[JURIST] US President George W. Bush on Monday evening announced the deployment of up to 6000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border as a prime element in a wide-ranging plan to 'fix' problems created by illegal immigration advanced in a nationally-televised address [transcript; recorded video; White House fact sheet] ahead of renewed Congressional debate [JURIST report] on immigration reform [JURIST news archive] legislation. Denying this was militarization of the border region, Bush said the initial troop deployment made in co-operation with state governors would only be for a year, and the deployment level would be reduced as new Border Patrol agents and new technologies came online. He also stressed the Guardsmen would be acting only in a supporting role by operating surveillance systems, analyzing intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building patrol roads, and would not be involved in direct law enforcement activities, potentially contrary to the Posse Comitatus Act [JURIST report].

The President also called on Congress to support and provide funding as necessary for a range of other immigration-related reforms, including

• ending the practice of "catch and release" of illegals inside the US for members of all nationalities - not just Mexicans and some others - caught crossing the southern border illegally;
  
• creating a temporary worker program;
  
• holding employers to account for the workers they hire, and requiring all legal foreign workers to carry a new biometric ID card;
  
• providing a path to citizenship for illegals short of "amnesty" after requiring them to pay a "meaningful penalty" for breaking the law.

An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all. The House has passed an immigration bill. The Senate should act by the end of this month so we can work out the differences between the two bills, and Congress can pass a comprehensive bill for me to sign into law.

[JURIST] The Pentagon Monday released the names of 759 current and former Guantanamo prisoners [PDF] pursuant to a court-approved agreement with the Associated Press, which had separately sued the Defense Department [AP report] under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose the names of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees. The list adds some 201 names to a Pentagon list [PDF] released in April [JURIST report] of 558 detainees who have gone through reviews by Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT). A Defense Department spokesman said Monday that the additional individuals "didn't attend a CSRT because they were released or transferred from Guantanamo either before the CSRT process was established or before going through the entire CSRT process."

Prior to the April list, names of prisoners had been released [JURIST report] in transcripts of the CSRT hearings, but information was often incomplete or obfuscated by the bulk of the materials. Pentagon officials did not say Monday whether the new list just released contains the names of all prisoners currently and formerly held at Guantanamo or not. Spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler indicated the list contained the names of "every single individual detained under DOD control" at Guantanamo since detention operations began in January 2002, but acknowledged in questioning that he "wouldn't know" of any other detainees who might have been held there by the CIA or other US arms "because I can't speak for other agencies." The American Forces Press Service has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Hollinger Inc. [corporate website], the Canadian holding company with an interest in the newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International [corporate website], has agreed to cooperate [press release] with the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois [official website] in the investigation and prosecution of former CEO Conrad Black [CBC profile; JURIST news archive] and other former Hollinger executives. Black faces criminal fraud charges [indictment, PDF] in connection with the $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers and alleged abuse of corporate perquisites at Hollinger. He has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] and his trial is set to begin in federal court in Chicago next March.

Under its agreement [text] Monday with the US Attorney's office, Hollinger acknowledged that "its officers, directors or employees acted illegally in connection with Inc.'s receipt of approximately $16.55 million in non-compete payments and that it is responsible for the repayment of such money." Hollinger also agreed to assist the Justice Department's investigation and federal prosecutors will not pursue Hollinger "for any crimes committed by its officers, directors or employees relating to the sale of various International newspaper publishing groups in the United States between 1998 and 2000." CBC News has more.

[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] on Monday called for a "profound re-balancing of the civil liberties debate" in the United Kingdom as he announced a series of policy consultations over the next several months to discuss public service reform, including the criminal justice system, designed to help formulate the manifesto for the governing Labour Party [party website] in the next election. At the London launch of the party's Let's Talk campaign, Blair said [speech transcript]:

My view, as I have been saying for some time now, is that we cannot reform [the criminal justice system] unless we change radically the political even philosophical context in which it operates. I believe we require a profound re-balancing of the civil liberties debate. The issue is not whether we care about civil liberties but what that means in the early 21st Century. The demands of the majority law-abiding community have to take precedence. We should not have to fight continual legal battles to deport people who are committing serious crimes or inciting extremism. We cannot allow violent or drug-abusing offenders to be put back out on the street again without proper supervision and if necessary restraint. We cannot have bail requirements, probation orders and community sentences flouted without proper penalty. None of these things are new. What is new is, I hope, an emerging national and political consensus to tackle them. This should be a central part of the debate ahead.

[JURIST] European foreign ministers on Monday again promised progress toward admitting Serbia [JURIST news archive] to the European Union if war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] is handed over promptly. The former Bosnian Serb general is wanted [Interpol warrant] in connection with the 1995 slaughter of more than 7,000 Muslims in Srebrenica [indictment text] and other crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] believes he is hiding in Serbia [JURIST report].

Earlier this month, the EU suspended initial membership negotiations [JURIST report] because of Serbia's failure to hand over Mladic by the end of April. Serbia has since arrested three people [JURIST report] suspected of helping Mladic evade authorities. In Monday's statement, the foreign ministers said they would conclude the preliminary membership talks by year's end if Mladic is arrested. EUobserver has more.

[JURIST] Jacob Zuma [party profile] has regained his position as deputy president of South Africa's ruling African National Congress [party website] after his acquittal [JURIST report] on charges of raping an HIV-positive woman. The ANC's Executive Committee decided Sunday to reinstate Zuma "without delay" [committee statement].

Zuma, 64, still faces trial this summer on unrelated corruption charges [JURIST report] involving an arms-procurement deal. Zuma has said those charges are part of a conspiracy to prevent him from challenging South African President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile] in the 2009 presidential election. Mbeki fired Zuma as deputy president of South Africa [JURIST report] in June 2005 after a businessman linked to Zuma was convicted of corruption and fraud. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Turkey will impose trade sanctions on France if the French parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize the denial that the World War I-era massacre of Armenians [ATI backgrounder] in Turkey constitutes genocide, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan [BBC profile]. As many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the then-Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 in what Armenians consider a genocide; Turkey has insisted that the deaths do not constitute genocide [Turkish DC Embassy backgrounder].

The French National Assembly is slated to consider an opposition Socialist party-sponsored bill [National Assembly materials] this Thursday that would make denying the massacre was genocide illegal. Offenders could face a five-year jail sentence and fines up to $57,000. France already has a law on the books which recognizes the massacre as genocide. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Northern Ireland Assembly [official website] convened for the first time in more than three years Monday but adjourned after only an hour. The 108 members observed a moment of silence for a Catholic teenager clubbed to death by a Protestant gang [BBC report] and signed registration books declaring their affiliation as Protestant, Catholic or "other." The presiding officer read aloud a letter [PDF] from UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain [official website] urging members to move forward with a new power-sharing arrangement.

A vote to form a Catholic-Protestant government, mandated by the Good Friday peace accord [full text; BBC timeline] eight years ago, is scheduled for May 22. The assembly has been suspended since the previous administration broke down during an Irish Republican Army spying scandal in October 2002. The British government will dissolve the body [Northern Ireland office statement] if both sides can't reach an agreement by Nov. 24, Hain said Monday. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in four cases Monday, including eBay v. MercExchange [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court ruled that federal courts need not automatically issue a permanent injunction after finding that there has been patent infringement. In the case, a jury found that eBay and Half.com had willfully infringed MercExchange patents, but the district court did not grant a permanent injunction because such an injunction would go against the public interest. The Federal Circuit overturned this ruling [opinion, PDF] holding that, absent exceptional circumstances, district courts must issue a permanent injunction after finding that a patent has been infringed, but lawyers for eBay argued before the Supreme Court that courts should not grant injunctions on behalf of holders that have no intention of practicing their patents. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Thomas along with a concurrence [text] from Chief Justice Roberts and a second concurrence [text] from Justice Kennedy. AP has more.

In DaimlerChrysler v. Cuno [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court ruled that taxpayers who challenged tax incentives given to businesses to encourage economic development did not have standing to do so and overturned a Sixth Circuit decision [PDF text] that found that Ohio's investment tax credit program is unconstitutional. The case was consolidated with Wilkins v. Cuno. Read the Court's opinion [PDF text] per Chief Justice Roberts along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Ginsburg. AP has more.

In S.D. Warren Co. v. Maine [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court held that water released from a dam should be considered a discharge under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and that federally licensed dams must comply with state water quality rules in order to receive licenses. The Court upheld the Maine Supreme Court's decision [PDF text] in the case. Read the Court's opinion [text] per Justice Souter. AP has more.

Finally, in Sereboff v. MidAtlantic Medical Services [Duke Law case backgrounder], 05-260, the Court held that plan fiduciaries under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act [DOL backgrounder] can bring a civil action under Section 502(a)(3) of the act to obtain "appropriate equitable relief" to recover money that plan participants received from another source. The Court upheld a Fourth Circuit decision [PDF text] that allowed MidAtlantic Medical Services to recover medical expenses paid after the Sereboffs won their personal injury lawsuit because the funds were identifiable, belonged in good conscience to MAMSI and were within the Sereboffs' possession and control. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Chief Justice Roberts.

The Court also granted certiorari in four cases including cases where it will decide whether its decision in Crawford v. Washington [text] applies retroactively and will clarify standards the Environmental Protection Agency should use in determining whether there have been violations of certain programs under the Clean Water Act. Read the Court's full Order List [PDF]. SCOTUSblog has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] should undertake a series of reforms at its Scheveningen detention unit [BBC backgrounder] including reviewing arrangements to implement administrative court orders, separating detainees currently on trial or awaiting trial from those who have been found guilty, and decreasing the lag time before sentenced detainees are transferred out of the detention facility, according to an independent audit [text; press release] conducted by Swedish investigators. The ICTY asked a team of Swedish experts to review its management and administration of the detention unit [JURIST report] after Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] died [JURIST report] of a heart attack in mid-March while in custody.

Though auditors did not address Milosevic specifically, they expressed concern that ICTY administrative orders, such as allowing a detainee to conduct his own defense, often complicate the enforcement of prison rules and recommended increased coordination between the court and prison officials:

Our attention has been drawn to the fact that administrative court orders issued by the Trial Chambers in individual cases can have noteworthy consequences for DU operations. The Chambers can give the Registrar instructions for individual detainees, in the form of court orders, without consulting the Registrar or the management of the DU in order to investigate the potential implications of the instructions or whether it is possible to implement them while continuing to meet safety and security requirements. Sometimes, the Chambers' court orders have adverse consequences for good prison practice. In one noted case, a detainee was permitted to conduct his own defence, which involved extensive external contacts and a large number of visits. Additional complications arose when another detainee at the DU was to participate as a witness. The consequences of this special arrangement were that it became difficult to maintain sufficient control over visits and telephone conversations. It should also be pointed out that privileges the Chambers give to individual detainees risk becoming standard practice in that other detainees demand the same rights.

Another example of a court order that complicated operations arose when a Chamber ordered the Registrar to ensure that a certain detainee saw a medical specialist within 24 hours. The Chamber had not made sure in advance that it was practically possible to carry out this order, which incidentally was wholly dependent on prioritisation by medical expertise outside the institution, in the Dutch health care system.

The management of the DU and the Registrar have pointed to the difficulties involved in implementing certain administrative court orders. The issue has been discussed at the Tribunal, not least between the DU and the management of the Registry. At the request of the Registrar, in autumn 2004 OLAD investigated the consequences of the special privileges that were given to one detainee and proposed modifications in the arrangements. As we understand it, this has not led to any changes in routines concerning the formulation of court orders.

In our view, it is admittedly obviously the case that the Chambers must be able to issue administrative orders to the Registrar. However, it would be appropriate for such court orders to be issued after consultation with the Registrar, so as to ensure that they are possible to implement in a manner that does not jeopardise the operations and security of the DU.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] was formally charged Monday with murder, torture and illegally arresting 399 people in Dujail as part of a crackdown in the town after an assassination attempt on Hussein's life. Hussein's trial [JURIST news archive] began in October, but under Iraqi criminal law [summary, PDF; Iraqi Criminal Procedure Code, PDF], defendants are not formally charged until after the prosecution has presented its evidence. Judges then decide which specific charges will stand and the defense begins its case. Presiding Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman [BBC profile] charged Hussein with the deaths of nine villagers, torture of women and children, ordering the razing of farmlands [JURIST report] and arresting nearly 400 Dujail residents. Hussein was not charged in connection with the deaths of 148 people who were executed after being found guilty [JURIST report] by Hussein's Revolutionary Court for their involvement in the assassination attempt.

Hussein and his seven co-defendants all refused to enter a plea after the charges were read in court and Abdel-Rahman entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. The defense will now begin presenting its case. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

9:52 AM ET 5/24/06 - Grotian Moment has now posted English translations of the charging instrument for Saddam Hussein [PDF text] and similar documents for Hussein's co-defendants. Hussein is charged with crimes against humanity under Article 12 of the Iraqi High Criminal Court Law [PDF text] for the murder, relocation of the population, imprisonment, torture, compulsory concealment of people, and other inhumane acts in connection with the Dujail crackdown. Contrary to press reports at the time, the accusations against Hussein do cover the 148 executions carried out after the assassination attempt on Hussein's life. English translations of all charges against the defendants are available here.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's international brief, several civil and human rights groups have criticized the Indonesian government [official website in Bahasa Indonesian] for its refusal to prosecute [JURIST report] former Indonesian dictator General Suharto [BBC profile]. Public officials say that Suharto's continuing medical problems [JURIST report] keep him from being competent to stand trial, but civil rights groups contend that the government is refusing to follow through on promises to fight corruption by not prosecuting an individual alleged to have pilfered millions while in office. Transparency International Indonesia and Indonesian Corruption Watch [advocacy websites] have called on the government to proceed with the prosecution, even if it means trying Suharto in absentia. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Government officials in Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive] have announced that they will not repeal the oft-condemned Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act [PDF text], which opponents and civil rights groups claim effectively muzzles free press [HRW press release] in the south African nation. Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told reporters that the law was constitutionally sound and that the government was happy with the impact the law had on journalism in Zimbabwe. He accused journalists of failing to even read the act and said that the law contained more than enough provisions to protect a free press. Under AIPPA, journalists, newspapers, and radio and television news programs must obtain a license from the government in order to operate and face jail time if they refuse to comply with government restrictions on information. ZimOnline has local coverage.
  
  
• The Arab Organization for Human Rights [advocacy website] criticized the penal system of Jordan [government website] on Sunday, saying that inmates were routinely subjected to torture. AOHR President Hani Dahleh told reporters that prisoners were routinely beaten and forced to confess to crimes and then taken off to trial without access to legal counsel. Dahleh claimed that cases studies by AOHR showed that Jordan was violating the terms of the UN Convention against Torture [text], to which Jordan is a signatory. IRIN News has more.
  
  
• Nepal's new Attorney-General Yagya Murti Banjade was sworn in on Monday by Nepal Supreme Court Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel. The oath ceremony took place at the Supreme Court of Nepal [official website], a first in the country, as previous government oath ceremonies were always administered at the Royal Palace. The change in venue is seen as part of the emphasis of government control separate from the intervention of the nation's monarchy. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

[JURIST Europe] Leading UK human rights lawyers and activists are protesting the Blair government’s readiness to limit the application of the Human Rights Act [JURIST report] in the wake of a High Court decision [JURIST report] last week that permitted nine Afghan hijackers to remain in the UK. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper late Sunday, Anthony Lester QC [official profile], a Liberal Democrat peer, accused Home Secretary John Reid [official profile] of overstepping boundaries and abusing power by attempting to challenge the court ruling and to create changes to the Act, calling the suggestion that the legislation requires amendment to protect public safety “rubbish” and pointing out that "public safety is at the heart of the human rights convention", referring to the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text] that the 1998 Human Rights Act [text] implemented in the UK when it took effect in 2000.

Other opponents of changing the statute have suggested that the problem is not with the law, but with the way courts have chosen to interpret it, and still others are suggesting that the government is merely trying to divert attention from its own recent law-related missteps, such as the premature release from prison of some 1000 foreign criminals [JURIST report] before deportation review, the disclosure of which cost former Home Secretary Charles Clarke his post earlier this month in a Cabinet shuffle. The Guardian has more.

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

[JURIST] Stephen Hadley [official profile], President Bush’s national security advisor, defended [PDF transcript] the recently-exposed government program to collect data on private phone calls [JURIST report] Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, saying that it was legal and narrowly tailored. He said that the program does not involve listening to individual phone conversations, since its aim is to reveal terrorist-linked patterns in the phone calls. His comments followed the President's repeated [JURIST report] insistence in his Saturday radio address [transcript] that "the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. We are not trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

Qwest was the only major telephone company that refused to provide data [JURIST report] for the National Security Agency [official website], but the US Senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Arlen Specter [official profile] has expressed concerns that the other phone companies may have been coerced into disclosure. Late last month, Specter said he would consider legislation to block funding to the NSA [JURIST report] for domestic wiretaps [JURIST news archive] if the Bush administration did not stop “walking all over Congress”, and has observed that the constitutionality of the program is yet to be determined.

The New York Times revealed Sunday that Vice President Dick Cheney and his legal advisor and current chief of staff David S. Addington argued in the wake of Sept. 11 that the NSA should be able to read emails and listen in on domestic phone calls without warrants [JURIST report]. The International Herald Tribune has more.