SCOTUS to Hear Arguments in International Prisoners’ Rights Case

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the case of Medellin v. Texas. Jose Medellin, along with other Mexican nationals, is currently awaiting capital punishment in the state of Texas. The International Court of Justice has ruled that the convictions violate the Vienna Convention, on the grounds that the prisoners had been denied their rights to have consular assistance. The Texas Attorney General has argued that the the prisoners had waived their rights. President Bush, who joined in the call for the Supreme Court to hear the case, had stated that the United States would abide by the ICJ’s decision. However, the State of Texas has argued that neither Bush nor the ICJ may trump the state’s rules of criminal procedure.

The International Herald Tribune covers the story.

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Wolfowitz Testifies to World Bank Directors

Paul Wolfowitz testified before the panel of World Bank directors today as part of the continuing investigation of his conduct in the Shaha Riza controversy and amid increasing pressure from the international community for his resignation.  Oxfam International, the first “top-tier non-governmental” organization to support the resignation campaign, joined the call for Wolfowitz’s ousting in a statement to the Financial Times on Sunday, asserting that the World Bank cannot fulfill its obligation to the poor when it has been “deeply compromised” by this ethical dispute.  Wolfowitz, who was “combative” and “defiant” during his testimony according to some reports, said today, “I will not resign in the face of a plainly bogus charge of conflict of interest” and referred to the call for his resignation as a “smear campaign.”

For more information, see here and here.

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U.N. to Lift Ban on Liberian Diamonds

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously voted to lift its six-year-old ban on diamond exports from Liberia.  As a result, Liberia will be joining the Kimberley Process.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22377&Cr=liberia&Cr1= 

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Opposition Zimbabweans Plead for Support

Opposition Zimbabweans and human rights attorneys met with African delegates to the United Nations in an attempt to convince them that Zimbabwe’s actions need reprimands from the Security Council and the U.N. Human Rights Council. In response to testimony regarding the police torture that has occurred in Zimbabwe in past months, many African nations acknowledged the brutality of President Mugabe’s policies, but called the problem an “African problem,” not a problem that endangers international peace and security.

For more information, see here.

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UN Security Council Begins Mission in Kosovo

The U.N. Security Council began its mission in Kosovo this week; the delegation will meet with political leaders to decide whether or not to allow the province to gain independence from Serbia. The Security Council members have crafted their agenda to give equal time to the Albanian majority and the Serbian minority. While most of the Western nations support Kosovar independence, Russia indicated that it may veto the independence plan in favor of more negotiations.

For more information, see here.

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Mercosur to Open First Parliamentary Session in May

The Mercosur Parliament, which was created in December 2006, will hold its inaugural session in Montevideo, Uruguay, beginning May 7. Paraguayan senator Alfonso Gonzalez Acuña will preside over 18 representatives from the five Mercosur member nations—Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela. The Parliament will have an operational monthly budget of US $30,000 for its first year.

For more information, see here.

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UN Secretary-General Warns that Potential Doha Round Failure Will Seriously Harm Developing Countries

In a speech to the Seventh Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade, held in the Doha, Qatar, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world’s poorest countries will slip further behind if the current round of international trade talks fail. Mr. Ban expressed his frustration at the slow pace of progress of the trade talks, and cautioned that unless the trade talks succeed, “serious damage will be done to those who can least afford it, to the multilateral trading system, and to multilateralism itself.

For more information, see here.

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UN Food and Agriculture Organization Expresses Support for Biofuel Production in Rural Areas

At a meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, international experts agreed that bioenergy can be a positive force for rural development as long as environmental and food security concerns are also considered. Biofuels hold the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but often are grown after large tracts of land are cleared for monocultures, risking environmental damage and loss of biodiversity. The head of FAO’s Natural Resource Management Natural Resources Management and Environment Department said, however, that despite these concerns, biofuels can be “an important tool for improving the well-being of rural people.”

For more information, see here.

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Civil Society Committees Created by UNDP in Bolivia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania

In an effort to aid country development by strengthening the relationship between the UN and civil society, the United Nations Development Programme in Bolivia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania have created national civil society committees to work with the United Nations Country Teams.
For more information, see here.

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Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Calls for Convention to Combat Pharmaceutical Crime

On April 20, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on member States to provide for a convention that would define a new offense relating to pharmaceutical crime. Noting that counterfeit medicines affect 10% of the world medicines market and the losses are estimated at about 500 billion euros a year, the Assembly resolved that delineating specific offenses would better enable the prosecution of counterfeiters.

For more information, see here.

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