[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers [official website] Leandro Despouy [JURIST news archive] has urged the Iraqi government not to execute Saddam-era Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan [Trial Watch profile; JURIST news archive] because of "grave shortcomings" in his legal process. Despouy is the second UN special rapporteur to make such a request. Last month, Phillip Alston [official profile], UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said judicial misconduct, official statements declaring Ramadan guilty before his sentence, and the admission of evidence without allowing Ramadan to rebut, combined with other procedural irregularities, rendered Ramadan's death sentence illegitimate.

The appeals chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) [official website] on Thursday upheld the death penalty for Ramadan rejecting his appeal [JURIST report] of the sentence handed down in the Saddam Hussein Dujail crimes against humanity trial. Ramadan was convicted [JURIST report] by the IHT alongside Saddam Hussein in November and originally sentenced to life in prison. The IHT Appeals Chamber later deemed the sentence too lenient and ordered the death penalty for Ramadan. IHT Judge Mounir Haddad said Thursday that a nine-judge panel had decided unanimously to uphold Ramadan's death sentence. Ramadan's lawyers have appealed to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to commute his sentence, and have called on the US general commanding the Multi-National Force in Iraq not to hand him over to the Iraqis for execution. PTI has more.

[JURIST] The federal judiciary has approved a pilot program that will allow the public to download free audio recordings of court proceedings over the internet. US District Judge Thomas F. Hogan [profile], executive committee chairman of the policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States [official website], said he views the program as an attempt to make court proceedings more transparent. Court participation in the program, which is set to begin in the next few months, is voluntary. AP has more.

Hogan said the pilot program is not a move toward allowing cameras in courtrooms, which has been a controversial issue. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] re-introduced a bill [JURIST report] in January of this year that would allow US Supreme Court proceedings to be televised, "unless the Court decides, by a vote of the majority of justices, that allowing such coverage in a particular case would constitute a violation of the due process rights of one or more of the parties before the Court." Several Supreme Court justices have spoken out against televising [JURIST report] Supreme Court hearings, telling lawmakers that allowing cameras in the courtroom would alter the nature of the proceedings. Several federal appeals courts like the Ninth and Seventh Circuits already provide audio recordings [Ninth Circuit audio files] of their oral arguments on their websites.

[JURIST] Hundreds of Pakistani lawyers in business suits clashed with police Saturday, throwing rocks after riot police fired teargas to disrupt a gathering to protest the suspension [JURIST report] of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [official profile]. The clash took place notwithstanding Friday's move by the country's Supreme Judicial Council to lift all restrictions [JURIST report] on the liberty of Chaudhry, prompting Syed Zulfiqar Ali Bokhari, secretary of the Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association to speculate that "some invisible hand is trying to create chaos." The Supreme Judicial Council's next hearing on the case is scheduled for March 21. A lawyers spokesman says the bar will mark the day with a national strike.

Speaking at a public meeting in Punjab province Saturday, Pakistan President Pervez Musharaf [official website] was quoted by wire services as saying, "there are those who are doing politics and hatching conspiracies against me and the country on an issue which is legal and constitutional and is being taken up by the Supreme Judicial Council." Musharaf insisted he has no "personal differences" with Chaudhry, but the confrontation with the bar over the past week has arguably rocked his authority more than any other crisis in the eight years since he seized power from a civilian government. Critics have called his suspension of the Chief Justice typical of a "dictator."

Musharraf suspended Chaudhry "after receiving numerous complaints and serious allegations for misconduct, misuse of authority and actions prejudicial to the dignity of the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan." Pakistani lawyers have boycotted the courts [JURIST report] since Chaudhry's suspension and earlier street protests have resulted in injuries and arrests [JURIST report]. Reuters has more. AFP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] African Union [official website] chairman Alpha Oumar Konare [Wikipedia profile] Saturday urged Zimbabwe to "respect human rights and democratic principles" in the wake of this week's arrest and alleged abuse [JURIST reports] of opposition leader and presidential hopeful Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Tsvangirai was released [JURIST report] on Wednesday after goverment lawyers failed to appear in court to seek his further detention. Prosecutors may still summon Tsvangirai back.

Tsvangirai left the hospital Friday after receiving treatment for head injuries. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] called for the immediate and unconditional release [press release] of Tsvangirai and other detainees and said that Mugabe is "ruthless and repressive and creates only suffering for the people of Zimbabwe." The foreign ministries of Zimbabwe's Commonwealth partners Britain and Australia [press releases] were similarly critical. Government forces Sunday arrested at least 100 people, among them members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] after a scheduled prayer meeting in Harare was declared illegal. Police imposed a three-month ban [JURIST report] on "anti-government" protests last month after a political rally by the MDC led to confrontations between police and citizens around the country. VOA has more.

[JURIST] US senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) [official profiles], both of whom watched last weekend's Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) [DOD backgrounder] hearing [JURIST report] at Guantanamo Bay for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile], insisted in a joint statement [text] Friday that his claims that he was tortured in US custody [HRW report] had to be "taken seriously and properly investigated", suggesting that to do otherwise "would reflect poorly on our nation." Mohammed claims he was abused during his captivity at secret detention facilities [JURIST news archive] operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] prior to his transfer to Guantanamo [JURIST news archive]. The senators observed the hearing on closed circuit TV during a trip to Guantanamo Bay, and described the tribunal as consisting of three military officers and the president of the tribunal, who was a judge advocate. The names of the presiding officers were redacted from the public record of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday. Mohammed was "administratively assisted" by a "personal representative" who was not a lawyer.

Levin, the chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee [official website], stated last November that his committee's priorities will include an investigation [JURIST report] into CIA extraordinary rendition flights [JURIST news archive]. Mohammed was transferred to Guantanamo Bay detention facilities last September from a secret CIA prison facility [JURIST report] at an as-yet-unknown location. The CSRT hearing will determine whether he qualifies as an "enemy combatant" [CFR backgrounder, JURIST news archive] warranting further detention. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US military court-martial found 101st Airborne Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard guilty of three counts of negligent homicide [Article 32 hearing transcript, DOC] Friday, but not guilty of premeditated murder for the deaths of three Iraqi detainees [JURIST news archive] held after a May 2006 raid in Thar Thar, a town near Samarra in the northern Salahuddin province of Iraq. Girouard was also found guilty of one count of obstruction of justice for lying to investigators, one count of conspiracy for trying to conceal the crime, and one count of failure to obey a general order. Girouard is the last and most senior soldier to face court-martial for the killings [JURIST report] and faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison when his sentencing proceedings resume Monday.

Several former subordinates of Girouard testified against him. Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, and Spc. Justin Graber, charged [JURIST report] last June with premeditated murder relating to the three killings, testified that Girouard instructed them to cut the detainees loose and to shoot them as they ran. Girouard later attempted to cover up the killing [JURIST report], cutting Hunsaker and punching Clagett in the face to fake the appearance that they were attacked by the three detainees. All defendants but Girouard pleaded guilty to all charges. Hunsaker received an 18-year sentence as did Clagett [JURIST reports]. Graber received a nine-month sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon [JURIST report]. A US Army investigator previously recommended the death penalty [JURIST report] for all four soldiers. AP has more.