Tension continues between Israel and Palestine. Last month the Office of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official websites] said that the ICC lacks jurisdiction [JURIST report] to investigate allegations of crimes committed in Palestine during the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict [JURIST news archive]. In February Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged Israel to change [JURIST report] its policies of forbidding Palestinians from traveling through and living in Gaza and the West Bank. Its report demonstrated that due to the policies, families are kept separate since some are trapped inside Israel while their family members are forbidden from entering. In January of last year, UN officials alleged [JURIST report] that Israeli authorities engaged in illegal activities including the killing of four Palestinians. In 2010, Israeli Ambassador to the UN called for an end [JURIST report] to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] investigation into Israeli actions during the 2008-2009 Gaza campaign. Early in 2010, the UN extended [JURIST report] the time limit for Israelis and Palestinians to finish their investigation into alleged human rights violation committed during the Gaza conflict after it initially adopted a resolution [JURIST report] giving them three months. In 2009, the UN found evidence [JURIST report] that both parties committed war crimes.

While diplomats argued over details of [the Special Envoy's] peace plan, Syrian tanks and helicopters attacked one town in Idlib after another. Everywhere we went, we saw burnt and destroyed houses, shops, and cars, and heard from people whose relatives were killed. It was as if the Syrian government forces used every minute before the ceasefire to cause harm.

HRW has consistently criticized Syrian security forces for their violent actions against civilians and opposition fighters. Last month, HRW reported [text] that these forces executed more than 100 civilians and fighters during recent attacks, and subsequently asserted [press release] that the government has gone too far without concerns of accountability for their actions. HRW has previously documented abuses committed by opposition fighters [JURIST report], but reasons that such abuses do not justify the government's willful violations of international human rights law. The advocacy group has repeatedly called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official websites], while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] has also condemned the attacks [JURIST report]. In March, HRW reported that the Syrian government used civilians as human shields [JURIST report] for the army against opposition forces. Also in March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] voted for [JURIST report] a non-binding resolution condemning Syria for continued bloodshed and human rights violations. This condemnation came just after a demand for a cease-fire [JURIST report] by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] in late February. Also in February, the UN-appointed International Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria accused the government of violating international human rights law [JURIST report] after finding that Syrian forces were engaging in torture and killings under orders from high level government officials. The increasing unrest in Syria has garnered widespread international attention and has sparked controversy regarding America's role in the conflict [JURIST op-ed].

The debate between abstinence-only sex education and comprehensive sex education remains a controversial topic in the US. Thirty states received federal funding [SIECUS report] for abstinence-only sex education programs in 2010, including 14 of the 16 southern states. Critics of comprehensive sex education programs argue that it promotes sexual activity in teens [PBS Religion & Ethics report] and leads to physical and emotional distress. Critics of abstinence-only education argue that it just does not work and point out that teen pregnancy rates are the highest in states with abstinence-only education [ThinkProgress report]. Other studies have shown that even accounting for socioeconomic status, teen education level, teen ethnicity and availability of Medicaid, increased emphasis on abstinence-only education is positively correlated [study] with teenage pregnancy and birth rates. US President Barack Obama [official website] initially ended [People's World report] former president George W. Bush's abstinence-only sex education policy, but in May abstinence-only education was re-added [ThinkProgress report] to the Department of Health and Human Services' [official website] evidence-based pregnancy prevention program list [text].

Chen's release has been called for by several prominent diplomats, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official websites], who last week expressed concern [statement] for the activist's family members who were detained by Chinese authorities. In 2010, Chen was placed under house arrest after he was released from serving four years in prison [JURIST report] for damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic." Following his house arrest, Chinese authorities increased surveillance of his home and family, bringing into question the authenticity of his release [press release]. Chen's family members have claimed that the activist suffers from health problems caused by mistreatment he received while in prison, including beatings and repeated food poisonings [WP report]. Chen claims that the charges were retribution for his documentation of forced sterilizations and abortions performed by Chinese officials to enforce China's one-child policy, and has been consistently detained [HRW backgrounder] by Chinese authorities since 2005.

EULEX has been investigating war crimes [JURIST report] since December 2008. An influential figure in the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) [official website, in Albanian], Limaj was excluded from a cabinet position following international pressure not to include corrupt officials but was elected into the Kosovo parliament. Limaj is an ex-member of the KLA and is viewed as a liberator by many ethnic Albanians. In 2005, Limaj was acquitted of similar charges by a war crimes tribunal in The Hague because of insufficient evidence. An EU judge in September placed Limaj under house arrest [JURIST report] while awaiting trial. In September, EULEX charged 10 former members of the KLA [JURIST report], including Limaj, with war crimes for their actions during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo.

In April, Mladic pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to all charges presented by the ICTY. Mladic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, political persecution, forcible transfer and deportations, cruel treatment and the taking of peacekeepers as hostages. In February, Mladic accused the tribunal of bias and sought to delay his trial [JURIST reports] once again. A three-judge panel for the ICTY accepted a request brought by prosecutors to reduce the number of crimes [JURIST report] they intend to prove against Mladic from 196 to 106 in December, in an effort to accelerate the proceedings. 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 [BBC backgrounder], where approximately 8,000 people were killed, and one for all of his other charges during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archive]. Serbian authorities arrested Mladic after a 16-year search [JURIST report] in May of last year.

Georgia joins several other states that restrict late-term abortions based on the notion of fetal pain, including Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arizona [JURIST reports]. Georgia law already prohibited most abortions after the third trimester. Several state legislatures have acted recently to implement waiting periods before abortions or to require ultrasound procedures.