The Obama Administration is making a terrible mistake by prosecuting the most important terrorism trials of our time in a second-tier system of justice. Whatever verdict comes out of the Guantanamo military commissions will be tainted by an unfair process and the politics that wrongly pulled these cases from federal courts, which have safely and successfully handled hundreds of terrorism trials.

The DOD announced in May that it had sworn charges against the five men [JURIST report] for the 9/11 attacks. Last April, US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] announced that Mohammed and four others would be tried by a military commission [JURIST report] after the Obama administration abandoned attempts to have the 9/11 suspects tried in civilian courts. Holder had wanted the accused be tried before a federal civilian court [JURIST report] but referred the cases to the DOD after Congress imposed a series of restrictions [JURIST report] barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the US. In March 2010, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin [official website] called on the Obama administration to hold civilian trials [JURIST report] for Mohammed and other suspected terrorists saying that the military commissions system is fatally flawed and cannot be reformed. Earlier that month, the ACLU released a full-page advertisement in the New York Times urging President Barack Obama [JURIST report] to uphold his pledge to try 9/11 suspects in civilian criminal court.

Strengthen the constitutional protection of equality by ensuring it prohibits all forms of discrimination, direct and indirect; any law, policy, or other part of the constitution that violates this will be struck down by the Constitutional Court. It should recognize the need for temporary special measures to address indirect discrimination against particularly disadvantaged groups, such as the Roma, as permitted by international and European law.

The discrimination [JURIST comment] faced by Roma in European countries is not a recent development. In October the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] called on authorities [JURIST report] to end the hate speech and discrimination [press release] against the Roma migrants in Bulgaria. Last April Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] urged Serbian authorities to halt the forced evictions [JURIST report] of Roma in Belgrade and provide them with adequate housing and compensation. In March 2011 AI released a report [JURIST report] documenting discrimination and human rights violations against Roma migrants in Slovenia and urging the Slovenian government to protect Roma communities. The report revealed that Roma communities are being denied access to housing, water and sanitation. Much of the Roma population is living in overcrowded shacks without access to adequate health care services, schools, shops and employment.

Several southeast Asian nations have been subject to close scrutiny on human rights recently. On Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged the Philippines military to act on human rights abuses [JURIST report] and hold violators accountable. Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] urged the government of Cambodia [JURIST report] to give its full cooperation to the judges that will be appointed to investigate the genocide during Khmer Rouge regime [BBC backgrounder]. Two weeks ago, HRW reported [JURIST report] that Myanmar's government is continuing to commit violence against civilians. Earlier in March, a UN human rights expert called on Myanmar [JURIST report] to ensure that human rights were protected during the run-up to the April elections.

Chevron continues to face legal battles associated with the oil spill last November. Last month, Santos de Oliviera charged Chevron and a number of its executive officers with environmental crimes, as well as charges of damage to public property. Chevron is also currently appealing an $18 billion fine [JURIST report] for pollution in the Amazon jungle. The judgment against Chevron was upheld in January by a three-judge panel of the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Lago Agrio, Ecuador. The $18 billion fine, one of the largest in the history of environmental contamination suits, was originally set at $8.6 billion [JURIST report] but was more than doubled for Chevron's refusal to pay "moral reparations" to the Ecuadorian government, as required by the original ruling. The Amazon Defense Coalition [advocacy website], plaintiffs in the suit, have responded that the first judgment was a reaffirmation of how Chevron's greed and criminal misconduct in dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the river has led to death and disease. Damages were initially awarded in February by the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios which found that Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, polluted large areas of the country's rain forest.

Mali has experienced military turmoil since Taureg rebels began attacking Malian soldiers [Al Jazeera report] in January. On Sunday, Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who led Malian soldiers in last month's military coup [JURIST report], announced he would reinstate the country's 1992 Constitution [text, PDF, in French] and create a transitional government to hold elections. Last week the acting head of the EU delegation in Mali, Bertrand Soret, met with Sanogo and urged a quick return to constitutional order [JURIST report]. Soret indicated that the EU expected the Malian military to find a solution to the current crisis, and that he has asked to have access to government ministers that have been detained by the military. Also last week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) [official website] expressed concern over political and social instability [JURIST report] in Mali, and how ongoing fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels will affect Malians forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Last month the UNHCR reported that more than 80,000 people had fled Mali [press release] to escape the fighting.

In June Evren became the first military leader questioned since constitutional immunity was repealed in 2010. The court accepted the indictment against Evren and Sahinkaya in January, after the prosecution charged the two retired generals [JURIST reports] a week earlier. Turkey has faced numerous coup plots during the past few years and continues to bring charges against military officials and other individuals for crimes against the government. Thirteen Turkish journalists were accused of plotting [JURIST report] to overthrow the government in November. In August the court issued arrest warrants [JURIST report] for seven generals and admirals relating to allegations that they created an anti-government website in 2009. After being detained for questioning in connection with their alleged coup plot, three high ranking military officials were released by the court [JURIST report], but remained under investigation.

Human trafficking has become an increasingly scrutinized issue in recent years, both in the US and abroad. In August 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on human trafficking urged Thailand [JURIST report] to crack down on human trafficking, especially with regard to children subjected to sexual and labor exploitation. In September 2010, the US Department of Justice [official website] brought charges [JURIST report] against six people in the largest US case of human trafficking. In June 2010, the UNODC issued a memorandum [text, PDF] that human trafficking is becoming a major problem in Europe [JURIST report]. Also that month, the US State Department [official website] released its annual report [text, pdf] on human trafficking, concluding [JURIST report] that the US has a "serious problem with human trafficking, both for labor and commercial sexual exploitation."

The conviction was upheld through years of appeals, but a new sentencing hearing was granted [JURIST report] in April 2011 on the basis of improper jury instructions. The US Supreme Court [official website] declined to opine on the decision in October, which forced prosecutors to decide whether they would pursue the death penalty through a new sentencing hearing. The Supreme Court had considered Abu-Jamal's case in several previous rulings. The court remanded the case to the Third Circuit [JURIST report] in January 2010 for further consideration in light of the ruling in Smith v. Spisak [opinion, PDF; JURIST report]. Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing police officer Daniel Faulkner [advocacy website] after Faulkner pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother for a traffic violation. The case has become a focal point for death penalty opponents and Abu-Jamal's supporters [advocacy website] who believe he was the victim of a racially biased justice system.