses after AI published a report [JURIST report] alleging that both sides of the Libya conflict are responsible for human rights abuses and warning the NTC to act quickly to investigate these allegations. That same month, the NTC assured world leaders that Libya will be a society of tolerance and respect [JURIST report] for the rule of law. During a meeting [BBC report] in Paris chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil [BBC profiles] vowed to administer elections and draft a new constitution for Libya within 18 months.