[JURIST] Lawyers for the North Carolina Medical Board [official website] argued in court Wednesday that a lawsuit filed [JURIST report] against them earlier this year by the North Carolina State Department of Corrections [official website] was filed prematurely and should be dismissed. The lawsuit alleges that recent medical board policy changes preventing doctors' participation in lethal injections impede the corrections department in carrying out executions. Under North Carolina law, a doctor must be present at all executions; recent changes made to lethal injection procedures now require the attending doctor to monitor the condemned prisoner's vital signs and stop the execution if he seems to be suffering. State medical board rules allow doctors to be present, but prohibit [policy statement] any direct involvement in the actual execution. The lawsuit asks a judge to rule that a lethal injection is not a "medical procedure," thus barring the medical board from disciplining participating doctors. Judge Donald Stephens said he expects to rule on the motion for dismissal next week. WRAL has more.

In January, Stephens blocked two executions [JURIST report] when doctors refused to participate after the policy shift. Recently, the death penalty [JURIST news archive] was suspended in several states - including Tennessee, Florida, California, and Maryland [JURIST reports] - pending review of the manner in which it is administered. Tennessee and Florida have since resumed executions, and California is considering new death penalty protocols proposed [JURIST reports] by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this year.

[JURIST] A widespread strike [BBC report] by UK prison guards Wednesday ended the same day after the Prison Officers' Association (POA) [union website] agreed to negotiate new pay terms with the government this coming Friday. The surprise strike, which began with a full walkout of staff members early on Wednesday morning, affected all 129 prisons in England and Wales, causing lock-downs in many of the facilities. Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Jack Straw [official profile] issued a statement [text] following the strike's end, saying:

The strike action by the Prison Officers' Association is deeply regrettable and wholly unjustifiable. We have been actively trying to engage with the POA through talks and regular meetings and yet this action came without warning. Ministers have met with the POA on a regular basis in recent weeks and were due to meet next month . . .We are urgently considering what other action to take in respect of this unannounced and unlawful action by the POA. We will take all available steps to ensure that this strike does not impact adversely on our primary duty to protect the public.

[JURIST] Several lawyers' groups and legislators Wednesday filed a challenge against the Human Security Act 2007 [PDF text; press release] with the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The act, signed [JURIST report] in March by President Gloria Arroyo, authorizes the 72-hour detention of suspects without charge and allows for surveillance, wiretapping and seizure of assets. Critics of the legislation say it could be used by Arroyo's government to stifle political dissent under the cover of anti-terror operations. Petitioners, who included Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Counsels for the Defense of Liberties [organization websites] and several former senators, asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the law pending the petition's outcome. The Daily Tribune has more.

Even before the controversial law went into effect [JURIST report], there was substantial opposition to the legislation. In March, United Nations human rights expert Martin Scheinin recommended [JURIST report] that the act be amended or repealed. In July, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines urged the Filipino government [JURIST report] to revisit the act, saying that "many voices are apprehensive" about the anti-terror legislation. In response to criticism, Filipino presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said that the law had already undergone "exhaustive debates" in the legislature [JURIST report]. The government also announced plans for a "massive public information and advocacy campaign" [press release] to accompany implementation and highlight "the existence of terror cells in the region and throughout the world."

[JURIST] Russian prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a Russian officer accused of fatally beating a conscript. Cpl. Vadim Kalinin was charged with inflicting "deliberate bodily harm resulting in death" on Russian conscript Pvt. Sergei Sinkonen after Sinkonen's death [AP report] Monday from injuries. Prosecutors allege that Kalinin and Capt. Viktor Bal, currently under investigation but has not yet been charged in the case, beat Sinkonen and another soldier serving his mandatory military conscription period [HRW backgrounder] during a wedding celebration close to their units and then left the conscripts overnight in a dog kennel. The second conscript was released from the hospital after one week. General Konstantin Chmarov, acting head of Sinkonen's unit, was dismissed following the incident. AP has more.

Recent stories of abuse of younger conscripts by seasoned soldiers have greatly damaged the reputation of the Russian military. In February, Russian military prosecutors announced [JURIST report] that they planned to launch a probe into allegations that young conscripts are being forced into prostitution by fellow soldiers. Last year, a Russian military court found an army sergeant guilty of abuse of power and sentenced him to four years in jail for beating and torturing a conscript soldier [JURIST reports]. Faced with mounting conscription problems, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law last July that shortens the conscription term [JURIST report] and wipes out five accepted reasons for military draft deferments.

[JURIST] Hezbollah [party website, in Arabic; CFR backgrounder] is organizing lawsuits against Israel seeking reparations for damage caused during the summer 2006 Lebanon conflict [JURIST news archive]. Hezbollah legal affairs director Ibrahim Awada told Syrian media last week that Hezbollah will pay legal fees to facilitate lawsuits filed by Lebanese citizens with multiple-citizenships in third-party states. Hezbollah says the move was necessary because Lebanese officials were reluctant to pursue claims against Israel [JURIST news archive].

In July, Amnesty International [advocacy website] condemned both Israel and Hezbollah for failing to investigate alleged war crimes [JURIST report; press release] that occurred during the conflict. Amnesty also criticized the UN Security Council for its inaction and faulted the UN Human Rights Council [official website] for conducting a one-sided inquiry focusing only on alleged violations by Israel. In November, the UN rights body characterized the Israeli use of force in Lebanon as "excessive, indiscriminate, and disproportionate" [JURIST report] and in "flagrant violation" of international law. Haaretz has more.

[JURIST] UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband [official profile] Tuesday rejected calls for a general referendum on the proposed EU Reform Treaty [PDF text; EU materials], instead insisting [transcript] that the treaty is "different...in absolute essence" from the earlier draft European Constitution [JURIST news archive] that would have been put to a popular vote [JURIST report] and was in the best interest of the United Kingdom. During an interview with BBC Radio 4 [media website], Miliband sought to assuage worries that the treaty would infringe on British independence, saying that former Prime Minister Tony Blair's so-called four-non-negotiable "red lines" [JURIST report] had secured the United Kingdom's sovereignty in areas such as foreign policy and the judiciary. Blair himself rejected the referendum option [JURIST report] earlier this year before leaving office.

In recent weeks, members of both the opposition and the ruling Labour Party [party website] have urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown [BBC profile] to proceed with a general referendum [JURIST report] on the new pact. Critics contend the treaty is essentially the same as the failed EU charter and would erode British sovereignty without a democratic mandate. European diplomats are currently working to finalize details of the landmark agreement on the treaty [JURIST reports; press release] reached between EU members in June. Portugal, which took over the EU Presidency [official website] on July 1, is hoping to complete the negotiation process [JURIST report] by October so that member states can sign the treaty at a December summit and complete the ratification process before the June 2009 European parliamentary elections. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] Sudan [JURIST news archive] has failed to cooperate with the arrests of two suspects [ICC materials] wanted for allegedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official website] said Tuesday. Moreno-Ocampo told the UN News Centre that Sudan's decision to allow one of the suspects, Ahmad Muhammad Harun, to remain as Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs was "totally unacceptable." Moreno-Ocampo also said that the responsibility to execute the arrest warrants belongs to Sudan, and if no progress is made, he will report the issue to the UN Security Council [official website].

Sudan has previously responded to calls from the ICC chief prosecutor for the arrest of Sudanese war crime suspects by saying that the ICC does not have the jurisdiction [JURIST reports] to prosecute alleged war crimes in Darfur because Sudan has not ratified the ICC's Rome Statute [PDF text]. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Khek Iev [TrialWatch profile], also known as Duch, has appealed his pre-trial detention, Duch's lawyers said Wednesday. Lawyers filed the appeal last week asking that Duch be released on bail, but have declined to comment further on the filing. Duch has admitted to overseeing the notorious S-21 prison [backgrounder] and has indicated that he is willing to testify against other members of the Khmer Rouge [JURIST report].

Duch, one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders under investigation by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive], was arrested in 1999 on genocide charges and was subsequently charged by a military court with crimes against humanity in 2002 and war crimes [JURIST report] in March in an effort to keep Duch in custody while the ECCC started operations. 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 between 1975-1979. The genocide resulted in the deaths of approximately one-third of the Cambodian population. To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial, and the charges against Duch are first charges brought by the tribunal. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan [CBS profile; JURIST news archive] was reprimanded Wednesday following his conviction [JURIST report] earlier this week for disobeying an order not to discuss the investigation into allegations of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive]. The military jury followed the prosecution's recommendation of a reprimand and determined that Jordan should not be sentenced to prison. Jordan, the second highest intelligence officer at the prison when the abuses took place, could have received a sentence of up to five years imprisonment.

Jordan was convicted Tuesday on the disobeying an order charge, but was acquitted of failing to control soldiers under his command. Prosecutors initially charged [JURIST report] Jordan with seven violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice [text] including disobeying a superior commissioned officer, dereliction of duty, failure to obey a regulation, false swearing, cruelty and maltreatment, and interfering with an investigation. Two charges were dropped [JURIST report] before his court-martial began last week after new evidence came to light that Jordan provided statements to an official investigating the Iraqi prison abuse allegations without being properly read his rights, making his statements inadmissible. In his 2004 report [PDF text; JURIST report], Maj. Gen. George R. Fay recommended that Jordan and Col. Thomas Pappas [official profile], Jordan's superior, be punished for their roles in the abuse scandal. Pappas was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony against Jordan. Pappas testified during Jordan's Article 32 hearing [JURIST report] that Jordan was concerned that he did not have the proper training or experience to assume his role running the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center [backgrounder] at Abu Ghraib. Jordan is the only commissioned officer to be tried in connection with the prisoner abuse scandal. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Chile put the question of whether to extradite former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [personal website; JURIST news archive] on hold Tuesday as the court could not come to an agreement on further action in the case. Supreme Court President Alberto Chaigneau said that the case was very complex, and that the court had only reviewed one of the 12 counts against Fujimori. A decision is expected by September 5, when Chaigneau will leave the country for an international conference.

The review is a result of Peru's filing of an appeal to a lower court's ruling denying the government's request for extradition [JURIST reports]. Fujimori served as president of Peru from 1990 to 2000 and is currently under house arrest [JURIST report] in Chile. He was arrested in Chile [JURIST report] in December 2005 after flying into that country from Japan to campaign for the Peruvian presidency, despite having been officially banned from holding public office until 2010 [JURIST report]. He is currently running for a seat in the Japanese parliament [JURIST reports]. Xinhua has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Chile on Tuesday upheld the life sentence [press release, in Spanish] for former National Intelligence Centre (CNI) director General Hugo Salas Wenzel for his involvement in the murder of 12 suspected opposition members in 1987. The sentence is the most serious handed down by a Chilean court for crimes committed during the reign of former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The ruling cannot be further appealed.

Salas Wenzel was originally convicted for the killings in 2005, along with several officials who served under him at the CNI. Earlier this month, Chilean authorities announced the capture of former Gen. Raul Iturriaga Neumann [JURIST report], a former high-ranking intelligence official with the National Intelligence Directorate [FAS backgrounder] during Pinochet's rule. Pinochet, who died [JURIST report] last December without ever facing trial, ruled from 1973 to 1990 after staging a coup that displaced democratically elected President Salvador Allende [BBC profile]. Al Jazeera has more.

[JURIST] The White House has compiled a list of the top five candidates to replace US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile; JURIST news archive] as head of the Department of Justice, an anonymous White House official told AP Tuesday. According to the official, the Bush administration has spoken with over 20 congressional leaders on both sides of the party line about potential candidates for the position. It is unlikely, however, that a successor will be named before September 9, when Bush returns from an official visit to Australia.

Gonzales announced his resignation [letter, PDF; JURIST report] Monday, saying that it will take effect on September 17 [JURIST report]. His resignation follows months of controversy over the Justice Department's handling of the firings of eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive] and subsequent allegations that he may have perjured himself [JURIST report] in testimony before Congress. Current Solicitor General Paul Clement [official profile] will serve as acting attorney general after Gonzales leaves the Justice Department until the Senate confirms a new permanent attorney general. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Court of Appeal for Ontario [official website] on Tuesday overturned [judgment, PDF] the 1959 guilty verdict against Steven Truscott for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper. Last year, the Canadian appeals court heard new evidence suggesting that the death very likely may have occurred much later then prosecutors originally argued, when Truscott, then 14, was in school. After hearing the new evidence, the five-judge panel set aside the conviction, writing:

Based on evidence that qualifies as fresh evidence in these proceedings, we are satisfied that Mr. Truscott's conviction was a miscarriage of justice and must be quashed. We are further satisfied upon a review of the entirety of the evidentiary record and the additional material available to this court and not previously judicially considered, that if a new trial were possible, an acquittal would clearly be the likely result. The interests of justice dictate that we make that order. Mr. Truscott should stand acquitted of the murder of Lynne Harper.