[JURIST] A pro-government Harare paper said Wednesday that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe told reporters that special UN envoy Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka confessed to him that she was under pressure to produce an unfavorable report on the 6-week government ordered demolition of illegal homes and businesses in the nation, also known as "Operation Murambatsvina" or (in English) "Operation Restore Order" [JURIST report]. Tibaijuka's report [PDF], released Friday, indicates that thousands of structures were destroyed and nearly 700,000 people were left homeless. During a UN Security Council briefing [UN News report; press briefing] on the report Wednesday, Tibaijuka defended the integrity of her report and insisted it was "objective" and that the "methodology used is all spelled out". Access video of today's briefing here. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman [defense website] will go before a general court-martial at Fort Stewart, Georgia, Thursday on charges of desertion and missing movement [JURIST report] after he failed to report for his unit's deployment flight to Iraq on January 7. In April, the Army denied Benderman's application for Conscientious Objector status [Online Journal report], a move that would have allowed him to receive discharge based on his firm objection to war "because of deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs." Last week the presiding judge in the case threw out [AP report] recently-added larceny charges [JURIST report]. Benderman has waived his right to a jury trial, and if convicted faces up to seven years in prison and dishonorable discharge. AP has more.

[JURIST] Updating a story previously reported in JURIST's Paper Chase, police in south London's Stockwell area arrested three women late Wednesday for allegedly harboring several suspects in last week's failed London bomb attacks [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Sen. Patrick Leahy [official website] (D-VT) said Wednesday that notwithstanding White House warnings, Democrats plan to request additional legal writings by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, including work he produced during his tenure as principal deputy solicitor general in President George H.W. Bush's administration. The White House said earlier this week [press briefing text] that any work Roberts produced during private practice or for the government was produced on behalf of clients, and therefore protected by attorney-client privilege. Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) insist that Democrats are "still digging and hoping" to uncover something on Roberts that might stall the nomination process. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) [corporate website] has announced that the SEC approved a new rule requiring firms to better inform clients about non-managed fee-based accounts (NMFBA). NYSE Rule 405(A) forces all companies traded on the NYSE to provide clients with information about different NMFBA programs available before the client opens a fee-based account. In a memo, the NYSE defined NMFBA programs as accounts where "no investment advisory services are provided by the member or member organization and in which the customer is charged a fixed fee and/or a percentage of account value, rather than transaction-based commissions." Reuters has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• Nine states have filed suit against RJ Reynolds [corporate website] for misleading advertisements. The advertisements are for the company's Eclipse brand of cigarettes, which the company says may be less dangerous than ordinary cigarettes [Reynolds' study]. A press release from Vermont's attorney general--who filed the lawsuit--says that the states have been investigating the company's claims for over a year. AP has more.
  
  
• A private-sector panel created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to oversee auditors of public companies has voted to adopt a ban that would prevent auditors from advising clients to use aggressive tax shelters. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [official website] (PCAOB) voted unanimously to approve the ban, which must now go before the SEC for review. Tax-shelters were once big business for auditing firms but the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley and recent corporate scandals have scared large auditing firms away. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The SEC is investigating the American Stock Exchange [corporate website] requirements for so-called blank check companies. The companies, known as specified purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), do not have products or revenue but only exist to raise money for future business. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's states brief, the California Supreme Court today overturned a lower court and ordered that state voters will be given the opportunity to vote on Proposition 80 during a November 8th special election [California Secretary of State election website] to decide whether California should reregulate its power market. The Independent Energy Producers Association [website] had filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Proposition 80 from the ballot on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional validity of Proposition 80 "need not and should not be determined prior to November 8." The ruling reversed the Court of Appeals which ordered [PDF text] the measure off the ballot. Reuters has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The California Supreme Court [official website] agreed Wednesday to review an appellate court ruling that reinstated a second-degree murder conviction for a woman whose dogs fatally mauled a neighbor. The First District Court of Appeal reinstated the conviction, ruling [PDF text] that the trial judge erred in concluding the defendant had to know the dogs would kill to sustain a murder conviction. The court ordered the decision to be analyzed under a standard of whether the defendant disregarded a known risk that the dogs presented. The trial judge had reduced the jury's murder conviction to manslaughter. AP has more.
  
  
• The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that the state cannot require American Indians living on reservations to register as predatory offenders because the state's predatory-offender registration law [text] is civil and regulatory in nature. The decision [text] affirmed a lower-court ruling which found Congress had limited the state's jurisdiction on reservations in Minnesota and other states to matters of criminal law. It is undecided whether the decision will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. AP has more.
  
  
• The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled [PDF text] that owners of private beaches, whether businesses or homeowners, must make some of the dry sand above the high-tide line available to the public. For the majority, Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz wrote, "The public trust doctrine requires the Atlantis [beach] property to be open to the general public at a reasonable fee for the services provided by the owner and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection." Department of Environmental Protection [official website] Commissioner Bradley Campbell said, "The ruling should send a strong signal to the towns that have fought public access that it is time to comply with the law." Over a quarter of the beaches on New Jersey's 127 miles of coastline are privately owned. New Jersey's Star-Ledger has local coverage.

[JURIST] Police in Britain have confirmed that Yasin Hassan Omar, a Somali citizen with British residency, was among four men arrested when he was subdued with a stun gun after officers raided a home [JURIST report] in Birmingham early Wednesday morning. Authorities said the 24-year-old Omar, a suspect in the failed July 21 bombing attacks [JURIST report], was being taken to London's high-security Paddington Green police station, while the other three men arrested were being held elsewhere. Read a trabscript of a London Metropolitan Police press statement on the arrest. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] has hinted that he might not support Timothy Flanigan, President Bush's pick for Deputy Attorney General, if Flanigan is not willing to allow proper Congressional oversight of his role. Flanigan, formerly Deputy Counsel to the President and Alberto Gonzales' number two when he was at the White House, is currently senior vice president and general counsel for Tyco International [Tyco press release]. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing [agenda] Tuesday Specter said his support for Flanigan will hinge on his "understanding of oversight". While it's still too soon to tell if this means a struggle or even defeat for Flanigan, the comments are indicative of growing frustration from Republicans in Congress about the Bush administration's general reluctance to allow effective oevrsight of executive branch business, especially related to the war on terror. The most recent example is the White House opposition to Guantanamo detainee legislation [JURIST report] being proposed by two Republican senators. Flanigan also answered questions about torture and interrogation policies [New York Times report]. The Chicago Tribune has more.

[JURIST] A French court Wednesday found 13 individuals and companies in the Mont Blanc tunnel disaster [Wikipedia backgrounder] trial [JURIST report] guilty of manslaughter, with former French head of tunnel security Gerard Roncoli receiving a six month prison sentence. Gilbert Degrave, the driver whose truck ignited the deadly March 1999 fire that killed 39 people, received a four month suspended jail term. The court dismissed the charges against Sweden's Volvo Group [corporate website], which made the vehicle involved, finding no evidence of a design flaws in the lorry. Two individuals were also acquitted. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The former warden of Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive], Maj. David Dinenna, testified at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday for two Army dog handlers accused of using the animals to abuse detainees [JURIST report] that the US Department of Defense sent trainers to the prison to teach soldiers how to use dogs in interrogations. His testimony bolstered defense claims by the two soldiers that their actions were in response to official orders and not unauthorized, isolated incidents. A ruling on how to proceed with the case is expected to come within two weeks. AP has more.

[JURIST] Five people were sentenced on Wednesday by a French court for their role in a child sex ring after one of the biggest criminal trials in the country's history [JURIST report]. Since March, 66 defendants have been on trial on charges of abusing 45 children. A man, his son, and his son's ex-girlfriend accused of hosting most of the abuse received sentences of 28, 18, and 16 years in prison, respectively. Two brothers involved were sentenced to 28 and 26 years in prison. The jury deliberated for over a month and verdict readings are expected to be lengthy. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Ahmed Ressam [Wikipedia profile], known as the "millennium bomber" for plotting to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve 1999 [CBC timeline], was sentenced to 22 years in prison by federal judge John Coughenour Wednesday. US border officials caught the 38-year-old Algerian with nitroglycerin in the trunk of his rented car after he arrived in Port Angeles, Washington, on a ferry from Victoria, BC in Canada about two weeks before the new year. Ressam initially cooperated with authorities but stopped in 2003 and prosecutors said his failure to cooperate further weakened their case against Rachid Boukhalfa, known as Abou Doha, a radical Muslim cleric who allegedly masterminded the plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport. Ressam will receive credit for the more than five years he has already spent in jail. CBC news has more.

[JURIST] US-based rights group Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] has issued a new report [text] detailing accusations of police torture in Nigeria [press release]. Nigeria responded with a sharp denial, saying in a statement that "[We] can say without fear of contradiction that torture is not routinely practiced in Nigeria". Nigerian officials further said that any reported abuse is investigated and security forces are being reformed to improve human rights conditions. AP has more.

[JURIST] An energy bill likely to pass the US House and Senate this week with the support of President Bush includes over $8.5 billion in tax incentives, loan guarantees, and other subsidies for energy companies. Conservation and efficiency groups are slated to receive $1.3 billion in benefits with another $3 billion earmarked for renewable resources. The bill calls for over $14 billion in energy incentives. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) [official website], the ranking Senate Democrat for the energy negotiations, told reporters that he was disappointed in the cut from the original $3 billion the Senate approved for conservation efforts, but that he would support the bill anyway since, "this is as good a bill as I think we could hope to get." Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) criticized the bill for not doing enough to improve automobile efficiency and reduce dependence on foreign oil. A late amendment to the bill by Rep. Denny Hastert [official website] (R-IL) did provide a tax credit for installing ethanol gas pumps. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Los Angeles Times reported [article] Wednesday that a company of the California Army National Guard [official website] was placed on restricted duty over allegations that members of the unit abused prisoners in Iraq, possibly with a stun gun. Col. David Baldwin, a California National Guard spokesman told the newspaper that investigations have commenced into allegations of mistreatment of detainees by the guard soldiers. Anonymous sources told the LA Times that the investigation appears to deal with allegations an electric stun gun was used on prisoners in the aftermath of an insurgent attack and a soldier claimed that one incident was videotaped. US officials in Iraq had no comment Wednesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Washington Post reported [full text] Wednesday that a far wider range of White House officials than originally known have been interviewed by prosecutors investigating the Valerie Plame leak. The probe has questioned former CIA director George J. Tenet [Wikipedia profile] and deputy director John E. McLaughlin, and former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow. Part of the investigation has also centered around White House blame-shifting for disputed assertions in the 2003 State of the Union address [transcript] that Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear material from Africa. Reports are circulating that White House officials including Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis Libby [Wikipedia profile; JURIST report] and chief presidential adviser Karl Rove [JURIST report] were involved in the Plame leak, but the White House has denied any wrongdoing by either [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday sent 10 cases for suspects in the country's 1994 genocide to Rwandan national courts, citing a need to meet its deadline of completing all trials by 2008. Cases have been transferred before [JURIST report] with the same concerns in mind. The ICTR is conducting 25 trials at the moment, with 16 more scheduled and 14 suspects still at large. Rwanda has called for more high-level suspects to be handed over to the national courts, but the UN refuses to do so unless the country abolishes the death penalty. IRIN has more.

[JURIST] The UN High Commission for Refugees [official website] began airlifting Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan Wednesday amidst concerns for their safety there [JURIST report]. As many as 455 refugees will eventually be relocated [UNHCR press release]. The refugees fled a violent uprising [JURIST report] in May 2005 in the city of Andijan, and the Uzbek government has demanded their return. The UNHCR is stepping in to prevent refugees from being forcibly returned by the Kyrgyz government, warning that expulsions could violate the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Last week's subway shooting death [JURIST report] of a Brazilian man erroneously believed to be a suicide bomber has sparked a debate in Britain over anti-terrorism tactics and racial profiling. Under the Terrorism Act of 2000 [bill text], British police have wide latitude to question, search and detain those suspected of terrorist activities, but UK government studies show that blacks are eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites, and Asians five times more likely. Labour MP Dianne Abbot [official website; press release] said, "we cannot have a situation where non-white men feel that they are at the mercy of a shoot-to-kill policy by the Met because they happen to fit the profile of a terrorist in a superficial way, for instance by carrying a rucksack." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that he hoped Britain would avoid using racial profiling [PakTribune report]. The Washington Post has more. Black Britain has local coverage.

[JURIST] On a surprise visit to Iraq Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] told reporters, "Now's the time to get on with it," regarding the impending August 15 deadline for submitting a new Iraq constitution [JURIST news archive] for an October vote. Rumsfeld also warned that delays in the constitutional process would be "very harmful to the momentum that is necessary" [AFP report] to deflate the insurgency. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Approximately 600 suspected Islamic militants have been arrested in a week-long, nationwide effort by Pakistani security forces. Pakistan officials say that those arrested include 295 people belonging to banned militant groups and 300 others including clerics, prayer leaders, and those believed to have incited anti-Western and sectarian hatred through sermons and literature. Those arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act [JURIST report] may be detained for up to one year without indictment. President Pervez Musharraf [Wikipedia profile] has been accused of conducting the raids to appease Western allies, but government officials maintain the raids are not related to the recent bombings in London [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Select provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 [Wikipedia backgrounder] are scheduled to expire in 2007, and activists disagree on whether or not they should be made permanent. The most debated provision is one that requires certain states, mostly southern, to seek approval from Washington to make specific election changes. A group led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson along with the Urban League and NAACP wants the act extended [Reuters report], and earlier this month Rep. James Sensenbrenner [official website], chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said a 25-year extension will be drafted. But Theodore Shaw, director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund [advocacy website], has warned that making the provisions permanent as some lawmakers propose might lead to the courts declaring them unconstitutional [AP report]. The Baltimore Sun has more.

[JURIST] Republican members of the Senate Judiciary committee [official website] and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) [official profile] have urged committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official profile] to begin confirmation hearings on US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts during Congress' August recess, rather than after September 5 when the body reconvenes. The group has voiced concerns about whether Roberts would be confirmed in time [JURIST report] for the beginning of the Court's term on October 3. Specter said last week that he preferred to start in September, adding "we have a substantial period of time", and continued to be associated with that position in press reports Tuesday [JURIST reprt]. Democrats maintain they need plenty of time to question Roberts on his views and are not concerned about an October 3 confirmation date because Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has indicated she will remain on the court until her successor is confirmed. The Hill has more.

[JURIST] Gregory Casey, a former executive for Qwest Communications [corporate website; JURIST news archive], has reached an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] to pay $2.1 million to settle civil charges [SEC report]. Casey was one of seven former Qwest executives, including ex-CEO Joseph Nacchio, charged in a civil lawsuit alleging accounting schemes [JURIST report] that later forced the company to erase revenue. Casey admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, while Nacchio's case is still pending. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US is set to announce a new global warming pact with China, India, Australia, and South Korea on Thursday, diplomats in Vientiane said Wednesday. US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick [official bio], who is currently attending the ASEAN regional forum in Laos, will hold a press conference announcing new strategies for developing energy technologies designed to reduce greenhouse gas omissions. The Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate is said to go beyond the Kyoto Protocol [Wikipedia backgrounder; JURIST news archive], which the US and Australia have so far refused to ratify, by including the countries which emit more than 40% of the world's greenhouse gases. Though Japan, the world's number two economy, seemed to welcome the agreement, others were critical. Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens [official website; press release] party said that money would be "diverted from developing clean renewable technologies," under the pact. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters on Tuesday that he thinks it's "perfectly reasonable" [10 Downing Street transcript] for the British police to be able to hold suspects without charges for more than the current 14 days. But he didn't specifically endorse the three-month time period recently requested by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) [official website] that has some UK politicians concerned [JURIST report]. Blair also spoke of the need for "judicial involvement" in any detention, and warned that the government must use caution when implementing "measures to increase. . . security." Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Police arrested four suspects before dawn Wednesday morning in Birmingham, England, while searching for men wanted in last week's failed London bomb attacks [JURIST report]. Reports from local media indicate that one of the men, subdued with a stun gun by police, was a suspected bomber, although police would not confirm a BBC report that the man is Somali Yasin Hassan Omar. In Britain since 1992, Omar is suspected of trying to blow up a subway train near Warren Street station on July 21. Read the West Midlands Police press release on the arrests. AP has more.

[JURIST] After sending a draft back to lawmakers [JURIST report] for reconsideration earlier this month, King Mswati III [BBC profile] of Swaziland has signed a new constitution [draft text and summary] for the sub-Saharan African nation amid concerns that it is undemocratic and designed to maintain the monarch's political power over the country. Copies of the finalized charter constitution were not released to journalists, but the draft approved by the parliament in June [JURIST report] permited freedom of speech, assembly and religion, although it give the King authority to veto anything against the public interest. African Union officials have criticized Mswati for his ban on opposition parties and ability to interfere with the judiciary. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights [official website] has set a 6-month deadline for Swaziland to conform with the African Charter [text], which provides for continent-wide freedom of association and independence of the judiciary. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] As briefly noted yesterday in JURIST's Corporations and securities brief, WorldCom ex-CFO Scott Sullivan and two other executives have reached civil settlements over their roles in WorldCom's disastrous accounting fraud [JURIST news archive] that bankrupted the company. Sullivan - who famously testified against recently-convicted WorldCom founder Bernard Ebbers [Wikipedia profile] - and the executives David Myers and Buford Yates plead guilty to criminal charges and await sentencing next month. The judge ruled that Myers and Yates were unable to pay anything to the class, but Sullivan will be forced to sell his 10-bedroom mansion under construction in Florida, estimated to be worth $5 million, and give up his WorldCom 401(k). CNN has more.

[JURIST] In an interview with the Associated Press reported Tuesday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [Wikipedia profile] said he would reconsider his predecessor John Ashcroft's policies [AP article] on public access to government information. In October 2001 Ashcroft tightened existing policies on information requests, requiring federal agencies to carefully consider national security, law enforcement concerns, and personal privacy before releasing information under the Freedom of Information Act [DOJ FOIA guide]. In the same interview Gonzales also spoke about Supreme Court nominee John Roberts [AP article], saying that Roberts would not be bound by his 2003 congressional testimony that Roe v. Wade [Wikipedia backgrounder] was "settled law." Gonzales added that as a circuit court judge, Roberts was bound by precedent, but as a Supreme Court Justice he was not obliged to follow precedent he thought was wrongly decided.

[JURIST] US lawmakers trying to block a Chinese takeover bid for US oil firm Unocal [corporate website] prior to an crucial shareholders' vote next month have added an amendment to an energy bill that would push back by more than four months the start of a US government review of the bid by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) [company website]. CNOOC, whose largest shareholder is the communist government of China, created a stir earlier this month by bidding $18.5 billion in cash [JURIST report] to take control of Unocal, far outbidding competitor Chevron [corporate website]. Chevron then came back last week with a new offer in cash and stock of 17.1 billion dollars and the board of the Unocal advised shareholders to accept the Chevron deal. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A new draft of the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive] published Tuesday in Baghdad's Al-Sabah [media website] newspaper declares "Islam is the official religion of the state and is the main source of legislation," raising the concern of US authorities [JURIST report], especially regarding the future of women's rights [JURIST report]. The draft, which follows earlier unpublished drafts circulating in media reports over the past week, states that no law will be approved that violates the "rules of Islam," and gives Shiite religious leaders a "guiding role." Federalism is also a major point of contention in the new Iraqi constitution, with Kurds favoring stronger regional autonomy [FT article] and calling for the right to hold an internal referendum in eight years to determine whether northern Kurdish provinces should remain a part of Iraq. Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani [BBC profile] has now urged the media to refrain from publishing drafts unless they are officially released by the constitutional committee, stressing that the published draft is among several and a final version will not be available until parliament approves it by August 15. AP has more.