[JURIST] Touring south Beirut Sunday, United Nations relief coordinator Jan Egeland [official profile; JURIST news archive] said the damage to civilian areas caused by Israeli airstrikes [JURIST news archive] was worse than he had anticipated and reemphasized that attacking civilians was illegal under intrenational norms. "It is horrific. I did not know it was block after block of houses... It seems to be an excessive use of force in an area with so many civilians," said Egeland, described by reporters as "visibly shocked." "It makes it a violation of humanitarian law." He acknowledged, however, that he did not have all the information he might want: "What we do not know, for humanitarians, what was between these buildings, what military targets? But it seems excessive."

Egeland and the UN are attempting to co-ordinate the creation of three humanitarian corridors [Reuters report] over sea to allow aid to come in to the war-torn area. Israeli air attacks on portions of Beirut and Hezbollah rocket attacks on Haifa and other areas in northern Israel continued Sunday. Reuters has more.

During a stopover in Cyprus Saturday Egeland expressed frustration with the general situation: "The whole thing has to stop. It's no natural disaster but a man-made crisis. This is a senseless war. It should never have started. It should never have been carried out like it is now." He said the Hezbollah rocket attacks were "deplorable and despicable," but added that Israel's response had been "disproportionate, when to my thinking one third of the wounded and killed are women and children, then it clearly goes far beyond responding to armed groups." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US military commanders in Iraq regularly authorized torture and abusive interrogation practices even in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal [JURIST news archive], and military lawyers brought in to brief interrogators erroneously told them that the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] did not apply to their detainees, according to a new Human Rights Watch report [text] released Sunday. The report, based partly on interviews with US soldiers, also says that soldiers who objected to the harsh interrogation methods were regularly discouraged from making or pursuing complaints. Two US detention facilities in Iraq - an off-limits site at Baghdad airport called Camp Nama [JURIST report] whose inmates were never registered with the Red Cross, contrary to international law, and another site in Mosul - were singled out as being particularly abuse-prone.

John Sifton, who authored the HRW report, said “These accounts rebut U.S. government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorized and exceptional – on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used.” While several enlisted soldiers were court-martialed in connection with Abu Ghraib, not one intelligence officer or commander has yet been prosecuted for detainee abuses. Responding to the report, a US military spokesman said that "The standard of treatment is and always has been humane treatment of detainees in DOD's custody." HRW has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Less than half of lawyers hired to work in the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division [official website] since 2003 have a background in civil rights, according to resumes obtained by the Boston Globe through a Freedom of Information Act request. In late 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft [official profile] changed hiring procedures throughout the department, replacing traditional hiring committees consisting of veteran career lawyers with panels made up of political appointees. Subsequent to the change in hiring practices, the number of new lawyers hired with a background in civil rights law has dropped dramatically, and there has been a sharp increase in the number of new lawyers with strong conservative credentials. There has also been a shift in the types of cases the division is pursuing. The division, which was established in 1957 [DOJ historical perspective, PDF] to pursue civil rights claims against local and state governments and approve election law changes in areas with a history of voter discrimination, has been filing an increasing number of lawsuits in the past several years alleging reverse discrimination against whites and religious discrimination against Christians.

A DOJ spokesman defended the new hiring practices, saying the agency only hires qualified lawyers, and other supporters say that the change was necessary to bring balance to the traditionally liberal civil rights division. Meanwhile, after the Washington Post controversially reported last November that lawyers were leaving the Civil Rights division in record numbers [JURIST report; DOJ response], staffers told the Globe that morale continues to be low and that experienced attorneys are leaving the department because of the shift in agenda. Sunday's Boston Globe has more.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] has been hospitalized and is being fed through a tube after a hunger strike now into its third week rendered his health "unstable," according to the chief prosecutor for the Iraqi court currently trying him for crimes against humanity. Jaafar al-Moussawi said Sunday that the ousted Iraqi leader's condition had not yet stabilized, and that he would not be able to attend Monday's scheduled court session [AFP report]. It was not immediately clear whether Saddam had agreed to tube feeding or whether it was being done by force.

A US military spokesman said Thursday that doctors had warned Hussein [JURIST report], 69, that his lengthy hunger strike could have adverse health effects. Saddam has refused food [JURIST report] - drinking only coffee and fortified water - since July 7 in protest against trial court procedures and the killings of three defense lawyers allegedly resulting from inadequate security provided by US forces. AP has more. His lawyers have already said they will boycott Monday's court session in continuing protest against the lack of what chief Iraqi defense lawyer Khalil Dulaimi called "the minimum for a fair trial." Reuters has more on the boycott.

1:10 PM ET - Whether Saddam is being fed voluntarily or against his will is still unclear. Prosecutor Al-Moussawi has told Reuters that "Saddam Hussein continues to maintain his hunger strike and is voluntarily receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. His condition is constantly monitored by medical personnel and is not life-threatening." Saddam lawyer Khalil Dulaimi disputes this, however, insisting that "The U.S. military are force-feeding the president to break his will and end his hunger strike to protest against the trial and its illegality...They have clearly exhausted all means at their disposal to convince him to end the strike and now they are resorting to force...this is a gross violation of his rights." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court Friday ordered the release of former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov [Kommersant profile; JURIST news archive] pending trial for allegedly diverting funds equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars to his personal use and improperly setting up private projects. Adamov, who is said to have suffered heart problems [JURIST report] while in detention, faces a maximum prison term of 10 years. A Moscow court denied an earlier bail petition [JURIST report] from Adamov in January. It later extended his detention until June, prompting his appeal to the Supreme Court [JURIST report]. Russian news agencies say his trial could begin next month.

Adamov was arrested [JURIST report] in Switzerland last year on a US warrant alleging that he diverted $9 million [JURIST report] given to Russia by the US Department of Energy [official website] for nuclear security improvement to various improvement projects in US firms he controls. He was extradited to Russia [JURIST report] last December after a series of legal battles [JURIST report] between the US and Russia, which insisted that he be tried for crimes at home. AP has more.

[JURIST] Charges [MNF-Iraq press release] have been dropped against a Pennsylvania National Guardsman accused in the February 15 shooting death of an Iraqi civilian near a US military base at Ramadi [MNF-Iraq report], a city west of Baghdad. Prosecutors recommended that proceedings against Specialist Nathan Lynn be stopped after an Article 32 [backgrounder] hearing preliminary to possible court-martial found no evidence that had acted illegally. The civilian is believed to have been unarmed, and prosecutors initially suggested that Wood knew this and conspired with other soldiers to plant an AK-47 on his body after he had been killed, but Wood testified he was thought the civilian was armed and there was no proof he was aware of the planted weapon. Military authorities have yet to determine whether another soldier charged in the incident, Sergeant Milton Ortiz, will face court-martial.

Investigations of other alleged unlawful killings of Iraqi civilians by US soldiers are ongoing. In June the US Army charged four soldiers for the deaths of Iraqi detainees [JURIST report; US Central Command press release on charging of fourth] in the northern Salahuddin province of Iraq and charged week seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with murder and kidnapping [JURIST report] in connection with the April 26 death of an Iraqi man outside his home in Hamdania. Earlier this month, three US servicemen were charged with rape and murder and a fourth has been charged with dereliction of duty in connection with the March 12 rape and murder [JURIST report] of an Iraqi civilian and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya. A former soldier has also been charged in US federal court. A military probe into the alleged killing of 24 Iraqi civilians [JURIST report] by Marines in the city of Haditha in November, 2005 are ongoing. AP has more.