[JURIST] Former US Green Beret Jonathan 'Jack' Idema [BBC profile], the last of three US citizens jailed in 2004 on charges [JURIST reports] of running a private jail and torturing eight Afghan men, will reportedly be released from an Afghan prison soon. Idema, US journalist Edward Caraballo [personal website], and ex-servicemen Brent Bennett entered Afghanistan [JURIST news archive] on a freelance terrorist hunt and were arrested as vigilantes in July 2004 when Afghan forces raided their house in Kabul and found that the men were holding eight Afghan citizens captive. The US government has repeatedly refused to corroborate [JURIST news report] Idema's claim that US counter-terrorism officials had sanctioned the trio's mission. Caraballo and Bennett have already been released and Idema's lawyer said Tuesday that US lawyers acknowledged in court papers last week that Idema's release is "imminent."

In 2005, the three men filed a federal lawsuit challenging their detention. On March 21, US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered [text, PDF; opinion, PDF] the US Department of State and Federal Bureau of Investigation to respond by Tuesday to allegations by Idema that they ordered his torture while in Afghan custody. US government attorneys have asked that the case be dismissed because the Afghan government has granted Idema amnesty. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two former administrators at a Texas juvenile prison were arrested Tuesday [press release] on 13 charges of improper sexual conduct with six students. Former West Texas State School [official website] principal John Paul Hernandez and former assistant superintendent Ray E. Brookins each resigned in 2005 as an investigation by Texas Rangers; the case has only recently moved forward as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott [official profile] has taken over the case from a local prosecutor who declined to pursue most cases relating to the school from 2005-2006. The investigating Rangers alleged that they presented their findings [WorldnetDaily report] to the state and US Attorney offices as well as the Department of Justice, but that no office showed interest in prosecution. Hernandez was charged with nine counts of improper sexual activity with a person in custody and nine counts of improper relationship with a student. Brookins faces up to 20 years in prison for charges of an improper relationship with a student and two years in prison for improper sexual activity with a person in custody. AP has more.

A 2006 US Department of Justice report [text, PDF; summary] said that sexual violence in US prisons, perpetrated by both inmates and prison staff, often goes unreported because abused inmates fear a reprisal. Last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry [official profile] appointed a commission to review the records of approximately 90 percent of the state's juvenile inmates [JURIST report] following allegations by families and community activists that prison officials extended sentences in retaliation for inmates filing grievances. Staff-initiated sexual misconduct constituted 38 percent of allegations. The authors of the report also warned against placing juvenile inmates with the adult prison population, finding that the incidents of rape and abuse are five times higher against juveniles. The report, which was the second in an annual series [JURIST report] required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 [text, PDF; DOJ backgrounder], showed a marked improvement over staff sexual misconduct and harassment since the initial 2004 study.

[JURIST] The government of Ethiopia [JURIST news archive] admitted in a statement [text] from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) [official website] Tuesday that it had detained 41 terror suspects and granted foreign investigators access to the detainees for questioning. The admission came after Sweden, Canada, and Eritrea urged [JURIST report] the country to reveal details regarding foreign nationals allegedly detained in secret prisons [JURIST report]. The MFA acknowledged that the suspects came from 17 countries; military courts have ordered the release of 29 of the detainees, and five have already been released. In response to allegations of human rights violations, the Foreign Ministry said

The suspected terrorists have been subject to a process of investigation [...] Those found to have engaged in terrorism will be held accountable for their deeds in accordance with legal processes. All this has been done meticulously and scrupulously in conformity with principles of humanitarian law. Any claim to the contrary is pure fabrication and could be easily proven as such.

[JURIST] Europol [official website], the EU law enforcement organization that handles criminal intelligence, presented its EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report TE-SAT 2007 [text, PDF; press release] to the European Parliament Tuesday, providing an overview of terrorism in the 27-member European Union [official website, JURIST news archive]. According to the report, 706 individuals were arrested in 15 member states on suspicion of terrorism offenses in 2006, while 498 terrorist attacks were reportedly carried in 11 member states. Separatists and nationalists in the Basque region of Spain and on the French island of Corsica were responsible for most of the attacks. EU officials say they would like to extend Europol's authority in the future to investigate other criminal issues. AP has more.

In 2006, the European Commission [official website] urged EU member states [JURIST report] to implement compatible criminal law procedures in the wake of a study conducted by the University of Maastricht showing how drastically different legal policies among the member states allowed some crimes to slip through the cracks. In particular, the 2006 study noted differences regarding how national police and courts in different EU states deal with terrorist suspects and criminal charges.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] has ruled [opinion, PDF] that a Bush administration plan to protect salmon and steelhead near hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin [USGS backgrounder] violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) [text; EPA summary]. Monday's unanimous decision by a three-judge panel affirmed decisions by an Oregon district court in 2005 [JURIST report] and 2006 [opinion, PDF]. The Ninth Circuit held that the 2004 plan, called a biological opinion [US Interior Dep't materials], "contained structural flaws that rendered it incompatible with the ESA." On behalf of the panel, Circuit Judge Sydney R. Thomas wrote that under the administration's approach,

a listed species could be gradually destroyed, so long as each step on the path to destruction is sufficiently modest. This type of slow slide into oblivion is one of the very ills the ESA seeks to prevent.

[JURIST] Jordan [JURIST news archive] demonstrated a poor human rights record in 2006, according to a report released Tuesday by the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) [unofficial advocacy website]. The report singled out for particular criticism the country's controversial Terrorism Prevention Law, passed [JURIST report] last year in response to the Amman hotel bombing [CTV report] that killed 57 people in 2005. The AOHR joined opposition parties and UN officials in characterizing its provisions as tantamount to martial law [JURIST report], saying it imposes harsh penalties beyond the scope of the criminal code.

The report also denounced the decision to extradite suspected terrorist Mohammad Zaki Amawi [indictment], a dual citizen, to the United States without providing him a prior trial in Jordan. It additionally condemned Jordan's agreement [JURIST report] with the US not to deliver any US citizen to the International Criminal Court at The Hague without prior written approval from Washington. According to both the AOCHR report and the 2006 US Department of State Country Report for Jordan [DOS backgrounder], Jordanian officials obtained confessions from detainees by using physical abuse or threats of torture. DPA has more.

[JURIST] Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva [official website, in Portuguese] Tuesday approved a law permitting abortions during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The Portuguese parliament [official website, in Portuguese] passed the law last month after a February referendum on the issue failed due to low voter turnout [JURIST reports]. Approximately 60 percent of those who voted in the referendum supported a reform of the former law, which only permitted abortion in cases of rape, fetal malformation, or risk to the mother’s health.

The law was passed despite staunch opposition from the Catholic Church [AP report], to which 90% of Portuguese belong. The new law imposes a three-day waiting period on women seeking abortions and requires that they receive information about adoption as an alternative. Portugal's reform leaves Ireland, Poland, and Malta as the only remaining EU member states that outlaw abortion. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Ukraine [official website] Tuesday delayed a scheduled hearing on the legality of an April 2 decree [transcript of televised statement; decree text] by President Viktor Yushchenko [official website; BBC profile] dissolving parliament and calling for new elections on May 27. Citing public threats against judges and political pressure, the court said it could not hear the claim on Wednesday, as previously planned, and rescheduled the hearing for April 17. Several judges also asked the state to provide them with bodyguards, and indirectly blamed Yushchenko for the pressure campaign. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych [BBC profile] and other leaders of the Ukrainian Parliament [official website] appealed to the Constitutional Court [JURIST report] last week after Yushchenko issued the decree. In the meantime, officials in both Ukraine and Russia, including the speaker of the Russian Duma, have denounced the decree as unconstitutional and undemocratic. Yushchenko's supporters have criticized Russia for interfering in Ukraine's domestic affairs.

Yushchenko and Yanukovych were fierce rivals in the 2004 presidential election [JURIST report], and the two men have clashed over parliamentary attempts to expand the cabinet's power since Yushchenko reluctantly accepted Yanukovych as prime minister [JURIST reports] last June. Recent attempts to negotiate have proven unsuccessful, and Yushchenko subsequently threatened to prosecute officials [JURIST reports] who disobeyed his decree. Thousands of supporters of Yanukovych continue to protest in the streets of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. AFP has more. RIA Novosti has additional coverage.

[JURIST] JURIST has been recognized as an Official Honoree in the Law category in the 2007 Webby Awards [awards website]. The 11th Annual "Webbys" received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 US states. Only sites in the top 15 percent were deemed Official Honorees. This is the first time in the Webbys' 11-year existence that an academic legal website has taken a distinction two years in a row. JURIST won [JURIST report] the Webby People's Voice Award as best Law website of 2006. Official honorees and nominees for the 2007 awards were announced in New York on Tuesday.

The final Webby nominees in Law this year are FindLaw, LawHelp.org, Nolo, Hollywood Reporter ESQ., and THOMAS. The Wall Street Journal's "Law Blog" and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU joined JURIST as Webby Official Honorees.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film & video, and mobile websites. The awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization that includes David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser.

JURIST is headquartered at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law [law school website] and is powered by a team of over 40 law student reporters, editors and web developers [staff list] led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts [profile] who volunteer their time and talent to the project, working with leading legal experts from around the world to provide up-to-the minute legal news, primary source research and analysis as an educational service to the public and the legal community.

[JURIST] President George W. Bush will sign off on a bill providing funding for studies on embryos incapable of further development, but will refuse to endorse legislation that would subsidize stem cell research [JURIST news archive], the White House announced Tuesday. The administration said in a formal policy statement [PDF] sent to Congress that Bush would veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 [S.5 materials] because the law would "pay for research that relies on the intentional destruction of human embryos." The White House also said, however, that Bush would support [policy statement, PDF] the HOPE Act [S.30 materials] because it would provide funding for research into pluripotent stem cells that does not entail the destruction of embryos.

In July, Bush vetoed [JURIST report] the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 [PDF text; HR 810 summary] saying he refused to provide federal funding for stem cell research because many people consider the destruction of embryos murder [press briefing]. Simultaneously, Bush signed the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act [text; S 3504 summary], intended to prohibit "fetal farming," the method of creating fetuses for the sole purpose of research, after both the House and Senate passed the bill unanimously. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] in Strasbourg ruled [judgment] Tuesday that a British woman could not have frozen embryos conceived with a former partner implanted without his consent. Natallie Evans and Howard Johnston entered an in vitro fertilization (IVF) program in 2001 and Johnson agreed to the implantation of the embryos, but later withdrew his consent after the breakup of the couple. The ECHR agreed in October 2006 that it would hear Evans' appeal [JURIST report] after the ECHR ruled in March 2006 [JURIST report] that Evans could not use the embryos. Evans originally appealed [JURIST report] to the ECHR in September 2005 after two adverse UK court rulings, including a loss in the Court of Appeal [JURIST report] in 2004 citing the terms of the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act [text] under which consent must be given by both prospective parents for IVF to be allowed. In her final appeal, Evans cited three articles of the European Convention of Human Rights [text], but the court held that there had been no breach of the right to life, the right to respect private and family life, or the prohibition on discrimination.

The ECHR is composed of seventeen judges and deals with cases that raise a serious question of interpretation or application of the Convention or a serious issue of general importance. The first ECHR ruling [text, in French; press release] was consistent with the law governing similar circumstances in other jurisdictions. In the US, courts have so far ruled that each parent has the absolute right to prevent implantation of any frozen embryo under the constitutional right to privacy. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The position of UN Special Adviser for Genocide Prevention [official website] will be made permanent to solidify UN efforts against genocide, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] announced in a speech [text] marking the 13th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] observed on Monday. Ban called on all nations to work together to prevent genocide, saying "Preventing genocide is a collective and individual responsibility." The UN genocide post, created in 2004, is currently held by Juan Méndez [official profile] of Argentina. UPI has more.

Meanwhile the opening of a UN exhibit memorializing the anniversary of the Rwanda genocide originally scheduled to be unveiled on Monday was postponed after Turkey [JURIST news archive] objected to a sentence of text referencing the killing of Armenians in Turkey [ANI backgrounder] because it implied that Turkey had committed genocide:

Following World War One, during which 1 million Armenians were murdered in Turkey, Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin urged the League of Nations to recognize crimes of barbarity as international crimes.

[JURIST] Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [official profile] said Tuesday that the Malaysian government would not compel bloggers to register [press release] with the state, noting that existing laws and regulations were sufficient in case action needs to be taken against those who "cross the limits" by posting false information online.

Last week, Energy, Water and Communications Deputy Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor and Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin suggested that bloggers whose websites are hosted on local servers should be required to register with the government as negative or malicious postings could harm national security. The Malaysian New Straits Times newspaper recently filed a defamation suit [blog post] against bloggers Ahirudin Attan [blog] and Jeff Ooi [blog] for posting allegedly libelous remarks about the newspaper's editors and executives. The London Times has more. The International Herald Tribune has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena [PDF text] to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] Tuesday for US Justice Department documents relating to the firings of eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive]. In a letter accompanying the subpoena, committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) noted that the DOJ's "incomplete response" to the committee's request for documents "falls far short of what is needed for the Subcommittee and Committee to effectively exercise their oversight responsibilities in ascertaining the truth behind the very serious concerns that have been raised regarding this matter." AP has more.

The subpoena comes the day after four senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter [press release with text] to Gonzales, requesting additional undisclosed documents in that committee's investigation of the firings and claiming the DOJ failed to turn over relevant documents despite repeated calls from the Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter from US Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) [official websites] suggests that the DOJ has been less than forthright in disclosing documents:

[W]e are concerned that additional documents relevant to the Committees' investigations are missing or have been withheld....

Given that this was a process that extended over more than two years and involved staff from both the Department of Justice and the White House, and involved consideration of a number of U.S. Attorneys, there would seem to be other documents that would comment upon the reasons some U.S. Attorneys were chosen for removal and others were not. For example, there are press reports that the former U.S. Attorney in San Francisco had multiple evaluations and was the subject of significant discussions. Documents reflecting those multiple evaluations and significant discussions have not been produced to date. This raises a question about whether we have seen all similar documents about others selected for replacement or left in place.

[JURIST] Serbia's war crimes court found four members of the Scorpions paramilitary group guilty of murder Tuesday for their role in the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica [JURIST news archive]. The charges [JURIST report] were based on video footage [JURIST video; JURIST report] shot by the four men as six Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica were shot dead. Scorpions commander Slobodan Medic [Trial Watch profile] and another defendant received 20-years prison sentences while the only defendant to admit to the shootings, Pero Petrasevic [Trial Watch profile], received a 13-year sentence. The fourth man was sentenced to five years as an accomplice and the fifth defendant was cleared of all charges.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY backgrounder; BBC profile] and his military commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY backgrounder; JURIST news archive] are wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for alleged crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, including organizing the massacre in Srebrenica, but both remain fugitives to date. In February 2007, the International Court of Justice rendered its judgment [text; summary] in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro [ICJ docket], recognizing that the mass killings of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica were an act of genocide and concluding that Serbia "should have made the best effort within their power to try and prevent the tragic events then taking shape." The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge Tuesday denied [order, PDF] a motion to dismiss the terrorism charges [indictment, PDF] against Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive] based on Padilla's allegations that he was tortured [JURIST report] while detained as an "enemy combatant." Padilla has said that that he was abused, threatened, administered either PCP or LSD as a truth serum, and subjected to sleep deprivation and stress positions while in military custody, allegations denied by the government. US District Judge Marcia Cooke [official profile] ruled that the standards for "outrageous government conduct" were not satisfied and said that while the court was not deciding the issue of whether the torture occurred, Padilla failed

to present a cognizable claim of outrageous government conduct entitling him to dismissal of the indictment... Applying the exclusionary rule to bar inclusion of any illegally obtained evidence would sufficiently satisfy due process concerns.

[JURIST] Bangladesh's Emergency Powers Rules of 2007, instituted when Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed [Wikipedia profile] declared a state of emergency [JURIST report] in January, has been amended to require the approval of concerned state officials before suspects face trial, appeal, bail, or even investigation, according to an announcement from the Bangladeshi Ministry of Home Affairs [official website] Monday. The amendment also permits courts to set bail for defendants who have not been charged, overriding last month's amendment preventing judicial bail orders. The amendment preempts consideration by the Bangladesh High Court, postponed until April 15, of whether it has power to set bail despite the ordinance's previous suspension. PTI has more.

Also on Monday, police in Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] said they are investigating bribery allegations involving former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [Virtual Bangladesh profile]. According to the allegations, Hasina accepted $441,000 in 1998 from businessman Tajul Islam Farooq in exchange for approval to build a power plant. The investigation is the latest in a string of corruption probes since Iajuddin assumed power. In recent weeks, government security forces have arrested dozens of politicians [JURIST news archive], mostly members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League [party websites]. Several major corruption trials are slated to begin [JURIST report] in the coming months. Transparency International [advocacy website] has listed Bangladesh as one of the world's most corrupt states. AP has more.

[JURIST] Chinese officials Tuesday criticized US plans to file a case [JURIST report] against China [JURIST news archive] at the World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website; JURIST news archive] for lax enforcement of copyright violations and trademarks. Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce [official website], released a statement [text] Tuesday expressing the country's "strong dissatisfaction" to the US decision and warned that the case would "seriously undermine the cooperative relations the two nations have established in the field and will adversely affect bilateral economic and trade ties."

Tian Lipu [official profile], commissioner of the Chinese Intellectual Property Office, also criticized the US decision, saying it is "not sensible," and does not take into account China's continued efforts to enforce copyright and anti-counterfeiting laws. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab [official profile] said the US is not opposed to negotiating a settlement with China outside the WTO process, but noted that such an agreement could take 18 months to reach while US workers are losing billions of dollars annually due to current practices in China. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A lawyer for the Venezuelan government said Monday that the US is preventing Luis Posada Carriles [Wikipedia profile; additional materials] from being brought to trial for allegations that he plotted the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner [Wikipedia backgrounder; additional materials]. Carriles is currently in the US awaiting an immigration trial [JURIST report] after being arrested [JURIST report] for illegally entering Texas across the Mexican border in 2005. A federal judge last week freed Carriles on bail [JURIST report] prior to his May 11 trial for charges that he lied in his attempt to become a US citizen.

Jose Pertierra [profile], the lawyer who represents the Venezuelan government, has called on the US to return Carriles to Cuba or Venezuela [JURIST news archives] so that he can stand trial for 73 counts of first-degree murder attributed to the 1976 bombing. An immigration judge ruled in 2005 that Carriles should be deported, but not to Cuba or Venezuela [JURIST report] because of the threat that he could be tortured there. The US, however, has not yet identified a country willing to take Carriles after his upcoming trial. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Chinese lawyer and outspoken critic of the Chinese government has accused authorities of torturing him to confess to subversion charges, according to letters and recordings that were recently made public by a fellow activist. Gao Zhisheng [Wikipedia profile] alleges that he was handcuffed or made to sit in a cross-legged position for hundreds of hours with bright lights shining on him, and said that he was forced to sit on an iron chair for 109 hours at one time. Gao said he was also offered $650 to make a public confession to the charges against him, which he accepted to send to his family. His allegations closely match other reports of torture [JURIST report] to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau [official website] by political protesters and criminal suspects.

Gao was arrested in August of last year and held for five months before being convicted [JURIST report] in a one-day trial of "conspiring to topple" the government of China [JURIST news archive] by writing nine "defamatory" articles posted on international websites, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency [media website]. He received a three-year suspended sentence [JURIST report] and is currently under house arrest where he has no telephone or access to the outside world. Gao's political rights were also suspended for one year, including the right to free speech and to protest. Activist Hu Jia [Wikipedia profile], who released the tapes and letters, said Tuesday that he had several appointments with embassies to discuss Gao's case, but plainclothes police officers who allegedly intercepted Hu's phone calls prevented him from attending the meetings. AP has more.