[JURIST] UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson [official profile] said Monday that he is "encouraged" by the public support of five Nobel Peace Prize winners for the proposed [JURIST report] UN Human Rights Council. Former US president Jimmy Carter [official profile], Costa Rica's Oscar Arias Sanchez [Nobel Prize profile], Kim Dae-Jung [BBC profile] of Korea, Iranian human rights advocate Shirin Ebadi [BBC profile], and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu [BBC profile] wrote a Sunday op-ed [text, free registration required] in the New York Times praising the initiative, echoing an earlier letter [text] in late February. In the op-ed they emphasized that many UN member states already support the current draft resolution [PDF text] still opposed [JURIST report] by the US, and said it should be accepted without further debate or changes:

Some have asserted that the proposal is just a weak compromise. We challenge this claim.

The new council creates new expectations that members will uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights, fully cooperate with the council, and undergo additional scrutiny through a peer review. Most significantly, a member that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights can be suspended from the body.

[JURIST] French President Jacques Chirac [official website in French; BBC profile], German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website in German; BBC profile], and other conservative European politicians have been meeting in private to discuss plans to revive the European Constitution [official text; JURIST news archive], according to an article [text, in German] in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. The magazine reports that the politicians are working to revise the first two chapters of the document, which outline the proposed laws and functions of the 25 EU states, and then hope to submit the new constitution for second votes in France [JURIST report] and the Netherlands [JURIST report], which both rejected the document last year. The third bureaucratic chapter of the constitution would next have to be ratified by the parliaments of each country and if that occurs, France and the Netherlands will join the 12 other member states which have already approved the charter [BBC report].

The revotes are expected to be proposed [JURIST report] when Germany assumes the EU presidency [current Austrian presidency website] in 2007. In order for the constitution to take effect, all the remaining EU states will then need to ratify the charter. From Germany, Deutsche Welle has more.

[JURIST] An expert for Europe's largest security organization said Monday that prisoners held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] are treated better than inmates in Belgian jails, after he returned from a visit to the prison last week. Alain Grignard [profile], superintendent of the Belgian Federal Police, went to Guantanamo as part of a delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) [official website] led by Anne-Marie Lizin [official website], president of the Belgian Senate [official website]. Belgium is chairing [official website] the 55-nation OSCE this year. Grignard said that the food, medical care, and allowance for Muslim prayer are better than any he has seen provided in Belgian prisons, but nonetheless insisted that holding inmates for years without charging them is "mental torture" for inmates.

The OSCE team accepted [OSCE press release] a December invitation by the Pentagon [JURIST report] to visit Guantanamo. Lizin is expected to report her findings to the annual general assembly of the OSCE in July. Grignard's comments Monday follow a UN report [PDF text; JURIST report] released last month which called for the closing of the prison, alleging widespread torture and human rights abuses. The UN rights experts were invited [JURIST report] in October to visit the prison, but declined [JURIST report] after being refused permission to speak directly to prisoners. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Opening arguments began Monday in the sentencing trial [case docket] of Zacarias Moussaoui [JURIST news archive] with government prosecutors claiming the defendant's lies to the FBI when he was arrested in August 2001 could have prevented the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks [JURIST news archive]. Court-appointed defense attorneys for Moussaoui argued instead that he had no knowledge of the attacks, backing his contentions that he was a faithful member of al-Qaida but saying he was not involved in the Sept. 11 plot. Moussaoui pleaded guilty [JURIST report] last April to conspiracy charges [indictment] that he was involved in other al-Qaida plans to commit terrorist acts with hijacked planes, and the selected jury will now decide whether he should receive the death penalty or life in prison.

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema [official profile] selected [JURIST report] 12 jurors and 6 alternates in 90 minutes Monday, but one was dismissed after she expressed distress in being chosen. The jury includes an Iranian-born Muslim woman, a Navy lieutenant who served in Desert Storm [Global Security backgrounder], a woman whose brother-in-law helped in rescue efforts on 9/11 as a member of the New York Police Department [official website], and a teacher who has traveled in the Middle East. Attorneys for Moussaoui expressed concern [JURIST report] last week over a potential jury pool stacked with individuals connected to Sept. 11, but only two selected jurors have an actual link to the terrorist attacks. AP has more.

[JURIST] The judge who will sentence Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive] has refused a joint motion by the defense and prosecution to delay for months the hearing that will determine the former Republican lobbyist's prison term. Although US District Judge Paul C. Huck [official profile] did agree to push back the sentencing two weeks, from March 16 to March 29, he declined the up-to-90-day stay the attorneys had asked for. The postponement was sought to avoid jeopardizing a federal corruption investigation - which Abramoff, as part of his plea bargain [JURIST report], has agreed to assist - involving Congress and the Bush administration. Attorney Abbe Lowell, counsel for Abramoff and co-defendant Adam Kidan, said that his clients would "name names" which, he insisted, would not be a "good thing for law enforcement." But Judge Huck rejected that argument, saying he did not want sentencing to go "on and on and on."

Under his plea agreement [PDF], Abramoff faces a maximum of seven years in prison, to be reduced depending on the quality of information he provides to investigators, for his role in fabricating a $147.5 million fraudulent wire transfer in 2000. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday agreed to consider the boundaries of the 1995 Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) [42 USC §1997e text] in a set of cases that will further specify when and how prisoners can bring lawsuits that contest the conditions of prisons. The high court granted to certiorari in Jones v. Bock [6th Cir. opinion, PDF], 05-7058, and Williams v. Overton [6th Cir. opinion, PDF], 05-7142, two Michigan cases in which the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dismissed the prisoner's complaint because the inmate did not comply with, or "exhaust" the prison's internal complaint process.

The cases question the so-called "total exhaustion" rule of the PLRA, holding that a federal court must dismiss the prisoner's entire complaint if there is a single claim that has not been exhausted, even if there are other exhausted claims. The cases have been consolidated for argument and will be heard next term, which begins in October 2006. AP has more. Read the Court's full Order List [PDF text].

[JURIST] The UK House of Lords [official website] dealt another major legislative setback to the anti-terrorism policies of the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair Monday by voting down for a second time a bill designed to establish a UK national ID card system. The Identity Cards Bill [text], a previous version of which failed in the Lords [Telegraph report] in January, was defeated 277-166. After the January setback UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke backed down [JURIST report] on the initial plan to make the ID cards immediately compulsory, and approved amendments passed by the Commons last month [JURIST report] that instead would have required anyone applying for travel or immigration documents in the United Kingdom to register for the card, delaying further legislation to make them officially compulsory until as late as 2011. Peers argued Monday that tying registration to the cards to passport applications in particular would simply make them compulsory "by stealth." From London, the Telegraph has more.

Liberty UK [official website] and other British civil rights groups [No2ID campaign website] have denounced ID cards [Liberty press release] as both ineffective and a violation of civil liberties. Lord Carlile, the Liberal Democrat peer appointed by the British government as an independent reviewer of its anti-terror laws, said in January that the ID cards would be of "limited value" against terrorism [JURIST report] and would not have prevented the London bombings in July. National ID cards were last required in the UK during World War II to facilitate the identification of aliens, but they were judicially ruled unlawful in 1951.

[JURIST] The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council [official website] on Monday voted to strip Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile] of powers given him last month by the lame-duck parliament dominated by Abbas' Fatah party [party website]. Among those was the authority to appoint a constitutional court [JURIST report] empowered to cancel any law approved by the newly-elected Hamas-led assembly considered contrary to the Palestinian Constitution [text]. The vote to strip Abbas of the expanded powers was the first order of business as the new parliament convened Monday.

Hamas [ICT profile], considered by much of the international community to be a terrorist organization, gained control of parliament after its surprise victory [JURIST report] during January elections. Monday's vote prompted Fatah MPs to walk out [Xinhua report] of the session, and Fatah parliamentary leader Azzam al-Ahmed said that the lawmakers would not return until differences with Hamas had been resolved. Another Fatah MP said that the party would appeal Monday's vote to the Palestinian Supreme Court. AP has more.

[JURIST] United Arab Emirates state-owned company Dubai Ports World [corporate website] Monday received the go-ahead to take over British shipping company P&O [corporate website], after the UK's Court of Appeal declined to hear an appeal [JURIST report] from Miami-based Eller & Co. [corporate website]. The three judge panel's unanimous refusal to hear an appeal affirms a lower court's holding [JURIST report] that the $6.8 billion takeover, which would put a company owned by the United Arab Emirates in control of six US ports, will not be barred by British law. Eller had argued that the takeover would harm its business. A spokesperson for P&O said the takeover is expected to become effective on March 8 [news release, PDF]. A spokesperson for Eller said that although it was disappointed by the decision and did not intend to appeal, it would continue to pursue legal action in US courts.

The proposed takeover of shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia immediately met stiff opposition from US politicians at the state and local levels - including a request by US Senators to overhaul the investment review process [JURIST report] that initially approved the takeover. DP World's voluntary decision to submit to an additional 45-day investigation by the US government, however, seems to have suppressed some of the protests over the deal. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website, English version] Monday signed into law new anti-terrorism legislation giving the Russian police and military broad authority to tap telephone conversations and control electronic communications in the vicinity of counter-terror operations, shoot down hijacked planes threatening public places or strategic facilities, and deal with the aftermath of terrorist attacks. The legislation passed the Russian Duma [JURIST report] almost unanimously late last month and was approved by Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, on March 1. While al Qaeda terrorism is not a major problem in the country, Russia has been shaken by bombings and hostage-takings by supporters of Chechen independence, most recently including the 2004 Beslan siege [JURIST report] in which hundreds of children were killed when authorities stormed a school.

The "shoot down" provision had been opposed by members of the Russian civil aviation pilots authority [JURIST report], but they apparently failed in their last-minute efforts to get the term removed. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has local coverage. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds [official website] has signed legislation that will ban most abortions in the state, excluding only those necessary to save a woman's life. Under the bill [text], approved by the state legislature [JURIST report] last month, doctors who perform abortions will face up to five years in jail.

The bill was designed as a direct attack on Roe v. Wade [text], and its supporters hope that a court challenge to the legislation will result in the US Supreme Court revisiting its decision in the landmark abortion case. Planned Parenthood [advocacy website] has already said it intends to challenge the law. A similar ban [JURIST report] is being considered in Mississippi, and last week a legislative committee in that state approved the bill and sent it on for consideration by the state legislature.

3:03 PM ET - In signing the legislation, Gov. Rounds said:

I have signed House Bill 1215 into law. It is An Act to establish certain legislative findings, to reinstate the prohibition against certain acts causing the termination of an unborn human life, to prescribe a penalty therefore, and to provide for the implementation of such provisions under certain circumstances.

HB 1215 passed South Dakota's legislature with bi-partisan sponsorship and strong bi-partisan support in both houses. Its purpose is to eliminate most abortions in South Dakota. It does allow doctors to perform abortions in order to save the life of the mother. It does not prohibit the taking of contraceptive drugs before a pregnancy is determined, such as in the case of rape or incest. ...

Because this new law is a direct challenge to the Roe versus Wade interpretation of the Constitution, I expect this law will be taken to court and prevented from going into effect this July. That challenge will likely take years to be settled and it may ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court. Our existing laws regulating abortions will remain in effect.

The reversal of a Supreme Court opinion is possible. For example, in 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the Plessy versus Fergusoncase that a state could require racial segregation in public facilities if the facilities offered to different races were equal. However, fifty-eight years later, the Supreme Court reconsidered that opinion and reversed itself in Brown versus Board of Education. It proclaimed that separate could not produce equal. The 1954 Court realized that the earlier interpretation of our Constitution was wrong.

HB 1215 will give the United States Supreme Court a similar opportunity to reconsider an earlier opinion.

[JURIST] President Bush announced Monday that he is sending new legislation to Congress that would give him "line-item" veto [definition] power over specific provisions in Congressional spending bills, allowing rejection of particular provisions without compromising entire legislative packages. Speaking at the White House swearing-in of new Council of Economic Advisers [official website] chair Edward Lazear, Bush said [White House transcript]:

Congress gave the President a line-item veto in 1996, but because with problems the way the law was written, the Supreme Court struck it down. That should not be the end of the story. So in my State of the Union I called for new legislation creating a line-item veto that will meet Supreme Court standards. Today, I'm sending Congress legislation that will meet standards and give me the authority to strip special spending and earmarks out of a bill, and then send them back to Congress for an up or down vote. By passing this version of the line-item veto, the administration will work with the Congress to reduce wasteful spending, reduce the budget deficit, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are spend wisely.

Congress is on record, by the way, that the President should have the line-item veto authority. It has been approved previously. Forty-three governors have this line-item veto in their states. Now it's time to bring this important tool for fiscal discipline to Washington, D.C.

[JURIST] US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema on Monday sat 12 jurors and 6 alternates in the sentencing trial [case docket] of al Qaeda co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui [JURIST news archive] following several weeks of jury selection [JURIST report]. While Moussaoui's lawyers attacked many of the 83 potential jury members [JURIST report] as being tainted with personal connections to victims of Sept. 11, the prosecution insisted that the sheer number of individuals connected to Sept. 11 makes it impossible to find jurors who were not affected by the attacks. Moussaoui pleaded guilty [JURIST report] last year to conspiracy charges [indictment] related to his involvement with al Qaeda but has said that he was not involved with planning the Sept. 11 attacks. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday afternoon.

Moussaoui will either receive life in prison or the death penalty depending on whether the jury finds he was aware of the Sept. 11 plot with enough specificity to have warned US officials of the plan when he was arrested in August of 2001, thus preventing the terror attacks. Moussaoui's defense lawyers have attempted to compel the testimony [JURIST report] of US Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) [official website], who was recently subpoenaed [CNN report] as a witness to the extent of the government's knowledge of the identities of Sept. 11 hijackers before the terror attacks. Weldon does not want his testimony to potentially aid the defense of an admitted terrorist, and has claimed official immunity from a subpoena. AP has more.

[JURIST] Opening statements began Monday in the second New Jersey state trial against New Jersey-based Merck [corporate website] over their distribution of the painkiller Vioxx [Merck Vioxx Information Center website; JURIST news archive]. Although a New Jersey jury found Merck not liable [JURIST report] in a separate trial last year, in the consolidated case now at trial, plaintiffs allege that damage occurred through the long-term use of the drug, an element missing in the previous New Jersey case. Vioxx was pulled from the shelves after clinical tests showed that patients using the drug for more than 18 months faced increased risks of stroke and heart attack [FDA public health advisory]. AP has more.

The plaintiff's lawyer in this action is the same who won a $253 million verdict [JURIST report] in the first Vioxx state claim in Texas, which is currently being reviewed on appeal. Merck was cleared of responsibility in the first federal trial [JURIST report; original complaint]; another trial is currently underway [JURIST report] in Rio Grande City, Texas. Merck faces over 9,650 lawsuits in state and federal court over Vioxx, though the current New Jersey case is the first where the facts involve long term use of the drug.

[JURIST] During a closed session of the Johannesburg High Court on Monday, former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [party profile] pleaded not guilty to charges that he raped a guest staying at his house. The guest, a woman who had known Zuma since she was five years old, testified about the circumstances of the incident during the same session. The trial has been delayed several times since beginning on February 13, as three judges have stepped down: one for having written a warrant [JURIST report] in the corruption case against Zuma [JURIST report], one for personal reasons, and one because Zuma has fathered a child to his sister.

While South African advocacy groups such as People Opposing Women Abuse [advocacy website] support the charges as an example of the law applying equally to all citizens, Zuma remains a popular member of the African National Congress (ANC) [party website], while he performs no executive functions due to his current legal status. At one time Zuma was heralded as the successor to President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile] until the conviction of his financial advisor [JURIST report] for corruption prompted his removal from office [JURIST report] last year. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Five Kuwait [JURIST news archive] citizens, previously held captive by the US at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detention center, were released on bail from police custody in Kuwait on Sunday. The five were released on bail after denying the charges against them, which include joining al-Qaeda [JURIST news archive], fighting with the Taliban, and collecting donations for a terrorism-related charity. Family members say the five went to Afghanistan to help fellow Muslims but never carried arms.

The five were returned to Kuwaiti custody in November [JURIST report]. Government prosecutors said the five detainees, along with six other Kuwaitis still in US custody at Guantanamo, have done damage to Kuwait's political reputation, and will be prosecuted, facing up to 10 years if convicted. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] in a unanimous decision Monday upheld the Solomon Amendment [text; FAIR backgrounder], which requires educational institutions, including law schools, to allow military recruiters on campus in order to receive federal funds. In Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic Rights [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the court considered whether the federal law violated universities' First Amendment right of association.

The Solomon Amendment was first passed in 1994, in response to university law schools banning military recruiters because the Defense Department's exclusion of homosexuals violated their non-discrimination policies. FAIR [advocacy website], an association of 36 law schools and law faculties, sued US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to prevent enforcement of the federal law.

10:23 AM ET - The Court overturned a Third Circuit decision [PDF text] which held the Solomon Amendment to be unconstitutional. Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Roberts said:

In this case, FAIR has attempted to stretch a number of First Amendment doctrines well beyond the sort of activities these doctrines protect. The law schools object to having to treat military recruiters like other recruiters, but that regulation of conduct does not violate the First Amendment. To the extent that the Solomon Amendment incidentally affects expression, the law schools' effort to cast themselves as just like the schoolchildren in Barnette, the parade organizers in Hurley, and the Boy Scouts in Dale plainly overstates the expressive nature of their activity and the impact of the Solomon Amendment on it, while exaggerating the reach of our First Amendment precedents.

Because Congress could require law schools to provide equal access to military recruiters without violating the schools' freedoms of speech or association, the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the Solomon Amendment likely violates the First Amendment. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Third Circuit and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is insufficient for a law school to treat the military as it treats all other employers who violate its nondiscrimination policy. Under the statute, military recruiters must be given the same access as recruiters who comply with the policy.

ALSO ON JURIST  Video: Solomon Amendment panel discussion [Duke Law] | Audio: Solomon Amendment oral arguments

[JURIST] Leading Monday's international brief, the Law Society of Kenya [advocacy website] has said that it is initiating a private lawsuit against three senior Kenyan government officials for their part in last week's police raid [JURIST report] on the Standard Group's journalistic offices. The suit names the attorney general, Interior Minister John Michuki, and Police Commissioner Hussein Ali as representatives of the government order initiating the raids and calls on Ali to arrest the four mercenaries caught on tape during the raid, who are alleged to be on the government payroll. Ali returned to Nairobi on Monday and told reporters [Standard report] that he had been "kept unaware" of the raid and that none of his senior officials had briefed him of the intent to force entry into the Standard Group's headquarters and seize documents and computer hard-drives. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Kenya [JURIST news archive]. KBC has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Human rights activists in Syria and around the world are voicing strong criticism of the Syrian government following a just-confirmed report that the country's first human rights center was closed down under government orders. The center was opened in February with the assistance of the European Union (EU) [official website] and was designed to provide legal advice and information to nationals concerning civil and human rights under Syrian law as well as train national lawyers and government officials in their responsibilities. Syrian activists reported that government officials closed the center because it lacked the proper licensing to remain open, despite apparent government cooperation with the EU in its establishment. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Syria [JURIST news archive]. IRIN News has more.
  
  
• Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Nepal, Nayan Bahadur Khatri, has alleged that the Nepal government [official website] has ignored NHRC recommendations concerning the continued trend of disappeared persons in Nepal. Khatri told reporters that the NHRC has continually recommended that the government reveal the whereabouts of persons it has arrested and/or detained in the recent political strikes against the dissolution of democratic government [JURIST report] by King Gyanendra [BBC profile] and has criticized the arrest/detention policy as a violation of the basic rights of the Nepalese constitution. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. eKantipur.com has local coverage.
  
  
• Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye [BBC profile] will be in court Tuesday to hear the verdict of his criminal trial on charges of rape. The trial, which was supposed to issue a verdict Monday, was delayed to allow for local elections following national elections held at the end of February. Besigye's civil lawyers will be filing legal challenges [JURIST report] to the validity of the election of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile] on charges of voter intimidation and election fraud. Besigye still faces charges on treason for his alleged involvement in an attempt to oust Museveni. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Uganda [JURIST news archive]. Uganda's Daily Monitor has local coverage.

[JURIST] An Uzbek court on Monday sentenced opposition leader Sandjar Umarov [party profile] to 10 years and eight months in prison for organizing a criminal group, tax evasion and money laundering. Umarov, leader of the opposition Sunshine Uzbekistan Coalition [party website], has said he will appeal the decision. Umarov has maintained his innocence, but presiding Judge Zokirjon Isayev said that Umarov's claims "have been fully disproved by witness testimonies and documents."

Umarov was arrested [JURIST report] last October and his trial began in January [JURIST report]. The Bush administration and international human rights organizations have criticized the arrest [JURIST report] as being politically motivated. The coalition gained prominence during the Andijan uprising [JURIST news archive; HRW backgrounder] in May 2005, which prompted President Islam Karimov [BBC profile] to take increasingly repressive steps against opposition groups. Last week, a prominent activist from Sunshine Uzbekistan, Nodira Khidayatova, was sentenced [JURIST report] to ten years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. AP has more.

[JURIST] Milan Babic [ICTY case backgrounder], former wartime leader of Croatia's rebel Serbs during the Balkan wars, was found dead in his cell at a UN detention facility Sunday after he committed suicide. Babic was sentenced [JURIST report] by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] to 13 years in prison for his role in ethnic cleansing, after pleading guilty to one count of persecution [plea agreement] in a deal where prosecutors dropped four other charges of murder, cruelty and wanton destruction of villages. Among the crimes Babic admitted to were murder, deportation or forcible transfer, unlawful imprisonment of non-Serb civilians, and destruction of property. Babic's sentence was upheld on appeal [JURIST report].

Babic had been serving his sentence at a UN detention facility in a suburb of The Hague. He was a key witness against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], testifying at Milosevic's ICTY trial in 2002. ICTY President Judge Fausto Pocar has ordered an internal inquiry [ICTY press release] into Babic's death. AP has more.