[JURIST] A panel of judges from the Santiago Appeals Court ruled Friday that human rights charges [JURIST report] against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] can proceed, rejecting the defense's arguments that Pinochet is too ill to stand trial. Pinochet was charged last week in connection with the kidnapping and disappearance of six dissidents in 1974 after they were arrested by his security officers as part of Operation Colombo, [Wikipedia backgrounder] a 1970s government campaign which led to the disappearances of over 100 political opponents. Pinochet is also facing unrelated corruption charges [JURIST report]. Human rights charges have been brought against Pinochet three times in the past five years, but each time courts have thrown out the cases due to Pinochet's poor health. Pinochet can appeal Friday's decision to the country's supreme court. AAP has more. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage.

[JURIST] US District Judge Richard M. Berman ruled Friday that random police searches of bags on the New York City subway system are a minimal invasion of privacy and do not violate the Constitution. The decision comes in a lawsuit [PDF complaint; press release] brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union challenging the random searches as unreasonable searches and seizures. Berman ruled that the government has a vitally important interest in preventing a terrorist bombing of the subway system, the risk of which is "real and substantial." From New York, WABC-TV has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Federal trial begins in challenge to random bag searches on New York subways
• New Yorkers favor random bag searches on subways, poll says
• NY rights group challenges random subway bag searches

[JURIST] Uganda's High Court ordered the military Friday to suspend proceedings against main opposition leader Kizza Besigye [BBC profile] until the court decides whether the military trial is legal. Besigye was arrested [JURIST report] earlier this month on charges of treason and rape, and was later brought before a military court on terrorism charges [JURIST report]. Besigye's defense team has argued that the military court, controlled by allies of President Yoweri Museveni, is not competent to try terrorism cases. Besigye's arrest last month prompted protests from lawyers [JURIST report] who questioned government attempts to influence the proceedings, and the international community and rights groups are calling for a fair trial [JURIST report]. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Uganda government rejects call to release jailed opposition leader
• Uganda lawyers strike over military involvement in opposition leader trial
• Uganda opposition leader brought before military court on terror charges
• Ugandan rebels appear in military court; US urges fair trial
• Uganda opposition leader charged with treason, rape

[JURIST] Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], said Friday that US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito [JURIST news archive] has promised that his views on abortion will not be a factor in his rulings. Several documents released in recent weeks have highlighted Alito's opposition to abortion, including a 1985 memo [PDF text] authored by Alito while he served as an assistant to the solicitor general during the Reagan administration. In the memo, Alito advocates a gradual challenge [JURIST report] to the fringes of Roe v. Wade and calls for a policy of "mitigating" the effects of the decision by urging the Supreme Court to allow increased state regulation of abortions. Alito has also come under fire for statements made in a job application [PDF text] for the position in the Attorney General's office, also in 1985, where he wrote that he was proud of helping the government argue [JURIST report] that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." Specter said Friday that Alito had assured him that the nominee's personal opinions are "not a matter to be considered in the deliberation on a constitutional issue of a woman's right to choose." Specter also emphasized, however, that Alito would face vigorous questioning about the abortion issue during confirmations hearings, scheduled to begin Jan. 9 [JURIST report]. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Why Feminists and Liberals Have Nothing to Fear from Alito | Op-ed: Better Luck This Time: Why Alito Is Hard to Beat

[JURIST] Leading Friday's environmental law news, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection [official website] has approved regulations [DOC text] that set "California" emissions standards for new cars and trucks sold in Maine beginning in 2009. Maine becomes the sixth state to adopt the standards, designed to reduce pollution linked to global warming, joining California, Washington, Oregon, New York, and Vermont. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• Xie Zhenhua, director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration [official website], resigned Friday [press release] following the chemical plant explosion in the city of Jilin that released benzene into the Songhua River, causing running water to be shut down in towns along the river. Officials at the agency also blamed local officials for the extent of the spill, which allegedly went unreported for five days. Officials have sent bottled water and fleets of water trucks to communities on the Songhua, and announced they are sending pollution monitoring devices and 150 tons of activated charcoal to help filter drinking water to Russia, where the spill is expected to reach on December 11, 2005. AP has more.
  
  
• The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] upheld a ruling [PDF opinion] Thursday that W.R. Grace and Company [corporate website] must pay $54.5 million for asbestos pollution cleanup in Libby, Montana. The court held that the EPA's cleanup of a vermiculite mine previously owned and operated by Grace in Libby was a removal action that was exempt from temporal and monetary caps, despite the company's objections. AP has more.
  
  
• Indonesia Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoeler [official website] has announced that the government will not appeal the ruling in favor [JURIST report] of the Newmont Mining Corporation [corporate website] arising out of the alleged pollution of Buyat Bay [JURIST news archive]. The decision is based on negotiations that have been occurring between the government and the company, and which officials hope will result in a satisfactory outcome faster than international arbitration. The decision does not impact the separate criminal case brought against Newmont's top local executive, American Richard Hess. The Jakarta Post has more.

[JURIST] A weak response from the justice system in Kosovo to the 2004 Albanian attacks on Serbs has created an "impression of impunity" for such ethnically motivated crimes, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) [official website] said Friday. Nineteen people died and over 4,000 were forced to flee their homes during mob violence that erupted in March 2004 [BBC backgrounder]. An estimated 51,000 people took part in the violence, but only 200 people have convicted with another 100 cases pending. According to the OSCE report [PDF text; press release],

From the 316 cases completed thus far, it can be concluded that the investigative and judicial authorities did not pursue these cases as diligently as required. Difficulties in gathering evidence due to the displacement of the injured parties and the recurrent problem of witness intimidation are part of the explanation for the delays in the proceedings as well as the low number of convictions.

Finally, by imposing lenient sentences in the majority of the riot-related cases, courts failed to send out a clear message of condemnation for such violent behaviour and appear not to have deemed the criminal cases arising from the March 2004 riots as very serious. This relatively weak response of the courts to the crimes committed during the March 2004 riots not only contributes to the impression of impunity among the population for such kinds of ethnically motivated crimes but may also be considered inadequate to prevent similar acts of public disorder in the future.

[JURIST] Lawyers for Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] said they would appeal to a higher Iraqi court if the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] refuses to divulge the names and backgrounds of four anonymous judges in charge of the trial. Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin is the only one of the five judges to identify himself. Security concerns have led the other judges to keep their identities secret [Reuters report]. Lawyers for Saddam want to check the other judges' backgrounds for credentials and possible biases. Friday's Washington Times has more.

[JURIST] The Belarussian parliament on Friday voted 97-4 to approve a law imposing harsh penalties for anyone convicted of inciting demonstrations or spreading harmful information. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko [BBC profile] wants the laws to stop anti-government protest movements like Ukraine's Orange Revolution [BBC report] which led to a change in leadership last year. Lukashenko is running for re-election next year and has drawn criticism from Western nations for attempting to silence dissidents. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi officials announced on Friday that non-Iraqi Arabs will not be allowed to enter the country as a security measure leading up to the December 15 elections [JURIST news archive]. No end date for the prohibition was set. The ban applies even to those holding valid entry visas [Reuters report]. Both Iraqi and US officials anticipate increased violence during the elections [BBC News report]; a three-day border closure and a curfew was in place during the October constitutional referendum. Also in preparation for the election, the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification has recommended that 86 candidates be prevented from running in the election [AP report] because of their connection to Saddam Hussein's ruling party. A decision on the recommendation is expected in a few days. AP has more.

[JURIST] A newly-disclosed memo [PDF text] reveals that US Department of Justice [official website] staff initially opposed a controversial 2003 Texas redistricting plan as violative of the Voting Rights Act [DOJ backgrounder], concluding that Texas "has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect." Senior DOJ officials, however, decided not to follow the recommendation and approved the plan. This past June, federal courts ruled the plan constitutional [JURIST report]; that ruling is on appeal to the Supreme Court. The memo was not available to the parties then, and a lawyer representing opponents of the plan says it can be important now.
Last month a similar DOJ staff memo revealed an initial recommendation of rejection for Georgia's new voter-identification law [PDF text] which was later nixed by higher-ups, although the US Eleventh Circuit eventually upheld an injunction against the law [JURIST report]. Friday's Washington Post has more.

3:44 PM ET - US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Friday defended the DOJ decision to approve the Texas redistricting plan, saying that the decision was made by people "confirmed by the Senate to exercise their own independent judgment". Gonzales also said that internal disagreement did not mean that the final decision came out the wrong way and pointed the plan's approval in federal court as evidence that the DOJ made the correct decision. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Federal judges back Texas redistricting again on remand
• Supreme Court orders lower court to reconsider Texas congressional redistricting map
• Texas redistricting plan upheldTexas redistricting plan to be considered by courts
• Texas Democrats challenge new redistricting law
• Texas lawmakers reach tentative redistricting agreement

[JURIST] French newspaper Le Figaro [media website, in French] reported Friday that two CIA-chartered flights made secret stops in France in 2002 and 2005 [Le Figaro report], bolstering allegations that the intelligence agency used the flights to transport Islamist terror suspects to secret European prisons for interrogation [JURIST report]. The first stopover was made in 2002 by a Learjet private plane in the town of Brest, and French airport authorities said the flight's crew told them they were alone on the plane. The second flight stopped in Paris in July 2005 by a Gulfstream III jet, which had reportedly landed six times at the US prison base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [JURIST news archive]. French officials claim they had no knowledge of the secret flights through France and French Defense Ministry [official website, in French] spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said officials have no evidence of these landings. On Thursday, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that over 300 flights operated by the CIA landed at European airports. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw [official profile] has written a letter [JURIST report] on behalf of EU nations [JURIST report] to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile], demanding answers on the "ghost flights." Rice has planned a visit to Europe [JURIST report] next week to address the CIA prison allegations. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] said Thursday that it plans to move forward in the trial against a 19-year old Canadian citizen who was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] last month with murdering a US Army medic, despite the judicial stays issued in other cases against terror suspects. Omar Ahmed Khadr was captured at the age of 15 and sent to the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [JURIST news archive] where his lawyers claim he has been abused and also contend that his detention at age 15 violates American responsibilities under rules governing the treatment of young people during times of war. Judicial stays have halted proceedings for David Hicks [JURIST news archive], Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST news archive], and a third detainee, while the US Supreme Court [official website] considers the constitutionality of military commissions [JURIST report] for terror detainees. Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Jane Boomer said however that judicial stays have not been handed down for any of the other nine charged prisoners, so the Office of Military Commissions [DOD materials] feels free to proceed with those other trials. The Pentagon has formed a military tribunal [JURIST news archive] comprised of six US officers and two alternates [appointing order, PDF] to hear Khadr's case. No trial date has yet been set. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Pentagon says no death penalty for Canadian Guantanamo detainee
• US charges five more Guantanamo detainees with war crimes
• Judge orders Canada to stop questioning Gitmo teen
• Canadian Gitmo detainee claims torture by US interrogators
• Judge denies request for medical records, exam of teenage Gitmo detainee
• Canadian Gitmo detainee admits to al-Qaida ties, killing of US soldier

[JURIST] A United Nations human rights investigator said Friday that prisoner torture in China [JURIST news archive] is declining but is still widespread, and accused Chinese authorities of obstructing his work during a 2-week torture investigation [press release]. Manfred Nowak [official profile, [DOC]], Special Rapporteur on Torture for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) [official website], said his investigation [JURIST report] uncovered evidence of common torture methods still being used in China such as submersion in pits of sewage or water, cigarette burns, electric shock batons, beatings to the point of exhaustion, and exposure to extreme conditions of heat or cold. Nowak said Chinese authorities closely monitored him while there, including frequent surveillance of interviews, declining to allow photographic equipment into the prisons, and preventing victims' families from meeting with him. He said he sensed a "palpable level of feat and self-censorship" when he spoke to prison detainees, even though Nowak and his envoy were able to speak with any detainee they chose. AFP has more. The UNHCHR has more on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

[JURIST Europe] Alexei Kurtsin, former manager at Yukos-Moskva - the financial and management center for Russian oil company Yukos [corporate website], was convicted on Thursday of embezzling and laundering funds and sentenced to 14 years in maximum-security prison. Kurtsin's sentence was even harsher than the 13-year sentence demanded by prosecutors, and the second longest sentence given out to former Yukos [JURIST news archive] employees. Eight other former Yukos employees, all accused of embezzlement, also were sentenced to prison, but Kurtsin's sentence was the harshest. In Russia, sentences of over 10 years have traditionally been reserved for violent crimes. A total of 34 people connected with Yukos have been charged, arrested, or convicted so far. In May, former owners Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive] and Platon Lebedev were sentenced to nine years in jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion. The sentence was later reduced to eight years each [JURIST report]. The Moscow Times has more.

[JURIST] A US Army officer has been arrested on bribery, money laundering, theft, and wire fraud charges [DOJ press release] as part of an illegal scheme during his service with the US governing administration in Iraq, according to US Department of Justice [official website] officials Thursday. During his time in Iraq, Army Reserve Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler was responsible for developing contract solicitations and ordering contracts in reconstruction efforts for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) [official website]. Wheeler is accused of accepting approximately $100,000 in cash and gifts for granting specific contract bids and allegedly using CPA funds to purchase dozens of firearms, machine guns and grenade launchers for personal use. Wheeler's arrest marks the third made in the fraud scheme after Robert Stein, CPA comptroller and funding officer, and Philip Bloom, a CPA contractor, were charged [JURIST report] last month. Earlier this year, the Justice Department said that CPA contractors could be sued for profiteering [JURIST report] under the Federal False Claims Act [text]. If found guilty, Wheeler could face a 30-year prison sentence. Reuters has more.

[JURIST Europe] A Paris court on Thursday overturned the convictions [JURIST report] of six people who were found guilty of pedophilia last year. The six, and several others, had been accused of raping their own and other children, after a seven-year-old boy reported that he had been raped by adults at orgies at his parents' apartment. The boy's mother, Myriam Delay, had first exonerated the defendants but then reaccused them during the trial. The French justice system has been widely criticized for its handling of the case [BBC report], with many questioning why court magistrates accepted DeLay's testimony and that of her children despite the inconsistencies in their testimony. Justice Minister Pascal Clement [official profile, in French] apologized for the handling of the case [press release], and said that President Jacques Chirac has ordered an inquiry into the "disaster." Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has promised compensation for those wrongly accused. Reuters has more. Le Monde has local coverage.

[JURIST] Kenneth Lee Boyd became the 1,000th person executed Friday since the US Supreme Court [official website] reinstated [DPIC backgrounder] the country's capital punishment [Wikipedia backgrounder] program in 1977 after a 10-year moratorium. Boyd, who was convicted of fatally shooting his wife and father-in-law 17 years ago, did not deny the killings but said he thought he should receive a life jail sentence rather than death. Boyd said he would "hate to be remembered" as a number. Convicted killer Robin Lovitt would have been the 1,000th executed [JURIST report], but Virginia Governor Mark Warner [official website] commuted his death sentence [JURIST report] earlier this week. Both North Carolina Governor Mike Easley [official website] and the US Supreme Court refused to intervene and consider Boyd's clemency pleas. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] The Belgian Chamber [official website], the lower house of parliament, approved a bill on Friday that will allow same-sex couples to legally adopt children. The bill must pass approval by the Belgian Senate [official website] before becoming law. The Senate is expected to hold hearings on the bill in March. If approved, Belgium would become the third European nation to allow full legal rights for same-sex couples to adopt children, following Sweden and Spain. Germany and Denmark allow same-sex couples to adopt biologically related children. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's international brief, the Ugandan government [official website] has rejected a call by the Pan African Parliament (PAP) [official website] to release Kizza Besigye [BBC profile] as illegal and contrary to the aims of the African Union [official website] and the PAP. Ugandan government Spokesman and State Minister for Information Dr. James Nsaba Buturo told reporters Friday that the PAP's demand that Besigye be released unconditionally [Daily Monitor report] was a violation of Uganda's sovereignty. Besigye was arrested [JURIST report] earlier this month on charges of treason and rape, and was later brought before a military court on terrorism charges [JURIST report]. Buturo emphasized that Besigye was before a competent judiciary on valid criminal charges and that the AU and the PAP should respect the ability of Ugandan government bodies to operate effectively. The PAP's resolution marks a decided change from an organization that routinely takes a 'hands-off' approach to internal national issues, such as Besigye's arrest or Zimbabwe's housing crisis. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Uganda [JURIST news archive]. Uganda's Daily Monitor has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• United Nations Commander Major General Rajender Singh [official profile, PDF] said Thursday that Ethiopian government officials have indicated a willingness to withdraw troops from the disputed border region shared with Eritrea in compliance with a UN Security Council [official website] resolution calling on both sides to withdraw troops from the area. Singh emphasized that the details of the withdrawal had yet to be formalized, but that he had spoken with key officials on the Ethiopian military command and they were willing to remove a significant portion of the armed troops. Singh commands the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea [official website], tasked with keeping peace between the two nations until a formal border demarcation is accepted by both sides. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Ethiopia [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.
  
  
• The ruling party of Honduras [government website in Spanish] has announced plans to employ over 300 lawyers to check the results of Sunday's national election for proof of fraud and/or falsification of ballots. National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo Sosa [Wikipedia profile], representing the current ruling party, is trailing the major opposition party candidate Manuel Zelaya [Wikipedia profile] by 3.5 percent. Over 80 percent of the ballots have been counted, but problems in new computer systems have delayed the final tally. Opposition party leaders have rejected National Party claims of fraud, arguing that only the current government can conduct fraud in a national election. Honduras' current President Ricardo Maduro is barred from seeking re-election. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] Belgium Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx [official profile] said Thursday that Belgian anti-terror raids held Tuesday night, which resulted in 15 arrests [JURIST report], were accelerated in order to stem the effects of a leak reported [RTL report, in French] in the French media. Authorities in France, led by French Justice Minister Pascal Clement [official profile, in French], have begun an investigation into the leak which is rumored to have come from a member of the French judiciary. The arrests were made in connection to the November 9 suicide attack in Iraq by a 38-year old Belgian woman now identified as Muriel Degauque [Times profile]. Degauque had converted to Islam and was married to an Islamic radical who was also killed during an attempted suicide attack. Expatica has more.

[JURIST Europe] European Union [official website] justice and security ministers announced the adoption of a new anti-terror strategy and action plan at an EU Council [official website] meeting in Brussels Thursday. The UK-sponsored proposal is intended to fight radicalization and the recruitment of potential supporters into terrorist groups throughout Europe, and is a response to the terrorist bombings in Madrid (March 2004) and London (July 2005) [JURIST news archives]. The proposal [PDF text] includes measures to protect infrastructure, reduce the effects of terrorist attacks, stymie the recruitment of terrorists, and facilitate prosecutions. Member states have agreed to share information amongst their respective police authorities, including communicating the identity of terror suspects within eight hours of their discovery. The plan must be approved by the EU summit [EC announcement] in Brussels on December 15-16. EUObserver has local coverage.