[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] late Tuesday issued a temporary stay on an execution order for Clarence Hill [NCADP advocacy letter], a Florida inmate convicted of the 1982 killing of a police officer. Hill had been scheduled to be executed at 6 PM. The Court is currently reviewing three stay requests on his behalf, including one from Hill's lawyer invoking a cruel and unusual punishment argument on the grounds that three chemicals within Florida's lethal injection mixture cause unnecessary pain and suffering, and that Hill is mentally retarded. The Court will consider the legitimacy of the execution tomorrow. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US Army spokesperson late Tuesday clarified the military position on the application of new military death penalty rules [JURIST document; JURIST report] to terror detainees, saying the rules would not apply to them and correcting a contrary statement made earlier Tuesday [JURIST report]. The spokesperson announced that the rules, which allow the army to decide the location of executions "imposed by military courts-martial or military tribunals and authorized by the president of the United States," apply only to US soldiers. Any other application he dismissed as "speculation", insisting the previous statement was just "wrong." A further statement may be forthcoming Wednesday. The military, which has not executed a soldier since 1961, is thought to be considering the death penalty in the case of Army Pvt. Dwight Loving, who was convicted of the murders of two taxicab drivers in 1988. AFP has more.

[JURIST] EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini [official website] has responded to a Council of Europe report [PDF text; COE press release], released [JURIST report] Tuesday by urging all EU member nations to fully comply with the ongoing COE investigation into alleged CIA rendition practices [JURIST news archive]. The interim COE report argued that EU countries "turned a blind eye" to the existence of secret CIA prisons within their borders, but no concrete evidence of their existence has yet been uncovered. The European Parliament [official website] last week opened a similar investigation [JURIST report] into the rendition allegations, which they hope to conclude by June. The US has consistently defended rendition practices [JURIST report] as consistent with treaties and international law. Read the EU press release.

[JURIST] Public statements of support by several US senators Tuesday assured the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito [JURIST news archive] to the US Supreme Court. Commitments by five Republicans appear to have pushed him beyond the requisite 50 votes in the 100-member chamber; one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) [official website] has also said he will support Alito's candidacy [JURIST report]. The full Senate [official website] convenes Wednesday morning to consider the nomination following Tuesday's 10-8 party-line vote [JURIST report] in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Alito, however, is not expected to enjoy the same broad support as former nominee and now Chief Justice John Roberts [JURIST news archive], who received only 22 "no" votes in the wake of his September 2005 confirmation hearings [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] is preparing to release the final draft of a rule [proposed rule text] that will establish standards for pesticide research on human subjects [EPA backgrounder]. In August 2005, President Bush signed an appropriations bill (Pub. L. No. 109-54 [text]) that banned all pesticide research on humans until the EPA could develop the standards that should be followed. Amongst other things, the new regulations will not allow for research that intentionally exposes pregnant women and children to pesticides. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• A West Virginia jury found Monday that the state Division of Highways [official website] created an unsafe work environment through diesel exhaust fumes, but that there was not an established link between the exhaust and cancer. A nine year employee of the DoH, Lucinda Cutlip, sued the Division after developing multiple myeloma in 2002. The jury did not award her any damages, and the DoH has already changed the working conditions at its facilities. The Charleston Gazette has more.
  
  
• The Australian New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries [official website] on Tuesday announced [press release] a ban on all commercial fishing in Sydney Harbor because of significant dioxin levels [backgrounder]. The ban, expected to last at least 3 months, follows a ban on shrimping that began last month and an existing ban on shellfish. The Australian has more.

[JURIST] Two judges involved in the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] said Tuesday that the real reason for the latest postponement of the hearing was a disagreement among the judges on the Iraqi High Criminal Court - formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] - as to who should replace chief judge Rizqar Mohammed Amin, who resigned earlier this month [JURIST report]. Court spokesman and investigating judge Raed Juhi told reporters earlier that the session would be put off until January 29 because "some witnesses are abroad" [JURIST report]. Speaking anonymously, the two judges said that some judges supported the appointment of new Kurdish chief judge Ra'uf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman while others wanted the reinstatement of Amin deputy and original designee Sayeed al-Hammash, a Shiite, who was suddenly removed after allegations that he had been a member of Saddam's Baath party [JURIST report]. Ra'uf Rasheed is said to have been patient and composed thus far in the trial. He was born in Halabja [Wikipedia backgrounder], the site of a 1988 gas attack by Saddam's army in which some 5,000 people died, including several of Ra'uf Rasheed's relatives. The attack is one of several crimes against humanity that Hussein could yet be formally charged with. The judges also complained of outside interference in the court. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• New judge appointed to preside over Saddam trial
• New Saddam trial chief judge to stay on despite Baath party allegations
• Saddam trial judges disagree over choice of new chief judge
• Saddam trial chief judge replaced
• Iraq government trying to talk chief Saddam judge out of resigning
• Iraq tribunal confirms chief Saddam judge has offered resignation
• Colleagues deny reports Saddam chief judge to quit as confusion reigns
• Saddam trial chief judge to resign

[JURIST] A US Army [official website] spokesperson said Tuesday that new military death penalty regulations [JURIST document; JURIST report] may also apply to enemy combatants. The new rules, which enable the army to determine the location for executions "imposed by military courts-martial or military tribunals and authorized by the president of the United States," mean that future executions could be carried out on convicted terror detainees at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. To date, ten war-on-terror detainees have been charged and referred to trial by special military commissions, but none have been charged with capital offenses. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] said Tuesday that a Senate floor debate on a proposed bill to compensate asbestos [JURIST news archive; EPA backgrounder] victims will begin February 6. Specter has co-sponsored the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 [bill summary] with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] to develop a $140 billion fund [JURIST report] to pay claims brought by victims exposed to the disease-causing mineral, in lieu of litigation. If approved, the fund will be financed by asbestos defendant companies and insurers. The bill has been criticized by small and medium-sized companies who say that they will be expected to pay too much into the fund while larger companies will benefit by receiving breaks from asbestos liabilities. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Frist promises action on asbestos legislation in January
• Judiciary committee authorizes asbestos subpoena power
• Specter calls for Senate vote on asbestos bill in October
• No date set for asbestos bill to reach Senate floor
• Senate panel backs asbestos fund bill
• Work on asbestos compensation bill slowed by Senate judges battle

[JURIST] US District Court Judge Sim Lake [Chronicle profile] has ruled that the Enron trial [JURIST news archive], set to begin January 30, will remain in Houston. In a ruling handing down late Monday, Lake denied the request [JURIST report] by former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay [Chronicle profile] and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling [Chronicle profile] to move the fraud and conspiracy trial due to the responses of potential jurors regarding their knowledge and feelings of the case and their experience level in legal and financial matters. Lay and Skilling argued that the trial should be moved outside Houston after recent jury questionnaires contained negative comments and because of the potential impact that the guilty plea [JURIST report] of former top Enron accountant Rick Causey [Chronicle profile] may have on the jury. Judge Lake said, however, that there are efficient safeguards in place and agreed to question jurors based on their responses when they arrive to court Monday. Lay and Skilling are also petitioning to have the trial postponed after prosecutors said they planned to drop 35 counts against Skilling last week, arguing that a grand jury's approval on the change is necessary before the trial can move forward. The Houston Chronicle has local coverage.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] on Tuesday downplayed criticism [speech transcript] of the controversial domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive] administered by the National Security Agency [official website], saying that reports of the program have been misleading. Echoing comments by President George Bush [transcript; JURIST report] Monday that the program should not be referred to as "domestic surveillance" but instead as a "terrorist surveillance program," Gonzales strongly defended the program's legality, both under the president's powers as commander-in chief, but also under the 2001 Congressional resolution [PDF text] authorizing military force against al Qaeda:

The Resolution means that the Presidents authority to use military force against those terrorist groups is at its maximum because he is acting with the express authorization of Congress. Thus, were we to employ the three-part framework of Justice Jackson's concurring opinion in the Youngstown Steel Seizure case, the President's authority falls within Category One, and is at its highest. He is acting "pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress," and the President's authority "includes all that he possesses in his own right [under the Constitution] plus all that Congress can" confer on him.

In 2004, the Supreme Court considered the scope of the Force Resolution in the Hamdi case. There, the question was whether the President had the authority to detain an American citizen as an enemy combatant for the duration of the hostilities.

In that case, the Supreme Court confirmed that the expansive language of the Resolution -"all necessary and appropriate force"-ensures that the congressional authorization extends to traditional incidents of waging war. And, just like the detention of enemy combatants approved in Hamdi, the use of communications intelligence to prevent enemy attacks is a fundamental and well-accepted incident of military force.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito [JURIST news archive] as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by a vote of 10-8, with all Republican members voting for and all Democrats voting against the nomination. Approval was expected [JURIST report] as all Republican members of the committee had indicated they would vote in favor of Alito, including committee chairman Arlen Specter [JURIST report]. The nomination now goes on to the full Senate with the recommendation of the committee.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Legal Technicalities: Weighing the Alito Nomination | Op-ed: Hollow Ritual: The Alito Confirmation Hearings

[JURIST] The wife of Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye [BBC profile], Winnie Byanyima, and Forum for Democratic Change [party website] official Jack Sabiti were charged Tuesday with criminal libel and supplying false information for alleging that judges involved in Besigye's trial on treason and rape charges [JURIST report] had been bribed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile]. The charges stem from a letter Byanyima and Sabiti sent to the chief justice presiding over Besigye's trial alleging that senior judges had been offered money by Museveni in order to influence their decision in the case. The letter, which Byanyima and Sabiti say was confidential, was later published in newspapers and Museveni responded by saying the allegations were blatant lies and calling for punishment of the pair. Byanyima and Sabiti are currently free on bail awaiting a February 14 trial. BBC News has more. The Daily Monitor provides local coverage.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Uganda opposition leader appears in court on rape charges
• Uganda opposition leader calls for president to face treason charges
• Uganda opposition leader released on bail
• Uganda opposition leader pleads not guilty to treason, rape charges
• Uganda court orders halt in military trial of opposition leader

[JURIST] Tongsun Park [Wikipedia profile], a South Korean lobbyist, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Manhattan on charges stemming from the now-defunct UN Oil-for-Food Program [official website; JURIST news archive]. Park faces charges of money laundering and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein's former government and is accused of taking more than $2 million in Iraqi payoffs for influencing the program while secretly lobbying on behalf of Hussein's government. Last year, Park was also charged in a criminal complaint [PDF text; JURIST report] with conspiracy to act as an unregistered government agent fro Hussein. He was arrested [press release] on January 6, and is currently in jail in Houston awaiting a bail hearing that is scheduled for Thursday. A June 20 trial date is planned. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] African Union [official website] officials are expected to ask a panel of legal experts to determine whether former Chad President Hissene Habre [HRW backgrounder] should be extradited to Belgium to face human rights charges, a senior African Union official said Tuesday. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said any such panel would likely recommend using an African court [Reuters report] to try the former ruler, who is currently living in Senegal. Belgium issued a warrant for Habre's arrest last year on charges of torture and murder during his rule from 1982 to 1990, but Habre has denied knowledge of the atrocities. Senegal referred his extradition to the African Union after a Senegalese court refused to rule on the issue. Reuters has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Senegal president calls for Africa 'dictator' court
• African Union to decide on Habre extradition for Belgian crimes trial
• Arrested Chad ex-leader in legal limbo after Senegal court ducks extradition jurisdiction
• Ex-Chad president held in Senegal on crimes against humanity charges
• Belgium issues international arrest warrant for former Chad leader

[JURIST] Six Yemen citizens, including four who have been released [JURIST report] from the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] will face stand trial in a special terrorism court on accusations of belonging to al Qaeda, according to a report in the September 26 [media website] newspaper. The four men released from Guantanamo have denied accusations of direct involvement with al Qaeda, but have admitted to forging travel documents and identification for al Qaeda operatives. Another of the suspects, Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, is known as the number two al Qaeda operative in Yemen [JURIST news archive] and is thought to be one of the most active and dangerous al Qaeda operatives worldwide. Intelligence investigations have connected him to bombing attacks in Yemen and other terrorist plans which were aborted. During interrogations, al-Ahdal admitted to receiving large amounts of money from overseas sources and distributing it to families of al Qaeda prisoners and detainees at Guantanamo Bay. UPI has more.

[JURIST] A terror suspect accused in Spain of links to the Sept. 11 attacks has accused the UK Security Service [official website] of using rendition [JURIST news archive] to arrange his torture in several Arab countries. Farid Hilali made the accusation in a statement to the UK High Court [official website], which is hearing an appeal of extradition proceedings [JURIST report] to determine whether Hilali, a 36-year-old Moroccan, can be handed over to Spanish authorities. Hilali argued that Spain wanted to extradite him so that it could turn him over to the Moroccan government for further torture. The hearings were halted Tuesday and will be resumed February 10. Hilali has been linked to the Sept. 11 attacks by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile] for allegedly contacting [BBC report] the head of a Madrid al Qaeda cell in the weeks preceding the attacks. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Kuwait's parliament on Tuesday averted a constitutional crisis [BBC report] by ousting seriously ill emir, Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, and handing temporary leadership to the cabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah. The vote brought to a close a nine-day leadership crisis in Kuwait [JURIST news archive] after longtime emir Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah [BBC profile] died and was replaced by the ailing Sheik Saad, who was too ill to be sworn in. According to a spokesman for parliament, the vote to oust Sheik Saad was held immediately before an abdication letter was received from him. Current Prime Minister Sheik Sabah is widely expected to be confirmed as the new emir when parliament opens its session next week. AP has more.

11:05 AM ET - AP is reporting that Sheik Sabah has been named as emir by the cabinet.

[JURIST] Indonesian leaders have rejected conclusions of an independent report that faults the Indonesian military for up to 185,000 civilian deaths in East Timor [JURIST news archive] during its 24-year rule. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday that the report's claims were "exaggerated" and that the country's forces were not guilty of gross human rights violations. Indonesian General Endriartono Sutarto has said that he does not believe [BBC report] many of the deaths cited in the report were caused by a deliberate policy of starvation by the military. The report compiled by the independent East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation [official website] was presented Friday [JURIST report] to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan by East Timor President Xanana Gusmao [BBC profile]; its text has not yet been made public. Leaders on both sides have appeared hesitant to push for any punishment for parties involved in the alleged atrocities. AP has more.

[JURIST] Indonesian leaders have rejected conclusions of an independent report that faults the Indonesian military for up to 185,000 civilian deaths in East Timor [JURIST news archive] during its 24-year rule. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday that the report's claims were "exaggerated" and that the country's forces were not guilty of gross human rights violations. Indonesian General Endriartono Sutarto has said that he does not believe [BBC report] many of the deaths cited in the report were caused by a deliberate policy of starvation by the military. The report compiled by the independent East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation [official website] was presented Friday [JURIST report] to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan by East Timor President Xanana Gusmao [BBC profile]; its text has not yet been made public. Leaders on both sides have appeared hesitant to push for any punishment for parties involved in the alleged atrocities. AP has more.

[JURIST] Members of a joint Louisiana House-Senate committee Monday approved a plan to set an April date for New Orleans city elections two days before US District Judge Ivan Lemelle was scheduled to hold hearings in a lawsuit [press release] challenging a December executive order [PDF text] of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco [official website] authorizing an indefinite delay. The plan, drawn up by Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater, would also distribute absentee ballots to residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] and set up new polling stations that will be easily accessible to voters whose neighborhoods were flooded. In a hearing late last month, Lemelle urged federal and state officials to expedite the elections [JURIST report] so that New Orleans residents will have an adequate opportunity to vote. Before it will take effect, the election plan supported by the committee must be approved by the full state legislature and the US Department of Justice [official website], as part of the review process required under the 1965 Voting Rights Act [DOJ backgrounder] for all electoral changes in states with a history of suppressing minority votes. AP has more. From New Orleans, the Times-Picayune has local coverage.

[JURIST] A military jury on Monday recommended issuing a reprimand rather than a prison sentence for Army Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. in connection with the interrogation death of an Iraqi general. Welshofer was convicted [JURIST report] of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty for the incident by the six-officer jury at Fort Carson [official website], avoiding a potential life sentence for the original murder charge sought by prosecutors. Under the reprimand, Welshofer faces a forfeiture of $6,000 in salary and a 60-day barracks restriction. He was convicted for forcing Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush headfirst into a sleeping bag and jumping on his chest. Mowhoush was killed while in US custody in 2003, but defense attorneys argued that his death was due to a heart condition. Welshofer was one of four soldiers originally charged [JURIST report] in connection with the death. AP has more. The Denver Post has local coverage.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Army interrogator convicted of negligent homicide in Iraqi general's death
• US officers say Iraq interrogation rules unclear in court-martial testimony
• US soldier accused in death of Iraqi general says interrogation methods approved
• Murder charge dropped against US soldier accused in death of Iraqi general

[JURIST] Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper [party profile] pledged Monday night to clean up government corruption and get tough on crime after his Conservative Party [party website] defeated the governing Liberals in Canada's federal election and won enough seats [Elections Canada final results] to form a minority government [Mapleleafweb backgrounder] in association with two other smaller parties and one independent MP. Speaking [official text; recorded video] to supporters in his Calgary, Alberta, constituency, Harper vowed:

First and foremost, we will clean up Ottawa by proposing and passing the Federal Accountability Act. We will do this because shuffling the deck in Ottawa is not enough. We need to change the system. And we will change the system to strengthen our institutions and make them more accountable to you, the Canadian taxpayers.... We will [also] reform our justice system to make it stronger and to ensure that we turn back the growing plague of guns, gangs, and drugs in our cities and communities.

[JURIST] The West Virginia Legislature [official website] on Monday approved a bill, S. 247 [text], that covers a variety of mine safety improvements, including a rapid-response system, only days after a second mine accident in the state in a month killed two miners. The legislation, initially proposed by Gov. Joe Manchin [official website], was passed within a span of eight hours by both the state House and Senate. The bill, once signed by Manchin, will create a state rapid-response system and require mine operators to issue wireless communication and tracking devices to all underground miners and to provide more self-contained rescue devices. Also Monday, the US Senate Appropriations Committee [official website] held hearings [Washington Post report, registration required; hearing testimony] on mine safety, with some senators blaming budget cuts at the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration [official website] for recent lapses. Gov. Manchin was expected to meet with President Bush and the state Congressional delegation on Tuesday. AP has more. The Charleston Gazette has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] has uncovered fraud by public officials in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], according to a top agent in the affected region. John G. Raucci, FBI special agent in Mississippi, said that indictments would be handed down, but he did not specify when or how many, though he did say that fraud by public officials is not widespread. Federal money continues to pour into the Gulf states, with billions ultimately expected to go to Louisiana and Mississippi, raising the potential for fraud in those areas. The FBI, along with the US Justice Department and other agencies, has set up task forces [FBI backgrounder] in different districts of the hardest-hit areas in order to investigate possible fraud. AP has more. From Mississippi, the Clarion-Ledger has local coverage.

[JURIST] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen [BBC profile] on Tuesday said that criminal defamation charges against four critics would be dropped after he received letters [text, scroll down] from the four apologizing for the incident. Hun Sen faced increasing international pressure to drop the charges, but as recently as two days ago had refused to do so. Hun Sen had the charges brought against the four [JURIST report], who included a radio journalist, a union leader and two activists from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights [advocacy website], for allegedly calling him a traitor for signing a border agreement with Vietnam that purportedly ceded some territory. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill [official profile] called for the charges to be dropped during a visit Tuesday, a week after Hun Sen allowed the four to be released on bail [JURIST report]. The incidents and others have created fears that Cambodia is drifting toward authoritarian rule under Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] commander. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday ruled that the US Department of Defense [official website] must release the names of detainees being held as enemy combatants [JURIST news archive] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. District Judge Jed Rakoff rejected arguments by the Pentagon that releasing the names would harm the privacy interests of the detainees' and their families. Rakoff ordered the Defense Department to release the names and transcripts of military hearings [DOD backgrounder] to Associated Press [media website] by Jan. 30. The Defense Department had requested that Rakoff to reconsider an earlier ruling that rejected its arguments but did not order the release of the transcripts. The Defense Department has until Wednesday to appeal the ruling to the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Reuters has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Federal judge rejects DOD argument that releasing detainee names violates privacy
• Federal judge says Pentagon must act to reveal names of Gitmo detainees
• Judge says Gitmo detainees must be asked for permission to release names
• AP: Documents detail Gitmo detainees' claims of abuses and inaction

[JURIST] US Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito [official profile] is expected to take the first step toward confirmation Tuesday, with an already apparent approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website]. All ten Republicans on the committee have announced their support for Alito's nomination, assuring that it will go before the full Senate. It remains unclear whether all eight Democrats on the committee will oppose Alito. Half of the Democrats have announced they will oppose [JURIST report] Alito, although Democrats have indicated they will not seek to filibuster [JURIST report] Alito's nomination when it goes before the full Senate, with a vote as early as Friday. Alito went through several days of questioning before the Senate committee relatively unscathed, with much of Democrats' questioning focusing on a 1985 application [SF Chronicle report] he submitted for a post in the Reagan administration and on his views of executive power and domestic surveillance [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Samuel Alito | Op-ed: Legal Technicalities: Weighing the Alito Nomination

[JURIST] AP is reporting that the Iraqi High Criminal Court trying ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] and co-defendants for crimes against humanity has canceled its session scheduled for Tuesday and has instead set January 29 as the date of its next hearing of witnesses in the case. The last-minute delay comes on the heels of Monday's surprise appointment of Judge Ra'uf Rashid, another Kurd, to replace resigned chief judge Rizgar Amin after Amin's deputy and initial successor Sayeed al-Hammash was accused of having been a member of Hussein's now-banned Baath party [JURIST report].

6:54 AM ET - Court spokesman and investigating judge Raed Juhi told reporters "Some witnesses are abroad, so the 1st Trial Chamber decided to delay the session until Sunday, January 29." Reuters now has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, the Democratic Republic of Congo will hold the chairmanship of the African Union (AU) [official website] for 2006 under an agreement reached by a five-nation panel assigned to develop a compromise to the tense standoff concerning the proposed Sudanese bid to chair the African regional organization. Under the compromise, Congo will hold the chairmanship this year and Sudan will assume the chairmanship in 2007. Sudan's bid to chair the AU was vehemently opposed by rebel leaders [JURIST report] in Darfur [JURIST news archive], who threatened to leave AU-sponsored peace talks if Sudan was given the position. The compromise is expected to be announced at the end of Tuesday's session of the AU annual meeting. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Congo and Sudan [JURIST news archives]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Over two dozen protesters were arrested Tuesday throughout Nepal in a series of demonstrations against the Nepalese monarchy [official website] and its systematic crack-down on human rights and opposition political leaders. Several different rallies were scheduled for Tuesday, some in locations currently maintaining bans on public assemblies of protesters, and police responded with force and tear gas in several different cities. The curfew and ban on protests in the capital city of Kathmandu was just raised [JURIST report] Monday. Reports of student protesters being arrested have been confirmed by police officials and several high-level opposition political leaders are still in custody for "further questioning." JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. eKantipur.com has local coverage.
  
  
• Kenyan Water Minister Mutua Katuku has announced that member nations of the Nile Basin Initiative [official website] will undertake a complete rewrite of domestic legislation relating to the use of water from the Nile River. Katuku, in a statement released on Monday at the opening of a staff training conference for the NBI held in Nairobi, said that progress had been made on a draft cooperative framework that would give countries along the Nile River the right to equitable use of river water. Once the draft has been approved by the Nile Council of Ministers, the guidelines would be implemented into domestic legislation to ensure that all nations bordering the Nile River were in compliance with international law concerning the use of shared water sources. Kenya's East African Standard has local coverage.
  
  
• Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, Iran's senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website], has said that any move to refer the situation in Iran concerning the use and development of nuclear power to the UN Security Council [official website] will cause Iran to abandon all attempts at a compromise agreement and begin development on a "full-scale uranium enrichment program". The US and the European Union have both expressed concern [JURIST report] over Iran's plan to develop nuclear energy, as the materials used for peaceful production of electricity may also be used for the development of materials needed for nuclear weapons. The IAEA is currently scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Iran's actions on February 2 and the EU is pushing for referral [JURIST report] of the matter to the Security Council. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Iran [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] A Council of Europe [official website] report released Tuesday argues that not only did alleged secret prisons run by the CIA in Europe exist, but that many European governments knew of the prisons and 'turned a blind eye'. Dick Marty, a Swiss legislator, prepared the report at the request of the Council of Europe [JURIST report]; he flagged some of his anticipated findings in statements [JURIST report] earlier this month. Marty acknowledged that he had no new material on the location of the prisons to present and that he still had no proof of the actual existence of the alleged prisons, but claimed that the chance of finding proof was rapidly decreasing, as most of the sites were probably small to begin with and have been closed down by now. Marty's report also covers alleged CIA rendition [JURIST news archive] flights that have reportedly criss-crossed Europe transferring suspected terrorists to countries where they could be tortured for information. Read the official CoE press release and the full report [official PDF text]. The UK Independent has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] A Russian court in Moscow has ordered that the financial assets of Mikhail Khodorkovsky [MosNews profile] and his business partner Platon Lebedev be seized to pay alleged back taxes and fines for the Yukos oil company. Yukos [corporate website] has been fined nearly &17 billion (USD) as a result of criminal prosecution against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev which resulted in their incarceration for allegedly defrauding sharholders and the Russian government. Khodorkovsky continues to maintain his innocence and has accused the Russian government of trumping up charges against him due to his outspoken opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin [official profile]. The court ruling will also allow the Russian Federal Tax Service to liquidate any real estate and securities owned by the two men to contribute towards the fines. MosNews has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.