Here's your daily summary of legal news from Paper Chase, the real-time legal news arm of JURIST

Here's your daily summary of legal news from Paper Chase, the real-time legal news arm of JURIST...
UN rights expert urges Italy to increase efforts to fight human trafficking
[JURIST] The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo [official profile] called Friday on the government of Italy to increase efforts to disrupt and eliminate [press release] human trafficking [JURIST backgrounder; news archive]. In the release issued at the end of Ezeilo's official visit to the country she concluded that:The phenomenon of trafficking in persons in Italy is unfortunately expanding in scale and impact. Traffickers are demonstrating a growing capacity for violence, exploitation... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Sep 20, 2013 01:53 pm

Rights group calls for stronger laws protecting online privacy
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website] on Friday urged [news release] governments around the world to implement stronger laws and policies that protect online privacy in the wake of increasing pervasive electronic surveillance. According to the group, outdated legal frameworks have permitted government surveillance of digital communications that grossly intrudes on the right to privacy. HRW endorsed a set of International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance [text] to guide countries on modernizing privacy protections.... [more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 20, 2013 01:07 pm

Former Ivory Coast first lady to be tried in domestic court
[JURIST] Simone Gbagbo, the wife of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], will be tried in an Ivory Coast court on charges of crimes against humanity, according to a government statement released Friday. In a special cabinet meeting Friday the government declined [Reuters report] to transfer Simone Gbagbo to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], where she is wanted her alleged crimes. According to an arrest warrant [text, PDF] issued by the ICC, Simone... [more].
Posted by Peter Snyder on Sep 20, 2013 01:05 pm

HRW urges Nepal to appoint new human rights commissioners
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Friday urged [press release] the government of Nepal to appoint qualified new members to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) [official website] in order to best ensure the protection of Nepali citizens. Despite notice by then-commissioners, along with an outcry from many citizen groups, the government allowed the terms of all commissioners to lapse on Monday without replacement, essentially dismantling the NHRC. HRW argued that without proper leadership, the NHRC will become... [more].
Posted by Addison Morris on Sep 20, 2013 12:39 pm

UN urges ratification of children's rights convention
[JURIST] UN officials on Thursday urged member states to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child [text] and its three optional protocols at the upcoming 2013 treaty event, which will be held at its New York headquarters. The US, Somalia and South Sudan are the only three states that are not party to the convention. The three optional protocols address the involvement of children in armed conflict [text], the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [text],... [more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 20, 2013 12:09 pm

ACLU urges surveillance centers to narrow 'suspicious activity' standards
[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday accused [press release] governmental surveillance centers of invasion of privacy and reliance on racial and religious profiling in their Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and urged [letter, PDF] the centers to adopt stricter standards of reporting. Commonly known as "fusion centers" [website], these government surveillance units were established by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in order to foster cooperation between different law enforcement agencies. SARs are submitted by police, often at... [more].
Posted by Addison Morris on Sep 20, 2013 12:06 pm

Argentina judge seeking extradition of former Spanish officials
[JURIST] An Argentine judge on Wednesday issued warrants [text, PDF, in Spanish] for four former Spanish officials accused of human rights violations during the Francisco Franco regime [BBC backgrounder]. Under international law [text], individuals accused of human rights abuses may be investigated and tried elsewhere if the country in which the violations occurred does not do so. Citing to international law and the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, Argentine federal judge Maria Romilda Servini de Cubria ordered the arrest of four... [more].
Posted by Kimberly Bennett on Sep 20, 2013 12:03 pm

Obama administration asks Supreme Court to review contraception mandate
[JURIST] The Obama administration [official website] on Thursday petitioned [text, PDF] the US Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to review the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) [text; JURIST backgrounder] "contraception mandate." The legal question about the provision was not discussed before the court when it upheld the Act in the June 2012 ruling [JURIST report]. The petition asserts that the court of appeals' decision [JURIST report] in favor of Hobby Lobby is incorrect... [more].
Posted by Kimberly Bennett on Sep 20, 2013 11:10 am

Halliburton pleads guilty to tampering with BP oil spill evidence
[JURIST] Halliburton [corporate website] pleaded guilty [DOJ press release] in US federal court on Thursday to charges that it had destroyed evidence in connection with its role in the BP oil spill in 2010. The company admitted that it had tampered with a protected computer [Reuters report], erasing 3D models of the affected wells, in order to destroy evidence of its role in the disaster. Halliburton manager Anthony Badalamenti was also formally charged Thursday with one criminal count of tampering... [more].
Posted by Laura Klein Mullen on Sep 20, 2013 09:33 am