[JURIST] White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove [official profile] announced Monday that he will resign his position effective at the end of August [press conference transcript]. Rove said in an interview [text] with the Wall Street Journal that he first indicated last year that he planned to depart from the administration and that he plans to write a book about his experiences in the Bush White House. He does not plan to work for any candidate in the upcoming 2008 presidential election, according to White House press secretary Tony Snow. AP has more.

Rove, a former campaign strategist for President George W. Bush often credited with leading Bush to victory in the 2000 election, has been involved with several administration scandals recently. In the US Attorney firings scandal [JURIST report], an e-mail conversation [text] released by the US Department of Justice revealed that Rove originally suggested firing all 93 US Attorneys [JURIST report] in January 2005. Earlier this month, Rove refused to testify [JURIST report] in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the committee's seventh hearing [witness list] on the firings. Rove was also implicated in the CIA leak scandal [JURIST news archive], when former CIA operative Valerie Plame [Washington Post profile] asserted in a lawsuit [JURIST report] that Rove and other administration officials violated her rights to privacy, free speech, and equal protection under the US Constitution by conspiring to expose her, threatening her career and endangering her family. In 2006, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak revealed [column; JURIST report] that Rove was one of two secondary sources who confirmed that Plame was employed by the CIA and helped initiate her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson's 2002 mission to Niger. In 2005, US Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald [official website] conducted an investigation [JURIST report] into Rove's role in the CIA leak case and whether Rove tried to conceal his conversation with a TIME magazine reporter a week before Plame's identity was revealed. Fitzgerald did not file criminal charges against Rove and Plame's lawsuit was dismissed last month.

[JURIST] Tens of thousands of people marched in Thailand Monday in support of an upcoming general referendum on whether to approve the interim government's proposed draft constitution [JURIST report]. The march, organized by interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont [official profile; BBC profile], is an effort to promote popular support for the draft proposal before the August 19 referendum. Surayud, who came to power after last September's coup [JURIST report], urged voters to participate in the referendum, calling it a way for the people to assert their rights and help decide Thailand's future. Anti-coup activists and supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile] have opposed the draft constitution, saying it decreases populist influence and transfers more power to bureaucrats and the military. Critics have also alleged that martial law, which remains in effect in predominately rural areas where Thaksin enjoyed popular support, has prevented the opposition from campaigning on its objections to the draft.

Under the proposal, the Thai House of Representatives will be reduced from 500 seats to 400 seats, 320 of which will be directly elected and 80 appointed from the party list. Direct elections for members of the Senate will also be abolished, with national and provisional committees composed of bureaucrats and judicial officials instead appointing the 150 senators. If approved, the constitution will possibly pave the way for general elections in December. If the draft constitution is rejected by popular referendum, military leaders are authorized under the interim constitution [JURIST report] to revise an earlier constitution. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Jurors in the terror trial of Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive] and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi [GlobalSecurity profiles] heard closing arguments Monday from federal prosecutors and defense lawyers. Federal prosecutors urged the jury to convict the three on charges [JURIST report] of conspiracy to murder US nationals, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists. The three defendants face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious counts. Jury deliberations will begin after the completion of closing arguments, which are expected to take two days.

Last week, US District Judge Marcia Cooke [official profile] barred jurors from considering the "defensive jihad" defense. This was a setback for the defense, which had presented evidence to show that Islam allows the waging of "defensive jihad," which is different from terrorism because it is intended to defend Muslims from aggression and not intended to threaten innocent lives. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive] at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged with other offenses in November 2005. Padilla was transferred to civilian custody [JURIST report] in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to all charges. AP has more.

[JURIST] Adelphia Communications [corporate website] founder John Rigas and his son Timothy reported Monday to Butner Federal Correctional Complex [official backgrounder] pursuant to a June federal court order [JURIST report]. In 2005, John Rigas, now 82, was sentenced [JURIST report] to 15 years in prison, while Timothy Rigas was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In May, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld John and Timothy Rigas' convictions [JURIST report] on numerous counts of conspiracy, 15 counts of securities fraud and one count of bank fraud. In November 2005, another son, Michael Rigas, pleaded guilty to falsifying a financial record [JURIST report] and was sentenced to 10 months in prison under a plea agreement. AP has more.

[JURIST] German Federal Commissioner Marianne Birthler [official profile] said Monday that a written order instructing border guards in the former German Democratic Republic [Wikipedia backgrounder] to shoot defectors is being scrutinized by prosecutors to determine whether the document, dated October 1, 1973, could lead to the prosecution of former East German officials. The order, issued by the East German Ministry for State Security [Wikipedia backgrounder], infamously known as the Stasi, encouraged border guards to "not hesitate with the use of a firearm" to prevent East German citizens from defecting to the West. German Federal Ministry of Justice [official website] spokesperson Henning Ploeger confirmed that prosecutors were studying the document.

The Office of the Federal Commissioner [official website] is tasked with recovering and preserving documents from the so-called "Stasi Archives." AP has more.

[JURIST] The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website; JURIST news archive] announced the further postponement of court proceedings in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; SCSL case materials] Monday, granting a request by Taylor's new defense team [JURIST report] for additional time to prepare their case. Taylor's trial, which had been scheduled to resume on August 20, was first postponed [JURIST report] in early July. The trial court will return from judicial recess on August 20 and will instead hold a hearing to decide when the trial will start. Defense lawyers have requested the trial be delayed until January 7, 2008.

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 add four people to Taylor's defense team and increase funding available to Taylor [JURIST report] to approximately $100,000 per month, despite a UN report that concluded Taylor may control millions of dollars [JURIST report] held in bank accounts worldwide. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Retired Thai police Col. Charnchai Netirattakarn turned himself in Monday on charges of offering a judge $890,000 in bribes in exchange for a favorable ruling for ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and the former ruling party Thai Rak Thai (TRT) [party website] in an electoral fraud case [JURIST report]. Charnchai was granted $5,900 bail. He faces a maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment if convicted.

In May, the Constitutional Court for the Kingdom of Thailand [official website, in Thai] convicted the TRT of electoral fraud and ordered the dissolution of the party [JURIST report]. The court also barred Thaksin and 110 other party officials, who were found guilty of bribing smaller political parties in an attempt to influence the outcome of the election, from holding any political office for five years. Thaksin has been living in exile since his ouster in a September 2006 military coup and is currently facing corruption charges [JURIST reports]. The Thai Supreme Court is scheduled to hear [JURIST report] the charges on August 14. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Ethiopian troops and insurgent forces were responsible for "rampant violations of the laws of war" [press release] during fighting between March and April 2007 in the vicinity of Somali capital Mogadishu, according to a report [PDF text] released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. HRW Executive Director Ken Roth said that "the warring parties have all shown criminal disregard for the well-being of the civilian population of Mogadishu" and that "the UN Security Council's indifference to this crisis has only added to the tragedy."

According to the report:

All parties to the Somalia conflict have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law by using weapon in Mogadishu without indiscriminating between military objectives and civilians. Ethiopian forces conducted area bombardments in populated areas and failed to call off attacks that disproportionately harmed civilians. Commanders who order indiscriminate attacks knowingly or recklessly are responsible for war crimes. Casualties have been further heightened by the deployment of insurgent forces in densely populated areas and the launching of attacks from such areas. None of the parties have taken - as international law requires - all feasible precautions to spare the civilian population from the effects of the attacks. ...

There is strong evidence that the indiscriminate bombardment of populated neighborhoods by Ethiopian forces was intentional. Commanders who knowingly or recklessly order indiscriminate attacks are responsible for war crimes. ...

Insurgency attacks on military targets such as military convoys or bases in crowded civilian areas were sometimes conducted without any apparent effort to minimize the effects of such attacks on civilians. While Ethiopian or TFG forces may themselves have failed to take all feasible steps to minimize the risks to the civilian population, such as by establishing bases in crowded civilian neighborhoods, this did not relieve insurgent forces of the obligation to minimize civilian harm when conducting attacks.

[JURIST] The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) [official website] on Sunday urged Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to "negotiate" with the US government for the immediate release of Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [TrialWatch Profile; JURIST news archive]. In a letter [PDF text] to Harper, CBA President J. Parker MacCarthy reiterated the CBA's position that detention at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] contradicts the rule of law [press release] because "individuals cannot be detained indefinitely without being charged or denied the right to private communications with their lawyers." The CBA said it is "not enough to accept assurances from the US government that 'due' process is being followed," but instead urged immediate action from the Canadian government. The group also said that Canada is obligated to act under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Combat [text] because Khadr was only 15 years old when he was detained in 2002.

Khadr was detained after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed one US soldier and wounded another while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was formally charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying in April. Those charges were dismissed [order, PDF; JURIST report] by a military commission judge in June because a Combatant Status Tribunal did not declare Khadr to be an "unlawful enemy combatant" as mandated under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text]. Military prosecutors are currently appealing the dismissal of the charges [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi announced additional charges Monday against Saddam Hussein's cousin and former Iraqi defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] for the violent response to the predominately Shi'a uprising [HRW backgrounder] in southern Iraq following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, is being charged with genocide, mass murder, and crimes against humanity. He has already received a total of five death sentences [JURIST report] for his role in the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder] that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Kurds. Al-Moussawi said the trial, which will include 14 other defendants, is expected to begin on August 21.

Al-Majid and four other defendants are currently appealing [JURIST report] their sentences in the Anfal trial to the Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website]. If the defendants' death sentences are upheld, Iraqi law requires the executions to take place within 30 days of the court ruling. The new trial will be the third involving Hussein-era officials. The first was the Dujail case [BBC timeline] involving crimes against humanity committed in that Iraqi town in 1982, which resulted in the hangings of Hussein and his co-defendants. AFP has more.