Since the ousting of Mubarak [JURIST report] following the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder] in 2011, the country has been working to prosecute Mubarak and members of his regime for corruption and other charges. Last month a court ordered the release [JURIST report] of former chief of staff Zakaria Azmi after an appeals court reversed his conviction for corruption charges and ordered a retrial. Weeks earlier, a court sentenced former interior minister Habib el-Adly [JURIST news archives] to abuse of power for forcing public workers to perform work on his home. Mubarak's own conviction and life sentence was overturned [JURIST reports], and a retrial was ordered in January. The judge who ordered the retrial did not release the reasons for his ruling, but a retrial had been anticipated after the trial judge made it clear that the prosecution lacked hard evidence to support the charges.

The UN and others have been working lately to increase awareness and prevention of violence against women. Earlier this month, UN officials urged governments [JURIST report] to take steps to "turn decades of empty promises into concrete change" when it comes to women's rights, and cautioned that violence against women is still a serious problem throughout the world. That same day, US President Barack Obama signed into law [JURIST report] an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act [text, PDF], which expired in 2011 and provides for legal assistance, counseling and other resources for domestic violence and rape victims. Days earlier, legislators from UN member states discussed the importance [JURIST month] of new laws punishing and preventing sexual, domestic and gender violence at the Commission on the Status of Women's annual session.

The challenge to the election results comes five years after Kenya's disputed 2007 election [JURIST news archive] which resulted in several of Kenya's leaders being charged before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] with crimes against humanity. Last week the ICC dropped [JURIST report] the crimes against humanity charges against former Kenyan cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura [case materials] after encountering various issues with evidence and witness testimony. Earlier this month the ICC agreed to delay [JURIST report] until July the trials of Kenyatta and Muthaura. Last month Kenyatta and Muthaura asked [JURIST report] the ICC to review the decision to move forward with the trial. In December, Kenyatta and former cabinet minister William Ruto [case materials] announced [JURIST report] that they would be running together in the March elections despite the upcoming trials. In October the ICC called for complete cooperation [JURIST report] from the Kenyan government in the investigation and trial process. Journalist Joshua Arap Sang is also facing trial alongside Ruto for crimes against humanity. In June the ICC expressed its desire to start Kenyatta's and Ruto's trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election.

The EFF has strongly opposed controversial domestic surveillance by the US government. In November the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) [advocacy website] joined with the EFF to challenge [JURIST report] portions of the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act [campaign website] that requires all registered sex offenders, even those with decades-old misdemeanors and non-Internet related offenses, to turn in their Internet usage information to law enforcement. In September 2011 the EFF urged the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] to preserve two lawsuits [JURIST report] over the warrantless surveillance of US citizens. In January 2011 the EFF released a report [JURIST report] stating that between 2001 and 2008 the FBI committed approximately 800 violations of laws, executive orders, or other regulations governing intelligence investigations.