[JURIST] The US Senate voted 90-8 [roll call] late Wednesday to approve a lobbying reform bill pushed through in the wake of a corruption scandal [Wikipedia backgrounder] centering on former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive], who was sentenced to a prison term [JURIST report] Wednesday in an unrelated Florida fraud case. Under the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 [PDF], lawmakers would be prohibited from accepting gifts or meals from lobbyists, would be required to disclose paid-for travel on their websites, and would be banned from becoming lobbyists themselves for two years after leaving office, up from the current one. The lobbying reform package, the first to be approved by the Senate since 1995, nonetheless leaves out other proposals put on the table, such as the creation of an independent agency to oversee Congressional ethics issues. A coalition of reform groups, including Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and US PIRG, condemned the bill for its omissions, saying in a joint statement [text] that it "failed to address the biggest lobbying and ethics problems facing the Senate."

House Majority Leader John Boehner says he expects the House to take up the legislation in early April. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] Wednesday agreed on a statement demanding that Iran immediately suspend its nuclear enrichment program. The statement, which is not legally binding, seeks a report on the extent of Iran's compliance from the International Atomic Energy Agency [official website; JURIST news archive] within 30 days. Watch recorded video of the reading of the statement by the current president of the UN Security Council. Watch recorded video of a briefing by US UN ambassador John Bolton after the meeting.

Iran had condemned [JURIST report] the IAEA's referral of the matter to the Security Council as "unlawful" [JURIST report] and had complained [JURIST report] that it should be compensated for the damage caused "to the development of its science, technology and economy" during the suspension of its program. AP has more. The UN News Center provides additional coverage.

7:35 PM ET - The full text of the Security Council's Presidential Statement on Iran is now available. Its main operative paragraph says:

The Security Council calls upon Iran to take the steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors, notably in the first operative paragraph of its resolution GOV/2006/14, which are essential to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear programme and to resolve outstanding questions, and underlines, in this regard, the particular importance of re-establishing full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Ahmed Omar Abu Ali [JURIST news archive] has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for joining al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush [PDF indictment]. Abu Ali faced a possible life sentence following his conviction [JURIST report] last November.

Abu Ali's sentencing had been delayed [JURIST report] to give lawyers in the case time to investigate whether evidence against Abu Ali had been obtained through warrantless domestic surveillance [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

6:55 PM ET - The US Department of Justice has released a statement [PDF] on the sentence, calling it "strong punishment for the defendant's egregious crimes."

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] voted unanimously Wednesday to allow UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to open formal negotiations on the establishment of a tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. The UK- and US-sponsored Resolution 1664 [text] calls on Annan to negotiate an agreement with the Lebanese government on creating the tribunal and help determine what sort of international support will be required to bring to justice those responsible for the assassination.

In a report to the Security Council last week, Annan recommended [JURIST report] that a mixed tribunal with Lebanese and international involvement would best serve justice in the case. Informal talks between UN and Lebanese officials on the establishment of such a tribunal have been underway since January [JURIST report]. A UN commission investigating Hariri's assassination [UN backgrounder] has suggested that top Syrian officials were involved in the killing, but Syria has thusfar denied any involvement. The UN News Centre has more.

[JURIST] A Maryland judge ruled Wednesday that DC sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad [Wikipedia profile] can represent himself during his upcoming trial on six counts of first degree murder related to the three-week series of shootings in the Washington, DC area in October 2002. Earlier this week, Muhammad sent a handwritten letter [Washington Post report] to Judge James L. Ryan asking to represent himself, saying he has "no confidence or trust" in his court-appointed public defenders. Ryan's rulings comes despite arguments from Muhammad's lawyers that he is not competent to stand trial [AP report].

Muhammad has already been convicted of murder and sentenced to death [JURIST report] for a shooting in Mannasas, Virginia. His second trial [JURIST report] in Montgomery County, Maryland is scheduled to begin May 1 [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments Wednesday in Bustillo v. Johnson and Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon [Duke Law case backgrounder], a pair of consolidated cases that could expand the Miranda rights [ABA backgrounder] of foreign nationals. The cases involve two convicted foreign nationals - a Honduran and a Mexican - who claim their arresting officers' failure to notify them of their right to speak to their government was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations [text]. The treaty provides that aliens arrested in the US and US citizens arrested in foreign signature countries have the right to be represented by their consulates. Even Justice Stephen Breyer [OYEZ profile], however, was dismissive of the assertion that the police - as opposed to a court-appointed lawyer - need to notify defendants of their rights under the treaty. AP has more.

The court also heard arguments in Ebay, Inc. v. MercExchange [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], a case that will determine if the court should abandon its ninety-eight year old precedent that allows dormant patent holders the right to exclude others from benefiting from their patents. Justices heard lawyers from eBay argue that the courts should not grant injunctions on behalf of holders that have no intention of practicing their patents. The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Thomas Woolston, the founder of MercExchange [official website; news release], who was awarded three patents in 1998 for his development of software that facilitates online collectibles trading. MercExchange won a $35 million jury verdict - later reduced to $5.5 million - but failed to convince the district judge to grant an injunction against eBay. The federal appeals court reversed in part and granted an injunction, but its holding was stayed pending the current appeal. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Assistant US Attorney Richard Convertino [Wikipedia profile] and US State Department Regional Secretary Officer Harry Raymond Smith III were indicted before a Detroit federal grand jury Wednesday on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false declarations in connection with a botched 2003 terrorism trial. Convertino was the lead prosecutor in a case against North African immigrants accused of operating a terrorist cell in Detroit. Smith assisted in the investigation and testified for the government in the trial which ended in the convictions of two of four defendants. A federal judge later overturned [JURIST report] the guilty verdicts after prosecutors found documents that could have aided the defense were not turned over by the Department of Justice. The DOJ dropped the charges against the supposed terrorists in 2004 and Convertino resigned [JURIST report] from the Department in May 2005.

Convertino also faces obstruction charges on a second case in which prosecutors said he provided false information to reduce a defendant's sentence. Convertino alleges the charges are part of a government smear campaign against him. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Judge dismisses part of whistleblower suit by former US attorney
• Law profs say DOJ should share blame in collapse of Detroit terrorism case
• Federal prosecutor sues Ashcroft, says DOJ interfered with case, mismanaged terror war
• DOJ agrees to dismiss Detroit terror convictions
• DOJ admits doubts over crucial evidence in Detroit terror case

[JURIST] Serbian officials Wednesday asked Carla del Ponte [official profile], chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] to bear in mind the country's "complex political situation" as she arrived in Belgrade for talks two days before issuing a report to the European Union on the country's co-operation with the court. In the wake of the death of Slobodan Milosevic earlier this month del Ponte renewed her call for the handover of other fugitives, including Ratko Mladic [BBC profile, JURIST news archive], the Bosnian Serb wartime commander charged with genocide. EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn [JURIST news archive] has joined del Ponte in calling [JURIST report] for Mladic's arrest and has urged he be sent to The Hague before the next round of EU membership talks, scheduled for April 5.

Serbia, however, says that internal destabilization would result from the EU cutting off negotiations, especially in a political environment inflamed by Milosevic's death, the prospect of the formal separation of Kosovo at the end of UN-sponsored negotiations [JURIST report] this year, and the possibility of Montenegrin citizens voting to split from Serbia in a referendum scheduled for May [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] United Nations [official website] officials and armed peacekeepers took former Liberian President Charles Taylor [JURIST news archive] into custody Wednesday in Monrovia after he was transported to Liberia following his capture [JURIST report] by Nigerian officials in an attempt to flee the country. Taylor disappeared from his villa [JURIST report] Monday in the southeast Nigerian city of Calaban where he spent the last two and a half years in exile as part of a deal to end the civil war in Liberia [JURIST news archive]. Upon his arrest, he was transported by helicopter to Sierra Leone where he will stand trial before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website] on 17 counts [indictment] of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war. Taylor is accused of supporting violent Sierra Leonian rebels and masterminding several West African regional conflicts which claimed up to 300,000 casualties.

Until his capture, Taylor's disappearance prompted heavy international criticism against Nigeria. In a meeting with President Bush Wednesday, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed criticism [transcript] of his government's handling of the situation:

I do not agree, must disagree that we have been negligent in the way we handled the Charles Taylor issue. If we had been negligent then Charles Taylor would have got away. He would not have been arrested if there was connivance or condonation on our part.

[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that a federal judge in Florida has sentenced former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive] to five years and 10 months in prison on two conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from falsification of documents to procure a loan for the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casino [corporate website] by Abramoff and his partners. Abramoff and co-defendant Adam Kidan have also been ordered to pay $21 million in restitution.

Earlier this month US District Judge Paul C. Huck agreed to delay sentencing [JURIST report] two weeks, but rejected a longer delay of up to 90 days which prosecutors had sought to avoid jeopardizing an ongoing federal corruption investigation [Wikipedia backgrounder] which has alarmed senior Republicans. Abramoff faced a maximum seven years prison under his January plea agreement [JURIST report; PDF text], to be reduced depending on the quality of information he provided to investigators. The sentence handed down Wednesday was the minimum provided for under federal sentencing guidelines, perhaps also reflecting the numerous leniency letters that the Abramoff's defense attorneys submitted in his support. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Johannesburg High Court Judge Willem van der Merwe on Wednesday refused to dismiss rape charges [JURIST report] against former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [party profile]. The defense filed a motion for dismissal citing a lack of evidence proving Zuma's guilt in the rape of a longtime family friend and AIDS activist. The judge denied the motion and said the charges against Zuma may be proven later in the trial. The defense is scheduled to present their case on Monday. If convicted, Zuma faces up to 15 years in prison.

Zuma also faces charges in a corruption scandal [JURIST report] for which he will stand trial later this year. He is the current deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) [party website], and was once considered the successor to South African President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile], but was ousted from office [JURIST report] as South African deputy president as a result of the corruption scandal. Zuma claims that the charges against him are a plot by his enemies to destroy his political career. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Law Lords [official website], the judicial panel of the UK House of Lords that is Britain's highest court, Wednesday dismissed [opinion text] appeals brought by anti-war protesters who argued [JURIST report] that under the Criminal Law Act 1967 they were allowed to break British law in an attempt to stop what they termed a "greater crime of aggression", i.e. the invasion of Iraq. The Lords ruled that the British government's violation of international peace could not be treated as a crime under British law that would allow the activists to argue necessity as a legal defense. In his judgment Lord Bingham of Cornhill [Wikipedia profile] noted that international law does not automatically create domestic crimes, writing,

[I]t is for those representing the people of the country in Parliament, not the executive and not the judges, to decide what conduct should be treated as lying so far outside the bounds of what is acceptable in our society as to attract criminal penalties.

[JURIST] A female Saudi lawyer, Reem al-Habib, received preliminary approval on Wednesday to join the team of lawyers defending Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive]. Habib, who graduated from Harvard Law School and works in western Saudi Arabia as a corporate lawyer, cites personal reasons for joining Hussein's defense team that do not reflect the views of the Saudi government. Al-Habib awaits formal approval from the Iraqi Bar Association before she can begin working for Saddam's defense team. Raghad Hussein [Wikipedia profile], Saddam's oldest daughter who lives in Jordan and is responsible for assembling her father's defense team, praised the addition of al-Habib, and confirmed that she would play a central role in Saddam's defense. Al-Habib will be the second woman on Hussein's defense team, joining Lebanese attorney Bushra al-Khalil.

The Iraqi High Criminal Court [JURIST news archive] is in the process of trying Hussein and seven former aides on crimes against humanity charges for the killing of 148 Shiites [JURIST report] in Dujail in 1982. The trial is currently adjourned until April 5 [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Fukuoka district court in Japan on Wednesday dismissed [Kyodo News report] a case brought by 45 Chinese men accusing the Japanese government and two Japanese mining companies of forcing them to work in Japanese coal mines during World War II. The men asserted that they were taken from China against their will and were taken to the Mitsui Miike and the Mitusbishi Iizuka mines, where they were forced to labor between 1943 and 1945. The court noted that the Japanese government had committed an illegal act by bringing the Chinese men to the country against their will, but that the Japanese government cannot be held liable for the actions of its wartime leaders, who were operating under a pre-World War II constitution. The court also noted that the suit was filed long after the 20 year statute of limitations on compensation claims had run. The plaintiffs were seeking $9 million in damages, as well as a published apology from the defendants. Criticizing Wednesday's ruling, the plaintiffs have said they will appeal [Xinhua report] the trial court's decision. AP has more.

Japanese courts have in the past year dismissed at least two other cases brought by Chinese citizens seeking damages from alleged wartime atrocities. Last June, the Tokyo High Court [official website, in English] overturned [JURIST report] a ruling by a lower court that compensated a Chinese citizen for forced labor during World War II. Last April, the same court found that a group of Chinese victims of wartime atrocities were not entitled to compensation [JURIST report]. Last month, it was reported that Chinese companies had donated more than $315,000 [JURIST report] to help pay for lawsuits against the Japanese government.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's environmental law news, Norman Mineta, secretary of the US Department of Transportation [official website] has announced the final rule changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) [backgrounder] system, which governs the minimum fuel economy averages for vehicles sold in the US. The final rule [press release] applies to light trucks, i.e., pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans, and will create different standards based on the dimensions of the vehicle, as opposed to the single light truck category currently in place. Currently, light trucks sold in 2006 must get 21.6 mpg. The new rules are expected to increase the minimum fuel economy requirement to 24 mpg or higher by 2011. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The St. Lawrence Cement Co. [corporate website], South Jersey Port Corp. [corporate website], and 20 other businesses in southern New Jersey have agreed to settle a lawsuit [press release] brought by 50 Camden residents that alleged air pollution from the plants caused respiratory problems. Under the settlement, the companies agree to pay a combined total of US$650,000, which works out to US$10,000 per household and an additional US$5000 per individual resident. Another 20 nearby residents will be paid US$2000 to agree to bring no further air emissions actions against the companies. The South Jersey Courier-Post has more.
  
  
• India's Gujarat state Pollution Control Board [official website] closed 71 industrial businesses Tuesday for a variety of pollution violations. The Board also issued legal notices to another 526 industrial sites, as part of a plan to improve the air and overall environment in the state. According to Mangubhai Patel, Minister of State for Environment and Forests [official website], Gujarat's city of Ahmedabad has been considered one of the "most polluted cit[ies] in the country." Fast improvements are expected under the new plan. The India Financial Express has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers for two long-time British residents seized by the US and detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] claim to have documents that indicate British officials prompted their arrests while withholding information that would have aided the two men. Bisher al-Rawi [Cageprisoners profile], an Iraqi who had lived in Britain for 20 years, and Jordanian refugee Jamil el-Banna [Cageprisoners profile] are alleged to have ties with terrorism through their connection with a radical Muslim cleric based out of London. The men were first detained at a British airport in 2002, and British intelligence alerted the US that they had with them a device that could have been used as part of an improvised bomb. The men were released after the incident was cleared, but US officials were not informed. Instead, UK intelligence provided the US with details of their travel plans in Gambia, in what the detainees' lawyers say led to their extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive].

Last week the British government said it would take up the case [JURIST report] of Bisher al-Rawi after claiming without elaboration that his circumstances were different than Jamil el-Banna or certain other British detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay. In response to growing concern [JURIST report] over the status of the British residents being held at the US facility, Prime Minister Tony Blair recently suggested [AFP report] that it might be prudent for the US to close the prison. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen [official profile] said Wednesday that UN human rights envoy Yash Ghai should be removed from his position as special envoy after Ghai publicly criticized Cambodia's intolerance to dissent [AP report]. The comments come one day after Ghai said that Hun Sen's rule has meant little in the way of human rights or political reform in Cambodia [JURIST news archive]

Ghai was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [UN News report] in November 2005 to review the status of human rights violations [JURIST report] in Cambodia. Since that time, Ghai has visited the nation and met with several opposition leaders imprisoned by the government and has stated their detentions are unlawful under the nation's constitution [text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Afghanistan's parliament on Wednesday demanded that government officials block Abdul Rahman [Wikipedia profile], the Afghan man who faced the death penalty [JURIST report] for converting from Islam to Christianity, from seeking asylum in another country. Parliamentary speaker Yunus Qanooni told reporters that a letter was sent to the Interior Ministry on behalf of the entire parliament demanding Rahman not be allowed to leave Afghanistan. Rahman was released from prison [JURIST report] earlier after questions about his mental health were raised and he is believed to still be in country.

Also Wednesday, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said that Italy would offer asylum to Rahman [AP report]. Berlusconi's comments came before a cabinet meeting where the government was expected to vote to grant Rahman asylum. Reuters has more.

10:50 AM ET - An official from the Italian embassy in Kabul said Wednesday that Rahman has left Afghanistan and is expected to arrive in Italy by Wednesday evening. BBC News has more.

3/30/06 9:18 AM ET - Berlusconi has confirmed that Rahman received asylum in Italy late Wednesday evening and Italy's Interior Ministry has said that Rahman is "under protection." AP has more.

[JURIST] Fugitive war crimes indictee Charles Taylor [JURIST news archive], who disappeared from his villa [JURIST report] in the south of Nigeria where he had been living in exile since 2003, has been recaptured, according to a Nigerian police spokesman. The Liberian ex-president was reportedly detained while going through immigration at Gamboru-Ngala, a town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon. The BBC quotes the spokesman as saying:

He was wearing a white flowing robe...He passed through immigration but when he reached customs they were suspicious and they insisted on searching the jeep, where they found a large amount of US dollars. After a further search they discovered he was Charles Taylor.

President Obasanjo has directed the immediate repatriation of Charles Taylor to Liberia, to be placed in the custody of the Government of Liberia to help the Government of Liberia which had requested custody of the former President.