[JURIST] The Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] released silent footage Sunday from a judicial interrogation last week of six of Saddam Hussein's former lieutenants concerning the killing and deportation of Shiite Kurds and the repression of a Shiite revolt in 1991 after the first Gulf War. Saddam's half-brothers Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti [profile] and Watban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti [profile], three senior Ba'ath party [BBC backgrounder] leaders, and a former paramilitary commander were among those questioned. The interrogations occurred before investigating judges, a defense lawyer, and prosecutors. Earlier this month the Iraqi tribunal released video of Saddam Hussein himself being questioning [JURIST report]. The special court's independence and competence to try Saddam have been criticized, most recently by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari [Wikipedia profile] who blamed the judges [JURIST report] last week for not beginning Saddam's trial sooner after his capture in December 2003. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] and Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] released a joint report [text] Sunday claiming that the Bush administration has violated the material witness law by detaining nearly 70 terrorism suspects since September 11 without enough criminal evidence to keep them. All but one of the detainees were Muslims. The law permits witnesses who could potentially flee prior to testifying in criminal cases to be arrested and detained. The two groups say the law "has been twisted beyond recognition," alleging that just 28 of the 70 suspects held were ultimately charged and 30 had never been called to testify in front of a court or grand jury. The US Department of Justice [official website] has declined to come forward with information on how many times it has used the material witness law. Senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Sen. Patrick Leahy [official website] said he is contemplating proposing legislation to put parameters around the law's usage. Read a preliminary report [PDF] on the abuse of the material witness law by Anjana Malhotra, who also authored the advocacy report released Sunday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Hammam Hammoudi, head of the drafting committee for the permanent Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive], has said that 80% of the draft is completed and he anticipates the August 15 target date will be met with a national ratification referendum to follow as scheduled in October. An arbitration committee has been created to deal with conflicting issues that remain, such as the decision on whether to include the word "federation" in the constitution or revert back to the Iraqi Republic title. Hammoudi's announcement comes two days after President Bush said he was sticking to the August 15 draft deadline [JURIST report]. The drafting commission includes 55 Shiites and Kurds and 15 Sunnis who were added last week [JURIST report]. UPI has more.

[JURIST] Legislation to criminalize sexual harassment was presented Sunday to the Standing Committee [Wikipedia backgrounder] of China's National People's Congress [official website in Chinese]. The draft amendment to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women [text], designed to protect women's rights, mandates that no one shall be allowed to subject women to sexual harassment and all employers shall take measures against sexual harassment in working places. The proposed amendment is said to be part of a larger initiative to give legal recognition to gender equality In China. AFP has more. China Daily has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Jerusalem District Court Sunday approved the city's annual gay pride parade, clearing the way for an international gay pride event [Jerusalem World Pride 2005 factsheet] later this summer. The parade, planned for this Thursday, had caused a divide in the deeply religious capital city. Opponents, including Jews for Morality, had sent an open letter [text] to city officials voicing objection, while supporters had petitioned Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski [Ynet news report] to allow the march. Jerusalem city officials said last Thursday that the parade would be banned [JURIST report], prompting legal action. The court said Sunday that a ban was outside the city's jurisdiction, and that the mayor could not cancel the parade simply because he did not agree with the marchers. The ruling directed the city and the mayor personally to cover the organizers' legal expenses. The Jerusalem Post has more.

[JURIST] Leading Syrian human rights activist Aktham Naisse [Human Rights First profile], was acquitted of all charges by a Syrian State Security Court Sunday. Naisse, chairman of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, was arrested in 2004 and charged with spreading false information and forming an underground association after publishing a report on human rights and leading a campaign to end 40 years of emergency law in Syria, which greatly limits freedom of expression, association, and assembly. He was later released on bail [JURIST report], AP has more. Earlier this month the congress of Syria's ruling Baath party called for political reforms and a broadening of press freedom in an effort to move away from the emergency law [JURIST report], in place since the party took power in 1963.

[JURIST] After visiting the Guantanamo Bay detention center Saturday [JURIST report], House Republicans and Democrats reported that conditions at the facility are improving. The lawmakers traveled to the detention facility to witness interrogations and observe living conditions of the suspected terrorists. Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) [official website] said that "[t]he Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago". The visits come amid mounting pressure from human rights groups and some lawmakers to pierce the veil of secrecy surrounding conditions at the camp [JURIST news archive], and end the use of torture techniques. A Senate visit is scheduled for Sunday. AP has more.