[JURIST] Leaders of both parties brought race into the equation Thursday in the continuing Senate floor fight over President Bush's judicial nominees [JURIST report] and the Senate's own filibuster rules. GOP Majority Leader Bill Frist [official website] held a news conference accompanied by the chairman of a group of black pastors, Bishop Harry Jackson, who admonished the Democratic party for disparaging treatment of federal appeals court nominee Janice Rogers Brown [court profile]. Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid [official website] meanwhile said that doing away with the filibuster is "nothing short of clearing the trees for the confirmation of an unacceptable nominee to the Supreme Court." Reid joined leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus in a letter to Frist urging Republicans not to upset traditional checks and balances [Reid remarks announcing letter]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge issued a second 10-day restraining order Thursday blocking US congressional efforts to obtain documents that former investigator Robert Parton took with him when he resigned his role [JURIST report] in the probe of the UN Oil-for-Food Program [official website]. A United Nations-appointed committee independently investigating the program agreed to the delay after discussing the matter with the two congressional committees requesting the documents. No agreement had been forthcoming during the lifetime of the initial 10 day-restaining order [JURIST report] issued last week. Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker [Wikipedia profile] is heading the probe and says release of the documents will jeopardize his investigation and the lives of witnesses. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nine individuals have been served search warrants as part of the federal investigation into the theft of over 300,000 personal records [JURIST report] taken during a digital break-in of LexisNexis Inc. [corporate website] disclosed earlier this year. Personal computers and discs were removed from several locations including the homes of individuals involved in the breach. A law enforcement source confirmed that the break-in began when hackers sent out a surge of emails containing a virus, which allowed them to record the keystrokes typed by all recipients of the junk mail. One police officer opened the infected mail and later logged onto the police department's Accurint [corporate website] account, a LexisNexis service provided by acquired subsidiary Seisint Inc. [LexisNexis press release on acquisition of Seisint], which provides access to consumer data. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Rwandan Defense Minister General Marcel Gatsinzi apologized Thursday before a Gacaca court [Wikipedia backgrounder] for taking part in the country's 1994 genocide [BBC backgrounder]. Minister Gatsinzi is the first high-ranking official to request a pardon for his role in the genocidal regime amidst accusations by survivors claiming he provided arms to support the militias. Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website] has requested that all governmental officials implicated in the genocide give testimonies before the Gacaca court. Xinhuanet has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's international brief, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [Wikipedia profile] has refused to sign a controversial bill that would have severely limited the rights of NGOs to act in Zimbabwe [government website], according to newspaper reports. The Non-Governmental Organisations Bill [Human Rights Watch backgrounder] was passed by the Zimbabwean Parliament [JURIST report] last year and was simply awaiting the signature of the president to be made into law. The Bill would prohibit foreign rights groups from acting in Zimbabwe, as well as outlawing all local rights groups that receive outside funding. Opposition groups and human rights advocates had lobbied fiercely against the bill's passage. Zimbabwean Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche told newspapers that the president had refused to sign it because of "one or two issues he wanted to be addressed" but did not clarify what those issues were. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe [official profile in French], elected in the recent heavily contested elections [JURIST report] in Togo [government website in French], met with opposition leaders in Nigeria for a regional summit Thursday to discuss plans to form a unity government. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [official profile] is hosting the event as part of African Union and ECOWAS pressure for the West African nation to quell the outbreaks of protesting and violence that has occurred since the end of the election which has resulted in thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, including Ghana and Benin, whose presidents attended the summit. The European Union Parliament recently announced that it considered the Togo elections to be invalid due to election fraud. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Togo [JURIST news archive]. Republique Togolaise, the state information service, has local coverage in French. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The Kenyan National Security Minister announced Thursday that Kenya [government website] has approved the deployment of 842 military personnel to be included in the UN Mission in Sudan [official website] peacekeeping force. The troops comprise a significant portion of the nearly 10,000 troops authorized for the peacekeeping force [JURIST report] by the UN Security Council [official website] under Resolution 1590 [official PDF text]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

[JURIST] The leaders of French, Germany, and Poland banded together Thursday in defense of the EU Constitution [text] just ten days before the French vote on the document. French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerard Schroeder, and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski have joined forces after a meeting in eastern France, where concern over the French passage of the Constitution dominated the agenda. The Constitution, formally ratified by Spain on Wednesday [JURIST report], has received mixed support in France [JURIST report], and German politicians have already visited the country [JURIST report] to campaign for the Constitution's passage in the May 29 referendum. French defeat of the pact would make constitutional ratification impossible, as all 25 member states of the EU must pass it. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Three hedge-fund managers must pay $2.4M to settle charges that the companies used illegal stock trading tactics to profit off 22 other companies. Galleon Management LP, Oaktree Capital Management LLC and DB Investment Managers Inc. were alleged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] to have violated Rule 105 [text], an anti-manipulation rule that the SEC says

prohibits covering a short sale with securities obtained in a follow-on offering if the short sale occurred within five business days before the pricing of that offering. The rule is designed to prevent funds from improperly profiting by selling short with the expectation that they will cover that short position with lower priced shares obtained from the offering. Such short sales can play a major role in contributing to a decrease in a follow-on offering’s share price, and can ultimately reduce an issuer’s proceeds from the deal by millions of dollars

in total, the respondents had violated Rule 105 in connection with twenty-two follow-on offerings of seasoned issuers, resulting in ill-gotten gains in the amount of $1,040,882 for Galleon, $169,773 for Oaktree and $15,585 for DB Investment Managers. On some occasions, Galleon and Oaktree engaged in so-called “sham” transactions. In these situations, funds created large short positions within the Rule 105 restricted period, purchased shares in a follow-on offering and then engaged in further transactions or trading practices to make it appear that the trading complied with Rule 105, when in fact it did not.

[JURIST] Real IRA [BBC backgrounder] member Sean Gerard Hoey faces 61 new charges connected to the 1998 Omagh bombing [BBC backgrounder] which killed 29 people and injured over 300. Hoey was already faced murder charges [JURIST report] for his involvement in the bombing, the worst single atrocity in all of Northern Ireland's "troubles". The crime had remained largely unsolved due to the improper handling of evidence [JURIST report]. Hoey's lawyer has announced his intention to enter an abuse of process application over the unacceptable amount of time between being questioned about the bombing and his indictment, a period of seven years. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Anti-Castro Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles [Wikipedia profile] was been charged by US immigration officials Thursday with illegally entering the country. Carriles, wanted in Venezuela and Cuba for his alleged connection to a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airline bounds for Caracas, could potentially be deported from the US. Venezuela's Vice-President assured the US Wednesday [JURIST report] that if Carriles were extradited to Venezuela he would not be sent on to Cuba, but would rather stand trial. Carriles was arrested in Miami Tuesday [JURIST report] after slipping into the US about two months ago. He is currently being held without bail pending an immigration hearing set for June 13. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Ohio Supreme Court [official website] ruled Thursday that the four lawyers who filed a claim citing widespread fraud in the 2004 presidential election should not be punished. Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro [official website] had attempted to file a suit against the lawyers, stating that they filed a "meritless claim" against the state's 2004 voting procedures [OAG press release], which essentially won the national election for George W. Bush. The lawyers represented 37 voters [JURIST report] who allegedly had evidence to prove the widespread fraudulence of the election, although these claims were later withdrawn. The court allows election-related complaints to be decided by a single justice, and Chief Justice Thomas Moyer [official profile] wrote the opinion [PDF text], where he stated that "The General Assembly could have expressly authorized courts to sanction those who pursue frivolous election contests. It has not." AP has more.

[JURIST] Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] Thursday announced their opposition to a provisional release of Kosovo's former prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, pending trial. Albanian Haradinaj, who had pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] on 37 counts of war crimes [ICTY indictment], was a former senior commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army [FAS backgrounder] alleged to have committed war crimes during the 1998-99 war against the Serbs in Kosovo. Kosovo's government has offered legal aid to Haradinaj and echoed his call for provisional release. Haradinaj was released briefly in April under tight restrictions to attend the funeral of his brother [JURIST report], who was shot in an apparent ambush in Kosovo. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers Thursday finalized a pool of 12 jurors and 10 alternates for the trial of former University of South Florida computer science professor and Palestinian human right activist Sami Al-Arian [defense website, Wikipedia profile; United Faculty of Florida backgrounder] on charges that he financed terrorism [JURIST report]. The defense had originally asked for a change of venue [AP report] from Tampa, claiming that local media coverage and politics had tainted the jury pool, but questioning produced 89 candidates from which a satisfactory jury was chosen. Opening arguments are scheduled for June 6. AP has more.

[JURIST] The alleged sole survivor of a group responsible for the Beslan school hostage crisis [Wikipedia backgrounder] which last September led to the deaths of 344 people, including at least 172 children, pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Russian court sitting in the southern Russian republic of North Ossetia where the hostage-taking occured. Nur-Pashi Kulayev faces life in prison if convicted. He admits participating in the attack but denies killing anyone [JURIST report]. AFP has more. From Russia, MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] Pfc. Lynndie England [Wikipedia profile] will be back in court next week for a second Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder] in advance of a possible new trial at Fort Hood [JURIST report]. Earlier this month a judge threw out her guilty plea in her first trial for her role in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, starting the military charging and legal review process all over again. Her latest Article 32 hearing - broadly similar to a civilian grand jury hearing - gets underway Tuesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Testifying before the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee [official site], FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism John Lewis said at a hearing [agenda and testimony] Wednesday that environmental and animal rights groups that have turned to arson and explosives are the nation's top domestic terrorism threat [transcript]. He mentioned the Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front, and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty [Wikipedia backgrounders] specifically. Panel chairman Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) [official website] said he wants to examine how these groups receive funding. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed a $34 billion Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act [full text], which provides funding for anti-terrorism programs and an overhaul of the current terrorism warning system [DHS backgrounder]. If the bill becomes law, it will limit the scope of future terrorism warnings to geographic regions and scrap the color-coded alert level structure entirely. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A senior military prosecutor on Wednesday took the unusual step of publicly criticizing a military investigator's recommendation not to court-martial [JURIST report] 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano [defense website] for the deaths of two Iraqis during a search for a terrorist hideout. Maj. Stephen Keane, senior trial counsel for the Marines, said that prosectors at Pantano's Article 32 hearing earlier this month made a valid case that the shootings were unnecessary. AP has more.

[JURIST] The verdict-reading [JURIST report] for Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website] continued into its fourth day Thursday, with the court saying that its sentencing would use less strict guidelines [Interfax report], possibly suggesting a lighter sentence for Khodorkovsky than the 10 years suggested by prosecutors. The court has now adjourned again until Friday, with still no word on whether it considers the statute of limitations to have expired on the final auction-rigging charge. CNN has more.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] warned Wednesday that the outcry over a retracted Newsweek story [JURIST report] about religious abuse at Guantanamo is overshadowing genuine incidents where US personnel at the base intentionally offended the religious beliefs of Muslim detainees and desecrated the Koran. The group argued that the violent outrage over the story would not have been so strong if it weren't for the US government's "extensive" abuse and failure to investigate incidents. AFP has more. The International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC website] also says it documented similar abuse [Chicago Tribune report] of the Muslim holy book at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 and 2003.

[JURIST] With uncertainty looming in France, former French president and architect of the European Constitution Valery Giscard D'Estaing [Wikipedia profile] warned on Thursday that there could be no renegotiation of the treaty if French voters reject it in a referendum on May 29. Spain's government ratified the document Wednesday [JURIST report] after strong support in a non-binding public referendum and an official vote by the country's senate. But in France, the issue is much more divided [Times report], with "non" forces in the lead in most polls. A recent UK poll suggests serious opposition [JURIST report] to the constitution there as well. All 25 EU member nations must ratify the pact for it to come into effect. Questions have been raised as to whether the UK would bother to go ahead with a referendum if the French vote failed, but British ministers speaking Wednesday said although French rejection would present a problem [Guardian report] they had undertaken an obligation and would meet it unless EU authorities indicated otherwise. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Officials on Wednesday said a proposal is on the table that would allow the FBI greater access to business records without requiring judicial approval. After consultations with the Bush administration, Republican leaders of the US Senate Committee on Intelligence [official website] have proposed allowing the FBI to subpoena records from businesses without a judge's approval if it was declared necessary to a terrorism investigation. The legislation is part of a broader plan designed to make permanent some provisions of the Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] that expire at the end of this year. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Republicans on the US House Armed Services Committee [official website] early Thursday backed off on an amendment to a defense bill that would have further limited women's participation in military operations, instead adopting the language of a Pentagon policy that bans women from direct ground combat roles. The amendment [PDF Washington Post report] would have banned women from support units [AP report] as well. Committee Democrats [PDF letter opposing amendment], as well as the Army, said the original amendment was too broad and would have negative effects. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] UN legal experts met with Indonesian leaders Thursday to launch an inquiry [JURIST report] into the violence and pro-Indonesian militia killings that followed the 1999 independence vote in East Timor [Wikipedia backgrounder] and eventually led to the territory's emergence in 2002 as a fully independent state under the name of Timor-Leste [government website], after a brief period of direct UN administration [UNTEAT website]. The UN is concerned because so far almost all of the defendants tried for their role in the disturbances in Indonesian courts have been acquitted. Others have not faced trial [Washington Post report]. Indonesia and Timor-Leste recently set up a Commission on Truth and Friendship [terms of reference] to review issues related to the 1999 violence, but the Commission, which starts work in August, is not authorized to punish perpetrators. Reuters has more. Meanwhile, the last UN peacekeepers [UMISET website] will leave East Timor on Friday. A scaled-down down staff will remain for another year. AP has more.