A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website, in Russian; JURIST news archive] had announced last week that Russia will delay [JURIST report] the enforcement of the controversial law until January 2014. The bill was signed into law by Putin in December after both the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and State Duma [JURIST reports] approved it. RAPSI, a legal information agency which operates in coordination with Russian courts, reports the Yakovlev initiative was adopted in retaliation [RAPSI report] for the US adoption of the Magnitsky Act [text], which imposes US travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia. The bill was named for Sergei Magnitsky [BBC report], a Russian whistle-blower who was arrested on charges of tax fraud and later died in prison [JURIST report].

This growing boatpeople crisis calls for regional approaches and solutions. UNHCR encourages the government of Myanmar to intensify measures to address some of the main push factors...the lack of sustainable development and the resulting widespread poverty, the lack of rights for an important part of the population and recognition of the economic interdependence of all communities in Rakhine state.

Concern over Myanmar's human rights record has been growing recently, as the country has attempted to normalize relationship with the US. In October Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called for an end to the sectarian violence in Myanmar [JURIST report] between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, calling on the government to do more to end the violence and protect the rights of the Rohingya, whose civil rights were effectively taken away with their citizenship in 1982. In August physicians for Human Rights reported that Myanmar's army is still committing human rights abuses [JURIST report] against ethnic minorities in Karen state. Earlier that month, HRW accused [JURIST report] Myanmar security forces of human rights abuses against a minority religious community. In July UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also expressed concern [JURIST report] about both the continued violence in Myanmar and the country's human rights abuses committed in dealing with it.

Philippine political clashes, and in particular, the events at Maguindanao have led to serious debate about gun violence in the nation. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the 2009 Maguindanao massacre is the single deadliest event for the press [CPJ report] since the CPJ began keeping records of journalists deaths in 1992. In the last 20 years, at least 72 journalists have been killed for their work in the Philippines, making it the second deadliest country in the world for journalists behind Iraq. Litigation surrounding the Maguindanao massacre has been a source of contentious debate. In November 2012 Amnesty International urged [JURIST report] Philippine authorities to put a stop to the killings of Maguindanao massacre witnesses and their families. Earlier that month, the Philippines high court overturned [JURIST report] a year-old decision to allow for live broadcast of the trial, a rescission that was opposed by Aquino on the grounds that it could impede the transparency of the trial. In June 2011 the court also decided [JURIST report] to freeze $23 million in assets belonging to massacre suspects.

The government's prosecution of peaceful demonstrators reveals troubling limits on Burma's respect for basic rights. Burma's leaders may be saying the right things at global forums and in bilateral talks, but their reform rhetoric rings hollow on the streets and in the fields where protesters assemble.

Concern over Myanmar's human rights record has been growing recently. In October HRW called for an end to the sectarian violence [JURIST report] between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. In August Physicians for Human Rights reported that Myanmar's army is still committing human rights abuses [JURIST report] against ethnic minorities in Karen state. Earlier that month HRW accused [JURIST report] Myanmar security forces of human rights abuses against a minority religious community. In July UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also expressed concern [JURIST report] about both the continued violence in Myanmar and the human rights abuses that have occurred as a result.

Many people told Amnesty International delegates in Haiti of their worries about not knowing where they would live after the end of the subsidies, as they would not be able to afford the rent. As it is, they are currently struggling to feed themselves and their children, let alone pay for other basic essentials such as clothing, medicine and education.

On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000 Haitians and caused massive damage to property and infrastructure. Local police struggled to maintain law and order [JURIST report] in Haiti while awaiting the deployment of US troops, as looting and vigilantism rose among increasingly desperate and frustrated survivors of the earthquake that struck the country. The international community along with the US sought to provide aid initially. In January 2010 US President Barack Obama signed a bill [JURIST report] that allowed Americans to claim contributions made to Haitian earthquake relief efforts as a deduction on their 2009 federal income tax returns. Also in January the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced [JURIST report] that the US would allow Haitian orphans into the country to receive needed care in the aftermath of the earthquake. In the same timeframe the DHS announced that Haitian nationals already present in the US on January 12 would be granted Temporary Protected Status [JURIST report] and would be allowed to continue living and working in the US for the next 18 months regardless of their immigration status.

Tunisia has faced political turmoil since former president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] left office amid nationwide protests in 2011. In August the same UN Working Group urged [JURIST report] the government of Tunisia to ensure that women's rights are protected in line with the nation's international human rights obligations. Last month, the same UN Working Group expressed similar concern [JURIST report] over Egypt's, then draft, constitution [text, PDF], stating that, "women's perspectives were grossly under-represented in the final draft." The working group expressed concern that equality between the sexes is not among the draft's substantive provisions and urged further critical review.

They described a system that represents the very antithesis of international human rights norms. We know so little about these camps, and what we do know comes largely from the relatively few refugees who have managed to escape from the country. The highly developed system of international human rights protection that has had at least some positive impact in almost every country in the world, seems to have completely bypassed DPRK, where self-imposed isolation has allowed the government to mistreat its citizens to a degree that should be unthinkable in the 21st century.

North Korea has faced ongoing international criticism for human rights violations. Last week Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for a UN commission to examine human rights abuses in North Korea [JURIST report]. The rights group stated that little has changed within the totalitarian government since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father Kim Jong-il [BBC obituary] in leading the country one year ago. HRW stated the situation may be getting worse, noting a drop in the number of individuals escaping into China and reports by successful escapees of increasing crackdowns on escape attempts. In November the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK Marzuki Darusman expressed concern over the lack of development in human rights in the nation, despite having called [JURIST reports] on new leader Kim Jong-un last January to improve the situation.

In December Georgian Chief Prosecutor Archil Kbilashvili announced [JURIST report] that the former justice minister in Georgia, Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili, was set to be charged on December 26 in connection with the torture of prisoners in the country's capital of Tbilisi. The prosecution investigated allegations of torture in the prison. In September UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on authorities in Georgia to investigate [JURIST report] prisoner mistreatment after video footage allegedly depicted the torture and rape of prisoners in the country's capital of Tbilisi.