It is evident to this court that the legislature has abdicated its responsibility and passed to the executive branch, in this case the ADC, the unfettered discretion to determine all protocol and procedures, most notably the chemicals to be used, for a state execution. The MEA fails to provide reasonable guidelines for the selection of chemicals to be used during lethal injection and it fails to provide any general policy with regard to the lethal-injection procedure.

Lethal injection drugs have been a subject of controversy recently. In August, a state judge in Arkansas ruled [JURIST report] that a state law provision allowing "any other chemical or chemicals" to be used for lethal injections violates the constitution's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The ADC relinquished its supply of sodium thiopental, a drug used in the lethal injection process, after coming under fire for obtaining the drug from Dream Pharma [corporate website], a British pharmaceutical company. The state was forced to purchase sodium thiopental overseas [AP report] after the sole US manufacturer of the drug stopped production. The shortage of sodium thiopental in the US has caused several states to modify lethal injection protocol, which has led to a number of constitutional challenges by death row inmates.

The Afghan government and its international partners must not lose sight of human rights as they pursue reconciliation with the Taleban. Any potential peace deal must not include impunity for war crimes and other grave human rights abuses committed by all parties to the conflict.

Other countries have been taking action against Taliban members for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2010, the US filed charges [JURIST report] against a Pakistani Taliban leader for an attack on its Central Intelligence Agency [official website] Afghan outpost that killed nine people. In 2008, Pakistan filed charges [JURIST report] against another Pakistani Taliban leader for involvement in the assassination of its former prime minister, Benzhair Bhutto. In 2006, the US brought charges against [JURIST report] a Guantanamo Bay detainee for working as a translator and money-man for Taliban and al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.

Laws regulating pharmaceutical companies and prescription drugs have been the subject of many state and national court rulings. In 2008, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld [JURIST report] the constitutionality of a New Hampshire law that prohibits pharmaceutical companies' gathering data from prescription drug records to target doctors for sales. The law had been struck down [JURIST report] by a federal district court in 2007. Also in 2008, pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. [corporate website] payed $58 million to settle a lawsuit [JURIST report] brought by 29 states for its alleged deceptive advertising for the painkiller Vioxx. In 2005, California also sued 39 pharmaceutical companies [JURIST report] for inflating payments from the state's Medicaid program.

Kosovo has been in the news since it declared independence in 2008. Last month, Moshe Harel was arrested in connection with the organ trafficking operation [JURIST report] in Kosovo during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. This organ trafficking scandal has been receiving more attention after a report implicated [JURIST report] Thaci in the scheme. Since then, an EU prosecutor began investigating organ trafficking in Albania [JURIST report] in October 2011. In August of that year a US prosecutor began investigating Thaci's role in the scandal [JURIST report]. In February 2011 UN Special Representative to Kosovo Lamberto Zannier requested [JURIST report] that the UN Security Council open an independent investigation into alleged incidents of organ trafficking. That January, the COE also demanded that Albania and Kosovo investigate the claims [JURIST report].

Other countries have recently ousted their leaders as well. Earlier this month, an Egyptian court found former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak guilty of complicity to kill protesters [JURIST report] during the Arab Spring protests and sentenced him to life in prison. In January, the Yemeni parliament approved a bill granting immunity [JURIST report] to President Ali Abdullah Saleh in exchange for him stepping down. Last year, Libyan opposition forces captured and killed former leader Muammar Gaddafi [JURIST report] in his hometown of Sirte.