[JURIST] A warrant signed Wednesday by Florida Governor Charlie Crist [official profile] ended the state's temporary suspension on executions. The ban was instituted last December by then-Governor Jeb Bush after the botched execution of Angel Diaz [JURIST report, AI profile], who endured a 34-minute-long lethal injection that required a second injection after needles were improperly inserted into his arm. Mark Dean Schwab, convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery of a child [Florida Supreme Court opinion, PDF], is scheduled to be executed November 15. The move came as a surprise to the Florida legal community, where it was widely believed that the temporary suspension would continue until the resolution of Lightbourne v. State of Florida [docket], a lethal injection challenge arising out of the Diaz execution. That case is scheduled for oral arguments before the Florida Supreme Court in October.

After Diaz's December 2006 execution, Bush appointed a commission to investigate Florida's lethal injection procedures [PDF text]. The panel recommended [JURIST report] more oversight to ensure proper sedation before execution, a switch to "less problematic" alternative chemicals with a smaller potential to fail, and execution monitoring via closed circuit cameras. Crist said Wednesday that he was confident Florida's procedures do not violate Eighth Amendment [text] cruel and unusual punishment standards. AP has more.

[JURIST] A military jury sitting at Camp Pendleton, California, Wednesday convicted US Marine Cpl. Trent Thomas [advocacy website] for his role in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. Thomas was acquitted at court-martial of premeditated murder, making a false official statement and housebreaking. Defense lawyers, who asserted that "Marines in combat don't challenge orders," had argued that Thomas followed the orders of his superior, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, who is also facing several charges [JURIST report], including murder. Thomas previously pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to unpremeditated murder but subsequently withdrew his guilty plea [JURIST report]. Thomas' lawyer said that Thomas now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Five defendants have pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile], who was removed from his residence and killed, then arranged with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device. Uniform Code of Military Justice Section 809 Art. 90(2), Art. 91(2), and Art. 92(1, 2) [texts] imposes upon US military personnel an obligation and duty to obey only lawful orders. AP has more.

[JURIST] Thailand's 2007 Crimes Act [The Nation - Bangkok report] became effective Wednesday, granting authority to Thai police to confiscate and search private computers. The law is reportedly aimed at reining in Internet pornography and libel, with some violations that threaten national security carrying prison sentences of up to 20 years. Internet service providers will be required to keep individual user records for 90 days. Critics, such as rights group Freedom Against Censorship Thailand [advocacy website], fear that the Act gives police broad power to invade citizens' privacy.

In April, the Thai government banned access [JURIST report] to the popular video-sharing website YouTube [corporate website] and several other websites that contained material deemed offensive to the country's monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej [official profile]. Earlier this month, the nation abandoned a law [JURIST report] that allowed the cabinet to censor political or controversial Internet sites solely at the discretion of the Minister of Communication, instead providing that websites be censored only by court order. YouTube and about 45,000 other websites are currently blocked. The majority of the banned sites feature pornography or support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive], who was removed from power during a bloodless coup in September 2006. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Spanish Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that former Argentine naval officer Ricardo Miguel Cavallo [TrialWatch profile] can properly be tried in Spain for crimes against humanity. The decision comes after months of jurisdictional disputes. Last December, the Spanish High Court ruled that the country did not have jurisdiction [JURIST report] to try Cavallo and offered to send him back to Argentina. In February, a Spanish court sought Mexican authorization [JURIST report] for the transfer to Argentina, a prerequisite to the move as Cavallo was originally extradited to Spain from Mexico. The Supreme Court's decision overrules the prior holding of the High Court. BBC News has more.

Cavallo has been in Spanish custody since 2003. In January 2006, he was charged with genocide [JURIST report], organized terrorism and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the disappearance of hundreds of people during the "dirty war" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], a 1976-1983 Argentine government campaign against suspected dissidents. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 people were forcibly kidnapped or "disappeared" following a 1976 military coup, including approximately 600 Spanish citizens. Just under 9,000 people are known to have been killed. Cavallo's charges carry a total possible prison sentence of up to 17,000 years.

[JURIST] The office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday denied UN immunity from prosecution [press release] to a UN human rights investigator in Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] who is charged with corruption. UN Special Rapporteur Sigma Huda [official profile, DOC] was jailed [JURIST report] earlier this month after being charged as part of a government crackdown on corruption [JURIST news archive]. Prosecutors allege Huda assisted her husband, former Bangladeshi communications minister Nazmul Huda, in extorting almost $300,000 USD from a construction company while he was in office. UN experts are generally granted immunity from prosecution under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations [PDF text], but the secretary-general must decide whether it applies to a given situation. Ban said Wednesday that the allegations against Huda "appear not to be related to, or otherwise fall within, her functions as special rapporteur."

Ban also said he expects that the legal proceedings against Huda will "respect the full range of her human rights, including her right to a fair trial." Huda has complained of harassment and imprisonment of her family members [press release, DOC] at the hands of the Bangladeshi government. Reuters reported that a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] said Huda has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Reuters has more. The UN News Service has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Western nations said Wednesday they would continue working to free five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor [JURIST news archive] who were sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] in Libya [JURIST news archive] after being accused of infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus. The medics were originally sentenced to death [JURIST report], but the Libyan Supreme Judiciary Council commuted their sentences Tuesday. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin [official website] told the BBC Tuesday that "the case will end once they come back to Bulgaria" [BBC report]. Bulgaria has granted citizenship to the Palestinian doctor, so that it can negotiate for all six medics.

The EU echoed Bulgaria's sentiments, with European Commission President Jose Barroso and Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner issuing a joint statement [text] saying they hoped for a solution that would return the medics to the EU as soon as possible. Before news of the commutation broke, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters [transcript] that the US still believes "these nurses and medics should be allowed to return to their own home country immediately." EUobserver has more.

[JURIST] Thailand's interim-government [JURIST report] lifted a ban on the registration of new political parties Wednesday, after the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) [Wikipedia backgrounder] approved legislation formally ending the ban instituted by the military after its September 2006 coup [JURIST report]. The move will allow members of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT) [party website; JURIST report], in power before the coup, to commence plans to recreate the TRT [JURIST report] by registering a "new" party, possibly under the same name. Some political observers have expressed doubts about whether the Election Commission of Thailand will approve the party registration application before general elections tentatively scheduled for December. A delegate at the NLA has also indicated that the NLA will move to ban the registration of new parties using the same name, logo or platform of dissolved parties.

Meanwhile, interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont [official profile; BBC profile] is currently pushing for the approval of a new constitution, which will be submitted to a general referendum on August 19. Chulanont has ordered government officials to promote support for the draft [Bangkok Post report], and the NLA is expected to pass a bill later this month to penalize opposition to the referendum. If the draft constitution is rejected by popular referendum, military leaders are authorized under the interim constitution to revise an earlier constitution. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The UK Prime Minister's Office [official website] on Wednesday formally rejected any possible proposal to try Andrei Lugovoy [JURIST news archive] for the poisoning-murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko [BBC profile; BBC timeline] in a foreign court or on foreign soil. Spokesperson for the prime minister, Michael Ellam, clarified his earlier statement [press briefing] that "we want the trial to be in a British Court," adding in the afternoon that the British government wants the trial to be also on British soil.

On Monday, the UK expelled four Russian diplomats [JURIST report] and suspended visa facilitation negotiations with Russia, blaming "Russia's failure to cooperate" to find a compromise regarding Britain's extradition request [JURIST report] for Lugovoy. Russian authorities have insisted that Lugovoy cannot be extradited because the Russian constitution forbids the extradition of its citizens for alleged crimes committed abroad [MFA statement; JURIST report], and have offered instead to try Lugovoy in Russian courts if the UK presents evidence of guilt. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Michigan Supreme Court [official website] Wednesday upheld a voter ID law [case docket] in that state, ruling against critics who argued that the ID requirement is essentially a poll tax. The 5-2 decision was split down party lines, with the Republican majority deciding that since voters who don't have a photo ID can vote after signing a sworn affidavit regarding their identity, the argument of a de facto poll tax was unfounded. Supporters of the ID law [text] say that a photo ID is necessary to prevent voter fraud. The law was initially passed in 1996, but former Attorney General Frank Kelly [profile] refused to prosecute under it, arguing that it was unconstitutional. The law was renewed in 2005.

Numerous voter ID laws [JURIST news archive] have been challenged in the courts, with inconsistent rulings across the states. Laws in Indiana and Arizona [JURIST reports] have been upheld, while one in Missouri was struck down [JURIST report] last year. AP has more.

[JURIST] Co-prosecutors for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] submitted their first introductory submission [press release, PDF] Wednesday, referring factual allegations of 25 instances of murder, torture, unlawful detention, forced labor, as well as religious, political and ethnic persecution, and other crimes to co-investigating judges to bring charges against five unnamed suspects believed to be responsible for the crimes. The prosecutors transmitted over 14,000 pages of documents, including testimony from over 350 witnesses and the location of 40 undisturbed mass graves to support allegations of crimes constituting crimes against humanity, genocide, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, as well as other violations of Cambodian and international law.

Also Wednesday, the ECCC transferred its detention facility [press release, PDF] to the custody of the Cambodian Ministry of Interior [official website], which will be responsible for the management of all detainees. The only former official of significance currently in detention is Kaing Khek Iev [TrialWatch profile], former director of the infamous Tuol Sleng Security Prison [Wikipedia backgrounder], where approximately 17,000~20,000 people were detained, tortured, and sentenced to death. The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try those responsible for the Cambodian genocide that occurred under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive] regime. The genocide resulted in the deaths of over 1.7 million people. To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers [official profile] again refused Tuesday to testify in front of the US House Judiciary Committee [official website] regarding the allegedly political firings of eight US attorneys [JURIST news archive]. In a letter to the committee, Miers' lawyer repeated previous assertions [JURIST report] that President George W. Bush has ordered Miers not to cooperate with the investigation, citing executive privilege. Democratic members of the House have argued that Miers' claim of immunity to subpoenas ended when she stopped working for the White House. The Republican National Committee (RNC) [party website] also informed the Judiciary Committee that it would not comply [letter, PDF] with the subpoena [JURIST report] for e-mails related to the firings while the constitutional questions of executive privilege remain unresolved. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) allowed the group until July 31 to turn over the requested documents [letter, PDF; press release] or explain its lack of cooperation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], meanwhile, has also granted an extension for responding to a subpoena; the Committee is seeking documents from the White House related to the controversial warrantless wiretapping program. White House counsel Fred Fielding notified the committee that it needed additional time to review the documents [letter, PDF]. In granting the request, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] expressed hope that the White House would use the additional time constructively [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US policy of deporting legal immigrants convicted of crimes has separated an estimated 1.6 million children and adults [press release] and resulted in the permanent exile of permanent residents for even non-violent misdemeanor offenses, according to a report [PDF text] released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website]. HRW US Program senior research Alison Parker, the author of the report, called the laws "cruel in their rigidity" and "senseless."

According to the report:

Refugees have also been sent to places where they fear persecution, even though the crimes they have committed are not sufficiently serious to warrant stripping them of refugee protection.

Not only have deportation laws become more punitive - increasing the types of crimes that can permanently sever an immigrant's ties to the United States - but there are fewer ways for immigrants to appeal for leniency. Hearings that used to happen in which a judge would consider immigrants' ties to the United States, most especially their family relationships, were stopped in 1996 for those convicted of a long list of crimes. Therefore, family relationships or other ties to the United States receive no consideration and cannot influence a judge's deportation decision.

[JURIST] A court sitting at London's Old Bailey on Wednesday sentenced Abdul Muhid, Umran Javed, and Mizanur Rahman [JURIST reports] to six-year prison terms for inciting murder and racial hatred during a February 2006 protest [BBC report] against the republication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive]. The court also sentenced a fourth defendant, Abdul Saleem, to a four-year term for inciting racial hatred [JURIST report].

The defendants, who were among the five Muslims arrested [JURIST report] in March 2006 for leading the unauthorized protest, are associated with the al-Muhajiroun [Wikipedia backgrounder], a controversial Islamist group banned by the UK in 2005. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] An Indian TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court on Wednesday sentenced three defendants to death for their roles in the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings [BBC backgrounder] that killed 257 people and injured more than 700 in India's financial center. The three defendants, Pervez Sheikh, Abdul Turq, and Mohammed Mushtaq Tarani, were issued death sentences after the court found they were involved in smuggling and deploying the explosive-laden vehicles used in the bombings. The court also sentenced 14 other defendants to life sentences.

In May, the special terror court issued its first sentences [JURIST report], giving five defendants three year prison terms for smuggling weapons and ammunition used by the terrorists on fishing vessels. The trial, which began in 1995, included testimony from 757 witnesses and has resulted in the conviction of over 100 defendants [JURIST report]. Over two-dozen suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the bombings, Dawood Ibrahim [BBC profile], remain at large. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website; JURIST news archive] has obtained a new legal team for former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; SCSL case materials], appointing on Tuesday Courtenay Griffiths, QC as lead counsel and Andrew Cayley and Terry Munyard to serve as co-counsels on Taylor's defense team. Taylor, who has boycotted [JURIST report] several trial sessions, has demanded that the SCSL obtain a British Queen's Counsel on his behalf after he fired his court-appointed lawyer before the prosecution presented its opening arguments.

Taylor faces charges [indictment, PDF] of murder, rape, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers during a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone [JURIST news archive]. He has previously complained that his single court-appointed defense lawyer was unfairly outnumbered [JURIST report] by the prosecution team. The criticism prompted the SCSL to order the addition of four people to Taylor's defense team and postpone the trial until August 20 [JURIST report] to give Taylor's defense team more time to prepare. The SCSL also increased the monthly funding available to Taylor [JURIST report] to approximately $100,000, despite a UN report that concluded Taylor may be in control of millions of dollars [JURIST report] held in bank accounts worldwide. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Tokyo High Court [official backgrounder] on Tuesday reversed a 2003 ruling awarding 190 million yen (approximately $1.56 million) in compensation to 13 Chinese plaintiffs injured by World War II-era chemical weapons left in China by the Japanese military. The court's decision came on the grounds that the plaintiffs had not sufficiently established that their injuries would have "inevitably been prevented" had the Japanese government acted more responsibly regarding the chemical weapons. The court has previously denied compensation [JURIST report] on the grounds that it would have been impossible for Japan [JURIST news archive] to remove the estimated 700,000 weapons left on Chinese soil at the end of the war.

Japanese courts have consistently denied Chinese and Korean compensation claims [JURIST reports] for wartime atrocities on the grounds that the 1972 Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China and the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea [texts] renounced Chinese and Korean claims for war reparations from Japan. Other compensation suits have also been denied on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations for compensation had expired [JURIST report]. Japan remains obligated to remove the chemical weapons still left in China before the year 2012 under the terms of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention [text; Japan MOFA backgrounder]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A group of children of Holocaust survivors have filed a class action lawsuit against the German government in an Israeli court, seeking German financial contribution to an annual $10 million therapy fund for approximately 15,000 to 20,000 so-called second-generation Holocaust survivors. In the lawsuit Monday, the second-generation survivors argued that Nazi atrocities against their parents is responsible for their psychiatric illnesses.

The Fisher Fund, the nonprofit charity that initiated the lawsuit with approximately 4,000 class members, estimates that four to five percent of the approximately 400,000 Israeli children of Holocaust survivors require therapy. Germany has already paid out over $60 billion in reparations, but those funds are designated for Holocaust survivors and families of the deceased. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled [PDF text] 2-1 Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] did not improperly enter into consent agreements with "animal feeding operations" (AFOs). Several community and environmental groups challenged the consent agreements, which allow AFOs to emit pollution regulated by the Clean Air Act [text] without liability by paying a nominal fine, arguing that the EPA was actually making rules without following the proper procedure. Instead the court held that "the Consent Agreements do not constitute rulemaking, but rather enforcement actions within EPA's statutory authority," The court said that "exercises of EPA's enforcement discretion" are not subject to the review of the court.

The EPA and AFOs say that there are currently no reliable methods of tracking AFO pollution emissions, and maintain that consent agreements constitute the "quickest and most effective way" to achieve eventual compliance. The EPA says the nominal fines are helping to fund a nationwide study that will provide data to develop scientific models for the industry to monitor their emissions. The National Pork Producers Council [advocacy website] "applauded" the decision, saying that the industry is aiding the development of the scientific knowledge [press release] necessary to help the EPA regulate emissions from animal agriculture. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice's Corporate Fraud Task Force [official website] has obtained 1,236 corporate fraud convictions since its establishment five years ago, and has obtained more than one billion dollars [press release] in fines and restitutions, the DOJ said Tuesday. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales praised the work of the task force [speech text] for helping "to create an environment where honest businesses can compete and thrive" and emphasized the "wide-spread deterrent effect triggered by the tireless and thorough efforts of the Task Force." The DOJ says that it has convicted 214 corporate CEOs and presidents, including high profile corporate entities such as Enron, Qwest, Adelphia, WorldCom, Imclone [JURIST news archives] and others.

Gonzales also indicated Tuesday that the government is likely to appeal the ruling that led to Monday's dismissal of charges [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] against 13 of 16 defendants in the DOJ's ongoing criminal tax shelter case [JURIST report] against former employees of the accounting firm KPMG [corporate website]. The KPMG dismissals stem from a ruling that federal prosecutors violated the constitutional rights of defendants [JURIST report] by pressuring KPMG not to pay for the defendants' legal fees. AP has more.