JURIST - Paper Chase: Saturday, November 3, 2012

[JURIST] Acapulco Mayor Luis Walton Aburto [official website, in Spanish] announced on Friday that he will be firing 500 of the city's police officers after they failed a test used to weed out corrupt officers. The city currently has only 1,700 officers, and the 500 who failed the test [AP report] will be fired in January. Aburto said he will be asking the federal government to send agents for support until the officers can be replaced. Acapulco is one of Mexico's top cities for tourism and has a population of more than 800,000 people.

Combating issues with police corruption has been an ongoing struggle for the Mexican government. Last year, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission released a report [JURIST report] describing a "systematic pattern" of illegal police activity in conducting searches for drugs. The report was released a month after 111 officials were charged with corruption [JURIST report] by the Mexico Attorney General's Office following the resignation of Attorney General Arturo Chavez. The alleged corruption is tied to the government's efforts to combat a drug trade that has been the cause of an estimated 47,515 deaths [NYTimes report] in the country since 2006.

[JURIST] Former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko [JURIST news archive] was released [AP report] from a US federal prison on Thursday and, according to a spokeswoman for US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website], will go before an immigration judge to determine whether he can stay in the country. ICE Spokeswoman Lori Haley refused to say where Lazarenko is currently being held. Lazarenko has been in the US since 1999 when he fled to the country for political asylum and was later convicted in a US court of corruption and extortion during his time in office in Ukraine.

In 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] denied [JURIST report] Lazarenko's request for an en banc rehearing after his conviction. He was sentenced [JURIST report] in 2006 to nine years in prison. A judge in 2005 threw out [JURIST report] 15 of the 29 corruption-related charges for which a jury originally convicted him, saying there was not enough evidence to sustain them. Lazarenko was prime minister of Ukraine from 1996-97.

[JURIST] A judge for the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court [official website] ruled on Thursday that the state of Pennsylvania may continue to display advertisements touting its voter ID law [HB 943 materials] even though the court prevented the law from taking effect [JURIST report] before the November 6 election. Pennsylvania has been running ads that say "Show It" with much smaller letters that read "If you have it." Rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU) and the Advancement Project [advocacy websites] argued before the court [petition, PDF] that the advertisements are an attempt to mislead and confuse voters. Judge Robert Simpson, who enjoined the voter ID law on October 2, proclaimed [Reuters report] however that the ad campaign is not intended to mislead, but instead is an "education effort" by the state. Pennsylvania voters are not required to show ID at the polls on November 6.

Pennsylvania's voter ID law has been the subject of much legal controversy. Last week the Commonwealth Court rejected a request [JURIST report] to expedite a challenge to the state's advertisements of the law. Two weeks ago JURIST guest columnist Sara Rose opined [JURIST comment] that the Commonwealth Court sent mixed messages when it enjoined the voter ID law from being implemented before the November 6 election but allowed state officials to ask for ID at the polls. The Commonwealth Court blocked the law after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated an earlier decision [JURIST reports] by the Commonwealth Court to uphold the state's new voter identification law and remanded for further consideration.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Friday called on China [press release] to remedy long-held frustrations in Tibet that have led to recent extreme protest tactics, including self-immolation. Pillay expressed concern that the Chinese government is suppressing Tibetans' freedom of expression and that the government is using excessive force against peaceful protestors. Pillay also urged Tibetans to not resort to self-immolation or other extreme protest measures. In the press release, Pillay emphasized that mutual understanding, rather than force, is needed to ensure peace in Tibet:

Social stability in Tibet will never be achieved through heavy security measures and suppression of human rights. Deep underlying issues need to be addressed, and I call on the Government to seriously consider the recommendations made to it by various international human rights bodies, as well as to avail itself of the expert advice being offered by the UN's independent experts on human rights.

Pillay suggested as a remedial measure [UN News Centre report] that China allow independent monitors to assess the situation in Tibet.

China has long imposed rigid restrictions on Tibet. In February Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] demanded [JURIST report] that China release Tibetan prisoners who were forced into re-education camps. In November 2011, the UN formally expressed concern [JURIST report] over China's treatment of Tibet. In June 2011, concern over an influx of missing persons prompted a UN rights body to demand a report on disappearances [JURIST report]. That same month, the US requested China release peaceful protesters [JURIST report] arrested in Tiananmen Square. In July of 2010, HRW published a report alleging China violated international law [JURIST report] in its treatment of Tibetan protesters. Secrecy in China's judicial system [JURIST comment] often raises human rights concern over prisoners being held there.