[JURIST] Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi said Saturday that his government will investigate Friday's UN reports [press release; JURIST report] detailing alleged rapes and disappearances carried out by militia soldiers in the Darfur region of Sudan [JURIST news archives] at the end of 2006. Al-Mardi nonetheless complained about the allegations' lack of specificity, telling a news conference: "We always seem to get sweeping generalizations, without naming the injured, without naming the offenders ... or supplying us with sufficient facts." Sudan has thusfar denied all allegations of wrongdoing by its soldiers. AP has more.

One of the reports, released by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile], said that at least 15 rapes and sexual assaults [report text, DOC] were committed by men who appeared to be Sudanese soldiers in December in the Jebel Marra region, with some victims as young as 13 years old. A second report [statement] said 19 men of the Massalit tribe disappeared after they were arrested in September by Minni Minnawi [BBC profile] and his Sudanese Liberation Army [FAS backgrounder] troops. Arbour called for Sudan to fully and immediately investigate the reported human rights violations. The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] is also conducting an investigation into war crimes [ICC materials, JURIST news archive] in Sudan; however, Sudan has repeatedly rejected the ICC's jurisdiction [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Thousands marched through Los Angeles Saturday protesting President Bush's latest proposal to grant citizenship to the more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the US. The proposal [PDF text] floated last month would allow illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive] to apply for work visas, but at the expiration of the visa, immigrants would be required to return to their home countries to actually apply for citizenship and to pay a $10,000 fine. The plan has been criticized as creating a temporary class of immigrants who will never have the opportunity to assimilate into American society. The proposal has also drawn fire for prohibiting workers from bringing their families into the United States during their temporary visa period, even if they renew their visas past the initial two year period.

Immigrant rights advocates have condemned the proposal [AP report] as unrealistic because the imposed fine is considerably more than most illegal human smugglers charge for entry into the United States. The plan would effectively tighten the requirements of the immigration bill passed by the Senate [JURIST report; S 2611 summary] last May. AP has more.

[JURIST] Australian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee David Hicks [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] will not be permitted to sell his story to the media, Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock [official profile] said Sunday. Though he has not been found to have violated any Australian law, Hicks will be subject to the nation's 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act [PDF text], which forbids convicted criminals from profiting from their crimes, including through media deals. Hicks' plea agreement [JURIST report; text] with the US government, which last month reduced his sentence to nine additional months in prison [JURIST report], contained conditions that barred Hicks from speaking to the media for one year and from selling his story. Ruddock said last week that the gag order is unenforceable [JURIST report] in Australia, and that Hicks could not be extradited should he violate the order. The federal statute, however, will still forbid Hicks from selling his story, which industry sources say could be worth as much as $3.3 million. AP has more.

Hicks is set to be transferred to an Adelaide prison [JURIST news archive] to serve the remainder of his sentence as soon as the Australian government receives formal documentation from US authorities. The Australian federal government then can approach the state government in South Australia to move the process forward, including assessing security requirements and enforcing a potential control order [JURIST report]. Hicks' lawyer last week said that despite the unenforceability of the gag order, Hicks is not interested in speaking to the media [JURIST report].