[JURIST] The Iranian Judiciary [official website] detained a number of people on suspicion of election violations Saturday, a day after Iran's presidential election and six days before the top two candidates face each other in a runoff vote. President Bush has criticized the Iranian presidential elections as undemocratic [BBC report], joining multiple human rights organizations concerned over the exclusion of all but two reformist candidates [JURIST report]. Candidates themselves alleged improprieties in Friday's original vote [BBC report], which resulted in a surprisingly close second-place finish for conservative Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [Wikipedia profile] behind moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [Wikipedia profile]. Iranmania News has more.

[JURIST] The Sudanese leadership in Khartoum signed an accord Saturday with the National Democratic Alliance [official website, in English and Arabic], a group of 13 opposition parties. The agreement, hailed by Sudanese President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir [Wikipedia profile] as the "backbone of Sudanese unity", offers concessions to northern groups traditionally opposed to al-Bashir's regime. The agreement comes only days after the commencement of a domestic tribunal on war crimes [JURIST report] related to massive violence in the Darfur region [JURIST news archive]. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Prisoners released from the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and returned to their home countries should be closely monitored to prevent their torture at the hands of their governments, according to a group of lawyers, activists, and family members speaking Saturday. A statement issued jointly with Amnesty International [official website] called on the United States to work with the home countries of detainees (especially those in the Middle East) on disclosing the names of released prisoners as well as ensuring their access to lawyers and the Red Cross. This concern for ex-detainees' safety echoes the rationale behind a recent Bush administration decision to delay the repatriation of some detainees [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Thirteen refugees being held in immigration detention centers in Australia inflicted wounds upon themselves Saturday, protesting recent reforms in Australia's immigration policies [JURIST report] that stop short of freeing all "unauthorised arrivals" currently imprisoned in refugee camps. The Australian Immigration Department [official website] confirmed that one woman had attempted suicide and a dozen men cut themselves on razor wire surrounding the Villawood Detention Center in Sydney, but none of the 13 have died. Anti-detention advocacy groups such as the Refugee Council [official website] have criticized Australia's immigration policy as unduly restrictive, granting only 15% of asylum applications in 1998 [statistics page]. The Australian government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has already launched an inquiry into the practice of detaining undocumented children. AFP has more. Read a report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's Report on its recent visit to Australian detention camps for immigrants here [PDF].

[JURIST] Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack [official profile] announced Friday that he will sign an order on July 4 to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences. The decision will end a system that had disqualified one out of every four black Iowans from voting [Sentencing Project backgrounder, PDF]. In total, the order will reinstate the voting rights of approximately 80,000 ex-felons. Read the Governor's press release and watch recorded video of his press conference. The New York Times has more. The Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law provides background on felony disenfranchisement in all 50 states.

[JURIST] The Palestinian parliament voted Saturday to pass a new law creating an electoral system which will allow districts to choose 50% of the lawmakers with the other 50% coming from a list of national party candidates. The new law has opened the door to reschedule the July 17 parliamentary elections which were postponed [JURIST report] earlier this month by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile]. Abbas' decision seemed to be an attempt to allow his Fateh party [party website in Arabic] time to bolster their power against opposing Islamic Hamas [Wikipedia profile]. AP has more.

[JURIST] CardSystems Solutions, Inc. [corporate website] said Friday that the FBI told them to refrain from releasing any informing regarding a security breach [JURIST report] which potentially exposed over 40 million cardholders to fraud. CardSystems said they first discovered the breach on May 22 [press release] and were surprised by MasterCard's decision to inform its customers in light of the FBI's recommendation. MasterCard [corporate website] released a statement Friday saying that approximately 13.9 million of the cards belonged to its customers and the rest were other brands. AP has more.

[JURIST] Spc. Sean Baker, an ex-US military policeman, has sued the Pentagon alleging that his constitutional rights were violated during an assault by fellow soldiers [JURIST report] in a January 2003 training session that went awry in Guantanamo Bay. Baker voluntarily dressed in an orange jumpsuit and was told to act as an unruly detainee in a training drill that occurred in a separate wing for al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners who had attacked US MPs. He was told that the fellow soldiers knew he was an American, but a beating ensued that has caused him severe brain injuries and he has since been placed on medical leave. None of the soldiers has been disciplined after the Army's Criminal Investigation Division [official website] concluded no one was to blame for the incident. Baker has sued for $15 million and demands a reinstatement to serve in the US Army. The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] The US Conference of Catholic Bishops [official website] Friday voted to extend a policy to ban abusive priests from working in the church by a margin of 228-4. The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People [policy], originally written in 2002, has prompted the removal of hundreds of clergy accused of abusing children during the last three years. The conference did amend other sections of the charter such as the "watchdog" National Review Board [official website] which will remain under the bishops' oversight and has the potential of including clergy in the future. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) [official website] has criticized the policy and the changes made [statement] saying the Catholic church should not be entrusted to discipline their own. The 5-year extension is expected to receive Vatican approval. AP has more.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has spoken out [press release] against the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 [PDF text], passed by the US House of Representatives [JURIST report] on Friday, which will cut 50% of US dues to the organization if the UN does not meet certain reform goals. The UN's 60th General Assembly Summit [agenda] is scheduled to be held in New York this September to discuss changes proposed by the Secretary-General, and Annan said late Friday US withholding of dues would not be a "productive route to achieving reform and it could jeopardize the outcome of the September summit." The Reform bill suggests among other things that funds should be taken from the UN public information office and instead put toward areas such as investigating alleged internal wrongdoing like the Oil-for-Food scandal [JURIST news archive] that has plagued the UN in recent months. The US Mission to the UN [official website] also offers a factsheet on UN reforms supported by the United States [PDF]. AFP has more.