A similar situation took place in May, when an Afghan detainee who was handed over to authorities in Afghanistan by UK forces won permission [JURIST report] to challenge the legality of his transfer. He argued that he had been tortured by Afghanistan officials until he confessed that he was a member of the Taliban. The Open Society Institute of New York and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission [advocacy websites] alleged in March that US detainees were sent to a National Directorate of Security (NDS) facility in Kandahar, which was condemned [JURIST reports] by the UN in October for "systematically tortur[ing]" prisoners during interrogations. Afghan officials denied the torture allegations [JURIST report], claiming that there was no basis for the UN's findings.

This case is underscored by the ongoing pressure from the EU for Croatia to sort out corruption and address human rights abuses from its war of independence before it joins the EU in July 2013. The push to join the EU has been a primary focus [JURIST op-eds] of the nation's rulers for years. In January of this year the Croatian people voted in favor of joining the EU a month after the government signed a treaty [JURIST reports] to finalize its EU accession. The EU gave final approval [JURIST report] to Croatian membership in June after six years of negotiations. The EU had previously suspended accession talks [JURIST report] in 2005 when it felt Croatia was not cooperating fully with International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia investigations into war crimes against its former military officers.

Kuwait's constitutional court upheld [JURIST report] the election law in September. In August, leaders of the political opposition in Kuwait criticized [JURIST report] the government's efforts to change the country's election law through the Constitutional Court, saying the government is attempting to seize power through the court in violation of the constitution. The government announced in August that they had asked the national Constitutional Court to review the legality of the country's election law. In June the Constitutional Court ruled that this year's election for the new parliament was unconstitutional [JURIST report] and the previous parliament of 2009 should be reinstated, thereby removing the opposition-controlled parliament, and restoring a more government-friendly body.

Momcilo Perisic's case is the only case before this Tribunal of a senior officer of one army being found guilty for crimes committed by members of a distinct army in a foreign country. It highlights the importance of a fundamental principle of national and international criminal law—that individual criminal liability is based on personal guilt, not state responsibility. This judgement ignores the reality that relations between states are often reinforced by the provision of significant military aid, in finding Perisic's provision of assistance renders him individually criminally responsible for aiding and abetting the crimes committed during the war. Many foreign armies are dependent, to various degrees, upon such assistance to function. [...] If Perisic's convictions are sustained, it will have a chilling effect on international relations as under the Majority's reasoning a commander of any army can be found responsible for crimes committed by any troops of any nation simply by giving logistical or technical assistance to prosecute a war. The outcome of this appeal is not only of great importance to Perisic but also to political and military leaders throughout the world.

Perisic was found guilty of 12 out of 13 charges, including aiding and abetting murders occurring during the Srebrenica massacre [JURIST news archive], inhumane acts, attacks on civilians, unjust persecutions and having knowingly supplied "extensive logistical assistance" to the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and the Army of Serbian Krajina (SVK) that would be used to torture and kill hundreds of Muslim civilians. He was also found guilty on the basis of command responsibility for the inhumane acts of his officers and subsequently failing to punish them. In March UN prosecutors demanded that Perisic receive a life sentence [JURIST report] for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Bosnian Muslims in the early 1990s. Perisic's trial began [JURIST report] in October 2008, and closing arguments concluded at the end of March. ICTY Prosecutor Mark Harmon said Perisic was one of the "principal collaborators" of late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], claiming in his opening statement that Perisic "created an environment of impunity, wherein his subordinates were encouraged and did persist to commit crimes, knowing there would be no consequences." Perisic turned himself in to the UN in 2005, surrendering to officials [JURIST report] from the ICTY.

Despite the success of a peaceful presidential election, Egypt has faced continued political turmoil since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak last year. In August a lawyer in Egypt filed an appeal challenging a declaration by Morsi granting himself complete legislative and executive power [JURIST reports]. In July, a few days after he was sworn in, Morsi issued a decree [JURIST reports] calling the dissolved Egyptian parliament back into session, despite a previous ruling by the country's Supreme Constitutional Court [official website] dissolving it due to its finding that one-third of its members were elected illegally. The court suspended Morsi's decree two days later, after which Morsi vowed that he would respect the ruling [JURIST reports]. Days before its dissolution, the Egyptian parliament elected a new constitutional council after lawmakers finally reached an agreement [JURIST reports] on the political composition of the council. In April the country's Administrative Court temporarily suspended [JURIST report] the work of the Egyptian Constituent Assembly after ruling in favor of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the formation of the panel.

Bosnian courts have continued prosecuting individuals responsible for human rights abuses, especially surrounding the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Earlier this month a Bosnian court acquitted two policemen [JURIST report] accused of war crimes. In June the country's war crimes court sentenced [JURIST report] four former Bosnian Serb soldiers for their involvement in the 1995 massacre. In May US resident Dejan Radojkovic was deported [JURIST report] to Bosnia and Herzegovina to stand trial before the country's court for his actions as a police commander in Srebrenica during the 1995 massacre. He was arrested in 2009 after it was revealed that he did not disclose his involvement in the conflict and his appeal was rejected in February. He was the second to be deported after his commanding officer, Nedjo Ikonic, was deported in 2010 [JURIST report]. A day earlier the war crimes court convicted [JURIST report] Dusko Jevic and Mendeljev Djuric for taking part in the killing of 1,000 Muslim men during the massacre after it found that the two former Bosnian Serb police officers were guilty of aiding and abetting genocide.

The new anti-corruption law is part of Italy's effort to renew its reputation after corruption ran rampant during the rule of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Earlier this week Berlusconi was found guilty of tax fraud [JURIST report] and sentenced to four years in prison on charges that his media empire Mediaset [corporate website, in Italian] purchased television rights for US movies through offshore companies and falsely declared the costs on its taxes. Berlusconi, who stepped down as prime minister last November, has been a defendant in nearly 50 cases but has never served a single prison sentence due to either successfully appealing or having the statute of limitations on the charge expire. In addition to the tax fraud charges, he is also facing charges of publicly releasing private wiretaps, embezzlement and paying for sex with an underage prostitute [JURIST reports] and abusing his power by having the police release her. In January 2011 the Italian Constitutional Court held hearings and subsequently struck down [JURIST reports] portions of an immunity law backed by Berlusconi that would have granted the premier and other public officials temporary amnesty from any charges while holding office. The Italian audit court, Corte del Conti [official website, in Italian], announced in February 2010 that the number of corruption cases in Italy had risen by 229 percent [JURIST report] over the previous year.