[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) announced [press release] Friday that a top al Qaeda operative has been tranferred to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] by the CIA. Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi [DOD profile, PDF], an Iraqi citizen who is suspected of coordinating cross-border attacks on US forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan and plotting to assassinate Pakistan president Gen. Pervez Musharraf [official website], was returning to Iraq when he was captured, according to a Pentagon spokesman. AP has more.

DOD Thursday announced the transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees [JURIST report] - one to Afghanistan and another to Morocco. The number of detainees remaining at Guantanamo is currently set at about 385. AFPS has more.

[JURIST] New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D) [official website] introduced a bill Friday to legalize gay marriage in New York. In a press release, Spitzer said [text]:

Under current law, partners unable to enter into a civil marriage - and their children - lack legal protections taken for granted by married couples. In such areas as property ownership, inheritance, health care, hospital visitation, taxation, insurance coverage, child custody and pension benefits, married couples receive important safeguards against the loss or injury of a spouse, and crucial insurance against legal intrusion into marital privacy.

[JURIST] Former Canadian advertising executive Jean LaFleur plead guilty Friday to 28 counts of fraud for his alleged role in the federal sponsorship scandal [JURIST news archive; CBC backgrounder]. Lafleur is accused of billing the Canadian federal government for work which was never done, and ultimately bilking the government of almost $1.6 million in contracts his advertising firm obtained through a program designed to increase the federal government's presence in Quebec. His advertising firm, LaFleur Marketing and Communications, received $65 million through the federal sponsorship program between 1995 and 2003. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence. Lafleur is the not the first person charged in relation to the scandal. In May 2005, former Montreal advertising executive Paul Coffin pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to 15 counts of fraud, and former federal civil servant Chuck Guité [CTV profile] was found guilty [JURIST report] of defrauding the government in June 2006.

In November 2005, Justice John Gomery released his first report on the scandal [JURIST report], finding that former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, should be held accountable for the flawed running of the federal sponsorship program from 1994 to 2003. In 2006, Gomery released a second report [JURIST report], which included 18 recommendations for reining in prime ministerial power and recovering over $50 million from the advertising kickbacks scheme. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] US Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) [official website] Thursday introduced a bill to restrict gun sales to terror suspects. S. 1237 [bill materials] would give the US attorney general the power and discretion to block gun sales to people listed as suspected terrorists. Under the bill, potential buyers who were denied firearms could appeal that decision to the attorney general. The bill has been endorsed by the Department of Justice [official website], although DOJ leaders stressed that there still might exist situations in which suspected terrorists would be allowed to purchase guns, for example if denying a suspect a gun would tip them off that they were under investigation and would thus hamper intelligence gathering.

Under current law, terrorism suspects can still buy firearms if background checks show they are not convicted felons, illegal immigrants or suffering from mental illness. AP has more.

[JURIST] The office of the German Federal Prosecutor [official website, in German] Friday declined to investigate a war crimes claim [ASIL backgrounder; PDF introduction, in English] against former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] and other high-ranking US officials filed by human rights groups [JURIST report] seeking accountability for acts of torture allegedly committed at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and in Afghanistan [JURIST news archives]. The Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Federation of Human Rights [advocacy websites], and over 40 other human rights groups and individuals had brought charges against Rumsfeld for the second time in November 2006, invoking Germany's universal jurisdiction law [PDF text]. The law permits German prosecutors to exercise discretion in prosecuting crimes against humanity and war crimes in German courts regardless of where they were committed. A similar claim brought in 2004 was rejected by a German prosecutor in February 2005 and the dismissal was later upheld [JURIST reports] by a German court.

The complaint, which also named US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] and former CIA director George Tenet [Sourcewatch profile] as defendants, was rejected on the basis that the connection with Germany was tenuous. Echoing the same reasons cited in 2005, Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said US courts were a more appropriate forum for investigating the matter. The human rights groups criticized the prosecutor's decision not to interview former US Army Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski [CNN interview], who offered to testify. Lawyers are considering an appeal [press release] within German courts or in other countries that have universal jurisdiction laws [Amnesty backgrounder]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A UK special court ruled on Friday that two Libyan men suspected of involvement in terrorist activities could not be deported to Libya [JURIST news archive], overriding an agreement between the two governments. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission [backgrounder] ordered [order text, PDF] the two men released on bail, citing concerns that they would face torture and be denied a fair trial in Libya. The ruling called into question a Memorandum of Understanding [press release] that London signed with Libya [JURIST report] in 2005 facilitating the deportation of suspected terrorists. According to the memorandum, similar to others signed with Jordan and Lebanon, deported suspects will be treated humanely. The Commission based its decision in part on the UK's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights [text].

The two men will be released from the maximum security prison under bail conditions, including a twelve-hour curfew, as the Commission stated that their continued detention might be illegal. The Home Office [official website] has announced its plans to appeal. According to Parliament member Lord Carlile [official website], the decision constitutes an improper review of executive foreign policy decisions by the judiciary. A UK court reached a similar decision in a separate case this week and ordered the release [JURIST report] of a Moroccan man accused of having connections to the September 11 hijackers. The Guardian has more.

[JURIST] Three US soldiers were indicted Friday for the 2003 death of a Spanish reporter who was killed when their tank fired a shell at a Baghdad hotel. A Spanish judge charged Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip DeCamp [TrialWatch profiles] with homicide and "a crime against the international community" in the death of Jose Couso [advocacy website, English version], a cameraman for Spanish TV network Telecinco [media website, in Spanish]. In 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell said the soldiers only fired in self-defense after shots were fired at them from the hotel. A US review of the incident found they did not act improperly. Spain has issued several arrest warrants [JURIST report] against the three, but the United States has refused to extradite them. AP has more.

The three are not the first US soldiers to be indicted in foreign courts for actions taken in Iraq. Earlier this month, US Army Spc. Mario Lozano was put on trial in absentia before an Italian court [JURIST report] for the murder of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari and attempted murders of agent Andrea Carpani and Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Iraq. The US has maintained that the car carrying Calipari did not slow down at a military checkpoint and that Lozano followed proper procedure in opening fire.

[JURIST] An appeals court in Milan upheld a lower court decision Friday clearing former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] of charges that he bribed judges to prevent the sale of food company SME to rivals in 1985. After the lower court acquitted [BBC report], then-Prime Minister Berlusconi in 2004, he passed legislation [text, in Italian] precluding an appeal of the verdict. Subsequent decisions [JURIST report] by the Italian Court of Cassation and the Italian Constitutional Court [official websites], however, determined that the case should go forward. Last month, prosecutors appealed the trial court decision [JURIST report] and asked that Berlusconi be sentenced to five years in prison.

Berlusconi has faced trial on at least six occasions involving charges of embezzlement, false accounting, tax fraud, money laundering, and giving false testimony [JURIST reports] connected to his broadcasting company Mediaset [corporate website, in Italian]. While some of the tax fraud charges against Berlusconi have been thrown out [JURIST report], he and former lawyer David Mills currently face trial [JURIST report] on corruption charges. According to his lawyer, Berlusconi is "thrilled" with today's outcome. BBC News has more. Reuters Italia has local coverage, in Italian.

[JURIST] US Democratic and Republic senators sparred over the habeas corpus rights of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees at a US Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] hearing [witness list and prepared statements] Wednesday. In a rare appearance as a committee witness [prepared testimony; recorded video], US Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] called the detention of 400 Guantanamo prisoners without charge and without recourse to traditional habeas rights "un-American," while the committee's lead Republican, US Sen. John Warner (R-VA) [official website], said Congress should delay any legislation on the habeas issue until the Supreme Court rules on cases that must first make their way through the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Fellow Republican John Cornyn (R-TX) insisted that there was no "English common law case" granting habeas rights to alien enemy combatants [JURIST news archive].

Earlier this month the Supreme Court denied certiorari [JURIST report] in two proceedings brought by Guantanamo detainees who are challenging provisions of the Military Commissions Act (MCA) [PDF text; JURIST news archive] stripping their right to file habeas corpus challenges. Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy filed a separate statement [SCOTUSblog report] explaining that the Supreme Court would not hear the challenges until the detainees had exhausted all other potential federal remedies. The court's decision prompted the US Justice Department to seek the dismissal [JURIST report] of all pending Guantanamo habeas cases. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Japan denied compensation claims made by five Chinese wartime slave laborers Friday, ruling that companies that utilized Chinese individuals were not obligated to provide compensation because the 1972 Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China [text] renounced Chinese claims for war reparations from Japan. The ruling by the top court reversed a lower court ruling that awarded the five forced laborers a total of $230,300 in compensation for their suffering.

In March, a Japanese district court dismissed a similar claim by Chinese nationals [JURIST report] against Mitsubishi Metals Corporation because the 20-year deadline for filing compensation claims under Japanese law had expired. That decision followed another March ruling by the Tokyo High Court which held that the present Japanese government was not accountable for wrongs committed by Japan's wartime leaders, thereby overturning [JURIST report] a landmark decision that held both the Japanese government and a corporation responsible for forcing Chinese citizens into slave labor during World War II. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Marine Corps [official website] has been told to expect charges to be filed against five to seven Marines who are being investigated for killing ten civilians [JURIST report] near Jalalabad, Afghanistan on March 4, according to a Marine official speaking on the condition of anonymity. A preliminary US military investigation found that the Marines were among of group of 30 soldiers who opened fire against civilians after a suicide bomber drove a vehicle carrying explosives into their convoy. No soldiers were hurt in the attack, but the Marines began firing at bystanders, including women and elderly men, along a several mile stretch of road as they left the scene. The investigation, ordered by US Army Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney [profile], found no evidence that the Marines were facing enemy fire and revealed ten deaths and 33 injuries as a result of the shootings.

The soldiers are members of a Marine Corps Special Forces unit under the command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) [official website] and were sent to Afghanistan to carry out special reconnaissance, intelligence and commando missions. An Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) [official website] released a report [PDF text] earlier this month claiming the soldiers violated international humanitarian law [JURIST report] by using indiscriminate and excessive force in its response to the suicide bombing. A formal investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) [official website] is being conducted which will determine who will be charged in the civilian attacks. Friday's New York Times has more.

[JURIST] California state legislators Thursday approved [Schwarzenegger press release] a $8.3 billion dollar program [AP 900 text] to construct facilities to provide 53,000 new prison and jail beds over the next five years as part of an effort to alleviate California's overcrowded prisons [JURIST news archive]. Lawmakers said that the plan will also dedicate more resources to rehabilitation and reduce California's 70 percent recidivism rate. The bill also gives the legislature "clear statutory authority to voluntarily and involuntarily transfer prisoners out-of-state for the next four years." A previous out-of-state transfer plan by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [official website] was struck down by a state court [JURIST report] because California law prohibits the governor from contracting with private companies to perform jobs usually held by state employees.

California's prison system, originally designed for 100,000 inmates, currently houses 173,000 inmates and has resorted to housing approximately 17,000 inmates in temporary beds in locations like prison gymnasiums. In February, Schwarzenegger announced a plan to release prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes [JURIST report] in response to various federal actions that could establish federal oversight of California's prison system if the overcrowding problem is not resolved [JURIST report]. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Japan [official website, English version] affirmed a Tokyo High Court decision Friday denying government compensation to two Chinese women who were forced to work as "comfort women" [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive], because the 1972 Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China [text] renounced Chinese claims for war reparations from Japan. The court also overturned a lower court ruling awarding compensation to Chinese comfort women, who were forced into sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

Last Friday, the Japanese government accepted the formal rulings [JURIST report] of a 1948 war crimes tribunal that found Japanese soldiers had coerced women into prostitution. In March, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] denied allegations of forced sexual slavery [JURIST report] in Imperial Japanese Army brothels, stating instead that the women were professional prostitutes paid for their services. Abe later issued a guarded apology [JURIST report] to comfort women following public outcry, but stopped short of explicitly acknowledging the role played by the military and the government in facilitating the practice. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice [official website] released an inventory of 171 internal documents withheld from Congress [PDF text] Thursday, resisting congressional demands that the department disclose and release emails and memos involving the controversial firing of eight US attorneys [JURIST news archive]. The withheld documents involve communications between members of Congress as well as internal department communications, many of which focused on the media coverage of the firings. The House Judiciary Committee [official website] has demanded that the department release uncensored documents, which the department has resisted. Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling has said that other document inventories will be released to Congress "on a rolling basis." Previously released documents [House Judiciary archive] generally included pages of text blacked out.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee granted immunity to Monica M. Goodling [JURIST report], former special counsel to US Attorney Alberto Gonzales, in exchange for her testimony on the firings of the eight US attorneys. Earlier in the week President Bush again defended Gonzales [JURIST report] after the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee publicly rebuked the Attorney General for his role in the controversial firings and characterized Gonzales' latest testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee [JURIST report] as being "very, very damaging" to his credibility. AP has more.