[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US Senate [official website] has overwhelmingly approved legislation that sets restrictions on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects. The Senate approved the measure [JURIST document] by a 90-9 vote margin [Senate roll call] despite the threat of a White House veto [JURIST report]. The legislation, which was approved as part of a military spending bill and was passed in response to ongoing allegations of torture and abuse of prisoners by US personnel at Guantanamo Bay, in Iraq and in Afghanistan, bars cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees while requiring compliance with the Army Field Manual [interrogation manual; additional manuals] for all interrogations of suspects. Read Senator McCain's floor statement [text] on the amendment and a supporting letter to McCain [PDF] from 28 retired military leaders. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russia [JURIST news archive] cautioned Switzerland on Wednesday that the countries' bilateral ties would be harmed by the Swiss decision to extradite former Russian atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov [Kommersant backgrounder] to the US. Switzerland's Ministry of Justice [official website, in German] ruled earlier this week that Adamov must faces charges in the US prior to being returned to Russia. Russia had sought to try Adamov on charges that he diverted up to $9 million in nuclear security funds earmarked for Russia to private projects over fears Adamov would divulge nuclear secrets. Russian Justice Minister Yuri Chaika says that the US is unlikely to hand over Adamov [RBC News report] for trial for an extended period of time. The Russian Foreign Ministry [official website, English version] reportedly summoned the Swiss envoy [Interfax report] and told him that the extradition decision was "unjust" and warned that it would affect the two nations' relations. Adamov was arrested in May [JURIST report] while visiting his daughter in Switzerland, and has been held [JURIST report] in the country since. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals [official website] Wednesday reversed for a third time the death sentence of John Paul Penry [advocacy website; Texas offender record, PDF], a convicted killer whose death sentence was twice reversed by the US Supreme Court and sparked debate [Amnesty International report] over whether mentally handicapped criminals should be put to death. Penry was convicted of killing a woman in 1979 and allegedly gave a detailed confession of his plans to commit the crime. His conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1989, and the Court later overturned his death sentence in 2002 when it banned capital punishment for the mentally retarded. The appeals court has the majority opinion, Judge Keller's dissent, and Judge Cochran's dissent [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A UN human rights official warned Wednesday that the UN High Commission for Refugees was facing increasingly difficult conditions that prevented it from protecting millions of threatened refugees [JURIST news archive], but that protection of those people remained an obligation. UNHCR Director of International Protection Erika Feller addressed [transcript] representatives from the 68 countries on the agency's executive committee [official website] meeting in Geneva and warned of increasing human rights abuses and violence, as well as decreasing cooperation from countries traditionally supportive of human rights. Feller said conflicts in Western Tanzania, Darfur [JURIST news archive] and Colombia [JURIST news archive] had all harmed protection of refugees in those areas. Feller said, however, that the past year has also brought a high rate of return for displaced persons. The UNHCR has a news release on the address.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin has pleaded guilty to giving classified information regarding potential attacks on US forces in Iraq to an Israeli embassy official and members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [official website], a pro-Israel lobbying group. Read the indictment [PDF text] against Franklin and the two AIPAC members, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• DOD analyst to plead guilty to leaking top secret info
• Former pro-Israel lobbyists indicted for disclosing classified US defense info
• Indictment against former Pentagon analyst unsealed
• FBI charges Pentagon analyst with leaking classified documents
• FBI investigates suspected Israeli mole

[JURIST] Syria [JURIST news archive] has removed 81 judges and improved wages, taxes and insurance for the judicial branch as part of a series of reforms, government newspaper Ath-Thawra reported Wednesday. According to the paper, the reforms were ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [BBC News profile] to improve judges' standard of living and accelerate legal reforms in the country. France granted the country aid last year to reform its judicial system, which had been plagued by corruption. Some criticized the move as undermining judicial independence from the executive, however. AFP has more.

[JURIST] In Wednesday's environmental law brief, the Philippine provincial government of Marinduque [official website], a small island about 100 miles south of Manila, filed suit Tuesday against Placer Dome Inc. [corporate website] seeking $100 million for environmental rehabilitation and compensation to local residents. The suit against the Canadian mining company was filed in Nevada, where the company has some holdings, and alleges that the company's negligence in managing waste from mines killed two rivers and smothered a bay that provided the livelihood for 12 fishing villages. Canadian Press has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The European Parliament's Committee for the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety [official website] has approved a proposal to reduce data requirements for chemicals produced or imported in amounts below 10 ton a year. The proposal is part of a larger, comprehensive, piece of legislation known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) [EU backgrounder], which is being debated and approved of in sections. Financial Times has more.


• The Madera County, California Board of Supervisors [official website] has voted to bring a lawsuit against a water-bank project proposed by the Madera Irrigation District (MID). The project would store water taken from the nearby San Joaquin and Fresno rivers underground. The Board argues that a conditional use permit needs to be approved for the project, while MID officials maintain that according to the county's groundwater ordinance, the district does not need a permit if the water is not exported. The Fresno Bee had more.

[JURIST] Russian investigators have raided the offices of various companies affiliated with the former oil giant Yukos [corporate website; JURIST news archive] in connection with a $7 billion money-laundering investigation, prosecutors said Wednesday. Prosecutors have previously said they were pursuing such charges [JURIST report] against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive], who has been sentenced to eight years in prison on separate tax charges, although no charges have yet been filed [JURIST report]. Prosecutors would not confirm whether the most recent round of searches was connected to those charges. Prosecutors released a statement claiming to have found evidence that company managers hid profits by paying dividends to fraudulent companies overseas. Yukos has a news release on the raids. Mosnews has local coverage. AP has more.

[JURIST] A group of 13 former and current employees filed a $500 million lawsuit Wednesday against the US Department of Commerce [official website] alleging that the agency discriminated in its hiring and promoting of employees. The suit, filed by 11 black and two white workers claiming to represent all black employees at the agency in the past 10 years, alleges "systemic race discrimination" and subjective hiring practices at the agency. The purported class could include more than 6,000 people. An agency spokesman said he had not seen the complaint, but the agency was committed to a nondiscriminatory employment policy. A similar lawsuit was filed by an employee at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [official website] in 1995, but that suit remains pending. The plaintiffs' attorney in the current case said he hoped to move the case along more quickly. In addition to monetary damages, the suit seeks reforms at the agency overseen by a task force. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday heard oral arguments on whether the federal government can halt doctors from assisting patients in taking their own lives under an Oregon statute allowing the practice. The justices appeared divided over the issue in Gonzales v. Oregon [Duke Law case backgrounder] of how much authority the federal government can exercise over doctors and medicine, two areas traditionally regulated by state law. Oregon's Death with Dignity Act [text], twice approved by voters in the state, is the only state law in the country allowing physician-assisted suicides. In 2001, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered [text] a halt to the distribution of controlled drugs used by doctors for the suicides, arguing it was a violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act [text]. The ABA has merit briefs filed in the case. Also Wednesday, the Court heard oral arguments in Shaffer v. Weast [Duke Law case backgrounder], in which it considered whether parents and school districts in disagreement over a disabled child's education program may seek administrative review of the issue. The ABA has merit briefs for the case. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Supreme Court to hear Oregon assisted-suicide law challenge
• Bush administration appeals Oregon assisted-suicide law
• Ninth Circuit won't reconsider Oregon assisted suicide ruling
• Ashcroft asks Ninth Circuit to overrule Oregon's assisted suicide law
• Oregon assisted suicide law upheld by federal appeals court

[JURIST] A third grand jury previously unrevealed by prosecutors refused to indict former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay [official website; JURIST news archive] last week, according to a written statement released late Tuesday by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website]. DeLay has been indicted by two grand juries [JURIST report] in the past week, but Earle revealed that prosecutors took their case to a third grand jury between the two indictments, and that grand jury refused to issue an indictment. Following DeLay's original indictment [PDF text] for conspiracy to violate election laws, DeLay's defense attorneys challenged [motion, PDF] whether the conspiracy charge applied to election law. Prosecutors then sought to bring new money-laundering charges against the former House leader "out of an abundance of caution," according to Earle, only to have the charges rejected on Friday by a grand jury impaneled by District Judge Julie Kocurek. Prosecutors presented the charges again on Monday to a third grand jury, which issued the second indictment. A notice typically released following a grand jury's refusal to indict was not released Friday. Defense attorneys for DeLay protested the news, calling prosecutors' actions "outrageous." Earle said presenting the case to a third grand jury was justified based on new evidence that was obtained over the weekend, but defense attorney Bill White called the claim "beyond the pale." The Austin American-Statesman has more [registration required].

[JURIST] Victims of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC report] are calling for the Indonesian government to immediately execute [AFP report] those in prison for carrying out the attacks. After new coordinated bombings in two tourist areas [Reuters report] last Saturday, victims of the earlier explosions are saying that three convicted bombers [BBC trial timeline] should have their death sentences carried out immediately, rather than wait for the bombers to work through the appeals process, which usually takes at least three years. Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer [official website] will travel to Indonesia [JURIST news archive] to push the government to outlaw terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [BBC profile], the al Qaeda linked group suspected in both Bali bombings. Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official website] said in a radio interview [transcript] Wednesday that by banning JI, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would send a reassuring signal to Indonesian society, but he admitted that the most pressing issue is the effort by Indonesian authorities to crack down on terrorist organizations and activities. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Two of the six radical Islamic militants interrogated in Bangladesh Wednesday in connection to their role in the simultaneous bombings of three courthouses [BBC report] Monday indicated association with Jamaatul Mujahideen and confessed to targeting the legal system in an effort to intimidate the judiciary into replacing the country's democratic system with Sharia law [CFR backgrounder]. According to police, the two suspects admitted to being members of the armed wing of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen, which has formed suicide squads to attack various targets as part of an armed Islamic revolution, and identified other members of the outlawed militant group. More than 400 people have been arrested for roles in attacks since August 17, when approximately 500 bombs simultaneously detonated [BBC report] in 50 cities across the country. Jamaatul Mujahideen said it carried out the attacks and police filed charges against 28 members of the group Sunday. Reuters has more and News From Bangladesh has local coverage.

[JURIST] Sunni Arab leaders threatened Wednesday to boycott the upcoming referendum on Iraq's draft constitution [JURIST news archive] if US troops do not stop offensive operations in western Iraq. US forces Tuesday launched their second offensive in a week [AP report] in Iraq's volatile Anbar province at the outset of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to Sunni politician Hussein la-Falluji, "if the Americans keep carrying out their offensives in [Sunni] cities and attacking civilians then we will boycott the referendum." The latest threats follow an earlier promise by Sunnis not to boycott the vote after Iraq's National Assembly earlier Wednesday reversed [JURIST report] recent changes to referendum rules that would have made it more difficult to defeat the constitution in Sunni-dominated areas.

Meanwhile a new 3,625-person poll conducted by Iraqi Centre for Development and International Dialogue has found that Iraqi citizens generally support the draft constitution [Reuters report], despite ongoing Sunni opposition. Mehdi Hafedh, director of the polling agency, attributed the draft's 79% approval rating to a desire to "finalize the political process as soon as possible ... [and] to establish a normal government and institutions." Eight percent of those polled said they would vote against the document, primarily citing broad concerns with respect to national security and sovereignty, and the remainder of the polled population did not say how they would vote. The draft constitution is scheduled to go to a nation-wide vote on October 15 and is expected to pass [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase [official profile] said Wednesday that he plans to change controversial legislation that would grant amnesty to many involved in the 2000 racially-motivated coup [JURIST report]. The Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity bill [PDF text] has been the subject of many protests and has even caused military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama [official profile] to threaten to remove the government from office [BBC News report]. In the May 2000 coup, a group of armed men led by Fijian George Speight [BBC News backgrounder] held the country's first ethnic Indian prime minister and his government hostage for 56 days. Qarase, whose government is backed by ethnic Fijian nationalists - many of whom took part in or supported the coup, has faced much public resistance on the bill. Though he didn't provide specific details, Qarase said he would change the legislation to ensure that it complies with the constitution and does not threaten the judiciary's independence. AFP has more; Fiji Live has local coverage [registration required].

[JURIST] A US District Court judge has struck down a part of California's financial privacy law that places restrictions on banks' ability to sell their customers' private information to their associates. The provision was struck down because a federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act [text], already restricted their ability to sell information to affiliates. The infringing section of the 2003 California Financial Information Privacy Act [text] required that companies offer customers the right to opt-out of sharing any private information. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is currently considering whether to appeal Judge Morrison C. England Jr.'s ruling to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Takamatsu High Court in Japan Wednesday upheld a lower court decision [JURIST report] to dismiss a lawsuit against Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over his visits to the Yasukuni shrine [official website]. The shrine was founded in 1869 and serves as a monument to Japan's war dead, including war criminals, a source of diplomatic friction between China and South Korea. Last week the Osaka High Court ruled [JURIST report] that the Prime Minister's visits to a Shinto shrine for the dead [official website] violated the constitutional separation of state and religion. Koizumi insists that his visits are meant to represent his condemnation of war, not glorification [Koizumi press statement]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A Spanish court convicted a former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Wednesday and sentenced him to six years in Spanish jail for his involvement in the al Qaeda terror organization. Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, who hails from the Spanish region of Ceuta in north Africa, was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 and held at Guantanamo Bay for two years before being transferred to prison in Madrid in 2004. The issuing the sentence, the court took into consideration the years Ahmed spent in custody in Spain, but not those spent at Guantanamo Bay. BBC News has more. From Madrid, El Mundo has local coverage.

[JURIST] Amid efforts to pass legislation [JURIST report] that would impose restrictions on the detention and interrogation of terror suspects, more allegations have been made of detainee mistreatment [JURIST news archive] at US facilities in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. Army Capt. James Yee [advocacy website], former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] has written a new book [For God and Country website] chronicling his time at the detention facility and describing a hostile environment in which soldiers harassed and mocked the Muslim detainees. Yee arrived at the camp in 2002 and was later arrested on suspicion of espionage and held in solitary confinement for 76 days. He was later exonerated [JURIST report], and received an honorable discharge. In a related development, Army Capt. Ian Fishback, the primary and originally-anonymous source for a recent Human Rights Watch report [text] on abuse of Iraqi detainees, met Tuesday with US Sen. John McCain to detail allegations of abuse [NYT report] that occurred at the hands of US soldiers in 2003 and 2004. Fishback, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division [official website], told McCain and other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he witnessed and received reports from other military personnel that soldiers beat Iraqi prisoners and exposed them to extreme conditions. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Muslim chaplain reprimand dismissed on appeal
• Guantanamo commandant finds Muslim chaplain guilty of adultery, storing porn
• Army drops charges against Guantanamo Muslim Army chaplain
• Military justice on trial as Muslim chaplain's case goes to court
• Former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo now faces porn, adultery charges

[JURIST] In an interview [transcript] Tuesday with CNN's Lou Dobbs, New York Times reporter Judith Miller [JURIST news archive] called the 85 days she spent in Virginia's Alexandria Detention Facility [official website] demeaning and lonely, and defended her decision to refuse to reveal her source to federal investigators, despite reports that the source gave consent. Responding to allegations that her refusal to testify to a grand jury was a cover-up, she insisted she was not covering up for anyone, but she planned to remain in jail until she was sure that her source "genuinely wanted [her] to testify." Miller was released from the detention center [JURIST report] last week after she agreed to testify before a grand jury. Miller's source, now identified as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis Libby [White House profile] will now likely become the center of an investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] French President Jacques Chirac [official website] said Tuesday at a Paris news conference [full transcript, in French] that Turkey [JURIST news archive] would need to make deep reforms in order to conform to fundamental European cultural standards - what he called "the totality of our values, our principles" - before entering the European Union [official website]. Chirac said that France would hold a referendum on approving Turkish membership in the EU, and other member states may also hold similar referendums. There was no immediate reaction to Chirac's speech in Turkey. Although accession negotiations have been officially opened [EU press release, PDF; JURIST report], it will take up to a year before technical talks begin. Later this month, EU experts will start screening Turkish policies to judge whether they meet minimum requirements to start specific talks in 35 areas [official list] called "chapters" in EU jargon. There is broad opposition among European citizens to admitting the large Muslim country to the EU, largely due to religious and economic differences and Turkey's record of human rights abuses. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Europe report: UK human rights record poor, under investigation
• Turkey EU bid threatened by abuse allegations
• Revised Turkish penal code comes into force as part of EU deal
• EU warns Turkey not to recriminalize adultery
• EU sets date for start of talks with Turkey, but Cyprus wrangling looms

[JURIST] US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) [official website] has resurrected proposed legislation [IPS report] that would impose restrictions on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects. McCain's proposal, to be added as an amendment to the military spending bill up for a vote in the Senate by Friday, would ban the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against any detainee in US custody and would require all US military to follow Army Field Manual [interrogation manual; additional manuals] procedures when detaining and interrogating suspects. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [official website] may also reintroduce a proposal that defines "enemy combatant" and establishes procedures for the prosecution of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. McCain and Graham both offered the proposals in July [JURIST report], but they were withdrawn in part due to White House opposition. Last week, the White House threatened to veto the $440 billion defense spending bill [JURIST report] if the amendments are added. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Bosnian government [official website] panel said Tuesday that over 19,000 Bosnian Serbs, including policemen, army officials and civilians, participated in the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder]. The report is based on information gained from the Serb Republic's Interior and Defense [official websites] Ministries, army headquarters and state security agency and says that participants in the massacre helped with tasks including logistics and military action. The list of participants, which the panel has been working on since 2003, identifies 17,000 by name, but does not cover their involvement or responsibility. The panel's findings will be sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] and to the state prosecutor's office [official website] for review. Last month, the ICTY announced that it will hold a joint trial for nine suspects [JURIST report] accused of participating in the Srebrenica massacre. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Britain's Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) [official website] made the first compensation payments to victims of July 7 London bombings [JURIST news archive] Tuesday. CICA has so far sent out two checks and offered interim payments totaling £400,000 ($700,000 US) to bereaved relatives and to injured survivors. According to the CICA compensation scheme [PDF text; BBC backgrounder], families of those killed will be granted £11,000 ($19,000 US) compensation and are also eligible to apply for extra money for funeral costs. Seriously injured survivors can claim costs for loss of earnings and care as well as compensation not to exceed £500,000 ($880,000 US). Payments can be made for those who suffered mentally as well. CICA estimates it will pay out between £10 million to £15 million. Following the US September 11 attacks [JURIST news archive], the US Justice Department established a Victim Compensation Fund [archived website], which made over 5,000 payments to survivors [JURIST report] and families of victims ranging from $250,000 to over $8 million. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] BBC News is reporting that Iraq's National Assembly has voted to reverse its recent changes to the rules of the country's constitutional referendum scheduled for October 15. The changes, adopted by the Shiite- and Kurd-dominated body over the weekend, would have shifted the criterion of defeat for the proposed charter [JURIST news archive] in individual provinces from a majority of actual voters voting against to a majority of registered voters voting against, making it much harder for the draft constitution to be defeated in Sunni-dominated areas of low turnout. The revisions had prompted sharp protests from Sunnis [JURIST report] and from international observers, including the UN [JURIST report] and the US [JURIST report]. The constitution poll will now proceed according to its original rules, under which the draft charter may be defeated if two-thirds of actual (as opposed to registered) voters in three or more Iraqi provinces reject it. BBC News has more.

1:15 PM ET - Sunni Arab leaders have responded to the National Assembly vote by dropping their threat to boycott the October 15 referendum [JURIST report] but are still promising to reject the proposed constitution at the polls. UN officials in Iraq Wednesday welcomed the parliament vote, saying "We will now have a referendum law that follows international standards. It provides the ground for a fair referendum, and we call on all Iraqis to come forward to use a democratic right to give their opinion." AP has more.