[JURIST] Canadian Federal Court [official website] Justice Anne Mactavish [official profile] reserved decision Wednesday after hearing arguments in the case [JURIST report] of US military deserter Jeremy Hinzman [advocacy website], who fled to Canada in January 2004 with his wife and son to avoid deployment to Iraq. The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board [official website] denied [text; JURIST report] Hinzman’s request for refugee status last March, saying he had not made a convincing argument that he faced persecution in the US should he be returned there.

Hinzman’s lawyer contends that the board erred in refusing to consider evidence of the illegality of the war on terror and the court-martial punishment Hinzman faces in the US. Amnesty International [official website] and the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Clinic both seek to intervene [CP report] in the case on Hinzman’s behalf. It's estimated that up to 200 former US military personnel are in Canada avoiding war service; some 20 have applied for refugee status, Hinzman having been the first one to do so. Canada was a haven for American draft dodgers [CBC backgrounder] during the Vietnam War. From Canada, the Globe and Mail has local coverage.

[JURIST] In response to the publication of Muhammad caricatures [JURIST news archive] in European newspapers, British Muslim leaders on Wednesday called for the UK Parliament [official website] to amend the country's Race Relations Act [text; backgrounder] to protect Muslims as well as Jews and Sikhs, and to change the rules governing the Press Complaints Commission [official website] allowing it to ban British newspapers from publishing the blasphemous cartoons. The leaders praised the press from refraining to publish the cartoons so far and announced a protest march in London for February 18.

The cartoons, originally printed in a Danish newspaper in September, were recently reprinted in leading newspapers [JURIST report] in France, Germany, Spain and other European countries. Muslim Action Committee spokesperson Shaikh Faiz Saddiqi compared the cartoons with the impact on Islam of Salman Rushdie’s controversial 1988 book The Satanic Verses [Wikipedia backgrounder]. From the UK, the Guardian has local coverage.

[JURIST] The US Senate Committee on Armed Services [official website] will investigate conflicting reports about the use of dogs in abusing detainees at the US military prison of Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive]. Chairman Sen. John Warner (R-VA) [official website] said that the committee will look into disparate statements allegedly made by US Army Maj.-Gen. Geoffrey Miller [Wikipedia profile].

According to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [official website], Miller confirmed using dogs for perimeter security, but he also discussed using dogs to elicit information from prisoners with former Guantanamo intelligence officer Col. Thomas Pappas, later named in the Taguba Report as "directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." Miller, who commanded the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] prison until April 2004, invoked his right not to incriminate himself last month in refusing to testify in an upcoming court-martial case against two Army dog handlers. AAP has more.

[JURIST] A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted [text; US Attorney press release] Canadian citizen Abdullah Ahmed Khadr [Wikipedia profile; CBC family backgrounder] on four counts connected to his alleged procurement of destructive devices to be used against American forces in Afghanistan in 2003. Khadr, the eldest son of suspected al Qaeda senior member Ahmed Said Khadr [Wikipedia profile] and the brother of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [JURIST news archive], faces a possible life sentence plus thirty years and a $1,000,000 fine.

US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts [official website] Michael Sullivan [official profile] said he plans to “aggressively” pursue extraditing Khadr from Canada, where he is being held on a US warrant. He was arrested by the RCMP [CBC report] in December after returning from Pakistan, where he had been jailed. Another of Khadr's younger brothers, Abdul Rahman Khadr, was released from Guantanamo in 2003. Reuters has more. CBC News has local coverage from Canada.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's environmental law news, the US Fish and Wildlife Service [official website] announced [press release] today that it has initiated a status review of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) [backgrounder, video] to determine whether it should be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act [text]. If listed, federal agencies would have to factor in the health of the species before taking any action, a move which could effect greenhouse gas emissions and other regulations. The FWS will accept comments regarding the species for a 60 day period, beginning February 9. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• Japan's Environment Ministry [official website] has announced it will allow private companies to import and export industrial waste, as long as the company ensures the waste is properly disposed or recycled. Under the current Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law [PDF text] only local governments and others legally responsible for waste disposal can import and export industrial waste. The Ministry hopes that increased trade in the waste will lead to more recycling, particularly of electronic parts that contain scarce metals and other elements. The Asahi Shimbun has more.

[JURIST] Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi [official profile; BBC profile] has backed off his pledge to push through legislation [JURIST report] that would allow women to succeed to the royal throne for the first time since the 1700's. The bill - first proposed because not a single male has been born in the royal family for over 40 years - was supported vigorously by Koizumi until he told a reporter that he wants to "proceed cautiously" to avoid making the issue a "political tool."

Koizumi's change of heart comes one day after the announcement that Princess Kiko Akishino [Wikipedia backgrounder] is pregnant, which has raised hopes that a male will finally be born into the royal family. Opinion polls have shown a majority of Japanese support the proposed change to the 1947 Imperial Household Law [text], but some conservative politicians have led public protests in opposition [JURIST report] to the proposal. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] French Judge Fabrice Burgaud told a parliamentary inquiry [hearing materials, in French] Wednesday that he had not acted incorrectly when investigating pedophilia charges in the French town of Outreau. Thirteen people were wrongly convicted of pedophilia and spent 16-39 months in jail before all the convictions were finally overturned [JURIST report] late last year after the accuser admitted that her accusations were false [JURIST report]. The French justice system has been widely criticized for its handling of the case [JURIST report], with many questioning why court magistrates accepted the accuser's testimony and that of her children despite the inconsistencies in their testimony.

The cross-party committee investigating the case consists of thirty deputies seeking to reform the French justice system so that similar mishaps do not occur, and will address several issues pertaining to the investigation. Several wrongly accused victims were present at the questioning, accusing Burgaud of seeking to establish guilt without listening to arguments in defense of the accused. Burgaud, who was responsible for investigating the charges and recommending whether to prosecute, has maintained that he followed the letter of the law and has refused to offer an apology to the wrongly convicted. AFP has more. France's Le Monde has local coverage [in French].

[JURIST] The World Trade Organization [official website] has made a preliminary ruling that European Union restrictions on genetically engineered crops [EU materials] violate international trade rules. The United States, Canada, Argentina - which together grow 80 percent of all biotech crops sold commercially - challenged the process [WTO case materials; USTR backgrounder, PDF] by which the EU regulates such crops. The countries argued that the EU's regulatory process was far too slow and its standards were unreasonable given that the overwhelming body of scientific evidence finds the crops safe. The European Commission [official website], which has called the WTO challenge unhelpful and unfounded [press release], contended that although it had previously stalled approvals for six years, from 1998 to 2004, it was currently in full compliance with international law. Wednesday's Washington Post has more. Read the USDA press release welcoming the ruling.

[JURIST] US Rep. Heather Wilson [official website] (R-NM), chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence [official website] has called for a complete review of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text], which governs the monitoring of phone calls within the United States for national security reasons, so that proper congressional oversight may be given to the NSA's domestic spying program [JURIST news archive]. A spokesman for the House Republican said she is requesting an update to the act to bring it in accordance with recent technological advances, and also because she feels that the House Intelligence Committee is entitled to full briefings.

The Bush administration has only conducted limited Congressional briefings on the controversial NSA program, including only the so-called "Gang of Eight" [Wikipedia backgrounder], which consists of current leaders of the House, Senate, and its intelligence committees. Wilson, however, says that proper oversight has not been granted to Congress as required by FISA, and is calling for revisions to the act which would make this clearer. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Limited domestic spying briefings "inconsistent with the law": CRS report
• Key Democrat says limited NSA surveillance briefings violated law

[JURIST] The Italian Senate [official website; Wikipedia backgrounder] passed a bill [press release; legislative materials, in Italian] Wednesday that would increase the number of women elected to parliament. If the bill becomes law, it would require that females make up one third of all national election candidates. Women currently make up only ten percent of the legislature in Italy, one of the lowest percentages in the European Union.

Although the bill, known as the "quota rosa," or "pink quota" passed with an overwhelming majority in the Senate, it is not likely that it will be approved by the Chamber of Deputies [official website; English version] in time for the April 9 general elections, because the legislative calendar for the Chamber has already closed, and Parliament will adjourn this weekend. Stefania Prestigiacomo [profile], Italy's minister for equal opportunities, said that the Senate's passage of the bill is symbolic, and will hopefully pass on the commitment to the next parliament. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights [advocacy website] has said that it will conduct its own investigation into the sinking of a ferry carrying 1,400 Egyptians [BBC report] in the Red Sea earlier this month. Another Egyptian NGO, the Civil Observatory for Human Rights, has meanwhile called for a greater degree of transparency in the official government probe. There were reports Tuesday that the company that operated the ferry delayed informing the Egyptian government [AP report] about the sinking almost six hours after the ferry sank, prompting a strong reaction form Egyptian citizens. A group of Egyptians seeking information on relatives lost when the ferry sank on Monday ransacked the ferry company's office [Reuters report]. IRIN has more.

[JURIST] The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) [trade website] has filed two federal lawsuits [press release; RILA materials] challenging laws in Maryland and Suffolk County, New York designed to push large retail stores such as Wal-Mart [corporate website] to spend more money on employee health care. The Maryland law [PDF text] requires companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent on employee health care, or pay the difference of that amount into the state Medicaid fund. Suffolk County has a similar "fair share" health care law [PDF text]. The RILA website has the Maryland complaint [text, PDF] and the New York complaint. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for naturalized American citizen Shawqi Ahmad Omar, who has been detained in Iraq for over a year, have asked a federal judge to intervene in the case and prevent Omar's transfer to Iraqi custody. US Justice Department officials say that Omar, who they believe is a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [BBC profile], was arrested after he was caught harboring an Iraqi insurgent and a group of foreign fighters who were in Iraq illegally with the intention of fighting US forces. The DOJ says Omar may be guilty of war crimes but his lawyers insist that he is just a businessman who was in Iraq seeking construction contracts.

Omar's defense lawyers have asserted that the federal court has jurisdiction over the case because he is in US military custody and have asked US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina [official profile] to review his detention, which they say violates his rights as a US citizen. The DOJ, however, says that Omar is in the custody of the Multi-National Force [official website] and beyond the court's jurisdiction. Last week, Urbina temporarily blocked [Washington Post report; petitioner's brief, PDF] the US government from transferring Omar to the custody of the Iraqi government. Wednesday's New York Times has more.

[JURIST] British pharmaceutical company Chiron [corporate website] has announced [press release] that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] has ended its investigation of the company, which was related to Chiron's failure to supply sufficient flu vaccines [USA Today report] in October 2004. The inability to deliver an adequate vaccine supply was due to UK regulators shutting down a Chiron-run vaccine manufacturing facility in Britain. The SEC investigation focused on whether company executives misled investors about the company's ability to deliver sufficient vaccines, and on Chiron's restatement of its financial results for the second half of 2004.

The SEC probe began around the same time a federal grand jury subpoenaed the company for information on its flu vaccines [JURIST report]. Chiron was also the target of state and federal investigations [JURIST report] as a result of its inability to provide sufficient vaccines. Wednesday's LA Times has more.

[JURIST] Leaders of the Ulama Council, Afghanistan's top Islamic authority, appealed Wednesday for an end to violent protests against the publication of Muhammad caricatures [JURIST news archive] in European newspapers, but the call came too late to stop hundreds rioting outside a US forward operations base in the southern Afghan city of Qalat. Four protestors were killed when police were forced to fire into the crowd. The deaths came a day after several other Afghan protestors died while attempting to storm a ISAF Norwegian military camp [JURIST report; ISAF press release] in the north of the country. Senior cleric Mohammed Usman said "Islam says it's all right to demonstrate but not to resort to violence. This must stop...We condemn the cartoons but this does not justify violence. These rioters are defaming the name of Islam." The call follows similar appeals for calm [JURIST report] made Tuesday by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and other leaders.

President Bush, meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah Wednesday at the White House, also appealed for restraint:

I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, to protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas.

We believe in a free press, and also recognize that with freedom comes responsibilities. With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others

When we see protests -- when we see destruction, when we see violence, especially if it ends up taking the lives of innocent people, is completely unacceptable. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of peace, tolerance, moderation.

And we have to continue to ask ourselves, what type of world do we want for our children? I too often hear the word used as, tolerance. And tolerance is such an awful word. If we are going to strive to move forward in the future, the word that we should be talking about is acceptance. We need to accept our common humanity and our common values. And I hope that lessons can be learned from this dreadful issue, that we can move forward as humanity, and truly try to strive together, as friends and as neighbors, to bring a better world to all.

[JURIST] More than 4,500 occupants of hotel rooms provided by the government [FEMA hotel use report] to those affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster [JURIST news archive] were ordered to leave Tuesday as the Federal Emergency Management Agency [official website] began to end its hotel accommodation program [press release]. According to FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney, occupants of 20,000 other government-paid hotel rooms were given extensions by FEMA until at least next week and possibly until March 1, 2006.

The timing of the evictions is largely a result of a December 2005 federal court ruling [JURIST report] that FEMA could not end the program for hurricane refugees until February 7, one month later than the agency had planned. The ruling was in response to a motion [JURIST report] made by plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit [PDF complaint; JURIST report] against FEMA over the agency's denial of temporary housing to Katrina victims. FEMA says that most of those being forced out this week have made other living arrangements, many receiving federal rent assistance or living with relatives, but protestors in cities in New York and California have held demonstrations opposing the evictions. AP has more.

[JURIST] The appellate chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] on Wednesday upheld a trial chamber acquittal [press release] of two high-ranking government officials accused of genocide and massive crimes against humanity during the 1994 crisis. Former Transport Minister Andre Ntagerura [PDF indictment] and former provincial Governor Emmanuel Bagambiki [PDF indictment] had been tried by the ICTR trial chamber and acquitted [PDF judgment] by a three-judge panel in 2004 on the grounds that the prosecutor had not proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors asked for a retrial [JURIST report] earlier this week, arguing that the tribunal did not consider testimony from seven suspected accomplices of the two defendants. The appellate chamber's confirmation of the ruling means that the two men are free and cannot be tried again for charges related to those already tried. IRIN News has more.

[JURIST Europe] The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC) [official website] has issued a new report showing an increase in neo-Nazi [JURIST news archive] violence, with nearly three attacks related to right-wing extremism occurring daily in Germany. Many of the radical groups hire new members at 'skinhead' concerts. To date, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior [official website] has issued 23 bans [backgrounder] against right-wing extremist organizations [OPC backgrounder], although national membership levels have remained at around 40,000.

Security agencies still believe that the legal far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) [party website in German; 2001 German Interior Ministry ban petition] will obtain well beyond the 5% minimum of votes necessary to win seats in upcoming September state elections in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. Expatica has more.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] on Tuesday imposed 12-month sanctions [press release] on three Ivorian peace opponents. Ble Goude, Eugene Djue, and rebel commander Fofie Kouakou will have their assets frozen and restrictions placed on their travel. Goude and Djue are militant youth leaders who support Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile]. They have participated in beatings, rapes and extrajudicial killings and have advocated violence against UN installations, according to the sanctions committee [official website]. The committee also claims Kouakou, a military leader of the rebel group Forces Nouvelles, recruited child soldiers, sexually abused women, and carried out extrajudicial killings.

The Ivory Coast [JURIST news archive] has been divided between the government-controlled south and rebel-held north since a failed coup attempt in 2002 started a civil war [Globalist backgrounder]. The Security Council also voted earlier in the week to increase the UN presence in the Ivory Coast [SC resolution; UN News report] until March 31 with 200 soldiers from Liberia. AP has more. The UN News Centre has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, soldiers of the Royal Nepalese Army [official website] fired indiscriminately into a crowd of protesters who were urging citizens to boycott the municipal elections held throughout Nepal, the first elections in seven years. The weapons-fire killed one man and injured another, causing the crowd to scatter as more troops were brought out. The shooting is just one of many incidents of violence as police and soldiers broke up dozens of protests across the country and arrested several hundred individuals [eKantipur report]. The seven major opposition parties and the Maoist party have called a week-long strike of the government and the elections as an attempt to force the monarchy into reinstating the democratic government of Nepal. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. AP has more. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Khaled Batch, leader of one of the factions within the radical Islamic Jihad (IJ) [MIPT backgrounder], has rejected calls by Hamas leaders to agree to a long-term truce with Israel. Hamas had urged IJ to join its unofficial truce during the past year, but IJ refused and carried out six suicide bombing attacks against Israel. IJ also renewed its refusal to participate in the Palestinian government, despite Hamas' recent electoral victory [JURIST report], and reiterated that it would continue to use violence until the destruction of Israel as a nation was achieved. IJ is believed to receive a large portion of its funding from Iran. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the Palestinian Authority [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.
  
  
• Former Romanian Prime Minister and current President of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase [official profile] has been charged with corruption relating to actions during his tenure as prime minister from 2000-2004. Nastase, who has said that the charges are politically motivated, has been involved in allegations of corruption before and had to step aside for a month as a member of parliament until he was cleared of wrongdoing. The specifics of the charges have not yet been released. Romania [government website] has been under increasing pressure from the European Union [official website] to crack down on corruption in preparation for its planned accession to the EU next year. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for two detainees being held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] say that over half of the terror suspects being held there are not alleged to have committed terrorist acts against the US or its allies or even to be members of terrorist organizations. Their findings appear in a report [PDF text] released Tuesday based on declassified US Department of Defense evaluations [DOD materials] of the more than 500 Guantanamo detainees undertaken as part of a 2004 DOD study to determine if detainees were being properly held as enemy combatants.

The lawyers say that according to the data, 8 percent of detainees are designated terrorist fighters, while another 30 percent are considered members of a terrorist group such as al Qaeda or the Taliban. Sixty 60 percent were simply "associated with" terrorists. Currently only 10 Guantanamo detainees have been formally charged with crimes and will face military tribunals. The Pentagon had no comment on the report. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] The trial of five Turkish journalists [JURIST report] accused of insulting Turkey's judiciary and trying to influence the courts through their articles has been adjourned to April 11. The court ordered the postponement Tuesday after a fight erupted between the two nationalist lawyers that supported the trial of the journalists. The five are charged under the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish penal code [AI backgrounder] that involves insults against the state or "the public denigration of Turkish identity" for writing articles that criticized a court decision in September 2005 to stop a conference in Istanbul on the mass killings of Armenians by Turks during World War I. The trial is significant in light of Turkey's bid for European Union membership [JURIST report], as the EU [official website] continues to push for greater freedom of expression and judicial reforms in Turkey. Last month similar state slander charges were dropped [JURIST report] against well-known Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, a development hailed as 'good news' [JURIST report] by the EU. The Independent has more.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.

[JURIST] Beth Sabilia, the mayor of New London, Connecticut, has proposed a compromise for a group of four homeowners involved in the eminent domain [JURIST news archive] case that went before the US Supreme Court last year. In Kelo v. New London [text], the Court held last June by a 5-4 margin that the local authority in New London, Connecticut could expropriate private land, homes and businesses for private redevelopment [JURIST report] when the taking would confer economic benefits on the community such as more jobs and tax revenue as well as for the more traditional purposes of roads, schools, or renewal of urban blight. Under Sabilia's plan, the homeowners would be allowed to remain in their homes provided they pay the city to continue to live there. The homeowners would also have to surrender ownership rights to the city.

The Court's decision ignited a firestorm of public protest [JURIST report] for its apparent disregard for private property rights, and prompted legislatures in more than 25 states to consider measures that could limit the ability of city and county governments [JURIST report] to invoke eminent domain to take property for retail, office or residential development. Two other homeowners, one who doesn't reside in the home and another who moved in after the court battle commenced, were excluded from the mayor's plan. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] A Polish woman who claims she was rendered blind when she was refused an abortion has brought her case before the European Court of Human Rights [official website]. Alicja Tysiac, 35-year old mother of three, has filed a claim against Poland [ECHR schedule of public hearings] stating that the country's strict 1993 abortion law [CRR reproductive rights backgrounder, PDF] has violated her rights under Articles 8 (right to respect for privacy and family life) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [official text]. Tysiac had consulted three opthalmologists in February 2000 about her third pregnancy and was warned that she had a great risk of losing her eyesight if she carried the pregnancy to term. The same three opthalmologists also refused to give Tysiac an abortion certificate on medical grounds. Tysiac's vision worsened following the birth of her third child.

Polish law only allows abortion if the fetus is damaged, the woman has been raped, or if the woman's life is in danger. Although recent surveys suggest that most Poles favor easing the laws, the government has so far steered clear of the issue, which would bring it into direct conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, the driving force behind the repeal of the more liberal Communist-era abortion rules. Rights groups [HRW report; Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning backgrounder] and the UN [UPI report] have already criticized Poland for its stance. Reuters has more.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.