[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) has indicated that it will seek congressional approval for its planned $100 million Guantanamo Bay legal facility [JURIST report] rather than expedite construction by declaring it an emergency expense. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, in a November letter [PDF text] to Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John Warner, had proposed to pay for the facility using "unobligated military construction appropriations;" the FY 07 Defense department supplemental request would then re-fund the depleted budget of the source program. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who was among those calling for congressional approval of the project, announced the DOD's reversal in a Friday press release. Read the Pentagon's project summary via the Miami Herald.

The proposed compound for expected war crimes trials of Guantanamo detainees includes a secure perimeter, a courthouse with two large courtrooms wired with CCTV, a dining facility for up to 800 personnel, housing for up to 1200 personnel, and additional logistical facilities such as interview rooms. Earlier this week, 40 Guantanamo detainees were transferred to a new $37 million dollar maximum-security facility [JURIST report] at the prison designed to minimize detainee contact and protect guards from attack. The Miami Herald has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [official website, in Arabic; BBC profile] slammed the Baker Iraq Study Group report [download page; JURIST report] during a Sunday news interview, says it contained "some very dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and the constitution." Talabani objected to a proposal to place a US advisor in each unit of the Iraqi army, and targeted another urging adoption of a law that would open the door for former Baathists to re-enter politics [AP report; JURIST report].

The ISG report, co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton, also recommends that the Bush administration provide "strong" support and funding for US Justice Department efforts in Iraq "to establish courts; to train judges, prosecutors, and investigators; and to create institutions and practices to fight corruption." The report supports continued US training of the Iraqi Police Service, and says the police force "should be given greater responsibility to conduct criminal investigations and should expand its cooperation with other elements in the Iraqi judicial system in order to better control crime and protect Iraqi civilians." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has died, according to an announcement from a military hospital [hospital website] in Santiago. Pinochet, 91, suffered a major heart attack [JURIST report] last Sunday; he was stabilized after emergency surgery but later was moved back into intensive care. Reuters has more.

In recent years Chilean authorities have made multiple efforts to bring the ex-dictator to justice for dozens of human rights violations he is accused of committing during his military rule from 1973 to 1990. Pinochet suffered from mild dementia, strokes, arthritis and other ailments that made his fitness to stand trial questionable. He enjoyed general immunity from prosecution under the 1980 Chilean Constitution, but was incrementally stripped of that immunity [BBC report] in light of charges brought against him. Two weeks ago, a judge ordered he be placed under house arrest [JURIST report] in connection with the executions of two of former President Salvador Allende's bodyguards during the so-called Caravan of Death [BBC backgrounder] that followed the 1973 coup in which Pinochet seized power; the house arrest order was lifted [JURIST report] earlier this week for his recuperation. Last month, on the occasion of his birthday, Pinochet publicly assumed full political responsibility [JURIST report] for the actions of his former regime.

Ironically, Pinochet's death falls on International Human Rights Day [UN factsheet], marking the anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

[JURIST] The Federal Communications Commission [official website; JURIST news archive] is set to vote on the proposed $82.2 billion AT&T -BellSouth merger [AT&T materials] after FCC general counsel Samuel Feder authorized Commissioner Robert McDowell to vote on a merger despite a possible conflict of interest. In an 8-page memorandum [PDF text] issued late last week, Feder found it important that only McDowell may break the 2-2 deadlock [JURIST report] between the remaining commissioners, as a commissioner "may not delegate his or her vote to anyone else." Feder's decision was governed by US Code Title 18, Section 208(b) [text], which permits an administrative employee to participate in decision-making activities despite a conflict of interest if "the interest of the Government in the employee's participation outweighs the concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of the agency's programs and operations." McDowell, a former lobbyist for a trade group opposing the merger, recused himself from previous votes.

The merger has already been approved [text] without reservation by the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division [official website] following an eight-month investigation that concluded that AT&T's proposed acquisition of BellSouth was not likely to "substantially reduce competition" in the US telecom market. In an October letter [PDF], the Democratic FCC commissioners said that serious questions remained about whether the merger would serve the public interest, especially against the backdrop of other forms of consolidation and concentration in the telecommunications industry. AP has more.

[JURIST] Outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official website] has called for greater efforts to protect human rights worldwide in a speech [text; recorded video] marking International Human Rights Day [official website]. Annan on Friday acknowledged that the UN has often failed to live up to its own responsibility in the area, and expressed disappointment that his hope of establishing human rights as a "third pillar" of the institution, complementing peace and security, has not materialized as he would have liked. Pointing out several persisting challenges, he called on states to accept responsibility for taking preventive action before genocide occurs. Referring to disasters in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, Annan noted, "Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 years after the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringing hollow." He said the establishment of the International Criminal Court [JURIST news archive] and special tribunals has helped to put an end to impunity, but the failure to apprehend criminals such as Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, and the leaders of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army [JURIST news archives] still thwarted the realization of that goal. Annan also challenged the international community to follow anti-terrorism strategies that did not violate human rights and to help countries install mechanisms that protect human rights domestically.

The speech marks one of the last for Annan, whose ten-year term expires next month. In January, incoming Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [BBC report] will assume the mandate. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] The Russian State Duma [official website] has effectively extended [JURIST report] a national moratorium on the death penalty [Pravda report] until 2010 by postponing until then the establishment of jury trials in Chechnya [BBC backgrounder], the only territory in Russia that still uses three-judge panels in criminal hearings. 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. The moratorium was originally set to expire at the end of 2006, pursuant to a 1996 law that prohibited death sentences for a ten-year period. Analysts predict the new measure will become law, easily passing approval by the Federation Council [official website] and President Vladimir Putin. While jury trials were originally set to be the norm in Chechnya in 2007, "technical problems" in the war-torn region have prevented their inauguration.

The Russian death penalty has drawn repeated criticism [JURIST report] from the Council of Europe [official website], which has pressured Russia to abolish it completely. In 1997, Russia signed a Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights [text] agreeing to abolish the death penalty, but pressure from conservatives at home prevented its ratification. Earlier this year, Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship [JURIST] of the COE Committee of Ministers, sparking more calls to ban the death penalty [JURIST report] altogether. MosNews has more.

[JURIST] Legislation extending the mandate of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) [official website] passed both houses of the US Congress last week at the end of its current session, and the agency will continue to monitor US spending in Iraq until the fall of 2008 pending President Bush's signature. SIGIR was originally established to independently supervise and investigate operations of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority [official website], and has to date uncovered multiple instances of fraud, bribery, and other legal violations [JURIST reports] by US government officials and government contractors in Iraq.

House Republicans had initially planned to terminate the agency in October 2007 through through HR 5122 [text], transferring its mandate to the State and Defense departments. Democrats in the House introduced new legislation [JURIST report] last month authorizing the agency for an additional year. The measure passed the Senate on Wednesday, and the House approved it by voice vote during its last sitting of the year on Saturday. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) [official website], who will take over as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee [official website] in January, has already suggested that he will expand the scope of SIGIR in the new year. AP has more.