[JURIST] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; BBC profile] Friday decried any potential action by the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran [JURIST news archive] for continuing to enrich uranium past a August 31 deadline imposed by Security Council Resolution 1696 [PDF text, JURIST report], saying such action would be "illegitimate." UK Ambassador to the UN Emyr Jones Parry [official profile] reportedly said the full council may be able to consider a proposed text on sanctions as soon as next week, prompting an Iranian spokesperson to pronounce that Iran "will not allow its rights to be stamped on." Reuters has more.

The Iranian Parliament [official website, in Persian] has already voted to approve [JURIST report] the draft of a bill that would bar International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website] inspectors from entering Iran if the Security Council opts to impose sanctions.

[JURIST] The Tunisian government [official website, in French] has launched a new campaign against the public wearing of hijabs [III&E backgrounder], the headscarves worn by many Muslim women in the predominantly Islamic state north African state. Police have begun stopping Muslim women wearing the hijab on the street, asking them to remove it, and to sign an affidavit promising to never wear it again. A decree from 1981 bans wearing the headscarves in public, and senior government officials of the autocracy characterize the garments as sectarian, worn by people using religion to hide political aims. Tunisian rights activists argue that the government ban is unconstitutional, and that many people are upset by it, but few feel safe to openly challenge the government. In the US, the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the Tunisian move [press release] Thursday, saying:

The Tunisian law banning Islamic attire in certain areas, and the apparent expanded interpretation of that law, violates international human rights standards set forth by the United Nations and ratified by virtually every nation on earth.... Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a transnational treaty having the weight of international law states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. . .(and) to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

[JURIST] Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht [official profile] won his appeal of an "admonishment" [JURIST report] he received in May for allegedly improperly using the power of his office to support the nomination of his friend, Harriet Miers [JURIST news archive], to the US Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the Special Court of Review, appointed by the Texas Supreme Court [official website], issued a ruling [text, PDF] Friday, dismissing the admonishment and determining that Hecht had not violated Texas Code of Judicial Conduct [text]. The justices who considered the appeal were Kerry FitzGerald [DBA profile] and Amos Mazzant [SBT profile] of the Dallas appeals court and Ann McClure [official profile] of the El Paso appeals court. AP has more.

Hecht defended his actions [JURIST report], which included granting about 120 newspaper, radio and television interviews on the Miers nomination, before the appeals panel in August. US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [JURIST news archive] also testified in support of Hecht during that appeal.

[JURIST] A lawyer for a Muslim teaching assistant suspended by a British school for refusing to remove her full-face veil (niqab; Wikipedia backgrounder) during class said Friday she planned to appeal [BBC recorded audio] a local tribunal's decision to the European Court of Justice [official website]. The Kirklees West Yorkshire Council [official website] employment tribunal on Thursday rejected discrimination and harassment claims [press release] brought by the teaching assistant, Aishah Azmi [BBC profile], but awarded her £1,100 (about US $2,100) for "injury to her feelings" caused by local education authority's handling of her complaint. The tribunal agreed with school officials' assessment that the veil interfered with Azmi's role as a bilingual support worker by making her speech difficult for pupils to understand. Azmi remains suspended with pay pending her appeal.

Prominent politicians have voiced support for the school's decision. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the veil a "mark of separation" [press briefing summary], while Labor MP Shahid Malik [Wikipedia profile], a Muslim whose constituency includes the school, urged Azmi "just to let this thing go." BBC News has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria [JURIST report] announced Friday that the release of jailed Syrian writer and activist Michel Kilo [JURIST report; BBC report], who was set to be released on bail Thursday, has been delayed due to procedural holdups. Kilo was one of ten activists arrested after signing the so-called Beirut-Damascus Declaration of 12 May [text excerpts], a petition calling for Syria to mend relationships with Lebanon, establish a properly demarcated border, and release political prisoners. Lawyer Ammar al-Qorabi, the president of the human rights [JURIST news archive] organization, told journalists that the decision to release Kilo is enforceable, and should be carried out within the next two days.

Kilo and prominent activist lawyer Anwar Bunni [Amnesty International backgrounder] are the only two of the ten that are still in jail. Bunni, who also signed the declaration, was arrested [JURIST report] soon after publicly criticizing the government for its arrest of Kilo. The US State Department [official website] had nothing but harsh words for Syria [press briefing transcript; JURIST report], calling for the immediate end to the persecution of ‘Syrians who seek to defend their rights and to bring democratic change to their country.’ AFP has more.

[JURIST] The government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) [official website] is amending a civil unions law [legislative materials] that was overturned by the federal government earlier this year [JURIST report], ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell [official profile] said Friday. Corbell told an Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry [official website] into discrimination against people in same-sex relationships [JURIST news archive] that the amendments - such as changing the phrase "civil union" to "civil partnership" - seek to address the federal government's objections that the bill equated civil unions to marriage. Still, Corbell said, the legislation would establish rights similar to those available to same-sex couples in the United Kingdom [JURIST news archive] through the Civil Partnership Act 2004 [text].

The ACT is the federal district that includes the Australian capital, Canberra. Under a provision [text] of the ACT Self-Government Act of 1988, the federal government may disallow any ACT enactment within six months. Corbell, who has condemned the federal override of the civil unions law [press release], said the revised legislation should be ready for the ACT parliament later this year. Australia's ABC News has more.

[JURIST] The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) [official website] has urged the Seven Party Alliance Government and the Maoist faction in Nepal [JURIST news archive] to adhere to their commitments to protect human rights, saying in a statement Thursday that although there have been efforts to combat impunity those "measures have been far from adequate." The statement follows the October 18 appointment of Lena Sundh [press release], a Swedish diplomat, as head of OHCHR-Nepal.

OHCHR-Nepal, created in accordance to an agreement between OHCHR and the Nepalese government [PDF text] in April 2005, has a mandate to monitor, investigate and verify the situation of human rights in Nepal. The human rights office has criticized fighters [JURIST report] belonging to the Nepali Maoist party [party website; BBC profile] for continued kidnappings, torture, and murder of political and civilian targets. OHCHR-Nepal urged all parties to "translate their written commitments to human rights into effective, long-lasting action" in order to "achieve lasting peace and justice." Opposition political parties, including the Maoists, conducted three weeks of pro-democracy protests [JURIST news archive] in April until King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] agreed to reinstate parliament [JURIST report] and give up direct control of the government. The Maoist party has maintained that it is willing to renounce violence if the monarchy is completely removed from Nepal's constitution. Talks on a new interim constitution [JURIST report] are ongoing, but the Maoists claim the draft leaves the monarchy issue unresolved [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] New York's Court of Appeals [official website], the state's highest court, handed down a 6-0 decision [PDF text] Thursday, banning Catholic Charities [organization website] and nine other social service organizations from refusing to provide birth control insurance coverage for their employees. The decision hinged on whether such organizations would be classified as social services agencies or as churches under the Women's Health and Wellness Act of 2002 (WHWA) [text; S 3221]. The Act, spurred by the lobbying efforts of statewide reproductive rights [JURIST news archive] organizations, requires employers to extend preventative health coverage, including mammograms, bone screenings and prescription contraceptives, to their female employees. The law exempts only those employers who are religious in nature, such as churches, mosques and temples.

The court considered the organizations' "interests in adhering to the tenets of their faith" and the "state's substantial interest in fostering equality between the sexes, and in providing women with better health care." The court then noted that, as the social service organizations had hired employees whose faiths differed from those of their own religious affiliations, the court could not allow the employers' underlying religious beliefs to preclude employee access to preventative health care. Catholic Charities has said that it is considering an appeal of the decision to the US Supreme Court and would, under protest, continue to offer prescription contraceptive coverage to its employees. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Justice Department [official website] has issued a notice [PDF text] informing the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] that it no longer has jurisdiction over 196 habeas corpus cases brought by detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The DOJ notice came one day after President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [JURIST report], and followed a similar letter [PDF text] sent to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] just after Tuesday's bill signing, notifying the court that it lacked jurisdiction in another Guantanamo habeas case. The DOJ urged the appeals court to decide the case on the existing record, but the appeals court has ordered [PDF text] supplemental briefs on the significance of the Military Commissions Act (MCA) [PDF text; summary]. The district court cases affected by Wednesday's notice had been stayed pending the DC Circuit's decision in the Guantanamo case.

The MCA provides in part that

no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any claim or cause of action whatsoever, including any action pending on or filed after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, relating to the prosecution, trial, or judgment of a military commission under this chapter, including challenges to the lawfulness of procedures of military commissions under this chapter. [US Code Title 10, Chapter 47a, s. 950j (b)]

[JURIST] The US Department of State's top legal advisor asked Friday that the UK and other foreign governments to help repatriate detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] rather than calling for closure of the prison. In an interview [excerpt, recorded audio] with the BBC, John Bellinger [official profile] stated "If we really want to reduce the numbers to send people back, progress cannot be made by just simply saying Guantanamo should be closed." Instead, Bellinger asked for "practical suggestions." The UK has reportedly refused to accept custody [JURIST report] of several former UK legal residents in custody at Guantanamo Bay and the families of three of those detainees recently lost their bid [JURIST report] to require the British government to pursue their release from the US prison.

Last week, the British foreign ministry called for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which the State Department rejected [JURIST reports]. Bellinger repeated his earlier statement that trials of some 80 detainees are expected to begin next year under the newly-signed Military Commissions Act [JURIST reports]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Turkish veterans association has announced that it will bring lawsuits before the European Court of Human Rights [official website] on behalf of 6,317 Turks allegedly killed in the southern province of Gaziantep [Wikipedia backgrounder] by French and Armenian troops when France occupied the territory during World War I. Turkish National Power Veterans Association leader Sevret Saltan says that suits are a response to a highly-controversial French bill [legislative materials, in French] that would impose penalties on anyone denying that Turkey committed genocide in Armenia [ANI backgrounder] during the war. The bill passed the lower house of the French parliament [JURIST report] last week but must also be approved by the Senate and the President before it becomes law. French President Jacques Chirac [official profile, in French] apologized to Turkey for the bill [JURIST report], leading many to believe that it will not succeed. Nevertheless, the Turkish parliament has passed a resolution condemning the bill and has even considered its own retaliatory bill [JURIST reports] accusing the French of genocide in Algeria during the colonial period.

Saltan claims to have documents that evidence the mass killings of Turkish people by French forces, and the Gaziantep Bar Association has expressed support for the suit. TurksUS has more.

[JURIST] Australia's justice minister has denounced the five year detention without trial of Australian citizen David Hicks [JURIST news archive, AI archive] in Australia's boldest official statement in several months concerning the Guantanamo prisoner. In a speech in Perth to the International Criminal Lawyers' Conference, Christopher Ellison [official profile] said of the Australian government, "We have made it clear that we do not think that [Hicks' situation] is satisfactory." Australia is keeping in close contact with US officials, Ellison reported, and would consider an agreement to transfer Hicks to an Australian prison. Hicks was interned at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] soon after he was captured for allegedly fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. While he will likely be tried under the newly-signed [JURIST report] Military Commissions Act [text, PDF], his defense team recently announced their intent to challenge that as unconstitutional [JURIST report].

Although Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock [official website] announced in August that the government would push for Hicks' return to Australia, Canberra has not made any such statements since that time. Last week the Australian Lawyers Alliance unanimously condemned the conservative administration of Prime Minister John Howard [JURIST report] for its handling of the matter. In a Thursday interview with ABC news [transcript], Ruddock said that he would support a plea bargain between Hicks and the US government, stating, "We want these issues dealt with as quickly as possible." Hicks counsel Michael Mori ruled out the possibility, however. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US President George W. Bush has authorized the first changes to the US space policy in nearly 10 years by asserting authority to deny access to space to any adversary hostile to US interests. An unclassified version of the new US National Space Policy [text, PDF] is posted on the website of the Office of Science and Technology Policy [official website], but the policy - signed in August - was not publicly announced until highlighted in a Washington Post report Wednesday.

In the document, the US "rejects any claims of sovereignty by any nation," and will "view purposeful interference with its space systems as an infringement on its rights." The White House has said that the policy does not provide for development or deployment of weapons, but the policy itself states that "proposed arms control agreements or restrictions must not impair the rights of the US..." National Security Council [official website] spokesman Frederick Jones has said that although the policy emphasizes protection of space assets, this shouldn't be interpreted to "imply some sort of forceful action." Jones noted that US space capabilities are necessary for a range of things, including "ATMs, personal navigation, package tracking, radio services, and cell phone use." AP has more.

[JURIST] Michael Dewayne Johnson [backgrounder; TDCJ offender profile], a death row inmate in Texas, committed suicide Thursday, 15-hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection [JURIST news archive]. Johnson was convicted of murdering a gas station attendant in 1995, but maintained that he was only a companion to the shooter. Johnson's companion was released from prison after serving an eight-year term in exchange for testifying against his friend.

Johnson became the seventh death row [JURIST news archive] inmate in Texas to commit suicide since 1974. His appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court last week and he was scheduled to be the state's 22nd execution this year. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] said Friday that she raised concerns over China's human rights records [transcript] during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing [official profile] that focused on North Korea and Iran's nuclear activities [JURIST news archive]. Rice did not give specifics but said that she discussed "human rights and the importance of several cases." The diplomats are thought to have discussed cases involving Zhao Yan [JURIST news archive], a New York Times researcher who was sentenced in August to 3 years in prison on fraud charges, and Yang Jianli [advocacy website], a Boston-based activist who was arrested in 2002 for entering China on a false passport. Both are believed to have been arrested as part of a Chinese crackdown on government critics.

Li said he had raised his own human rights concerns with Rice and discussed cases "involving two Chinese citizens." Li added that "China is ready to continue its dialogue with the US on the question of human rights on the basis of equality." China has recently made a practice of countering American human rights complaints with statements and reports of its own highlighting alleged human abuses [JURIST report] in the United States or committed by Americans abroad. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Ricardo Urbina has ordered the Secret Service [official website] to release visitor logs for the personal residence and office of Vice-President Dick Cheney [JURIST news archive]. In his ruling Wednesday, Urbina gave the Bush Administration until next week to either release the records or provide a reason why they are being withheld. The order was issued following a lawsuit by the Washington Post [media website] who requested the logs in June while researching White House ties to political lobbyists. The request also included visitor logs for Cheney's legal counsel, chief spokesman, and other top aides. The government has argued that the logs are protected by executive privilege.

In a separate lawsuit [AP report] filed in September by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington [advocacy website], White House records showed over 100 meetings involving administration officials and Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, Republican activists tied to the Jack Abramoff scandal [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.