[JURIST] The US Justice Department [official website] told Congress Tuesday that it supported renewal of Section 5 [DOJ backgrounder] of the Voting Rights Act [text], preventing states with a history of discriminatory voting practices from implementing any change affecting voting until the US Attorney General or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia determined that the change did not have a discriminatory purpose or effect. Brad Schlozman, head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division [official website] urged the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution [official website] to renew Section 5 as it was a major deterrent to voting rules that would potentially discriminate against minorities. A number of scholars and advocates nonetheless consider the requirement outdated and unnecessary. Congress is considering extending the requirement for a further 25-year when the current term of the Section expires in 2007. AP has more.

[JURIST] A recent Federal Communications Commission [official website] ruling that would allow wiretapping of Internet calls [FCC press release, PDF] was challenged Tuesday by privacy and technology groups in federal appeals court in Washington. The ruling makes it easier for law enforcement officials to tap Internet phone calls by mandating standards that would allow the wiretaps to be made. Internet call providers are already contesting the order, saying it would require them to rewire their networks at high costs. The Center for Democracy and Technology [advocacy website] along with other privacy groups and Sun Microsystems have petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to review the FCC ruling. The American Council on Education [association website], representing about 2,000 colleges and universities, also filed its own appeal[press release] of the ruling Monday in federal court. The education group voiced concerns about the costs colleges and universities would incur if required to rewire their networks to comply. AP has more.

[JURIST] Egyptian police Tuesday clashed with relatives of political prisoners demonstrating outside the country's Interior Ministry. The protesters called for the immediate release of the detainees, mostly Islamists and suspected members of the Gamaa Islamiya [Wikipedia backgrounder] and Jihad [Wikipedia backgrounder] organizations, who were imprisoned after leading a violent campaign against the regime in the 1980s and 1990s. Egyptian human rights groups and non-governmental organizations estimate that between 16,000 and 30,000 political prisoners are held in the country. More protests demanding the release of these detainees are expected by poltical opponents of President Hosni Mubarak [official profile; BBC profile]. The protests come as Egypt looks ahead to parliamentary elections scheduled for November. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A Guantanamo detainee on hunger strike [JURIST report] has asked for a motion ordering his feeding tube to be removed so that he can starve to death, his lawyers said Tuesday. Kuwaiti Fawzi al-Odah [Project Kuwaiti Freedom profile], 28, has been imprisoned without charges at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] since his arrest in Pakistan in 2002. He has been force-fed through a tube since at least a month; attorneys said in late September that he was one of two hunger-striking Kuwaiti detainees who could then barely sit up or talk [JURIST report]. His lawyers will wait to file the motion until they receive the approval of al-Odah’s doctors and family [Amnesty International video interview with father], who oppose the request. Attorney Tom Wilner, who represents al-Odah, anticipates a legal and ethical dilemma, including the "conflict" between the wishes of al-Odah and his family. US military leaders at the camp treat hunger striking as a suicide attempt and seek ways to prevent it, such as force feeding through nasal tubes. Detainee lawyers recently made allegations of prisoner abuse [JURIST report] connected to the ongoing hunger strike, which began August 8 with 76 prisoners; the Pentagon lists the current number of strikers at 26. Al-Odah was previously at the center of the 2004 US Supreme Court ruling Al Odah v. US, joined with Rasul v. Bush [PDF], holding that Guantanamo detainees have recourse to the US federal courts. AP has more.

[JURIST] A group of former international political leaders supporting the defense of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] called Tuesday for a UN investigation into last week's kidnapping and murder of Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi [JURIST report], a lawyer representing one of Hussein's co-defendants. In a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, French former foreign minister Roland Dumas and former US attorney general Ramsey Clark said a US-led investigation into the crime would lack credibility. Defense counsel involved with Hussein's trial [JURIST news archive] have also requested UN protection in the aftermath of the killing. Middle East Online has local coverage. AFP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Saddam lawyers threaten to boycott trial
• Iraqi government promises heightened security for Saddam trial lawyers
• Saddam defense team demands delay or foreign trial venue after lawyer murder
• BREAKING NEWS ~ Kidnapped Saddam trial lawyer found dead
• BREAKING NEWS ~ Saddam lawyer kidnapped in Bagdad

[JURIST] US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NB) [official website; Wikipedia profile] introduced a package of four bills on US immigration policy [Hagel press release] Tuesday that depart from Bush administration policy. Hagel, a possible contender for the Republican nomination in the US 2008 presidential election [Wikipedia backgrounder], proposed legislation that would allow many of the 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the US to eventually attain legal status. Under the plan, illegal aliens could become legal citizens if they have been in the country for five years and worked for three of them; pay a $2,000 fine; and apply for permanent legal status, which can be granted after another eight years. The proposal, an earlier version of which was introduced by Hagel and former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, also addresses improving border security and creating a guest worker program. The Bush administration is drafting its own proposal that would allow illegal aliens to remain in the country for up to six years as part of a guest worker program. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Britain's House of Lords [official website] on Tuesday substantially amended the Blair government's controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Bill [text; BBC Q/A]. The bill outlawing incitement to religious hatred was originally proposed last year [JURIST report], and Prime Minister Tony Blair began pushing again for its adoption after the July bombings in London. Critics of the proposed legislation, including comedians [JURIST report] as well as civil libertarians, have argued the measure would ban free speech. Under the amended version [official amendments] of the bill, the government would be able to apply the law only in the context of a criminal prosecution. The amended bill now goes back to the House of Commons; it is unclear whether the government will accept some of the amendments or will try to override the Lords. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• UK Lords debate religious hatred bill amid protests
• UK Commons passes religious hatred bill
• UK religious hate bill survives Commons challenge
• Britain to reintroduce anti-religious hatred bill
• English comic slams UK religious hatred bill
• New religious hate laws proposed in Britain

[JURIST] In Tuesday's environmental law news, Judge Katherine Hayden of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey [official website] ruled Monday that the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway [corporate website] could continue to operate five waste transfer stations in North Bergen NJ until at least the end of the year. The New Jeresy Department of Environmental Protection [official website] wanted to close the railroad's transfer stations and collect more than $2.5 million in fines assessed against the railroad in July. The railroad argues that it exempt under federal law from state and local regulation, but is attempting to comply with the new state transload facility regulations. Judge Hayden will revisit the public health and safety issues in December, when the railroad's promised improvements are supposed to be in place. NorthJersey.com has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The Texas General Land Office (GLO) [official website] has approved the lease [GLO backgrounder] of an 11,000 acre tract in the Gulf of Mexico, 7 miles off the Galveston coast, for the development of a 50 turbine wind farm. The 30 year lease went to the Galveston Offshore Wind company for $10,000 a year, for the first five years, then up to a minimum of $4.9 million in royalties. The money the state receives will go into the state education budget. The company is expected to begin energy production between 2010 and 2012, and hopes to provide energy for about 40,000 homes. AP has more.
  
  
• Japanese prosecutors received a case from the Japan Coast Guard [official website] Monday alleging that JFE Steel Corp. [corporate website] and four employees of the company discharged waste water containing toxic cyanide compounds and hydrogen ions exceeding regulatory standards [official factpage] into the eastern part of Tokyo Bay. Prosectors are also investigating allegations of environmental data falsification. Kyodo news has more.
  
  
• Japan's Ministry of the Environment [official website] proposed Tuesday that a tax on energy consumption be levied beginning in 2007. The taxes would include 1.58 yen per kilogram for coal, 0.25 yen per kilowatt-hour for electricity, 1.38 yen per cubic meter for manufactured gas and 1.52 yen per liter for gasoline. The taxes are expected to cost each household an average 2,100 yen (US$18) annually. Kyodo News has more.

[JURIST] A senior UN official said Tuesday that reported election results from the October 15 referendum [JURIST report] ratifying the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive] are correct. Carina Perelli, director of the UN Electoral Assistance Division [official website], called the results "accurate" and defended the standards and controls used in the election and the subsequent audit of votes. Just days after the election, the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) [official website] announced the audit in response to concerns about an unusually high number of “yes” votes [JURIST report]. Final results released earlier Tuesday by the IECI showed that 79% of voters supported the referendum nationwide with only two provinces defeating it. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Former Rwandan president Pasteur Bizimungu [BBC profile] has asked that country's high court to overturn his 15-year criminal sentence [JURIST report] for inciting violence, embezzlement, and associating with criminals. On appeal, Bizimungu argues he was tried on charges different from those for which he was originally arrested and that his prosecution is politically motivated. First sentenced in June 2004, Bizimungu began his appeals process in April [JURIST report]. He was Rwanda's first president after that country's 1994 genocide and was viewed as a symbol of post-genocide reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis. He stepped down in 2000, after a falling out with Tutsi president Paul Kagame [BBC profile]. CNN has more.

[JURIST] A Delaware Chancery Court [official website] judge on Tuesday warned that corporate directors may face US government regulation of executive pay unless they control soaring salaries and payoffs. Judge William Chandler [state court profile], who ruled [JURIST report] in August that Disney’s directors acted properly in paying $140 million to former president Michael Ovitz [Wikipedia backgrounder] when he resigned in 1996, delivered a stern warning that executive pay has become “spectacularly unhinged from the market for corporate talent.” With the average pay packet for US CEOs at $9.8 million, Chandler said that regulatory control of executive pay would be used as a "blunt instrument." Former US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] Chairman William Donaldson [SEC profile] and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman William McDonough have also called for restraining executive pay. The warning from Chandler follows the resignation of Disney Chairman Michael Eisner [JURIST report] earlier this month. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] announced Tuesday that he plans to send his top legal advisers to address state governments' concerns about the constitutionality of that country's proposed anti-terror law [draft law text, PDF; JURIST report]. Several reservations center around a legislative provision authorizing courts to detain individuals who have not been accused or convicted of any crime. Constitutional lawyers critical of the legislation argue the provisions confuse the role of judges in Australia's criminal justice system, and would deprive terror suspects of due process of law. Howard and his legal advisers have defended the bill [JURIST report], contending it is a necessary measure and does not violate Austrialia's constitution. Australia's Sydney Morning Herald has more.

[JURIST] A Texas court has appointed a retired district court judge to hear a motion filed by attorneys for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) [official website; JURIST news archive], arguing that the initial judge assigned to DeLay's case, Judge Bob Perkins [official profile], should not preside over DeLay's trial on money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges because of personal political bias. Retired Judge C.W. Duncan, an 81-year old Democrat, will hold a hearing November 1 to decide if Perkins should be replaced. DeLay's attorneys argued that Perkins has given substantial contributions [JURIST report] to Democratic political candidates and liberal advocacy groups, suggesting he would not provide a fair trial for the former Republican House Majority Leader. DeLay's attorneys have also filed a request to expedite the trial, arguing that further delay would adversely affect DeLay's work in Washington. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Text: Money laundering indictment | Text: Criminal conspiracy indictment | Op-ed: Tom DeLay's Challenge to Texas Grand Jury Process

[JURIST] Syrian ambassador to the UN Fayssal Mekdad Tuesday angrily refuted the UN-commissioned Mehlis report [text; JURIST report], which found that the Syrian government was involved in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. Speaking during a UN Security Council debate [JURIST video], Mekdad dismissed the report as biased, asserting it was influenced by the anti-Syrian political climate in Lebanon. He further accused some countries of "fanning the flames of hatred" against Syria. After the UN's release of the report last Friday, the US called for an urgent UN meeting [JURIST report] on the appropriate response to Syria's involvement. The Security Council is expected to hear calls for diplomatic action against Syria when it reconvenes. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Conservative activist groups are stepping up their opposition to US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers [JURIST news archive], launching two new websites Monday and also planning radio and television advertising aimed at forcing the withdrawal of the nomination. The nomination has seemingly lost all support from base conservative groups. According to Brian Burch, a spokesperson for Fidelis [advocacy website], a Catholic pro-life organization, such groups "really do want to support the administration, but we just feel like we've reached a situation with this nomination that is beyond repair." One website launched yesterday, WithdrawMiers.org [advocacy website], features articles critical of Miers, a box where readers can submit anonymous tips on her nomination and a petition calling for her to step down. Another website, BetterJustice.org [advocacy website], features a television ad proclaiming that "Even the best leaders make mistakes," referring to Bush and his Miers nomination. Tuesday's Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] has lifted a ban on firearms in emergency housing parks built in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], officials announced Monday. FEMA spokesperson Butch Kinery said the complaints from gun-rights groups [JURIST report] that the ban violated the Second Amendment and a consultation with department lawyers prompted the lifting of the ban. Both the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) [advocacy websites] had threatened legal action over the ban. Residents of housing parks are now allowed to possess and store firearms, although use of weapons is still prohibited in the parks, Kinery said. Read the SAF news release. AP has more.

[JURIST] The full US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] has declined to reconsider a decision [PDF text; JURIST report] requiring the Federal Election Commission [official website] to write new rules implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 [FEC backgrounder]. The law bans congressional and presidential candidates from raising corporate and union money and from receiving unlimited donations from all sources. It also bans the use of corporate and union money for election-time ads. Last year, a district judge ruled [PDF text; JURIST report] that FEC regulations improperly weakened the BCRA. According to Commissioner Michael Toner, the FEC must now start drafting tougher rules regarding political donations, including how Internet activity will be governed. The FEC may still appeal to the Supreme Court, but has not indicated whether it planned to do so. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal district court judge in Washington, DC has again ruled that the US Department of the Interior [official website] must disconnect computers from the Internet that have access to data related to trust accounts it administers for American Indians. Judge Royce C. Lamberth [official profile] said in the 205-page opinion [PDF text; order, PDF] that the department's computers were vulnerable to hackers because security there was "disorganized and broken." The Interior Department plans to appeal the decision. The order is the latest in a 1996 lawsuit on behalf of a half-million Indians who claim the United States has squandered $137 billion in royalties from land set aside for Indian use under the Dawes Act of 1887 [NA backgrounder]. Congress passed the American Indian Trust Reform Management Act [PDF text] in 1994, which required the department to account for all the money in the fund. Lamberth has previously ordered [PDF injunction] that the department's Internet connections be cut off, but his most recent order had been overturned [JURIST report] by a federal appeals court, which ruled that there was no evidence of actual tampering by hackers. Tuesday's New York Times has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• DOJ wants new judge for Indian trust case
• Indian trust case settlement likely, says McCain
• Federal judge blasts DOI, orders admission to Indians that trust info unreliable
• Court rules Interior Department can stay online
• US Interior Department back online after appeals court overturns Internet cutoff

[JURIST] A New Hampshire commission on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] voted Monday to recommend that the state legislature not allow same-sex couples to marry, not recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, and not establish a domestic partner registry. The commission, established [SB 427 text] in 2004 "to examine all aspects of same sex civil marriage and its legal equivalents," has held months of expert and public testimony and voted earlier this month to recommend a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The commission, scheduled to issue a final report to the state legislature [official website] December 1, has yet to take up the issue of civil unions. AP has more. The Nashua Telegraph has local coverage.

[JURIST] American shareholders of Russian oil company Yukos [corporate website; JURIST news archive] have filed a civil lawsuit against the Russian government and several Russian oil companies for allegedly conspiring to renationalize Yukos without compensating its owners, the Financial News reported [subscription required] Tuesday. The complaint, filed in a Washington, DC district court, claims that the defendants violated US securities laws by falsely assuring the public that the Russian government would not renationalize Yukos. The suit also alleges that the 12 plaintiffs, holders of Yukos American Depositary Receipts, lost $3 million as a result of Yukos' takeover. While not the first lawsuit brought by shareholders [JURIST report; additional JURIST report] of Yukos, the US shareholders want to set a precedent by holding the Russian government and oil companies responsible for violating rights of shareholders protected under US securities law. Mosnews has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled Monday that federal prosecutors can use a confession made by Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a US citizen charged [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] with conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy, providing material support to al Qaeda and various other crimes. Abu Ali has said that he was tortured [JURIST report] into confessing to the assassination plot by Saudi Arabian security officers after he was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2003 while enrolled at the Islamic University of Medina. Saudi Arabia has denied the torture accusations and prosecutors argued that the confession was made voluntarily and scars on Abu Ali's back were not proof of flogging, rather could have been self imposed to support his claim of torture. Judge Lee issued a one page order [PDF text] allowing the confession, but promised to explain his reasoning in a forthcoming opinion. AP has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Saudi Arabia denies torturing man accused of plotting Bush assassination
• Student accused in Bush assassination plot alleges Saudi torture led to confession
• Taped confession of Bush assassination plot suspect shown in federal court
• Federal judge orders al Qaeda suspect to produce evidence in Saudi torture claim
• Federal judge says Bush plot suspect can be examined for signs of torture

[JURIST] A United Nations [official website] human rights investigator declared "massive human rights violations at all levels" in the Democratic Republic of Congo [JURIST news archive] Monday. Titinga Frederic Pacere [UN press release] attacked the nation's justice system, describing the prison system as "deplorable and inhumane" and the justice system as "powerless and lack[ing] resources." Pacere's report cites too few judges, an inadequate budget, low salaries and potential for political pressures on the judiciary as factors contributing to the human rights violations. The report also states that Congolese security forces have harassed journalists and human rights advocates and used excessive force in thwarting peaceful demonstrations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Juan Guzman [BBC profile], the retired [JURIST report] judge who led efforts to try former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] on human rights charges, told AP Monday that he doubts the dictator will ever be brought to justice. Last week, a court ruled that Pinochet could stand trial on tax evasion charges [JURIST report] connected to money held in US bank accounts [JURIST report], and though Pinochet has been stripped of his immunity at least four times, he has never successfully been tried for any of the crimes committed during his leadership. Last month, Chile's Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] his acquittal on murder conspiracy charges stemming from "Operation Condor" [BBC report] where Pinochet was accused of ordering the political abductions and murders of left-wing dissidents. The acquittal [BBC report] was not based on the merits of the case, but instead was a decision that Pinochet was too ill to face trial. Many of the country's judges were appointed by Pinochet and Guzman believes a secret agreement exists ensuring he will never be tried. AP has more.

[JURIST] New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin [official website; Wikipedia profile] has requested that a portion of the $60 billion in disaster relief approved by Congress following Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] be redirected to fund the city's court system, jail operations and other critical city functions. Nagin said the city of New Orleans' finances were severely strained and hinted that the city was close to bankruptcy. Earlier this month, lawyers acting on behalf of former New Orleans prisoners requested [JURIST report] that the US Justice Department assume direct supervision of a temporary holding facility amid complaints of prisoner abuse. Additionally, city officials have predicted that evidence in as many of 3,000 pending criminal cases [JURIST report] was lost during the storm. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The White House has proposed absolving CIA agents working abroad from proposed legislation barring "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The exemption introduced by Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA Director Porter Goss, would apply to counter-terrorism operations conducted abroad and operations conducted by "an element of the United States government" other than the Defense Department. The provision [IPS report] the White House seeks to circumvent is the Senate's attempt to close a loophole in the country's anti-torture stance, requiring all US military personnel to follow detainment and interrogation procedures detailed in the Army Field Manual [interrogation manual; additional manuals]. The government has argued these manuals do not apply to foreigners on foreign soil. Earlier this month, the Senate voted 90-9 [JURIST report], over the administration's objection [JURIST report; WH policy statement, PDF], to attach the provision to a pending defense appropriations bill. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) [official website], who sponsored the legislation and himself was a victim of torture in Vietnam, has allegedly rejected the White House's proposed exemption. The Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Despite last week's murder of a defense lawyer [JURIST report] involved in the proceedings, Baghdad is still a safe place to hold the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] and his seven co-defendants, President Bush said Monday in an interview [transcript] with Al-Arabiya television. Bush dismissed calls for an international trial and stressed the importance of the trial to Iraqis, saying "it's very important for the Iraqis to have a justice system that earns the confidence of the people. This is a new democracy, and part of a democracy is to have a fair judicial system." When asked to comment on Hussein's court appearance, Bush replied, "The key thing is that there will be a fair trial, which is something he didn't give many of the thousand people he killed." AP has more.

[JURIST] US Vice President Dick Cheney was the first person to discuss Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive] with his Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [official profile], lawyers involved in the leak investigation said Monday according to the New York Times. The revelation seems to be inconsistent with Libby's grand jury testimony that he learned the identity of the undercover CIA operative from journalists and is the first time that Cheney has been identified as a focus of the investigation into the disclosure of Plame's identity. According to notes taken by Libby of a June 2003 conversation with Cheney, Cheney learned about Plame from CIA director George Tenet in an effort to get additional information on US ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was arguing that the administration had mishandled Iraq intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. The notes don't indicate whether Cheney and Libby knew of Plame's undercover status; according to the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act [50 USC s. 421 text] disclosing a covert agent's identity is a crime only if the person who discloses it knows of the status. Efforts by Libby to steer investigators away from his conversation with Cheney could, however, be considered an illegal effort to impede a grand jury investigation. Charges made by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] must be made by Friday when the grand jury term expires. Libby and White House Deputy Chief of Staff and top advisor Karl Rove [Washington Post profile] both face the possibility of indictment. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] British Member of Parliament George Galloway [BBC profile] Tuesday rejected fresh accusations from US congressional investigators that he profited from the now defunct UN Oil-for-Food Program [official website; JURIST news archive] in Iraq. The new report [PDF] from the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [official website] will be handed over to the US Justice Department and to British authorities. A hearing before the investigations subcommittee has been scheduled for October 31 [agenda]. Earlier this year, Galloway vehemently denied charges [JURIST report] that he benefited from the program while testifying during an investigations subcommittee hearing [agenda and prepared testimony] after the subcommittee released a report [PDF text] accusing Galloway, a staunch and outspoken opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq, of accepting "allocations" of 11 million barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein from 1999-2003. US Congressional investigators also allege that Galloway knowingly made false or misleading statements to Congress when he denied these charges in May. Galloway called the fresh allegations "utterly preposterous" and goaded investigators to charge him with perjury. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] At least 21 detainees have been killed while being held in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, many during or after interrogations, according to an ACLU analysis [text; press release] of Defense Department data released Monday. According to autopsy reports, at least eight of the 21 homicides resulted from abusive techniques by US military or intelligence officers, such as strangulation leading to asphyxiation, other "blunt force injuries" and smothering. More than 100 prisoners in total have died of natural and violent causes in US custody overseas. There have been more than 400 investigations of reports of detainee abuse and at least 230 military personnel have received a court-martial, nonjudicial punishment or other administrative action in connection with detainee abuse. Details about the detainee abuse and deaths were released by the US Defense Department as part of a Freedom of Information Act [DOJ backgrounder] lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The ACLU provides additional documents obtained during the litigation. AP has more.

[JURIST] Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks [TIME profile], known as the "mother of the civil rights movement," died Monday evening at her home in Detroit. She was 92. Parks was best known for her arrest after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955, when racial discrimination was still legally sanctioned. Her simple gesture resulted in a year-long boycott [Wikipedia backgrounder] of the Montgomery public transit system. The boycott only ended after bus segregation was ruled illegal in 1956, in Browder v. Gayle [text; Stetson Law School backgrounder, PDF], a decision affirmed by the US Supreme Court in Gayle v. Browder [text]. The Montgomery bus boycott came one year after the landmark Brown v. Board [text; Brown Foundation website] decision banning the "inherently unequal" segregation of blacks and whites in schools. The boycott is said to mark the start of the modern civil rights movement, which led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act [text], banning racial discrimination in public accommodations. In 1999, Parks received the Congressional Gold Medal [US Mint website] for her civil rights work. AP has more.

[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that final results of the October 15 Iraqi referendum announced in Baghdad Tuesday show that the draft Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive] has been approved.

7:49 AM ET - According to officials, two provinces voted "no", but in the closest third province, Nineveh, 44% of voters had endorsed the constitution. Two-thirds of voters in at least three provinces would have had to vote "no" in order for the charter to be rejected. Nationwide, 78% of Iraqis supported the draft, and 21% opposed it. A spokesman said that the electoral commission had found no instances of fraud that would have affected the result. BBC News has more.

5:05 PM ET - The Sunni-dominated provinces of Anbar and Salahudinn (Tikrit) voted heavily against the draft, by margins of 96.96% and 81.75% respectively. AP has posted province-by-province results as reported by the IECI.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: The Iraqi Constitution: What Would Approval Really Mean?