[JURIST] There are approximately 2000 suspected terrorists living in Great Britain, up from last year's estimate of 1600, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith [official website] said Tuesday. She recommended that legislators pass new terror laws to allow police to hold uncharged terror suspects beyond the current 28 day limit. Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official website] is to set to propose harsher anti-terrorism measures before parliament on Wednesday, including a proposal to either extend the detention times for holding uncharged terrorist suspects or else do away with the time limit entirely. Brown is also expected to propose allowing wiretaps to be introduced in court cases.

In 2005, British legislators voted against an amendment to Clause 23 of the Terrorism Bill [text], which would have extended detention times to 90 days, and instead settled on the current 28 day limit. The Tony Blair government re-floated the possibility of the longer limit [JURIST report] in March 2006, and the proposal gained momentum in November after London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair advocated an extension of the limit [JURIST report] in a major speech. Independent anti-terror law reviewer Lord Carlile has, however, warned lawmakers against "rushing" to make the change [JURIST report], and then-UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said during a media briefing late last year that he had not seen evidence to justify increasing the limit to 90 days [JURIST report]. Then-UK Home Secretary John Reid pushed for extending the limit [JURIST report] in February. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court judge overseeing the war crimes trial [ICC press release] of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga [TrialWatch profile; JURIST news archive] has expressed a desire to have the trial moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [JURIST news archive], according to Tuesday reports. Judge Adrian Fulford [official profile] said that, despite security concerns, he believed that the trial should be moved from The Hague to the DRC because it would resonate more with the people of that country if they could witness it first-hand. The trial is not expected to commence until the end of 2007 at the earliest.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] confirmed war crimes charges against Lubanga in January, making Lubanga the first ICC defendant to face trial. As founder of the militant Union of Patriotic Congolese [Global Security backgrounder], Lubanga is accused [indictment, PDF; case materials] of enlisting child soldiers [BBC report] in the Democratic Republic of Congo's violence-plagued Ituri district [HRW backgrounder]. IWPR has more.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] has urged Rwanda to conduct an "independent and impartial" investigation [press release] into an increasing number of alleged extrajudicial killings, saying in a report [HRW materials] Tuesday that Rwanda National Police officers have killed at least 20 prisoners in the past seven months. HRW said that most of the killings were committed against detainees accused of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. According to the report's summary:

Although detainees were killed in official custody in earlier incidents, the number of such deaths increased significantly beginning in late 2006 following several highly publicized killings of survivors of the 1994 genocide and others involved in the gacaca jurisdictions, a popular justice initiative meant to prosecute those accused of genocide.

Faced with demands for increased protection of such vulnerable persons, officials responded by establishing a policy of collective responsibility making all Rwandans responsible for the security of their fellow citizens. The meaning of the policy was not precisely spelled out, nor was it enacted in law, but officials ordered increased night patrols by citizens. They also warned repeatedly that anyone who harmed or tried to harm survivors would face severe if unspecified punishment.

The congruence between these official pronouncements and the increase in the number of deaths in police custody raises concern that some police officers may have interpreted official exhortations as a license to abuse detainees, particularly but not exclusively those accused of crimes against survivors or persons involved in the gacaca process....

The imposition of collective punishments violates the presumption of innocence and the right of accused persons to a fair trial, rights guaranteed both by international human rights law and by the Rwandan constitution.

The legitimacy of a judicial system is intimately connected with that of its police system.... If the Rwandan government is to demonstrate the quality of its courts and police, it must take clear and prompt action to ensure that police officers and other Rwandans respect these standards.

[JURIST] Jury selection began Tuesday in the court-martial [JURIST report] of US Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, charged [DOC text] with murder, kidnapping, larceny, assault, housebreaking, conspiracy, and making a false official statement for his alleged role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. Hutchins, the leader of the squad involved in the incident, allegedly killed and left Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] by the side of the road with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device. Prosecutors have indicated that they will not seek the death penalty against Hutchins.

Five other defendants have pleaded guilty [JURIST report] for their roles in the incident; they are expected to testify against Hutchins and the only other remaining defendant Cpl. Marshall Magincalda [advocacy website]. Last Friday, a military jury demoted Cpl. Trent Thomas [advocacy website] to private and sentenced him to a bad-conduct discharge [JURIST report] after finding him guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan [official profile] said Tuesday that the US Food and Drug Administration [official website] is currently unable to handle the responsibility of tobacco regulation. A bill introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) [official website] would put the tobacco industry under FDA regulation, something that the FDA itself has previously lobbied for, but McClellan said that the FDA does not have the resources to take on such a large responsibility. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee [official website] will look at the proposed legislation on Wednesday.

In February, Kennedy and other lawmakers from both the Senate and House introduced [JURIST report; press release] the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [S 2461 text; PDF], which would give the FDA the same authority to regulate tobacco products as it has over other consumer products. The FDA first began to regulate the tobacco industry in 1996, but the US Supreme Court ruled in FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. [text] that Congress had not provided the FDA with authority to regulate tobacco products. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Three former Vietnamese government officials and six others will face organized gambling and bribery charges in court next month, a Hanoi People's Court official said Tuesday. Bui Tien Dung, a former project management head in the Ministry of Transportation [official website], allegedly placed bets totaling $760,000 on European soccer matches and subsequently attempted to cover up the alleged wrongdoing by paying a bribe of $68,000. Dung faces a maximum penalty of death for bribery, while the other defendants face up to 20 years in prison for gambling. Gambling is illegal in Vietnam.

The gambling-bribery scandal has resulted in the resignation [VOA report] of Transportation Minister Dao Dinh Binh and the arrest of his deputy Nguyen Viet Tien. In March, former Deputy Trade Minister Mai Van Dau and 13 other defendants went on trial for bribery, fraud, abuse of power, and forgery [AP report]. The defendants allegedly offered or accepted bribes to enable certain textile and garment companies to increase their share of the export quotas imposed by the United States. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] on Tuesday denied pressuring then-Attorney General John Ashcroft [official profile] to give the Department of Justice's reauthorization of the controversial warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive] while Ashcroft was hospitalized. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales, who was White House Counsel at the time, said that he and then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card [official profile] visited the bed-ridden Ashcroft to inform him of congressional positions on the program and would have only sought to obtain Ashcroft's authorization if he had been "fully competent to make that decision."

Former US Deputy Attorney General James Comey [official profile] in May testified [transcript, PDF] that Gonzales and Card, in response to Comey's reservations about re-certifying the program, attempted to pressure Ashcroft [JURIST report] at his hospital bed in March 2004. Comey, who was acting attorney general because of Ashcroft's hospitalization, said that Ashcroft refused to authorize the program because he was without the powers of the attorney general and referred White House officials to Comey. AP has more.

[JURIST] A court in India [JURIST news archive] sentenced three men to death on Tuesday for their involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings [BBC backgrounder] that killed 257 people and injured more than 700 in India's financial center. The court found Zakir Hussain, Abdul Akhtar Khan and Firoz Akram Amani Malik guilty of throwing grenades at houses during the bombings. A fourth man, Moin Faridullah Qureshi, was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the bombings.

Thus far the court has sentenced [JURIST report] 10 people to death and 17 to life imprisonment for involvement in the bombings. The trial, which began in 1995, included testimony from 757 witnesses and has resulted in the conviction of over 100 defendants [JURIST report], a figure that public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam described as unprecedented. Thirty-five suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the bombings, Dawood Ibrahim [BBC profile], remain at large. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers representing former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega [Wikipedia backgrounder] Monday filed motions seeking to avert extradition from the US to France on money laundering charges [Reuters report] when he is released from federal prison on September 9 [JURIST report]. Noriega's lawyers argue that Noriega should remain classified as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions and therefore should be repatriated to Panama. Noriega's hearing is scheduled to begin on July 26.

Noriega, a former US ally who was ousted by US troops in 1989 [BBC report], surrendered to US troops in Panama City in 1990. Noriega has spent the last 17 years in US custody, including 15 years in federal prison on drug trafficking and racketeering charges. Panamanian officials are also seeking to extradite Noriega [BBC report], who has been sentenced in absentia in Panama to 90 years in prison for corruption and conspiracy to commit murder. VOA News has more.

[JURIST] An Orleans Parish grand jury Tuesday refused to indict Dr. Anna Pou [advocacy website] on charges of killing four patients at the Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. Pou and two nurses were arrested [JURIST report] last year, with prosecutors arguing that they had committed second-degree murder. The charges against the nurses were dropped after they were forced to testify against Pou with the understanding that their testimonies could not be used against them.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti [official website] last fall launched an investigation [JURIST report] into the deaths of at least 140 patients at six Louisiana hospitals and 13 nursing homes at the time of Katrina. Foti later subpoenaed 73 Memorial employees [JURIST report] as part of the ongoing investigation. Prosecutors suspected that Pou and the two nurses had euthanized the patients while they waited to be rescued. AP has more.

[JURIST] The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs rejected Taiwan's fifteenth bid for member state status Monday, reiterating the One-China Policy [Wikipedia backgrounder] and recognizing the People's Republic of China (PRC) [JURIST news archive] as the legitimate government of China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao characterized Taiwan's latest effort to join the UN as a "separatist act of the 'Taiwan Independence' secessionist forces," [press release] and pointed to the UN Charter's requirement that only sovereign states can apply for UN member status [Article 4 text]. Taiwan, which officially refers to itself as the Republic of China (ROC), was kicked out of the UN in 1971 by General Assembly Resolution 2758 [PDF text] and replaced by the PRC as the representative of China.

Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs James C.F. Huang criticized the UN decision as procedurally flawed [press release, in Chinese], saying that the UN General Assembly was not given an opportunity to decide the application and asserting that Resolution 2758 did not prohibit member state status for Taiwan. The latest application was the first attempt by the Taiwanese government to apply under the name of Taiwan. The Taiwanese presidency said last month that it planned to proceed with a national referendum [JURIST report] on whether Taiwan should attempt to rejoin the UN. A spokesman said Tuesday that efforts to hold the referendum would go ahead as planned. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday that he should consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the US Attorneys firing scandal [JURIST news archive]. In a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing [committee materials], Specter said that Gonzales may have to appoint the investigator because the Bush administration has made statements that would cut off the power Congress has to investigate the firings. Specter warned Gonzales that if that happens, "the president can run the government as he chooses, answer no questions."

Last week, the White House said that the administration would not allow [JURIST report] the Department of Justice to pursue any contempt of Congress charges [backgrounder; 2 USC Sec. 192] brought against White House officials in the congressional investigation of the firings. Last Thursday, a panel of the House Judiciary Committee voted to proceed with contempt proceedings [JURIST report] against former White House counsel Harriet Miers [official profile] after she ignored a subpoena ordering her to appear and testify before the committee. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider whether to proceed with the contempt citation on Wednesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Bangladeshi Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina [party profile] was formally charged Tuesday with extortion for alleged kickbacks she received during her tenure in office. According to the charges, the former PM and two relatives received thousands of dollars from deals, including one awarding a contract to an electric company. Hasina was arrested last week, and has at least two other extortion cases pending against her. Hasina maintains that the arrest was politically motivated to keep her from becoming involved in future elections.

In June, Hasina, the leader of the opposition Awami League [party website], criticized the arrest [JURIST report] of Awami secretary general Abdul Jalil as an "autocratic move" motivated by politics rather than any legitimate attempt to stamp out corruption. The Bangladeshi interim emergency government [JURIST report], which came to power in January with the backing of the military, has used its anti-corruption campaign [BBC Q&A; JURIST news archive] to justify the declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report] allowing detention without warrants or specific charges. The emergency government has also filed corruption charges against Hasina's rival, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia [UN profile] and last Thursday jailed a UN human rights expert who had been prevented from traveling to Geneva to deliver a report on human trafficking. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Chinese government compensated Zhang Zhijian, who exposed the corruption of former drug safety commissioner Zheng Xiaoyu, in the amount of 24,000 yuan ($3,175 USD) after he spent 10 months in jail for posting an Internet story on the corruption, AP reported Tuesday. Zhang was originally sentenced [JURIST report] to six years imprisonment in March for defaming the government. He was released from prison in April.

Zheng was executed [JURIST report] earlier this month, after the Supreme People's Court [official website] denied his appeal for leniency. In May, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court convicted Zheng and sentenced him to death [JURIST report]. Zheng, who served as the food and drug commissioner from 1998 to 2005, allowed eight pharmaceutical companies to bypass the drug approval process, including one company whose antibiotic is suspected of killing at least 10 people. Last Friday, Zheng's former subordinate, former Pharmaceutical Registration Department Director Cao Wenzhuan, was also sentenced to death [JURIST report] for receiving approximately $316,000 in bribes in exchange for certifying substandard drugs from two pharmaceutical companies. Death sentences in China require the approval [JURIST report] of the Supreme People's Court. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two federal district judges separately ordered Monday the formation of special three-judge panel to supervise and reduce California's prison population after finding that California's prison overcrowding [JURIST news archive] is preventing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) [official website] from adequately providing mental health care. Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the Northern District of California ordered [PDF text] the suspension of the CDCR Secretary's authority and transferred all "administration, control, management, operation, and financing" authority to the panel. Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the Eastern District of California said that the receivership, which the CDCR is required to comply with within 30 days [order, PDF], is to oversee "the development of remedies for the systematic constitutional violation and to monitor implementation of court-approved remedies." The orders will have to require final approval from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which will likely approve Karlton's recommendation to combine the two orders under one receiver.

In May, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger [official website] signed off on a $7.7 billion program to construct facilities [JURIST report] to provide 53,000 new prison and jail beds over the next five years. The construction program and other measures, including a plan to release prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes [JURIST report] in response to threats of federal oversight [JURIST report], failed to persuade the federal judges, who were not convinced that the measures would bring compliance with the Eight Amendment guarantee of constitutionally adequate mental health care for individuals suffering from serious mental illnesses that are incarcerated by the CDCR. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The Law Council of Australia, the country's national organization for lawyers, on Tuesday issued harsh criticism [press release] of the trial of former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks [Law Council backgrounder; JURIST news archive], saying the trial was "a charade." The council's report [PDF text; summary, PDF], prepared by lawyer Lex Lasry, criticized the American and Australian governments on the trial, concluding that:

The "trial" of David Hicks, which took place in March 2007, was a charade.

A pre-trial agreement had been signed and the balance of the legal proceedings was entirely surplus to requirements, although designed to lay a veneer of due process over a political and pragmatic bargain. The veneer cracked immediately.

Ultimately, there has been no benefit from this process; only a corrosion of the rule of law.

No ground can be claimed to have been made in the so-called War on Terror. The Military Commission process at Guantanamo likewise has neither gained from it, nor shown any prospect of improvement.

Predictably, there has been no response from the Australian Government to the consistent and widespread criticism of the Military Commissions and Guantanamo Bay generally. Their support for this process has been shameful.

They have never put an argument to the Australian public as to why the Military Commission process is "full and fair". Now that the Hicks case is over, no doubt the hope is that the issue will disappear – and, regrettably, perhaps it will.

However, Australia's international standing and moral authority has been diminished by its support of a process so obviously at odds with the rule of law. Those with a concern for the protection of due process should be very concerned about the future of this process, particularly given its jurisdiction to impose death penalties.

[JURIST] Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth [advocacy website] filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) [official website] on behalf of approximately 320,000 to 800,000 veterans of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [backgrounder], alleging that the VA is denying adequate procedural safeguards [complaint, PDF; factsheet, DOC] in the VA benefits process. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, also accuses the VA of denying mandated medical care and VA benefits to veterans afflicted with PTSD. The complaint alleges:

The system for deciding VA claims has largely collapsed. The VA claims adjudication system is currently mired in processing a backlog of over 600,000 claims, many of which have been pending for years. The time period for a claim to be fully decided can exceed ten years. By comparison, the private sector health care industry processes thirty-billion claims annually in an average of 89.5 days per claim, including the time required to resolve disputed claims. The VA's process for pursuing a claim is not merely arbitrary and ineffective. The delays have become an insurmountable barrier preventing many veterans from obtaining health care and benefits. Many wounded veterans, particularly those with combat-caused mental illnesses, give up in frustration and despair or die while their claims are pending. In these cases, just delayed is justice denied.

[JURIST] A controversial law offering ID cards to illegal immigrants went into effect Tuesday in New Haven, Connecticut. The municipal identification cards, which will be available at a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for children and will not distinguish citizens from undocumented immigrants, will allow cardholders to access public libraries, parks and recreational sites, and other municipal services as well as act as debit cards and pay for parking meters. Supporters of the law, including New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. [official profile], believe it will help encourage immigrants to cooperate with police and "build a stronger community," but opponents worry it will bring more illegal immigrants to the area.

The city Board of Alderman approved [JURIST report] the law last month, in contrast with immigration [JURIST news archive] ordinances adopted in other local communities, such as the ordinance [DOC text; JURIST report] in Farmers Branch, Texas which would bar landlords from renting apartments to most undocumented immigrants. The ordinance has been blocked [JURIST report] by a US federal judge as legal challenges [JURIST report] are underway. AP has more.

[JURIST] Libya released six foreign medics [BBC Q&A; JURIST news archive] Tuesday who had been sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus, after obtaining an agreement from the European Union to normalize and develop closer political and economic ties and increase medical and infrastructure aid. The medics - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - have been in custody for over eight years as their case wound its way through the Libyan court system. Earlier this month, the Libyan Supreme Court upheld the death penalty [JURIST report] in the case, but the death sentences were later commuted by the Supreme Judiciary Council when the families of the infected patients dropped calls for execution after each received $1 million in compensation [JURIST report]. The six medics have consistently maintained their innocence, saying they were being scapegoated for unsanitary conditions in the Libyan hospital were they worked. Bulgaria and its allies have argued that the medics are innocent and were tortured into admitting guilt [HRW report].

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso [official profile] and French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed the medics' release Tuesday, hailing it as a "humanitarian gesture of Libya and its highest leader" [press release]. Sarkozy said he will travel to Libya on Wednesday, but stressed that neither France nor any other EU member paid any money to Libya to secure the medic's release. European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner [official profile] said the release "demonstrates the value of concerted EU action" [press release] and will enhance EU-Libyan relations. In June, the Bulgarian government granted citizenship to the Palestinian doctor [JURIST report] so that he would be included in any settlement along with the Bulgarian nurses. AP has more.