[JURIST] Appeal proceedings in the case of former Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] have been adjourned until July 3, following the orders of a judge on Tuesday. Mengistu, who received a life sentence in absentia last year [JURIST report] for his involvement in the genocide that ravaged Ethiopia in the 1970s, has lived in exile in Zimbabwe since he was ousted as president in 1991 and fled his home country. Prosecutors have appealed his life sentence [JURIST report] and are seeking the death penalty. The case was postponed Tuesday after defense lawyers filed their own appeal, seeking to reverse his life sentence. Both appeals will be considered together next month.

The Ethiopian war, often called the "Red Terror" [US LOC backgrounder], left tens of thousands of Ethiopians dead or missing in what Mengistu had hoped would be a return to a Soviet-style state. Zimbabwe has refused calls for Mengistu's extradition [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] requested Monday that the case against Fulgence Kayishema [TrialWatch profile], who was indicted in absentia [indictment, PDF] in 2001 for his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder], be moved to a Rwandan court for trial. Kayishema, who was a police inspector during the war, has been charged with conspiring to exterminate Tutsis during the Hutu-led uprising, which left around 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus dead. Monday's request is the first such request made by the ICTR, and it has stipulated that genocide suspects will only be transferred to Rwanda if the death penalty is abolished. The Rwanda government has said that it is ready to prosecute Kayishema, that he will received a fair trial, and that he will not be subjected to the death penalty. Last week the parliament of Rwanda voted to abolish the death penalty [JURIST report] effective July 1.

The ICTR has convicted 28 persons and acquitted three in connection with the civil war that swept through Rwanda [JURIST news archive] over a decade ago. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Interim Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont [official profile; BBC profile] Tuesday invited his ousted predecessor to return to Thailand to challenge allegations made against him and the recent seizure of $1.5 billion in assets [JURIST reports] amassed from the sale of the telecommunication company he founded in the 1980s. Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has been in exile ever since a September military coup [JURIST report]. Earlier, military leaders had warned Thaksin to stay out of the country until a general election, which is planned for December. Chulanont said that Thaksin's safety was personally guaranteed and that he should return within 60 days to fight the seizing of his assets.

While Thaksin's lawyer said in November that Thaksin was ready to face charges of corruption [JURIST report] that have been levied against him, he told reporters in Bangkok Tuesday that in light of the freezing of his assets, Thaksin "will return to Thailand sooner than his original plan." Some Thai commentators say that the asset seizure is a political move designed to prevent Thaksin from funding forces opposed to the coup. Protests by Thaksin supporters have grown [JURIST report] in recent weeks, with one last weekend drawing approximately 10,000 people. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] filed a lawsuit against State Farm [corporate website] Monday, alleging that the insurance company committed a bad faith breach of contract [press release, PDF] related to a settlement reached [JURIST report] on January 23 regarding Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] policies. State Farm says that the move could disrupt the ongoing settlement process [press release] as it was being worked out with the Mississippi Insurance Department (MID) [official website]. A State Farm executive also questioned why Hood would disrupt a new settlement that was nearly identical to the January agreement, the only difference allegedly being a "set aside of millions of dollars in compensation for trial lawyers." On Friday, State Farm sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Mary Jo Woods [PDF text] and a separate letter to Hood [PDF text], seeking to show that the "terms of the MID program mirror the reevaluation program" that they hoped to create with the January settlement.

The January settlement, which had been hailed by Hood, was later rejected [JURIST report] by US District Judge L.T. Senter on the grounds that the parties had not provided enough information to show that the proposed settlement created a procedure that was reasonable and fair. Senter also expressed concerns about how the settlement would affect homeowners who were not named in the class. MID Commissioner George Dale negotiated expedited settlement payouts [JURIST report] with State Farm in March under the new agreement. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Office of Special Counsel [official website] officially recommended Monday that General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Lurita Doan [official profile] "be disciplined to the fullest extent" for blatant disregard of the 1939 Hatch Act [OSC materials]. In a letter to President George W. Bush, Special Counsel Scott Bloch [official profile] said that by asking political appointees at a GSA meeting in January how they could best help Republican candidates, Doan violated the Act's ban on political advocacy on government time. Bloch also wrote that Doan exhibited "insensitivity to cooperating fully and honestly" with the investigation.

Doan's lawyer, Michael Nardotti [attorney profile], criticized the letter, saying that Bloch, an appointee of Bush who was unanimously confirmed by the senate, lacked objectivity and impartiality. Nardotti urged President Bush to disregard Bloch's report and instead find an outside group to investigate the alleged Hatch Act violation [JURIST report]. While Doan will not face criminal penalties, she could lose her job over the incident. AP has more.

[JURIST] Human Rights in China (HRIC) [advocacy website] said Monday that the state secrets system in China [JURIST news archive] gives the government virtually complete power to halt the free flow of information, "undermining healthy governance and rule of law." The group released State Secrets: China's Legal Labyrinth [website; press release], an extensive 280 page report that includes English translations of many laws the group says China uses to chill freedom of expression and freedom of the media. China's 1988 "Law on the Protection of State Secrets" allows the National State Secrets Bureau full power to declare anything a state secret [Amnesty International backgrounder].

HRIC also said that the state secrets laws are dangerous to people living outside China, claiming China has used the laws to forbid media coverage of infectious disease outbreaks or casualty tolls from natural disasters, which HRIC argues stymies international reaction to such events, potentially costing lives. China has rejected the criticism [press conference transcript, in Chinese], saying that no country can be completely open and transparent and that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of speech. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US Nuremberg trials [Yale trial information] prosecutor denounced the US military commissions at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives] in an interview with Reuters published Monday. Henry King Jr. [academic profile], now in his 80s but still a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said the commissions violated the principles of fairness established during the trials of Nazi leaders and were contrary to the spirit of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials], while the Nuremberg trials themselves were notable for giving defendants a presumption of innocence, adequate defence counsel, and the opportunity to see evidence against them. King also told Reuters that his superior at the trials, chief US prosecutor and later Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson [Robert Jackson Center website], would have found allowing hearsay as evidence, allowing some prosecution access to some evidence off limits to the defense, and allowing evidence obtained through coercion to be unjust.

King found fault in the 2006 Military Commissions Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive], saying that instead Guantanamo prisoners should be tried in a system with fair rules that allow the possibility of acquittal. He said that the US, as the initiator of the war crimes tribunals, could do much better by following the trial rules established for Nuremberg. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] will continue as scheduled, despite Taylor's boycott of the trial's opening last week, according to Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website] chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp Monday. Taylor, who is being tried in front of the UN-backed court for crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law, had boycotted the start of proceedings against him [JURIST report], saying in a letter to the court that he had no confidence in the SCSL to dispense justice because he was prevented from seeing his preferred lawyer and because his single court-appointed defense lawyer was outnumbered by the prosecution team. Taylor's assigned lawyer, Karim Khan, told the court last week that Taylor has fired him and is seeking to represent himself. Khan subsequently left the trial, despite court requests that he remain as counsel to Taylor for at least the first day of proceedings. Opening statements by the prosecution continued in Taylor's and Khan's absence.

Taylor's trial adjourned after last week's opening statements, and will resume on June 25 to present evidence and hear witnesses. Charges against the former president [indictment text, PDF] include murder, rape, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers during a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone [JURIST news archive]. If acquitted, he will be permitted to return to Liberia; if convicted, he will serve his jail time in Britain. The trial, which is expected to last 18 months, was relocated to The Hague from Sierra Leone [JURIST report] for security reasons last year. Voice of America has more.

[JURIST] Google [corporate website] Monday announced [press release] a new data retention policy, saying that its servers will retain personally identifiable information for 18 months and not its previous policy of 18 to 24 months. Google's policy revision came in response to an announcement [JURIST report] by the European Commission [official website] in May that the EU's independent advisory panel would investigate [press briefing] Google to determine whether it complies with EU privacy rules [EU Data Protection website]. The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party [official website], which advises the commission on data protection and privacy, sent a letter [PDF text] to Google questioning the company's policy of retaining user information for up to 24 months and sought Google's explanation of why the policy is "proportionate" to Google's interests in preserving the data for "security, innovation and anti-fraud" purposes. Google currently stores information on every user search, which can be used by Google and third-parties like governments and advertisers. Reuters has more.

In April, numerous Internet privacy groups in the United States filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint [PDF text; JURIST report] against Google, following reports that the company was planning to buy Internet advertising company DoubleClick [corporate website]. The groups requested that the FTC block the proposed merger [agreement text; SEC press release] until the agency conducts an investigation, saying that the merger would allow Google to match users' personal information with their Internet usage history and habits. On Saturday, Privacy International [advocacy website] published a report [text] ranking Google as the worst of 23 companies and being "hostile to privacy." The report specifically faulted Google for not allowing users access to "log information generated" through the use of Google Maps, Video, Talk, Reader, Blogger, and other services.

[JURIST] Iranian judiciary spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi said Tuesday that an Iranian judge will decide whether to proceed with indictments against three Iranian-Americans early next week, after the conclusion of preliminary investigations. Iran has formally charged [JURIST report] Dr. Haleh Esfandiari [WWC profile] for an alleged plot "against the sovereignty of the country," and charged Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh [OSI press release] and Radio Farda [media website] correspondent Parnaz Azima for an alleged espionage conspiracy against the government [JURIST report].

Last Wednesday, an Iranian judge said that Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh have admitted to carrying out some "activities" [JURIST report], although it was unclear if the admissions were tantamount to admission of spying. Azima, who has been released on bail, was previously held for allegedly cooperating with "anti-revolutionary" media. Numerous officials, including US President George W. Bush have called for the release [WH statement; JURIST report] of the detainees who were arrested last month. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, the International Federation for Human Rights, and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi have also issued a joint statement [text] calling for their release. Ebadi is serving as lawyer for Esfandiari and said this week that she has been denied access to counsel [JURIST report], but the Iranian judiciary spokesperson denied that claim. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] ruled Monday that it has jurisdiction over legal disputes involving the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [official website; JURIST news archive] and admitted Chaudhry's petition challenging the legality of his March 9 suspension [JURIST report] by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The ruling, considered a victory for Chaudhry, frustrates the efforts of government lawyers, who had argued [JURIST report] that the five-member Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) was a full court capable of both investigating the alleged misconduct and reviewing the legality of the suspension. The government had sought to end the Supreme Court's suspension [JURIST report] of the SJC's inquiry.

The high court's ruling was delayed [JURIST report] last week, in what legal observers say may have been a reflection of internal disagreements amongst the 13 justices that sit on the bench. On Monday, a Pakistani government minister indicated that the government had prepared a new complaint [JURIST report] against Chaudhry and will file the document at an "appropriate time." In May, presiding Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said that the court will make a judgment on the merit of Chaudhry's petition [JURIST report] regardless of possible political consequences. Reuters has more. PTI has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Malta's Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg [official profile] urged his EU counterparts to help alleviate the influx of illegal immigrants to Malta Tuesday, as the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council [EU materials] began a two-day meeting [agenda, PDF; background, PDF] in Luxembourg to discuss EU policy on illegal immigration and other matters within the Council's portfolio. Borg's plea follows a high-profile incident in which 27 migrants were left stranded at sea floating on fishing nets for three days. Malta has received widespread criticism from other EU members for its refusal to rescue the migrants; Malta said they were outside its search and rescue region and rebuked the other EU members for placing an disproportionate burden on Malta to deal with the larger problem of the safety of illegal migrants from North Africa. Borg is expected to propose an agreement by which EU members would assume the responsibility of taking in illegal migrants saved at sea by EU members on a proportional basis dictated by the EU member state's population size. European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini [official profile], who previously joined in the criticism of Malta for not rescuing the migrants, described the proposal as a "bad signal" because it would encourage migrants of North African origin to risk sailing the Mediterranean knowing that the EU would rescue the migrants and distribute them amongst its member states.

Malta's permanent representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, sent a letter to the European Commission this week saying that Malta has rescued 237 migrants in 10 separate incidents in just the last 15 days. Malta, which became an EU member in 2004 [JURIST report], is the smallest member of the EU in both population and area. Reuters has more. The Times of Malta has local coverage.

[JURIST] Slobodan Radovanovic, Serbia's top special prosecutor for organized crime, said Monday that the widow and son of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic are to be charged with running a smuggling ring. Serbia will issue an international arrest warrant in the case and their assets are expected to be frozen. Mirjana Markovic [BBC profile] and her son Marko currently reside in Russia and are also suspected of siphoning millions from state funds into foreign private accounts. The charges are the latest in a series of recent indictments against former government officials and aides under Milosevic's reign during the 1990s. Radovanovic indicted two former Milosevic aides in March, alleging that the two transferred millions in state funds to private accounts.

Last July, a Serbian court reissued an international arrest warrant [JURIST report] for Markovic because she had on multiple occasions failed to appear in court [JURIST report] to face abuse of power charges. Milosevic died from heart failure [JURIST report] in March 2006 while in detention at The Hague. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] An Ethiopian court convicted 39 opposition members Monday of treason and inciting violence [JURIST report] for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations [JURIST report] in the wake of Ethiopia's 2005 elections [JURIST news archive]. The opposition members, most of whom belong to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) [party website], will be sentenced on July 8 and face either life imprisonment or the death sentence.

None of the defendants, who were previously barred from meeting with their defense lawyers [JURIST report], offered a defense to the charges. Last October, an Ethiopian inquiry team charged with investigating the demonstrations announced that approximately 193 civilians were killed by Ethiopian security forces [JURIST report] during the violence, an estimate nearly three times the official number initially reported by the government. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile, JURIST report] and the African Union [JURIST report] have both sternly criticized Ethiopia's human rights record. The Ethiopian government charged an additional 55 people [JURIST report] affiliated with the CUD last week with plotting to overthrow the government. AP has more.

[JURIST] Milan Martic [ICTY case backgrounder, PDF; BBC profile] was convicted [judgment summary] Tuesday by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] of 16 counts of crimes against humanity and violations of laws and customs of war, for crimes including persecutions, murder, torture, deportation, attacks on civilians, and wanton destruction of civilian areas. The former leader of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Serbian Krajina" (RSK) [Wikipedia backgrounder] in Croatia was sentenced to 35 years in prison [press release]. The ICTY trial chamber found that Martic exercised "absolute authority" over the RSK's Interior Ministry and security forces, and failed to prevent or punish war crime violations, and even encouraged the "widespread and systematic" persecution of Croatian non-Serbs. Martic was also found to be responsible for ordering an indiscriminate rocket attack on the Croatian capital of Zagreb, which killed seven civilians and injured at least 200 people.

Martic, whose trial began [JURIST report] in December 2005 after his 2002 surrender, was found not guilty of extermination. AP has more.