[JURIST] Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz [official profile] said Saturday in a television interview that he will order an investigation into reports that the CIA ran a secret detention facility in Poland. Allegations have been circulating in press reports and human rights group statements for over a month, and were most recently detailed in the Warsaw daily Gazeta Wyborcza [newspaper website], which Friday cited Human Rights Watch claims that Poland hosted the largest CIA facilty in Europe [JURIST report], housing roughly 100 prisoners. The Polish government has denied that any such prison existed; as recently as Tuesday, a spokesman for the Polish Justice Minister said the goverment would not launch an investigation [JURIST report] without further evidence. Marcinkiewicz said Saturday that a probe was necessary as the matter affected Poland's national security. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] During his weekly radio address [transcript] Saturday, President George W. Bush urged Congress to limit debate on the bill [summary] reauthorizing sections of the Patriot Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive] and vote soon on the compromise [JURIST report] announced by House and Senate Republicans on Thursday. The President lauded the original Act, saying it "allowed federal investigators to pursue terrorists with the same tools they already use against other criminals. For example, before the Patriot Act, it was easier to track the phone calls of a drug dealer than the phone calls of a terrorist. Before the Patriot Act, it was easier to get the credit card receipts of a tax cheat than those of an al Qaeda bankroller." The bill reauthorizes roving wiretaps and FBI access to library and business records for another four years, allows courts to review issuances of National Security Letters (NSL) [PDF sample text; ACLU backgrounder] and permits NSL recipients to consult a lawyer before complying. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Retired Croatian general Ante Gotovina [BBC profile; ICTY case backgrounder], has been transferred to the detention facility of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] Saturday following his arrest [JURIST report] in Spain Wednesday. According to the ICTY [text], Gotovina is charged with " persecutions, murder, plunder of property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, deportation and forced displacement, and other inhumane acts," committed by Croatian soldiers under his command during the 1995 Operation Storm offensive [Wikipedia backgrounder] against Serbians in southern Croatia. His indictment [text] charges him with failing to prevent the murder of 150 Serbian citizens, alleges that he encouraged Croatian civillians to participate in looting Serbian homes, and that "the accused had a duty to restore and ensure public order and safety and he failed to fulfil this duty." Gotovina's initial court appearance is scheduled for Monday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] At a conference in New Delhi Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] launched a new code of Customary International Humanitarian Law [ICRC press release; ICRC summary] setting down universal and customary rules of combat for internal and international warfare. Originally published in March 2005, the three-volume code lists 161 general rules of combat followed by "civilized states," providing direction to combatants regarding contensious issues such as torture, attacks on innocent civilians, and using human shields. The rules are grounded in international legal precedent and current millitary standards, and are intended to be used as source of law to prosecute combatants for war crimes who are not bound by treaty. They clarify how combatants who are not members of a state army can be brought to justice, an important issue in the context of global war on terror. According to a Red Cross official, the code is:

a major step in holding to account those who commit crimes in conflicts who might not have otherwise been held to account...[The code] not only minimizes the effect of non-ratification of treaty law by some states, it also addresses the applicability of humanitarian law to non-state actors...Customary laws though unwritten are there for centuries and all civilisations have developed rules to limit violence during wars. Therefore, it is necessary to address present conflicts reminding them of traditions and customs dated back to the beginning of human history.

[JURIST] Germany's new foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier [BBC profile] Saturday denied allegations that German officials may have aided the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] in the December 2003 abduction of German citizen Khaled El-Masri [ACLU profile], who has filed a lawsuit charging the US with wrongful imprisonment [JURIST report; PDF text]. An anonymous source cited in a German newspaper article Friday alleged that El-Masri may have been targeted based on information that the German government shared with the CIA [JURIST report]. Steinmeier, who was serving as chief of staff to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [BBC profile] when the abduction occurred, will face questions from the German parliament about the incident on Wednesday. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US said Friday that it would not allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] access to a limited number of detainees [JURIST news archive] who are held in secret locations around the world. It is the first time the US has admitted that it has not given the Red Cross access to all US detainees. Adam Ereli, the deputy spokesman for the State Department [official website], responded [press briefing transcript] to the ICRC request [JURIST report] to see all detainees saying certain terrorists [JURIST report] held by the US are not guaranteed any rights under the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials]. Ereli noted that the ICRC has access to suspects in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], Afghanistan, and Iraq. Those that are denied visitors include a handful of top al-Qaida operatives kept in secret locations for what the US considers national security reasons. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] announced [press release] Friday that it has extended an invitation to special representative Anne-Marie Lizin [Wikipedia profile] of the 55-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [official website] to visit the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], Cuba. Pentagon officials said Lizin, who has openly opposed the operation of the facility, would be permitted to speak with officials and observe prison operations but would be prohibited from meeting with any detainees[JURIST news archive], which the US claims is the responsibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross [official website]. It is uncertain if Lizin will accept the Pentagon's offer. United Nations human rights investigators declined a similar offer from Pentagon officials [JURIST report] last month because of the prohibition against meeting with the over 500 prisoners that remain there. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] At the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [official website] which ended Saturday in Montreal, states party to the Kyoto Protocol [PDF text; JURIST news archive] agreed to extend the life of the Protocol and begin a new dialogue with the US. Members agreed to start talks regarding emission cuts beyond 2012, the expiration date of the current commitment. In agreeing to the vague dialogue regarding long-term cuts in pollution, the United States, which walked away from the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001, made no binding obligations or goals. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US government urged the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] in court papers filed Friday to withdraw its September 9, 2005 opinion [PDF text; JURIST report] which denied the habeas petition of Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive], the American "dirty bomb" suspect, and allowed the government to hold Padilla indefinitely as an "enemy combatant" without charging him with a crime. The government argued that the case of Padilla's military custody is now moot, as he was indicted on 11 criminal counts [JURIST report; PDF text] by civil authorities in Florida on November 22. If the Fourth Circuit sets aside its September ruling, Padilla's pending appeal [PDF cert. petition; JURIST report] to the US Supreme Court may be rendered null and void because there would technically be no ruling to appeal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] UN Under-Secretary-General Jan Egeland [official profile], the UN humanitarian relief coordinator, told the UN Security Council [official website] Friday not to weaken a proposed resolution on protecting civilians in war zones, reminding delegations of the 26 million people forced from their homes due to violence in Northern Uganda, Sudan, and the Ivory Coast. The resolution could be the first application of the responsibility to protect [backgrounder], the most radical concept approved at a September UN World Summit which allows international military intervention in domestic abuses as a last resort. Council president and British UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he expected the new concept to be adopted in the resolution next week. Some members, including Russia, China and Algeria, have nonetheless expressed reservations; the US and Canada have suggested rewording of resolution and further talks among world leaders. Reuters has more.