Today, hundreds gathered in Freetown, Sierra Leone to watch the sentencing of Charles Taylor, the former head of state of Liberia responsible for widespread terror amongst civilians by aiding the rebels in Sierra Leone. Taylor was found guilty of all 11 charges of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity, and International Humanitarian Laws on April 26^th in The Hague, Netherlands.  As his 50 year prison sentence was administered concluding the almost four-year-long trial, many victims of the terror in Sierra Leone were relieved to know Taylor will be locked up. The trial of Charles Taylor is not simply a victory for the international court systems and those victimized by the rebels aided by Taylor, it is a message to the rest of the world that the international justice system is prepared to hold all parties responsible for breaches of human rights.

 Taylor will serve his sentence in a British prison for aiding and abetting vast crimes against humanity by rebel forces in Sierra Leone and his personal profiting from the "blood diamonds".  The judgment and sentencing through The Special Court for Sierra Leone is a monumental step in the international court system as a former head of state has not been convicted for war crimes since the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.

Over the past six decades of its rule, the Chinese government has gained a well-deserved reputation for a disturbing lack of regard for the human rights of its citizens. In light of this reality, it is hardly surprising that, in its annual report on global human rights practices, released this past week, the US State Department directed some harsh criticisms towards the Chinese government for its various human rights abuses.

Given its historically poor track record on the issue, the Chinese government has a fairly low bar to clear when it comes to making "progress" in the arena of human rights. Nonetheless, according to the State Department report, 2011 saw a continued "deterioration" of the country's human rights situation. Among the litany of abuses highlighted by the report:

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations resumed a markup of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, setting their priorities for spending on Foreign Affairs for the 2013 fiscal year.  This was an important and revealing moment for the Senate because what they designate money for in the international affairs budget shows where their foreign policy priorities lay.  The Senate showed a much stronger commitment to international development and human rights than the House did, and we applaud them for that.

Fortunately, the Senate bill provides $1.6 billion for Contributions to International Organizations (CIO), which is slightly above the level requested by the President.  However, for contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA), the bill provides $2 billion for UN peacekeeping, which is $100 million less than the President's request.

One glaring issue with the Senate bill is the question of funding for UNESCO.  Due to an almost 20-year-old law, the United States is barred from contributing to UNESCO because of the recent vote that made Palestine its newest member.

It was not unexpected, but the news was still dispiriting and depressing. Yesterday, the United Nation's Secretary General's top lawyer effectively put the brakes on a resolution which would have, among other things, urged the five permanent members of the Security Council (known as the P-5) to refrain from using their veto power to prevent U.N. action in situations where genocide or mass atrocities are threatening civilian lives.

The resolution had been proposed by a group of nations termed the "S-5", or small five, in contrast to the veto-wielding P-5 countries. The S-5 group--Costa Rica, Liechtenstein, Jordan, Singapore and Switzerland--had called for a vote on a resolution to urge the Council to reform the way it works, allow more scrutiny of its actions, and, most significantly for those civilians suffering from oppression by regimes such as Syria and Bahrain, hold off on using their veto when atrocities are being committed and the lives of innocent people are at stake.