[JURIST] Leading Friday's international brief, G8 leaders ending their two-day summit in Scotland issued a final statement saying that they deplored "recent events" in Zimbabwe that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of individuals being left homeless [JURIST report] due to the destruction of their dwelling places, and urged Zimbabwean authorities to "end this campaign now, address immediately the situation they have created, and respect human rights and the rule of law" [G8 text]. The communique comes a day after the European Parliament [official website] adopted a resolution [official press release; text] condemning Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and calling on him to put an immediate stop to all demolitions under "Operation Restore Order". The EP resolution also called on all European Union [official website] governments to close loopholes in current sanctions against Mugabe, curtail any current economic activities with Zimbabwe, and to refrain from deporting any Zimbabwean asylum seekers until the situation stabilizes, and called for tha appointment of a special EU representative to conduct an investigation into Mugabe's actions. Recent reports from Zimbabwe have put the number of individuals affected by the evictions and demolitions at close to 1.5 million persons. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has more.

In other international legal news …

• Nine different international media advocacy groups, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [official website], will meet with governmental and military officials as well as their national counterparts in Nepal from July 10 to July 16 to discuss the status of the rights of freedom of expression and an independent media in the country. Nepali journalists have been under incredibly tight restrictions [Kantipur Online report] since the assumption of power by the monarchy [JURIST report] on 1 February. Demonstrations and protests have also been severely curtailed, with entire areas of the capital city of Kathmandu banned as sites for rallies. A steady stream of journalists and rights advocates have been arrested and detained since the decrees were issued. The stated goal of the talks is to emphasize the importance of freedom of expression and media rights to governmental officials. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.
  
• As part of the January Peace Accords [JURIST report], former rebel leader John Garang [Wikipedia profile] returned to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan [government website], on Friday for the first time in 21 years. Garang is set to be inaugurated as a vice-president on Saturday in the new transitional Sudanese government, which will be operating under the recently approved [JURIST report] transitional constitution. Garang, a leader in the former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement [party website], will be the highest ever ranking official in the Sudanese government that came from the southern province or claims to be Christian, instead of Muslim, and will be an equal member of the cabinet of curent Sudanese President President Omar Hassan al-Bashir [Wikipedia profile], who is to be inaugurated as Interime President. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.