On Monday the Israeli Supreme Court ruled against [JURIST report] two hunger striking Palestinian prisoners who sought release from their administrative detention. Earlier in May, Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur of the occupied Palestinian territory [official website] called on Israel to comply with international standards [JURIST report] on how to treat prisoners on hunger strike because Israeli prison authorities have taken punitive measures against those detainees who have on hunger strike since April.

The police are supposed to protect and serve our communities, not divide them. At its core, this is an abuse of power case involving a sheriff and sheriff’s office that disregarded the Constitution, ignored sound police practices, compromised public safety, and did not hesitate to retaliate against perceived critics. Constitutional policing and effective policing go hand-in-hand. Our complaint alleges that the defendants’ actions were neither constitutional nor effective.

The DOJ conducted a comprehensive and independent investigation initiated in June 2008 under Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 [text, PDF] and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [DOJ materials]. In December the DOJ issued a 22-page letter of findings [text, PDF], which found reasonable cause that sheriff's office and Arpaio were engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct and violations of federal law. The DOJ attempted to reach a settlement, but negotiations were unsuccessful, and the lawsuit followed. Arpaio, who took office in 1993, has called himself "America's Toughest Sheriff." In 2008 a federal judge ordered him to take steps to remedy overcrowded and unhygienic conditions [JURIST report] in Maricopa County prisons.

Freedom of expression and of the media is guaranteed in both international and regional human rights instruments such as Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, international standards which Kosovo has pledged to respect.

Journalists' rights are a persistent issue across the globe. Last month Idrak Abbasov, an Azerbaijan journalist, was the victim of a violent attack [JURIST report] by police and security personnel when he filmed the unlawful demolition of a house near the capital of Baku. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) [advocacy website] in February released [JURIST report] its annual Attacks on the Press report [text] which demonstrated the increase of censorship of journalists in 2011, including a 20 percent increase in imprisonment of journalists. Last May the journalism rights group Reporters without Borders (RSF) [advocacy website] released [JURIST report] a list of predators of press freedom [materials] including several Middle Eastern countries.

Argentina has been at the forefront of gender rights in recent years. In July 2010 Fernandez signed a same-sex marriage bill into law [JURIST report], making Argentina the first Latin American nation to recognize same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder]. In November 2009 the mayor of Buenos Aires said that he would not appeal a court ruling that allowed same-sex marriage[JURIST report] in Argentina's capital. In 2002 Buenos Aires became the first Latin American city to legalize same-sex unions.

Internet piracy has been a contentious issue both in the US and abroad recently. In March, JURIST guest columnist Tony Niescier suggested [JURIST op-ed] that the US resolve Internet-related disputes through an online forum. In February, the European Commission [official website] asked the European Court of Justice [official website] to evaluate an anti-piracy agreement [JURIST report] to ease concerns that the agreement may lead to censorship. In January, the US House of Representatives [official website] postponed hearings [JURIST report] on the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) after a highly constested provision of the bill was removed.