A bill to abolish the death penalty was approved in January in the Illinois Senate.  If signed by the governor, Illinois will become the sixteenth state to abolish the death penalty.  Under the bill, funds allocated for capital punishment cases will be used instead for services for victim’s families and for the training of law enforcement personnel.

 A New Way to Educate
Source: The New York Times

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Nat Turner founded Our School at Blair Grocery, a fledgling educational venture and commercial urban farm in the heart of the Lower Ninth Ward.  Operating out of a former grocery store wrecked by fourteen feet of water, the enterprise is an extraordinary fusion of G.E.D. training and farm academy.

The Rural Enterprise Expansion Project, sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency, is helping small-to-medium sized businesses grow and expand in Vietnam.  The $5 million project also includes women-owned enterprises.  The goal of the project is to create and promote sustainable development in rural areas.

Calls for Investigation of Sri Lankan President
Source: Amnesty International

Amnesty International called upon the United States to investigate Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  The Sri Lankan President is accused of possible war crimes and torture.  The U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka was aware of the President’s possible war crimes, evidenced by a statement uncovered by the Wikileaks.

As Haiti struggled in the midst of an electoral deadlock, its former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier, returned to find himself in police custody.  Human rights organizations have long demanded that Duvalier face criminal charges for alleged human rights crimes during his rule.  Authorities charged Duvalier with corruption; four Haitians also sued him for crimes against humanity.
 

Missing Migrants Concern U.N. Commissioner
Source: U.N. News Centre

Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed grave concern regarding the whereabouts of forty Central American migrants, missing since they were kidnapped in Mexico last month. Pillay demanded that Mexican authorities conduct a complete and transparent investigation to determine whether any Mexican state officials aided the criminal organization that carried out the abductions.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi seeks justice for those officials who ordered security forces to fire at groups of protesters attempting to oust Tunisian President Ben Ali. Ghannouchi stated that he never ordered violent retaliation.  After Ben Ali fled the county, Tunisia installed a new transitional government and promised freedoms to the Tunisian people for the first time.

Ivorian Refugees Flee To Liberia
Source: The Analyst

The Libyan government pledged to provide Liberia with humanitarian support for refugees fleeing the political unrest in the neighboring Ivory Coast.  The Libyan government sent Liberia 300 tents, three tons of rice, five tons of flour, one ton of milk,  tractors, as well as assorted medical supplies as refugee numbers continue to rise.

A human rights organization, the Belarussian Helsinki Committee, clashed with Belarussian officials over a report concerning the country’s treatment of lawyers who have supported an electoral challenge to President Aleksandr Lukashenko.  Authorities could shutter the Belarussian Helsinki Committee, which criticized the government’s crackdown on opposition leaders following elections last month.

U.N.: Greece Wall Harms Refugees
Source: Reuters

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees stated that Greece’s plan to build a wall on its border with Turkey could endanger refugees who are seeking asylum in Europe. Greece argues that the eight-mile-long barrier is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.
 

A leading Iranian human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been in prison since September 2010, was sentenced to eleven years in prison for conducting activities against national security.  Her supporters claim that her prison sentence is politically motivated and that she is being punished for speaking out to the foreign media about women’s and children’s rights.

Justice for Abused Maid
Source: Aljazeera

A Saudi Arabian woman was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison for abusing her Indonesian maid.  The maid endured a severe beating that left her bleeding and with broken bones that required surgery.  Amnesty International cautions that domestic workers in the Gulf region are often subjected to serious abuse and slave-like working conditions.

Abdulfattoh Raimokhunov, an inmate in an Uzbek prison, recently died. Raimokhunov’s relatives believe he was beaten to death because he was in good health and had complained of a prison guard beating him in the past.  There is speculation that participating in a hunger strike caused the death of Raimokhunov and other prisoners.

Corporal Punishment Banned in Schools
Source: C.N.N.

Bangladesh’s High Court has banned any corporal punishment in schools since it is a clear violation of children’s fundamental human rights.  The court has asked the government to intervene when teachers engage in misconduct.   According to a survey by U.N.I.C.E.F., 91 percent of children in Bangladesh have experienced physical abuse in school.