[JURIST] The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] Monday upheld [PDF text] an Ohio regulation requiring a women to meet with a doctor 24 hours prior to an abortion procedure but reversed a District Court ruling [JURIST report] that had sustained a provision limiting minors to one chance of a judicial waiver from the state's parental notification requirement. The appeals court determined that allowing minors only one attempt during a pregnancy to petition for judicial bypass placed an undue burden on women, violating the due process clause [text] of the US Constitution. Requiring a meeting with a doctor prior to an abortion, however, was not an undue burden even though it could delay abortions up to two weeks. AP has more.

In November 2005 the Indiana Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] a law requiring women seeking an abortion in Indiana to undergo counseling about medical risks and abortion-alternatives and wait at least 18 hours after the session before obtaining an abortion. In October this year, the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] against a 2005 South Dakota law requiring doctors in that state who perform abortions to tell women that abortion ends the lives of "human beings." According to the Guttmacher Institute [advocacy website], a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues, more than 30 states now require women to attend "counseling" sessions prior to an abortion procedure.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] Monday denied [order, PDF] an application [text, PDF] by US citizen Mohammad Munaf [JURIST news archive] for a temporary injunction postponing his transfer [JURIST report] to Iraqi custody where he faces the death penalty for his involvement in a 2005 kidnapping in Iraq. Munaf, who was convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi judge in early October, has argued [JURIST report] that the Iraqi trial violated his due process protections as a US citizen because he was not confronted with the evidence brought against him, and he was prevented from presenting his own exculpatory evidence.

Monday's high court ruling, however, does not mean that Munaf faces an immediate handover; on Friday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals extended [order, PDF] its own initial injunction [JURIST report] against his transfer pending a decision on whether to reconsider the case en banc. Eric Freedman, counsel for Munaf, told JURIST late Monday that the Supreme Court action could have been based on the theory that the application had become moot. Munaf was initially arrested in Romania on charges [JURIST report] of allegedly kidnapping and detaining three Romanian journalists for 55 days in Iraq. Munaf has been in the custody of the Multi-National Force - Iraq [official website] since last year. In October the US District Court for the District of Columbia denied [JURIST report] an emergency motion [text, PDF; declaration, PDF] to prevent the US military from surrendering Munaf to Iraqi officials to face the death penalty, saying the court lacked jurisdiction to hear Munaf's appeal because he is "in the custody of a multinational entity and not the United States." AP has more.

[JURIST] Russia [JURIST news archive] may effectively extend a death penalty moratorium [Pravda report] for three years if the State Duma [official website, in Russian] passes a bill shifting the deadline for introducing jury trials in Chechnya [BBC backgrounder] from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2010. The Russian Constitutional Court ruled [decision summary] in 1999 that the death penalty cannot be enforced against those who have not been convicted and sentenced by a jury.

Since the moratorium began, Russian courts have sentenced high-profile defendants who would have been eligible for the death penalty to life in prison. Among them was Nurpashi Kulayev [JURIST report], the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2004 Beslan school siege [BBC backgrounder]. Russia implemented the moratorium as a condition of joining the Council of Europe (COE) [official website], the assembly responsible for maintaining human rights and democracy in Europe, heightening scrutiny of Russia's human rights situation and the failures of its judicial system. Earlier this year, Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship [JURIST report] of the COE Committee of Ministers. Interfax has more.

[JURIST] The head of the independent Human Rights Moroccan Center announced plans Monday to appeal a Moroccan court's conviction [JURIST report] of three former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees accused of involvement in terrorism. Khaled al Charkaoui expressed surprise at last week's convictions of Mohamed Slimani, Najib Houssani and Mohamed Ouali, who spent over four years in US custody at Guantanamo. Slimani was sentenced to five years in prison for creating and participating in a "criminal gang, practice of activities in a non-recognized association and organization of un-authorized public meetings," while Houssani and Ouali each received three-year sentences for falsifying administrative documents. Moroccan authorities acknowledged in February that the United States had transferred the three to Moroccan custody [US DOD press release].

The charges were not related to the men's detention at Guantanamo but rather to their connections with the group Salafia Jihadia [MIPT backgrounder], an offshoot of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group [MIPT backgrounder]. Both organizations are allegedly linked with al Qaeda and believed to be responsible for the May 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings [BBC report] that killed 45 people, including the 12 bombers. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lebanon's cabinet approved a UN draft proposal for an international judicial tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], but six pro-Syrian cabinet members have resigned since Sunday, possibly rendering the cabinet decision invalid. Lebanon's constitution [text] requires that the cabinet include representatives from all Lebanese political factions when making decisions. The other 18 cabinet members, however, approved the tribunal plan, satisfying the constitutional requirement that two-thirds of the cabinet must support an action for it to be legitimate. The UN submitted the international tribunal proposal [JURIST report] to Lebanon last week, and now Lebanon will return the draft to the UN Security Council for final authorization.

Previous reports by the UN's Hariri investigatory commission [UN materials] implicated Syrian officials [JURIST report] in the assassination, accomplished in a massive explosion on the Beirut waterfront killed Hariri and 22 others. The UN is authorized to help Lebanon establish a tribunal to oversee prosecutions in the case under UN Security Council Resolution 1644 [text]. CNN has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Torture has become widespread in the strife-ridden southern Russian republic of Chechnya [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], with more than 100 known cases in both official and secret detention centers, according to a new report [contents; PDF text] released Monday by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website]. The HRW report, addressed to the UN Committee against Torture [official website] as the committee finishes its review of Russia [JURIST news archive], documents torture that allegedly took place from April to September under Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov [BBC profile] and local law enforcement officials. HRW said that the alleged perpetrators of abuse rarely receive punishment, fostering a "climate of impunity" and encouraging Russian officials to refuse visits by UN torture investigators [JURIST report]. Human Rights Watch asked the committee to compel Russia to prosecute perpetrators of torture. HRW has more.

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights [official website] held Russia legally responsible [JURIST report] for the deaths and disappearance of three people in Chechnya. Multiple rights groups and investigatory bodies have previously condemned Russian for rights abuses and torture [JURIST report] in the region, where separatists are fighting to split from Moscow.

[JURIST] US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website; JURIST news archive], outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], has indicated that President Bush may have to nominate moderate judges to any future vacancies on the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] following midterm elections that ceded control of Congress to the Democrats. Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer also quoted Specter as speculating that the Democrats, who formally take control in January, may restrict or even halt judicial confirmations until the 2008 presidential elections.

In related comments, Specter expressed hope that the lame-duck Congress will push through legislation [JURIST report] authorizing domestic surveillance [JURIST news archive] of suspected terrorists. Last week, Bush urged lawmakers [transcript] to pass the Terrorist Surveillance Act, which he called an "important priority in the war on terror." The House version of the bill, which was passed in September [JURIST report], would allow warrantless surveillance for fixed periods following an "armed attack" or a "terrorist attack," or if the president perceives an "imminent threat of attack," with indefinite extensions pending congressional and court oversight. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website; JURIST news archive], who is expected to take over as Judiciary Committee chairman, has said that any legislation passed authorizing domestic surveillance of terrorists must contain "adequate checks and balances." The Philadelphia Inquirer has more.

[JURIST] The Australian government will request the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks [JURIST news archives] if the US fails to charge him under the revised military commissions framework, Australia's attorney general told a meeting of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) [official website] Monday. In August, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock [official profile] said that he would seek Hicks' return [JURIST report] if charges were not brought by November. US officials are currently working to hammer out a new military commissions system under the recently signed Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; JURIST report]. Last month, the Australian justice minister denounced Hicks' five-year detention [JURIST report] at Guantanamo Bay without charge.

Hicks was taken to Guantanamo Bay after he was captured in Afghanistan, where he allegedly had been fighting with the Taliban. His defense lawyers have said they plan to challenge the Military Commissions Act as unconstitutional [JURIST report]. A legal challenge to the act provisions stripping detainees of habeas corpus, or the right to challenge detentions in court, is already under way [JURIST report] in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. AAP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday upheld California's "catch-all" jury instruction for death penalty cases, ruling that the instructions provide adequate opportunity for jurors to weigh evidence that favors the defendant. In a 5-4 decision in Ayers v. Belmontes [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court reinstated Belmontes' conviction for first degree murder in the killing of a 19 year old woman during a burglary. Belmontes had appealed his death penalty sentence, arguing that the jury instructions did not require the jury to consider all mitigating factors, including his probable future conduct in prison. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the sentence [opinion, PDF] and California prosecutors appealed to have his sentence reinstated.

Read the Court's majority opinion [text] per Justice Kennedy, along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Scalia and a dissent [text] from Justice Stevens. AP has more. SCOTUSblog has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Serbian war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj [BBC profile; ICTY case backgrounder] has started a hunger strike ahead of his trial, scheduled for November 27 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), demanding [statement, DOC] that the ICTY dismiss his court-appointed lawyers and allow him to prepare is defense with lawyers of his choosing. Seselj also demanded that all court documents be delivered to him in paper rather than electronic form and asked that the court permit his wife to visit him in prison. An ICTY appeals panel last month ruled that Seselj could represent himself [JURIST report] during his trial, but also appointed two lawyers - David Cooper and Andreas O'Shea - to assist Seselj with his defense if necessary. During a pre-trial hearing earlier this month, Seselj was removed from the courtroom [JURIST report] for disrupting proceedings whenever the court-appointed lawyers attempted to speak.

Seselj was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] in 2003 and charged [indictment, PDF] in connection with his role in establishing rogue paramilitary units affiliated with the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party [party website, in Serbian]. Those units are believed to have massacred and otherwise persecuted Croats and other non-Serbs in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Seselj has pleaded not guilty to the charges, five of which were dropped [JURIST report] by the ICTY last week. AP has more.

[JURIST] An Australian bill of rights would frustrate the government's ability to deal with terrorism and other threats, Australia's attorney general told a meeting of Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) [official website] Monday. Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock [official profile] told the Commission he is against binding future Australians to the current point of view regarding human rights.

The possibility of an Australian bill of rights has been raised by human rights activists [JURIST report] and others in response to the passage of several Australian anti-terrorism laws. The Security Legislation Review Committee [materials], a public and independent body charged with reviewing the Security Acts dealing with terrorism, has criticized [JURIST report] many elements of the laws, including their lack of sunset provisions and the ambiguity of several crime definitions, especially the crime of "advocating the doing of a terrorist act." The Committee identified other potential civil rights issues inherent in the Security Acts, and recommended that the governmental process of black-listing terrorist groups be more transparent so that the groups may respond to the charges before condemnation, and that the definitional criteria be made public. AAP has more.

[JURIST] Certain portions of British courtroom proceedings could be televised in the near future, according to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) [official website], which is preparing to outline a proposal in a consultation paper to be released in the next few weeks. Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer [official profile], the minister heading the Department, has indicated that witnesses, victims, and suspects will not be televised, unlike in the US, where television crews are often allowed to broadcast entire trials. Even if legislation is brought forward to implement the proposal, however, actual televising of cases would not likely take place until 2009.

The DCA first held consultations [JURIST report] in 2004 on whether court proceedings in England and Wales should be broadcast, which included a six-week pilot program [JURIST report]. The Telegraph has more.

[JURIST] Thai Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas again suggested Monday that martial law could be lifted by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont [official website; BBC profile] before the PM leaves for an international summit in Vietnam on November 18, and said that a decision would be made in the next day or two. Somtas told reporters, however, that even if the military junta in control of Thailand decides to lift martial law [JURIST report], it would likely not take effect until the end of November, and may not apply to the entire country.

Thailand [JURIST news archive] has been under martial law [JURIST report] since the Thai military seized power from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] in a bloodless coup [JURIST report] in September. Somtas said last week that Chulanont was considering lifting [JURIST report] martial law since Thailand's allies who also plan to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation [official website] summit, including the US and Japan, will be "more comfortable" if martial law is lifted. The US urged Thailand to lift martial law [JURIST report] last month, pulling almost $24 million in funding from the Thai government. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The UN's top political official has asked Myanmar's military government to release political prisoner and rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi [advocacy website; BBC profile] after meeting with the rights activist [UN News report] over the weekend. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Myanmar for 17 years, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari [UN profile], who was also allowed access to Suu Kyi [JURIST report] in May when Myanmar extended her detention for another year, expressed his optimism Saturday that Suu Kyi may be released soon.

Suu Kyi is a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate [1991 award website] who has been held either in jail or under house arrest [JURIST report] for more than ten of the past 16 years under a broad anti-subversion law [text], which provides for one-year extensions of detentions. She is prohibited from contact with any outside visitors or telephone conversations, other than with her housemaid or doctor. Gambari, in Myanmar on a four-day visit, also urged officials to improve their overall human rights record. AFP has more.