Human trafficking has become an increasingly scrutinized issue in recent years. Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] implored countries to strengthen collaborative efforts to combat human trafficking [JURIST report]. In November 2011, the UNODC and an agency dealing with aid for refugees signed a joint agreement [JURIST report] to work more closely to combat migrant smuggling and 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 on human trafficking [JURIST report], concluding that the US has a "serious problem with human trafficking, both for labor and commercial sexual exploitation."

This settlement demonstrates BP's continued progress in resolving significant issues related to the Deepwater Horizon accident. BP made a commitment to help economic and environmental restoration efforts in the Gulf Coast, and this settlement provides the framework for us to continue delivering on that promise, offering those affected full and fair compensation, without waiting for the outcome of a lengthy trial process.

In February, Barbier postponed the multi-billion dollar trial [JURIST report] over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, hours before the trial was set to begin, in order to give BP more time to reach an agreement with plaintiffs. Earlier in February, Barbier issued an order that BP will be held liable for a portion of the damages owed by Transocean [JURIST report] as a result of the disaster. Transocean is the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was contracted by BP and subsequently caused the oil spill. BP will be required to indemnify Transocean against damages created by the pollution itself that are awarded throughout the litigation pending against it. BP will not be required to pay an punitive damages or civil fines as a result of these suits. The court did not rule as to whether BP or Transocean would be held strictly liable, negligent or grossly negligent for the equipment failure and subsequent oil spill that created the pollution. The ruling is separate from an August ruling by Barbier permitting punitive damages against BP [JURIST report], but that ruling pertained to claims brought against BP directly.

UK officials have struggled with allegations of mistreatment of prisoners in recent years. In January, the chairman of the UK Detainee Inquiry [official website], a panel created to investigate illegal renditions and other allegations of misconduct, announced that his panel will not complete their investigation. UK Prime Minister David Cameron [official website] gave a speech [JURIST report] in September on the situation in Libya [JURIST backgrounder], announcing an investigation into collusion between MI6 [official website], the overseas British Security Service, and the Libyan Security Services regarding the treatment of former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees. Accusations of M16 sending detainees to knowingly be tortured by Libyan security services prompted Cameron to instruct the Detainee Inquiry to examine the issue. The Detainee inquiry was established [JURIST report] in July 2010, to investigate claims that British government agents were complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects held overseas.

These are very worrying reports and I call on all parties to work to avoid an escalation of armed confrontation, bearing in mind the dire human rights and humanitarian consequences for civilians. After so many decades of internal conflict, the Sudanese and South Sudanese know all too well the tragic consequences of large-scale violence and displacement and their long-lasting impact on the enjoyment of human rights. I urge the political leadership on both sides to fulfill their obligations under international human rights and international humanitarian law by exercising restraint and ensuring the protection of civilians.

The Republic of South Sudan was recognized as an independent country [JURIST report] in July 2011, making it the world's 193rd nation. In February 2011, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who campaigned against secession, issued a formal decree [JURIST report] accepting the result of the referendum. However, tensions between the newly independent country and Sudan remain high. The UN has been closely monitoring the violence and providing humanitarian relief [UN News Centre report] to victims of attacks in South Sudan but has called on the government to take control of the situation. In November 2011, Pillay called for an investigation of an aerial bombing of a refugee camp in South Sudan [JURIST report] by an Antonov plane often used by northern Sudan. In June 2011, a UN official denounced continued human rights abuses [JURIST report] against civilians in the region. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs [official website] and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos [official profile] said that the UN knows of more than 70,000 people who have been displaced by the conflict, many of whom are subject to violence and targeting due to their ethnic heritage.

Ingabire has been subject to multiple arrests since returning to Rwanda in January 2010 after being exiled for 16 years. In October of that year Ingabire was arrested [JURIST report] on charges of being involved in the formation of a terrorist organization. Ingabire was implicated, authorities say, during investigations [AP report] into the activities of Joseph Ntawangundi, an aid to Ingabire, who was accused of commanding a Hutu militia group operating in neighboring Congo. In April 2010 Ingabire was arrested [JURIST report] for allegedly denying the Rwandan genocide. Authorities cited Ingabire's call for the prosecution [AFP report] of those who killed Hutus during the genocide, in which over 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slain, as evidence of her denial of the genocide. In May 2010, Rwandan authorities arrested [JURIST report] US lawyer and JURIST Forum [website] contributor Peter Erlinder [professional profile; JURIST news archive] on charges of genocide denial while he was in Rwanda to prepare his defense of Ingabire. Erlinder returned to the US [JURIST report] in June 2010 after spending 21 days in a Rwandan prison.

Qatada was granted political asylum by the UK in 1994. When he was arrested in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989, police seized a sizable sum of money in various currencies for which no explanation was given. Later in 2001, he went into hiding to avoid being arrested and detained under the then-proposed Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. He was arrested again in 2002 and held until March 2005 when he was released pursuant to a House of Lords judgment declaring his detention without trial to be unlawful. In February 2009 the ECHR ordered the UK to pay £2,500 in damages [JURIST report] to Qatada after determining that his imprisonment violated the European Convention on Human Rights [official website]. Despite his previous grant of asylum and fears of torture and persecution, UK Law Lords in February 2009 ruled that Qatada could be returned [JURIST report] to Jordan to face terrorism charges. The February decision overruled an April 2008 Court of Appeal decision blocking his deportation [JURIST report].

the Constitution's text requires us to safeguard the specific enumerated powers that are bestowed on the federal government. The authority granted to Congress under the Elections Clause to "make or alter" state law regulating procedures for federal elections is one such power. The Framers of the Constitution were clear that the states' authority to regulate federal elections extends only so far as Congress declines to intervene. ... Given the paramount authority delegated to Congress by the Elections Clause, we conclude that the NVRA supersedes Proposition 200's conflicting registration requirement for federal elections.

In October 2010 a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit delivered a similar ruling [JURIST report] striking down the registration requirement under the NVRA, but the court agreed to rehear the case en banc. There are now 32 US states [NCSL backgrounder] that have passed legislation requiring voters to present some form of ID at the polls, but the issue remains controversial. Last week the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed a brief [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official site] alleging that the recently passed Texas photo identification law will have a disproportionate impact on the state's Latino voters. In March a Wisconsin judge permanently enjoined [JURIST report] that state's voter ID law. In February the Virginia Senate approved a voter ID law [JURIST report]. Also that month South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson filed suit against the DOJ over its ruling that barred South Carolina [JURIST reports] from enforcing its voter ID law. In November Mississippi voters approved a ballot measure [JURIST report] to implement a voter ID law. In June Missouri Governor Jay Nixon [official website] vetoed [JURIST report] a law requiring persons to present photo ID at voting booth. Last March the Georgia Supreme Court [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a law requiring voters to present one of six government-issued photo IDs in order to vote.

information about the US government's legal basis in domestic, foreign, and international law for the US military strike on the al-Majalah community, information about the US government's decision-making process and factual basis for ordering that strike, and information concerning any investigations or assessments of the strike by or at the behest of the US government.

In February, the ACLU filed a lawsuit under FOIA demanding the US government release information about their targeted killing program of US citizens abroad. The lawsuit relates to the death of the US-born radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] who was killed in a US drone strike [JURIST report] in Yemen in September 2011. Targeted killings have been a controversial topic [JURIST comment] during the current war on terror.

The correct date is the [date of enactment], because of the intent of Congress made known through the implication of the language taken in the legal context of the Sentencing Reform Act. When Congress meant to correct their error, I believe they made it perfectly clear that they meant to correct this error as soon as possible. This has been an error that had been discussed for 25 years and was finally trying to be corrected.