- Protests and celebrations commemorate International Workers’ Day around the world. [NPR, AP] For information on international labor standards and agreements, visit the International Labour Organization’s website.
- Omar Khadr boycotted the second day of his Military Commission evidentiary hearings yesterday when he was required to wear sensory deprivation equipment while being transported to the courthouse [Impunity Watch]
- the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia denied three defendants’ appeals for release from preventive detention yesterday. All three former Khmer Rouge leaders have been in detention since November 2007. [UN News Centre, ECCC] Decisions here, here and here. See more on internationalized criminal tribunals here.
- Hawaii recognizes same-sex civil unions [Impunity Watch]
- Human Rights Watch criticizes Bahrain court’s conviction of 19 based on evidence obtained through torture [Human Rights Watch]
- UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to host International Workshop on enhancing cooperation between regional and international mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights on May 3 [OHCHR]
- the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries calls on States to support new convention to establish broader protections against abuses committed by private security contractors [OHCHR]
- two sentenced in 2005 murder of environmental activist, Dorothy Stang, who had been aiding indigenous farmers in Brazil. [Impunity Watch] Read the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ decision in a similar case, involving the murder of Honduran environmental activist Jeannette Kawas here.