President Obama has advocated for student loan reform during his presidency. In March 2010 Obama signed into law [JURIST report] a bill that removed banks and private lenders as providers for federal student loans and place that responsibility with the government. Obama declared that this reform would make the student loan system work for students rather than for banks and other lenders. Political opponents have criticized [NYT report] the student loan legislation as being harmful to the economy.

South Sudan is still facing human rights violations and need for improving the situation with Sudan. In late June UNMISS urged [JURIST report] the government to adopt a plan to prevent further inter-communal violence [press release] in Jonglei State. UNMISS provided nine recommendations for the country to avoid similar violence and conflicts in the future, including the development a "comprehensive, multi-sectorial plan with short, medium and long-term actions to respond to the main causes of the violence in Jonglei State" while maintaining support for the peace process that has already launched. In February HRW had called on [JURIST report] South Sudan to investigate the ethnic conflict sparked by the attacks made on Murle villages and to prosecute those responsible for the violence. In December around 6,000 to 8,000 armed Lou Nuer youths calling themselves "White Army" invaded the Murle villages for 12 days, robbing and burning houses and killing thousands of people. In response the Murle groups initiated retaliatory attacks on Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka areas which lasted until February 4. In April the Sudanese government declared a state of emergency [JURIST report] on the South Sudan border after the arrest of four people who the Sudanese claim were arrested for aggression against the north in the contested Heglig oil fields.

A similar tension between presidential candidates occurred in 2006 when the incumbent Mexican president Vicente Fox [Britannica profile] was blocked [JURIST report] from delivering the traditional state of the nation address before the country's Congress [official website, in Spanish] by protesting leftist lawmakers supporting presidential candidate Obrador. In August the country's Federal Electoral Tribunal (FET) [official website, in Spanish] rejected most challenges dismissing fraud allegations brought by Obrador who filed over 200 separate complaints challenging the preliminary vote count [JURIST reports]. During the same month supporters of Obrador had gathered outside of the FET to protest the court's decision not to hold a full recount [JURIST reports] of July's election.

The case against the two dictators commenced [JURIST report] in March 2011. They were accused in 34 separate cases of infants who were taken from mothers held in clandestine torture and detention centers, the Navy Mechanics School [backgrounder, in Spanish] and Campo de Mayo army base. The case was initially brought by Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo 14 years ago against five military judges and a doctor who attended to the detainees. In addition to this case, Argentina has initiated several proceedings against those responsible for war crimes during the war. In June 2010, an Argentine federal court began to hear [JURIST report] its case against five ex-military officials allegedly responsible for the death of 65 left-wing activists during the war. A month earlier Argentine authorities arrested [JURIST report] former secret service agent Miguel Angel Furci on charges of human rights abuses.

Thailand's political system has remained unstable following the coup that ousted Thaksin in 2006. The PM's party has been constantly criticized and attacked by opposition democratic parties. Last August, a Thai court acquitted Pojamarn Shinawatra [JURIST news archive], the ex-wife of Thaksin, overturning a tax evasion conviction [JURIST report] of 2008. She had been convicted for transferring stocks in the amount of $16.3 million to her step-brother and secretary, who were sentenced to three and two years, respectively. In July of last year, lawyers associated with the Democrat Party filed documents with the Election Commission challenging [JURIST report] the Puea Thai party's victory in the 2011 election. They accused the party of having involved the former PM and other banned politicians during the campaign seeking the dissolution of the party. In February, seven "red shirt" [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] opposition leaders detained during anti-government protests [JURIST news archive] that began last March were released [JURIST report] on bail by a Thai court. They had been arrested on terrorism charges during the demonstration.

In late June a Chinese court in the southwestern city of Chongqing overturned the sentence [JURIST report] of a Chinese blogger and former forestry employee for lack of evidence. He had been detained for a year in a police-run labor camp for posting a brief poem on his microblog criticizing and mocking a former Communist Party chief in the city, Bo Xilai [China Vitae profile], and his former police chief, Wang Lijun [China Vitae profile], who had used force against critics and accused gang leaders. During the same month dissident artist Ai Weiwei [BBC News profile] was banned from attending the first hearing in the case brought by his company, Fake Cultural Development Ltd., against Beijing tax authorities, despite the fact that the Chinese court had agreed to hear [JURIST reports] the case in early May. Also in May the blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng [BBC News profile; JURIST news archive] asked the US to increase its effort in promoting the rule of law in China a week following his arrival in New York after he left the US embassy [JURIST reports].

The Confederate flag has long been a subject of controversy. In August 2008 the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a Tennessee high school's ban on wearing the Confederate flag in a lawsuit brought by students who said the ban violated their freedom of speech, equal protection and due process rights under the US Constitution. In 2003 the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld [JURIST report] the dismissal of a suit filed by a man who was fired for displaying Confederate flag stickers at work [NYT report].

In May the ICTR reduced the sentence of Ntabakuze and affirmed the sentences of two others. Ntabakuze's sentence was reduced from life in prison to 35 years after the court heard his appeal [JURIST reports] last fall. Last December the Appeals Chamber of the ICTR lowered [JURIST report] the sentence of Bagosora from life to 35 years in prison. The court had overturned several of his convictions but upheld the conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity. The ICTR also reduced the life sentence of Anatole Nsengiyumva [ICTR materials] to 15 years, reversing several of his convictions. He was released for time served.

Last month a pre-trial chamber of the ICC granted a request by the Libyan government to postpone an order to transfer [JURIST report] Saif al-Islam to ICC custody. The Libyan government formally challenged [JURIST reports] the right of the ICC to try Saif al-Islam in May, arguing that, under the Rome Statute [text], the ICC only has jurisdiction over a case being investigated by a State government unless "the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution." In April former ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the ICC to report Libya to the UN Security Council [JURIST report] for failing to turn over Saif al-Islam. Libya expressly denied [JURIST report] the ICC's request for such action and stated that Saif al-Islam will face trial within the country.

Immigration [JURIST backgrounder] has been a contentious topic in the US in recent years. Last week the US Supreme Court [official website] partially struck down Arizona's immigration law [opinion PDF; JURIST report], but upheld a controversial provision that requires police officers to check the immigration status of anyone whom they arrest. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer [official website] stated [JURIST report] following the Supreme Court's decision that future enforcement of Arizona's immigration law will not violate the US Constitution. Earlier in June, the Obama administration issued a directive [JURIST report] to stop deporting many young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.

Earlier this week the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website; JURIST backgrounder] Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda [official profile] told reporters that attacks by Islamist rebels on religious monuments [JURIST report] in Mali will not be tolerated. In May Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] released a report saying that Mali is facing its worst human rights crisis [JURIST report] since it gained independence in 1960. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a similar report in April claiming that all sides to the conflict are committing war crimes [JURIST report]. Earlier in April the ICC said they would monitor the situation [JURIST report] in Mali for potential crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction. The turmoil began when Taureg rebels attacked Malian soldiers [Al Jazeera report]. Many in the international community have expressed concern over the situation, including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) [JURIST reports]. All of this has come after Malian soldiers took control of the government [JURIST report] and suspended the constitution in March.