[JURIST] The US Department of Defense announced [press release] Sunday that it has transferred 17 more Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees to their home countries for detention or release, bringing the number of detainees released from Guantanamo this year to 114. Seven of the newly-freed detainees have been transferred to Afghanistan, five to Yemen, three to Kazakhstan, one to Libya, and one to Bangladesh. The detainees were handed over after what DOD described as "multiple review board processes." The latest release follows hard on the heels of a transfer of 16 detainees [JURIST report] to Saudi Arabia late last week.

Some 85 other detainees at Guantanamo are currently eligible for transfer or release, but have not yet been handed over to their home governments. The Defense Department said Sunday:

Departure of these remaining detainees approved for transfer or release is subject to ongoing discussions between the United States and other nations. The United States does not desire to hold detainees for any longer than necessary. The department expects that there will continue to be other transfers and releases of detainees.

[JURIST] Six leading US and Japanese automakers Friday asked a federal judge to dismissal a California lawsuit alleging that vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases [EPA backgrounder] from cars made by the companies have contributed to global warming constituting a 'public nuisance' that has cost the state millions of dollars. California Attorney General filed [JURIST report] the suit [complaint, PDF] in September against Chrysler, General Motors Corporation, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, alleging that vehicles manufactured by the companies "currently account for nearly 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States and more that 30 percent in California." The automakers say that disagreements they may have with the state should be settled through the regulatory process, not litigation. AP has more.

California passed the nation's first bill [JURIST report] to restrict greenhouse gas emissions in early September. The legislation's goal is to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent before 2020.

[JURIST] US military sources in Iraq announced [MNF-Iraq press release] Saturday that earlier this month the Central Criminal Court of Iraq sentenced 16 security detainees accused of terrorism law breaches, illegal weapons possession and border breaches to punishments ranging from death to a year's imprisonment. The heaviest punishment was imposed on a Libyan accused of being a member of al Qaeda in Iraq, who was sentenced to death by hanging as provided under Iraqi law. Most of the other condemned defendants sentenced between December 1 and December 7 were Iraqis, not including two Syrians and two Saudis accused of passport violations, illegal possession of special category weapons and failure to renew resident identification.

The CCCI has held 1,767 trials of insurgents since being re-organizing in 2004, leading to the conviction of 1,521 individuals with sentences ranging up to death. Earlier this year the US State Department noted in its annual human rights report on Iraq [text] was process in the Iraqi court was regularly delayed, and that the time between arrest and arraignment often exceeded 30 days, despite a 24-hour requirement set by local law. The New York Times found in a major investigation of its own published Sunday that although the CCCI has acquitted over half of the defendants brought to it by US and Iraqi forces, defendants have little practical opportunity to present evidence and witnesses, and the court is seriously constrained by both the pressure of its caseload and ongoing dangers to its personnel.

[JURIST] Organizers and observers of a Moscow rally [JURIST report] held Saturday by a coalition of opposition parties protesting Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasingly-restrictive rights record [JURIST news archive] were quoted in press reports Sunday as saying that police pulled hundreds of would-be demonstrators off buses heading for the unusual rally even before it took place. Some 320 protestors were said to have been detained ahead of the rally, and dozens were arrested afterward. Authorities said the demonstrators disobeyed police orders to cease yelling and waving signs as they exited a central Moscow square.

The demonstrators belonged to a diverse coalition of parties critical of Putin, including the liberal United Civil Front [party website, in Russian], led by former chess great Garry Kasparov [official website, in Russian]. The protestors eventually numbered about 2000; some 8500 police and security personnel were deployed in Moscow Saturday to counter them. MosNews has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad Saturday by signaling a reversal of the ban on former Baath Party [BBC backgrounder] members in the Iraqi government that has applied since the days of the US Coalition Provisional Authority. In a speech to delegates Maliki indicated that although he would still "draw a distinction between Baathists whose hands are not stained with blood and those who committed the most heinous crimes against Iraqis and still continue to kill innocent people," he urged parliament to review the existing laws as regards rank and file party members in light of the "principle of forgiveness." Several Sunni and Kurdish politicians welcomed the move, saying that it recognized the ordinary circumstances and the rights of many people who joined the Baath Party in the Saddam era, and obviated a problematic "deBaathification" process which had been more political than legal and had heightened sectarian tensions.

Last month the Iraqi government's DeBaathification Commission [official website] said it planned to submit a proposal [JURIST report] to Iraq's parliament that would allow most members of the now-defunct Baath Party to be reinstated to public life. The Bush administration has been urging the Iraqi government to shift the commission's focus to promote "accountability and reconciliation" in the interests of diminishing violence. The Los Angeles Times has more.