The increasing use of drone strikes by the Obama administration has come under scrutiny recently. Last month the Department of Justice [official website] filed a motion to dismiss [JURIST report] a lawsuit challenging the US government's targeted killing of three US citizens in drone strikes. In July Pakistan's Ambassador to the US called upon the US to end the practice [JURIST report] of using drone strikes in targeted killings. That same month, US lawmakers expressed concern [JURIST report] over the use of drone strikes. JURIST Guest Columnist Samar Warsi of the Muslim Civil Liberties Union recently argued that Obama administration's drone policy sets a dangerous precedent [JURIST comment] and undermines national security.

Turkey's record on human rights has faced much criticism from the international community recently. In December a UN human rights expert declared that Turkey must be more proactive in ending extrajudicial killings [JURIST report] by prosecuting those who perpetrate violence, especially violence against women. In November the UN Human Rights Committee [official website] criticized Turkey [JURIST report] for prosecuting activists under the country's vague counter-terrorism law. In October the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled [JURIST report] that Turkey detained a gay man in violation of Articles 3 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In July Turkey's parliament voted to abolish the special courts [Hurriyet Daily News report] used in coup and terrorism trials, which were heavily criticized [JURIST report] for being out of control and forcing defendants to spend years in detention without receiving a verdict.

The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China. On numerous occasions, dating back to 1995, the Philippines has been exchanging views with China to peacefully settle these disputes. To this day, a solution is still elusive. We hope that the Arbitral Proceedings shall bring this dispute to a durable solution.

China claims nearly the entire 3.5 million square-kilometer South China Sea, a region believed to be rich in oil and minerals. China has come into territorial conflict over the region in the past not only with the Philippines [JURIST comment], but also with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The Philippines and China were involved in a two month stand-off [Al Jazeera report] that started last April around the Scarborough Shoal, a small cluster of uninhabitable islands 220km off the coast of the Philippines which, according to international maritime law, fall into the Philippines' economic zone. The standoff was triggered when Chinese vessels blocked the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen for alleged illegal fishing activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zones.

Last month the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] confirmed its jurisdiction [JURIST report] over Gbagbo, unanimously dismissing his challenge. In November the ICC unsealed an indictment [JURIST report] for Gbagbo's wife, Simone, marking the first time that the court has charged a female. Also in November the court found Gbagbo fit to stand trial [JURIST report]. In October the ICC denied Gbagbo's motion asking the court for allowance to leave the Netherlands while he recovers from alleged maltreatment received while detained by national authorities in the Ivory Coast before being surrendered to the ICC [JURIST reports] in November. The court denied Gbagbo's leave request upon a determination that he posed a flight risk. The violence that followed the 2010 election claimed approximately 3,000 lives. Ouattara was declared the winner of the 2010 election, and was able to take office following Gbagbo's removal.

UNAMA found sufficiently credible and reliable evidence that more than half of 635 detainees interviewed (326 detainees) experienced torture and ill-treatment in numerous facilities of the Afghan National Police (ANP), National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan Local Police (ALP) between October 2011 and October 2012. This finding is similar to UNAMA's findings for October 2010-11 which determined that almost half of the detainees interviewed who had been held in NDS facilities and one third of detainees interviewed who had been held in ANP facilities experienced torture or ill-treatment at the hands of ANP or NDS officials.

UNAMA released the first report on detainee torture [JURIST report] in October 2011, detailing findings similar to those in the report released this week. Last month UNAMA released another report detailing the implementation of the Law of Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW law) [text, PDF] enacted in August 2009, finding that women in Afghanistan still face abuse [JURIST report] at the hands of men despite progress in the implementation of a law to protect women's rights. In November Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged the Afghan government to institute a moratorium on further executions [JURIST report] after eight men were hanged, marking an end of Afghanistan's four-year virtual moratorium on the death penalty.

The controversial new law comes on the heels of the impeachment and removal of Sri Lanka's Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake [JURIST news archive]. Last week Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official profile] signed the order to remove Bandaranayake from office after the parliament voted in an overwhelming majority favoring impeachment [JURIST reports]. Bandaranayake had been found guilty of three charges [JURIST report] of misconduct, including conflict of interest, failure to declare assets in official reports and bias in handling a case against her husband. Described by the UN [JURIST report] as a "calamitous setback for the rule of law in Sri Lanka," political shakeups throughout the country have proven to be a source of domestic and international criticism.

In October JURIST Columnist Charles Jalloh [university profile] of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law examined allegations [JURIST op-ed] made by Alternate Judge El Hadji Malick Sow at the end of Charles Taylor's trial, arguing for the establishment of an independent fact-finding commission to promote transparency and public confidence in the SCSL. In June Kenneth Gallant of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law wrote that Taylor's sentencing should have included the provision of reparations for his victims [JURIST op-ed] and that the prosecution ought to raise that issue on appeal. In February Taylor's lawyers asked that the SCSL reopen the case [JURIST report] in light of new evidence, including a report by the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia. His lawyers claimed that the new evidence demonstrated that Taylor was not instrumental in the war crimes committed by rebel forces, but the court declined to reopen the case. The SCSL heard closing arguments [JURIST report] in March 2011. Taylor denied all the charges [JURIST report] against him. His defense lawyers opened their case [JURIST report] in July 2009 and have claimed that he could not have commanded rebel forces in Sierra Leone while acting as the president of Liberia.