[JURIST] The US Legal Services Corp. [official website] debated firing the inspector general currently investigating the federally funded program's use of funds for luxuries [JURIST report; LSC press release], the Associated Press reported Sunday. Meeting transcripts obtained by AP indicate that board members criticized Kirt West and warned each other to be careful of their actions in his presence.

The board planned to discuss West's status at a meeting in April before Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Rep. Christopher Cannon, R-Utah, warned Frank Strickland [official profile], the board's chairman, that any attempt to fire West would be inappropriate. Cannon has since put forward a bill [materials] that would require 9 of the 11 LSC board members to agree on any measure to remove the inspector general, up from the current simple majority. The legal aid program, which provides legal services to the poor, reported in February that it turns away more than half of those eligible for its services due to a lack of financial resources [LSC press release]. It has claimed that several media reports about its staffers' spending practices are inaccurate [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nearly 70 percent of Swiss voters [results, in French] Sunday approved new laws that limit immigration and asylum seeking [Federal Office for Migration backgrounders] in the country. The laws, passed by the Swiss parliament [official website] last year, require foreigners to produce valid travel documents within 48 hours or risk rejection. Those who have been rejected but who refuse to leave the country could face up to two years in prison.

The laws also limit immigrants from outside of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association [official website] to highly skilled workers. The United Nations refugee agency [official website] (UNHCR) has already criticized the new laws as too severe [UNHCR press release]. Those who support the new laws say they are necessary to prevent migrants from abusing the system. The Swiss parliament has voted nine times since 1984 to limit asylum seeking; five of the measures were approved by the electorate. Swissinfo has more.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein's top lawyer said Sunday the former Iraqi president's defense team will not attend his genocide trial [JURIST news archive] when it resumes Monday in protest at the new chief judge's behavior, and will stay away "indefinitely," according to statements quoted by AP. The original judge was replaced [JURIST report] last week by the government after he said in court Hussein was not a dictator [JURIST report].

Hussein's lawyers walked out of last Wednesday's hearing in protest of the new judge, Muhammed al-Ureybi, who then threw Hussein out of court [JURIST report] for protesting and continued the trial with court-appointed lawyers. Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said: "The court committed several violations of the law and we will not just sit there gagged to give it legitimacy." Hussein is being tried for his role in the deaths of 180,000 Kurds [JURIST report], mostly civilians, in the 1980s. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Members of Iraq's parliament [official website] reached a compromise Sunday establishing a committee to consider amendments to Iraq's constitution [JURIST news archive] and allowing debate to proceed on a bill to create federal regions [JURIST report] in the country. Constitutional amendment is a top priority for the country's Sunni Arabs, while Shiite politicians favor the federalism bill. Debate on the controversial draft federalism legislation will begin on Tuesday after an initial meeting of the constitutional committee on Monday.

Debate on the bill has been delayed [JURIST report] three times over the past two weeks partly due to Sunni opposition [JURIST report] to the plan. Sunnis oppose the creation of federal regions in Iraq because it would leave them without access to the country's oil fields, which are located predominately in Kurdish and Shiite-dominated regions. The bill will be debated for two days, read again with changes on October 1 and then voted on four days later. Legislators say it will take about 18 months to create federal regions if parliament approves the legislation. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) [official website], Taiwan's ruling political party, has opened debate on the drafting of a new constitution, a move promised [JURIST report] by President Chen Shui-bian [official profile] earlier this year. The current constitution [text], drafted by the Kuomintang party of China in 1947, has been amended seven times and was written 2 years before Taiwan split from China in 1949 after the Communist takeover of the mainland. Chen has said that he wants the new constitution to better reflect the current state of Taiwan.

Many Taiwanese citizens oppose a new constitution because it may anger China, which insists that Taiwan remains a part of its territory [Chinese government materials on Taiwan] and has maintained that any declaration of independence by the island would result in a military response [People's Daily report]. Opponents also claim that drafting a new constitution is simply a way to gain support from pro-independence groups. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda [profile, in Indonesian] insisted Sunday that the recent executions of three Roman Catholic militants convicted [BBC report] in 2001 of leading a Christian militia which killed at least 70 Muslims in 2000 [BBC backgrounder] were legally justified. In an attempt to defuse tension manifested in rioting by Christian protestors [JURIST report] last week, Wirajuda defended the legal process leading to the executions, which involved local courts, provincial courts and the Supreme Court, and said the matter pertained to law enforcement and had no connection to the relationship between Indonesia's Muslim and Christian populations. He also recognized the need for the government to discuss the matter with religious leaders to demonstrate that the case was purely secular.

Human rights activists have questioned the executions' fairness [Amnesty International press release], maintaining that Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu, and Dominggus da Silva were not militia leaders. European Union and Vatican officials have decried the executions in light of death threats received by defense lawyers and the large groups of Muslims that regularly gathered outside the courtroom in an attempt to intimidate judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and witnesses. Opponents also point to the fact that only a handful of Muslims have been prosecuted and have received jail sentences of less than fifteen years for their roles in the deaths of over 1,000 Muslims and Christians between 1999 and 2002. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] The US military plans to turn a new medium-security building [JURIST report] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] into a maximum-security facility and enhance security in its existing structures at the military detention center, according to deputy commander Brig. Gen. Edward A. Leacock [official profile]. Leacock told reporters earlier this week that security upgrades include constant guard escorts around the facility, newer surveillance technology, and the suspension of detainee group meetings. The military claims that hundreds of attacks on guards at the facility recently made public in a Freedom of Information Act request [JURIST report] necessitate the tighter restrictions, especially since the number of attacks increased dramatically in July 2005 when dozens of detainees began a hunger strike [JURIST report]. Guards were also attacked on the same day that three detainees hung themselves in their cells [JURIST report] in June.

The US is under increasing international pressure to shut down Guantanamo and release its prisoners. Last week, UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile] called on the US to close the prison [JURIST report] at an International Bar Association event in Chicago. AP has more.