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	Turks protest "no conspiracy" ruling in journalist"s murder by Agence France Presse Turkey   Jan 2012   Thousands of people gathered in Istanbul on Thursday to pay tribute to ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and to protest a court ruling that his murder was not planned as part of a wider conspiracy.   "Murderer state will account for this," and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism," chanted the crowd near the central Taksim Square before marching to the offices of Dink"s newspaper for a silent vigil on the fifth anniversary of his murder.   Television reports said around 20,000 people joined the demonstration.   A leading member of Turkey"s tiny Armenian community, Dink, 52, was shot dead in broad daylight on January 19, 2007, outside the offices of his Armenian-Turkish bilingual weekly newspaper Agos.   Dink had campaigned for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and his assassination sent shockwaves through Turkey, growing into a wider scandal following reports that state security forces had known of a plot to kill him but failed to act.   The crowd, including Dink"s widow Rakel and his children, carried two large black banners declaring "We will not forget" and "We will not forgive."   Many demonstrators also carried placards saying "We are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians," in Turkish and Armenian.   Dink"s self-confessed murderer Ogun Samast, who shot the journalist in the back of the head, was a jobless high-school dropout and 17 years old at the time. He was sentenced to nearly 23 years in jail in July.   On Tuesday an Istanbul court sentenced Yasin Hayal, 31, to life in prison for inciting the murder.   But the court acquitted more than a dozen other suspects, ruling that there was no wider plot to kill Dink, who had angered nationalists with his views on Turkish-Armenian history, as alleged by his supporters.   "They surrounded us with lies. It has been like this for five years and they finally gave us two people and asked us to be content with them," journalist Karin Karakasli told the crowd.   Dink"s family is seeking a deeper investigation to uncover state officials who were allegedly involved the murder.   Demonstrators on Thursday left red carnations and lit candles at the spot where Dink was shot, while the words "Hrant Dink was murdered here" were written on the pavement.   President Abdullah Gul described the trial as a test for Turkey.   "It is an important test for us that this trial process should be concluded in the most transparent way and in harmony with our laws," Mr Gul told the media.   Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government did its best to help solve the murder.   "I see that public consciousness is not satisfied," he said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday. "There have been various expectations (about the case). It is possible to share some of them but I cannot join them in general."   The chief judge in the case, Justice Rustem Eryilmaz, also expressed doubts about his own verdict, saying that any "connections" between the culprits and the state could not be clearly established before the trial.   "However, this is the only decision we could take, according to the available evidence," Justice Eryilmaz told private news channel NTV.
	Access to Justice: Human Rights Abuses involving Corporations by International Commission of Jurists China   Access to justice and effective legal remedies are crucial elements in the protection of human rights in the context of business activities.   It is also relevant to the work of judges and lawyers who promote the rule of law and human rights. Despite its importance, access to justice is hindered by a number of obstacles unique to corporate human rights abuses.   The study of state practices in providing access to justice reveals the potential of existing instruments to ensure this right. Scrutiny of state practices in this area will help the international community in its quest for new answers to the challenge of transnational corporate human rights abuse.   This study examines how the Chinese legal order can both limit and aid access to justice for victims of corporate human rights abuses. Although the Chinese legal system has established liability for corporations, in regard to the legal remedies available, claimants face a number of obstacles preventing them from obtaining fair, timely and effective adjudication of their claims.   Case studies relating to mining, internet censorship and contaminated food products provide palpable illustrations of these obstacles, evidencing that the legal and political reforms in China are lagging behind the economic and market reforms. Judges lack independence to adjudicate, especially in politically sensitive cases, and the legal profession faces severe limitations. Class action and public interest litigation remain undeveloped, the availability of legal aid is limited, and the law concerning the piercing of the corporate veil has not yet been tested in a human rights case. These factors together make victims’ search for justice a daunting task. The study concludes by offering recommendations to improve access to justice in China for victims of human rights abuse by corporations.   * Note the link below is to a 100 page PDF document. Visit the related web page
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