[JURIST] An Idaho State Senate [official website] committee Monday passed a bill requiring written parental consent for minors to get abortions [JURIST news archive]. In a 7-2 vote, the State Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill No. 1082 [text], which

amends, repeals and adds to existing law relating to abortion to revise a public records exemption; provide[s] for criminal act state of mind; provide[s] procedures for obtaining consent for abortions for minors; provide[s] for reporting by courts; and provide[s] statistical records.

[JURIST] The Indiana State Senate [official website] voted 39 to 10 Monday to pass a state constitutional amendment defining marriage to be between a man and a woman. While same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] is already illegal in the state under its enactment of the Defense of Marriage Act [text], supporters of SJ 7 [text; resolution digest] say an amendment is necessary should a court overturn the statute. The proposal would change Article 1 of the state constitution to read:

(a) Marriage in Indiana consists only of the union of one man and one woman. (b) This Constitution or any other Indiana law may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.

[JURIST] The New Mexico House of Representatives [official website] passed a bill Monday that would abolish the state death penalty [JURIST news archive]. HB 190 [text; bill history] proposes replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole. Bill sponsor Rep. Gail Chasey [official profile] said the death penalty fails as a crime deterrent and has been disproportionately applied to minorities and the poor. The bill passed 41-28, and now goes to the State Senate for approval. The Senate defeated a similar bill in 2005 after it passed 38-31 in the House. New Mexico currently employs lethal injection [DPIC backgrounder] but has only carried out one execution since 1976. The Las Cruces Sun-News has more.

The death penalty has recently been challenged in several states following concerns over cruelty and procedure. Earlier this month Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen issued an executive order [JURIST report] directing the Tennessee Commissioner of Corrections to review the manner in which death sentences are carried out and granted temporary reprieves to four inmates on death row. In January, a North Carolina state judge issued an injunction [JURIST report] blocking two executions until Governor Mike Easley hands down new procedures to execute capital defendants without the presence of doctors. Capital punishment has also been suspended in Florida and California [JURIST reports]. In early January, the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission [official website] recommended abolishing the death penalty [JURIST report] there.

[JURIST] French conservative presidential candidate and current Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy [official profile, in French; BBC profile; presidential campaign website, in French] said Monday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German; BBC profile] had expressed support for Sarkozy's version of a European constitution [official website; JURIST news archive], although Merkel did not confirm his claim. Sarkozy proposes adopting only the first two chapters of the draft constitution to gain the support of all EU member nations.

In the past, both Sarkozy and French Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal [BBC profile; advocacy website, in French], have expressed reservations [JURIST report] about approving the charter after French voters rejected it [JURIST report] in May 2006. Nevertheless, in January, Merkel urged [JURIST report] ratification before the next round of European Parliament elections scheduled for June 2009. AFP has more.

[JURIST] UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith [official profile] on Monday decried the new rules governing US military detainee trials contained in the Manual for Military Commissions [text, PDF; JURIST report] released late last month. Speaking to the Amercian Bar Association [official website] House of Delegates at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Miami, Goldsmith reiterated [ABA statement; ABA video] his call [JURIST report] during a previous US visit to shut down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] due to concerns about the legality of the detentions and the ensuing military commissions. Goldsmith first publicly urged Guantanamo's closing in May 2006 [JURIST report] during a UK policy address.

Last week, lawyers for three Guantanamo detainees recharged under the new rules [JURIST report] renewed their condemnation [JURIST report] of the regulations claiming that the tight deadlines established by the rules will prevent extended investigation into the reliability of the evidence brought against their clients. The manual, which allows terror detainees to be convicted solely on hearsay or coerced evidence and prevents defendants from using classified evidence without government approval, was released [JURIST report] by the US Defense Department in January. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell [official website] vetoed an amendment to the City Charter [text] Monday that made English the official language of the city government. The Nashville City Council approved [JURIST report] the amendment last week, but city attorneys advised Purcell that it violated the state and federal constitutions and could prove expensive if the city was forced to litigate. Although the ordinance [text] requires the city government to conduct all official business in English, the measure contains an exception for situations when speaking a language other than English is "required by federal law or when necessary to protect or promote public health, safety or welfare."

Purcell's veto can be overridden by 27 council votes in favor of the bill, but such a strong showing of support is unlikely. The Nashville Chamber of Commerce and 14 of 37 council members oppose the measure mainly due to concerns about its effect on the local economy. Other opponents, including the Nashville For All [advocacy website] coalition, claim the resolution is a merely symbolic act that alienates the immigrant population of Nashville [JURIST comment], which boasts the nation's largest Kurdish community and a foreign-born population that has increased 350 percent since 1990. AP has more. The Tennessean has local coverage.

[JURIST] Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul [official profile, English version] said Monday that he favors amending the controversial Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of Turkey's penal code [text, in Turkish] without eliminating the provision altogether. The article makes "insulting the Turkish identity" a crime. Gul expanded on his previous call to change [JURIST report] the Article, offering his support to a proposal by a group of trade unions and non-governmental organizations [JURIST report]. Gul also reiterated Monday that Article 301 can be changed if necessary [JURIST report] to protect the reputation of Turkey [JURIST news archive] in the international community. AP has more.Turkish Daily News has local coverage.

Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union (EU), faces pressure from the EU to abolish Article 301 [JURIST report] because it is frequently used to silence government critics.

[JURIST] The cabinet of the Somali transitional government [official website] approved a new anti-terrorism law allowing sentences of life imprisonment or execution for engaging in or funding terrorist activity, Somalia's Information Minister Madow Nunow Mohamed announced Monday. The law, which must still be approved by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed [BBC profile], is a reaction to recent violence that the Somali government blames on a radical Islamic movement accused of supporting al-Qaida members.

Last month, Somalia's transitional parliament voted to authorize [JURIST report] the government to declare martial law in the country. In January, US air strikes targeted terror fugitives [JURIST report] wanted by the FBI whom the US believes were being sheltered in Somalia by the Council of Islamic Courts [BBC backgrounder]. Somalia has endured a lengthy civil war and several rounds of failed peace talks [BBC timeline] since the collapse of its last civilian government in 1991. Dow Jones has more.

[JURIST] A Sudanese Foreign Ministry official said Monday that Sudan [JURIST news archive] will prevent a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] investigation team from entering the country unless the UN agrees to replace team member Bertrand Ramcharan [official profile]. As a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ramcharan has previously accused the Sudanese government of violating human rights in a 2004 report [UN News report]. The investigative commission was set to enter Sudan to conduct a probe on alleged human rights abuses in Darfur [JURIST news archive].

In December, Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardhi indicated that Sudan would cooperate [JURIST report] with UNHRC investigative missions in Darfur. Al-Mardhi stated that the government would "remove all obstacles" in order to allow the UN mission to complete its work. Last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] announced that resolving the crisis in Darfur would be one of his top priorities [remarks; JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Assets Examination Committee in Thailand [JURIST news archive], charged with investigating allegations of corruption by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive; BBC profile] and his family, recommended Monday that criminal tax evasion charges be filed against Thaksin's wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, as well as her secretary and her brother, Bhanapot Damapong. The recommended tax evasion charges stem from an alleged failure to pay taxes on their 1997 transfer of stock in Shin Corporation [corporate website; Wikipedia backgrounder], the family business founded by Thaksin in 1983 and formerly known as Shinawatra Computer. This alleged corruption scandal occurred before Thaksin took office in 2001.

The Royal Thai Army [official website] seized power from Thaksin in a bloodless military coup [JURIST report] September 19, leading to the imposition of martial law [JURIST news archive]. Since then, the new Thai government has struggled to find evidence [JURIST report] of Thaksin's alleged corruption prior to the coup. AP has more.

[JURIST] A German state court in Stuttgart ruled Monday that Brigitte Mohnhaupt [Wikipedia profile], a second-generation member of the ultra-left German group Red Army Faction [Wikipedia backgrounder], also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, will be granted parole on March 27 after being imprisoned for 24 years. The court did not grant Mohnhaupt a pardon, but determined that she need not serve out the remainder the life sentence imposed for her role in nine murders connected to the West German terrorist organization in the 1970s and 1980s because she no longer poses a security risk.

Mohnhaupt's impending release has sparked debate in Germany [JURIST news archive] with her supporters arguing she has served a longer sentence than most Nazi war criminals, and the victims' families maintaining that she does not deserve clemency. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] International donors urged Cambodia Monday to finally pass an anti-corruption law that has been in the works for more than a decade. US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli [official profile] expressed disappointment on behalf of donors such as Japan, France and the United States that Cambodia [JURIST news archive] has failed to enact the long-delayed anti-corruption law. The law is still under review by the government's Council of Ministers and has been cited as being in contradiction with Cambodia's complicated legal system. Mussomeli, however, urged Cambodia to keep its promise to enact the law as soon as possible, saying that it is past time to pass the law.

In its country study report [PDF text] of Cambodia in December 2006, Transparency International (TI) [advocacy website] concluded that "although the government shows some signs of political will against corruption, after a decade of cautious political peace and billions of US dollars in aid, the systems in place to promote integrity and prevent corruption are still weak and lack the capacity to carry out their functions properly. " TI found that corruption has pervaded almost every sector of the country [press release] and urged that the government demonstrate its political will to fight corruption by enacting and implementing the anti-corruption law. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Egyptian officials on Sunday released from detention Muslim cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr [Wikipedia profile], the man at the heart of Italian judicial proceedings against US and Italian intelligence agents implicated in his alleged 2003 kidnapping [JURIST news archive; WP timeline] and extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] from Milan. Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, claims he was tortured after being grabbed off a street in Milan and ultimately sent to Egypt. Hearings [JURIST report] to decide the legal fate of some 30 operatives have begun after a December request by Italian prosecutors that Judge Caterina Interlandi issue indictments [JURIST report] against 26 US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] agents and five officials from the Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) [official website], including former SISMI chief Nicola Pollari.

In October, Italian prosecutors said they had completed their investigation [JURIST report] into the incident and would once again press for the extradition of the 26 American agents [JURIST report] believed to be involved in the case. If extradition is once again denied, Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro has said he would be forced to try the US agents in absentia [JURIST report]. Last summer, several Italian intelligence agents were arrested [JURIST report], and in November 2006 the Italian cabinet removed Pollari [JURIST report] from his post, despite his denials of involvement [JURIST report] in the incident. US and Italian intelligence agents have pressed for a political resolution [JURIST report] of their case. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Philippines government has pledged to cooperate fully with the UN rights official who arrived in the country Monday to investigate the surge of political murders. In a statement on behalf of Philippines President Gloria Arroyo [official website; BBC profile], Secretary Ignacio Bunye stated that the Philippines welcomes [press release] the UN team "in the spirit of truth and justice that President Arroyo has always stood for. We support justice in all aspects and the government shall extend to the UN team all the assistance it needs to conduct a fruitful and fair search of the truth." The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] sent UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions [official website] Philip Alston [NYU Law profile] to investigate claims [JURIST report] by human rights organizations that more than 800 political activists, human-rights workers, trade union officials, lawyers and judges have been murdered throughout the country since President Arroyo came to power in 2001. Alston will report his conclusions to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile; JURIST news archive].

Arroyo appointed an independent commission [press release; JURIST report] in August 2006 to investigate "the series of extrajudicial killings of journalists [Reporters without Borders 2006 annual report] and militant activists in the country." Amnesty International [advocacy website] has called on the Philippines to investigate the killings [AI report] and resolve "a continuing failure by the authorities to act with due diligence in investigating and prosecuting such violations." AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) [official website; HRW backgrounder] sentenced former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan [Trial Watch profile; JURIST news archive] to death by hanging Monday in connection with crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982. Three other defendants in the case were sentenced to 15 years in prison; one was acquitted. Ramadan's case will automatically be appealed to the IHT Appeals Chamber.

In a statement e-mailed to JURIST Monday, Ramadan defense lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano said:

I will now go to [US federal court] to preclude the US Government in handing him over for execution until his civil suit in the US is resolved. In the event the US hands him over prior to such, it may well be the case that those responsible for the decision will answer to the legal consequences in both the civil and criminal courts. It is time that the US ceased playing the part of Pontius Pilate in these matters and exhibited a respect for law and order. It is too late for Saddam Hussein, Barzan Al Tikriti and Awwad Al Bandar but may not be too late for others.

[JURIST] The Portuguese government plans to seek approval in the Portuguese Parliament [official website, in Portuguese] of a proposal to make abortion legal in the country, despite low turnout [JURIST report] in Sunday's referendum on loosening the current law [text, in Portuguese]. Approximately 59 percent of voters were in favor of loosening restrictions against abortion, while 41 percent voted to keep abortion illegal. Only 40 percent of the population turned out, less than the 50 percent threshold requirement to support a change in the law. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates [official profile] of the ruling Socialist party [party website, in Portuguese] said Monday that he was not deterred by the numbers, contending there were enough "yes" votes for parliament to lift the abortion ban.

Jose Ribeiro e Castro [Wikipedia profile], head of the opposing Popular party [party website, in Portuguese], said however that the turnout was not sufficient to show that the people of Portugal wanted the anti-abortion law loosened. The country's new abortion law would allow abortions in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, while the present law only allows abortions in order to save the woman's life, in rape cases, or if the baby will be born with a deformity or incurable disease. A specific date for a parliamentary vote to lift the abortion ban has not yet been set. Reuters has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Jury selection begins Monday in the first trial of thousands of lawsuits brought by Louisiana homeowners affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster [JURIST news archive] against their insurance companies. Homeowners Lawrence and Elizabeth Tomlinson are suing Allstate [corporate website] insurance company in federal court for bad faith, alleging that the insurance carrier did not correctly adjust their claim and also did not start adjusting the claim within the 30-day required time limit. Allstate maintains that they properly paid the couple in the amount of $100,000 for damage to their home, personal belongings, and living expenses, and that the Tomlinsons misrepresented part of their claim.

Meanwhile, 350 lawsuits are pending in Mississippi against insurance companies over the separate issue of whether their insurance policies should cover water damage when the policies, as written, cover wind damage created by a hurricane, but not water damage by "wind-driven surge." Last month, a federal judge temporarily rejected [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] a proposed settlement [JURIST report] by State Farm [corporate website] to pay $80 million to 640 policyholders who sued the company and another $50 million to approximately 35,000 other homeowners in Mississippi who did not sue State Farm after their claims were denied. The judge said the agreement between State Farm and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] did not contain enough information to ensure that it was a fair and reasonable settlement. AP has more.