[JURIST] Democrats in the US House of Representatives introduced a draft bill [PDF text; summary, PDF] Tuesday designed to "modernize" the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive]. The so-called RESTORE Act of 2007 ("Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective Act of 2007") would increase court oversight of the Terrorist Surveillance Program [DOJ fact sheet; JURIST news archive] run by the National Security Agency. The bill, introduced by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), would replace the Protect America Act 2007 [S 1927 materials; RESTORE vs. PAA comparison, PDF], which was passed [JURIST report] by Congress in August as a temporary FISA update.

According to a statement [text] from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the bill "crafts a careful balance between security and freedom and it makes clear that FISA is the law of the land." Nadler outlined several key provisions of the proposal:

the Conyers-Reyes bill reinforces the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in regards to electronic surveillance programs, clarifies that foreign to foreign communications do not require court approval, and requires that FISA warrants are required when targeting domestic communications.

The bill also requires periodic audits of surveillance activities by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General. Additionally, the bill provides resources for the National Security Agency and the Justice Department for the purposes of processing FISA applications and other submissions to the FISA court in a timely and efficient manner, and to comply with the audit, reporting and record keeping requirements.

Also, in a key victory for civil liberties, the bill does not include immunity for telecommunications companies that may have broken the law when they participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official website] on Tuesday urged Afghanistan to reinstate a moratorium on executions [statement]. Afghanistan executed 15 prisoners by firing squad [JURIST report] Sunday and Arbour said that "the circumstances of the executions may constitute a breach of Afghanistan's obligations under international law." Arbour's comments follow a statement [text; UN News report] issued by the top UN envoy to Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs [official profile], calling on Afghanistan to "continue working towards attaining highest human rights standards and ensuring that due process of law and the rights of all citizens are respected." The UN News Centre has more. AP has additional coverage.

Earlier this year, Rome-based anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain [advocacy website] released a report [text; press release] stating that the number of executions worldwide increased slightly in 2006 while the number of countries that employ capital punishment decreased. According to statistics compiled from news reports and NGOs, there were 5628 executions in 27 countries in 2006, up from 5494 executions in 24 countries in 2005. At the same time, three countries abolished the death penalty [JURIST news archive] last year, reducing the number of countries that use capital punishment to 51. In total, 146 countries have either abolished or placed a moratorium on the death penalty.

[JURIST] US District Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court [official website] has directly intervened to block the transfer of a Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee to Tunisia, where he faced the threat of torture. In her decision last week, which was not made public until Tuesday, Kessler granted a preliminary injunction [order, PDF] preventing the Defense Department from transferring Mohammed Abdul Rahman [Wikipedia profile] until the Supreme Court rules in a case currently on its docket concerning the rights of Guantanamo detainees.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported earlier this month that Tunisian officials were mistreating and abusing two former Guantanamo Bay detainees [JURIST report] since their transfer [JURIST report] in June. Since 2002, approximately 435 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo and approximately 330 detainees remain [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The corruption and violence permeating the Nigerian government have reached crisis levels, according to a report [text; press release] issued Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. Comparing the behavior of the Nigerian government to a criminal organization, the HRW report said that politicians use hired thugs to intimidate voters and critics, often staying in office for years without fear of punishment. The report warned that corruption has become so endemic that immediate action is needed to save Nigerian democracy. HRW called on Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua [BBC profile] to keep his campaign pledge to bring law and democracy to the nation. Yar'Adua is the first civilian president to win an election and to serve following another civilian leader. HRW urged Yar'Adua to hold the government and its officials accountable to the citizens of Nigeria.

Nigeria faces continuing challenges of government corruption, with the national Senate previously indicting former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Akubakar on charges of diverting public funds for private use [JURIST report]. In May, 25 judicial officials were removed [JURIST report] from their offices in the Lagos State Judiciary [official website] following allegations of corruption and bribery. In July, former state governor Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha [BBC profile] was sentenced [JURIST report] to a total of 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to six counts of corruption and money laundering. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website] Tuesday sentenced [press release, PDF] two former leaders of Sierra Leone's Civil Defense Forces (CDF) [SCSL case materials] - Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa - to six and eight years imprisonment, respectively. The sentences will run from the date they were initially imprisoned in 2003. Fofana and Kondewa [TrialWatch profiles] were convicted [JURIST report] last month of "murder, cruel treatment, pillage, and collective punishment." Kondewa was also convicted for the recruitment of child combatants under the age of 15. Both defendants were acquitted of crimes against humanity and charges of terrorism.

Explaining the sentences Tuesday, the court said:

Prosecutors had asked for longer terms of imprisonment, but Presiding Judge Justice Benjamin Itoe, in reading out today's sentencing judgment, pointed to a number of mitigating factors which the Court held justified shorter sentences. These included the CDF's efforts to restore Sierra Leone's democratically-elected government which, the Trial Chamber noted, "contributed immensely to re-establishing the rule of law in this Country where criminality, anarchy and lawlessness...had become the order of the day".

[JURIST] Pennsylvania's death penalty system [PA DOC materials] is so flawed that it has denied defendants of due process and could result in wrongful executions, the American Bar Association death penalty assessment team [ABA materials] said Tuesday. The team's report [PDF text; executive summary, PDF] identified several problems [fact sheet, DOC] with the Pennsylvania system, including a failure to ensure competent legal representation for the accused, racial and geographical bias, a lack of adequate pre-conviction safeguards and meaningful post-conviction review, and ineffective instructions to capital case jurors of their roles and responsibilities. ABA President William H. Neukom noted that it was "critical" that deficiencies in the system be corrected [press release], saying that "It is important to have a fair and accurate process, not just for the accused but also for the victims and for the public." The Philadelphia Inquirer has local coverage. The ABA Journal has additional coverage.

Pennsylvania is the latest of seven states [ABA materials] to have their death penalty systems reviewed since 2001, including Georgia, Ohio, and Alabama [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] Party allies of opposition leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile] Tuesday renewed calls for unconditional talks [JURIST report] between Suu Kyi and junta leader Senior General Than Shwe [BBC profile]. Members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) urged the military government to drop its condition that Suu Kyi abandon support for international sanctions [JURIST report] against the military regime, emphasizing that the meeting was crucial to resolving Myanmar's problems. The NLD pushed for unconditional talks in the "spirit of give and take."

On Monday, the junta leadership said that Suu Kyi would likely not be released from house arrest [JURIST report] until a new constitution for the country is approved. She has spent 11 of the past 17 years in prison or under house arrest for alleged violations of an anti-subversion law [text]. The country has been governed without a constitution since the military regime took power in 1988 and talks on a new national charter [JURIST report] have been underway for 14 years. Suu Kyi has not had contact with the NLD since 2004. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Rhode Island Supreme Court [official website] Tuesday heard arguments in a case on whether a lesbian couple legally married in Massachusetts has the right to divorce in Rhode Island. In Chambers v. Ormiston [GLAD amicus brief, PDF; additional case materials], Rhode Island residents Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers are seeking to end their 2004 Massachusetts marriage. Lawyers for the couple argued Tuesday that if the divorce is not permitted in Rhode Island, the couple's only recourse is to move to Massachusetts and establish residency for a divorce in that state, which lawyers said would be an unfair burden. Lawyers for each side stressed that the case does not consider whether an out-of-state same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island, rather focusing only on the parties' right to divorce.

In September 2006, a Massachusetts court ruled [JURIST report] that same-sex couples from Rhode Island must be allowed to wed in Massachusetts because Rhode Island does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriage through its state constitution, statutes or appellate court decisions. In February, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch [official profile] issued a nonbinding advisory letter [PDF text; JURIST report] saying that Rhode Island will recognize same-sex marriages of state employees performed in Massachusetts. Lynch said that same-sex employee partners married in Massachusetts would be granted the same benefits as heterosexual married couples. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Tuesday in Stoneridge Investment v. Scientific-Atlanta [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], 06-43, to determine when a "secondary" actor in securities fraud, such as a bank, lawyer, or accountant, can be treated as a "primary" actor in terms of shared liability for the actions. The case was filed by cable giant Charter Communications [corporate website] investors against two Charter suppliers alleged to have aided Charter executives in misrepresenting the company's revenues. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit had dismissed [opinion, PDF] claims for liability because the defendants had been found to be aiders and abettors to securities fraud, not primary violators. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia questioned whether allowing a suit against secondary actors unfairly expands shareholders' rights. AP has more.

The Court also heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] in Watson v. United States [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs ], 06-571, in which it considered whether a mandatory five-year sentence must be imposed in conjunction with a drug crime because a gun has be "used." The Court examined whether an unloaded handgun traded as payment for drugs can be said to have been "used" under 18 USC Section 924(c)(1)(A) [text], an issue on which the circuits have split. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled [PDF text] that Watson had "used" the handgun sufficient to support his conviction and sentence.

[JURIST] A military court in Jordan [JURIST news archive] Tuesday sentenced Dr. Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi [advocacy website], a former member of parliament and head of the Jordanian National Movement [party website], to two years in prison after convicting him on charges that included slandering officials, harming the government's reputation, and violating government laws regarding e-mail practices. The charges stem from an e-mail letter [DOC text] sent by al-Abaddi and Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Mualla, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Jordanian National Movement, to US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [official website] in May in which the authors denounced the "corrupt regime" of King Abdullah II [official website]. Al-Abbadi was subsequently arrested [LA Times report; case backgrounder] for sending the allegedly slanderous e-mail. Al-Abbadi can appeal Tuesday's ruling.

In May, Human Rights Watch urged the Jordanian government [press release] to free al-Abbadi, arguing it should not rely on laws that curb free speech and violate international human rights standards. Reporters Without Borders has also condemned [press release] Jordan for detaining al-Abbadi. AP has more.

[JURIST] Approximately 40 inmates in a Tanzania prison awaiting trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] began a hunger strike Monday to protest the planned transfer of three ICTR cases to the national courts of Rwanda. In September, the ICTR prosecutor asked the tribunal to transfer the cases so that the prosecution could be completed before the end of the ICTR's mandate in December 2008. The prisoners complained in a letter dated October 5 that the Rwandan government could not ensure fair trials and asked the UN to either extend the ICTR's mandate or transfer the cases to countries other than Rwanda [JURIST news archive].

In August, the ICTR revoked [JURIST report] a previous order transferring the case against Michel Bagaragaza [TrialWatch profile; ICTR materials] to a local court in the Netherlands, after the country expressed doubt that its court system could handle the trial. The ICTR was established to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict [BBC backgrounder] between Hutus and Tutsis. The ICTR began the process of transferring genocide cases to Rwandan courts after the country abolished the death penalty [JURIST reports] earlier this year. Hirondelle News Agency has more. DPA has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday denied [order, PDF] without comment the petition for certiorari filed by Khaled el-Masri [JURIST news archive] against the US government, ostensibly supporting the Bush administration's contention that allowing el-Masri's lawsuit [complaint, PDF; ACLU materials] to proceed would require the revelation of state secrets. El-Masri, a German national of Lebanese descent, claims that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] kidnapped him while he was traveling to Macedonia in 2003, and transported him to a secret detention facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was held for four months. According to the lawsuit, el-Masri was released in Albania in 2004 without charge or funds to return to Germany. El-Masri also alleges that CIA agents beat, stripped, and bound him during the flight to Kabul. Former CIA director George Tenet has said that he does not believe el-Masri's claims, while the Bush administration has neither confirmed nor denied that he was subject to the extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive]. The lawsuit represents an appeal from the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to uphold [JURIST report] the dismissal of the case because of the state secrets privilege enjoyed by the government.

Last month, the German Justice Ministry said that it would not press a formal request [JURIST report] to extradite the 13 CIA agents suspected of participating in el-Masri's alleged rendition after the Bush administration informed them it would not comply with such a request. In June 2006, a German investigator concluded that no evidence had surfaced to disprove el-Masri's story [JURIST report], though German officials have denied [JURIST report] that Germany had any knowledge of the alleged kidnapping. El-Masri was ordered [JURIST report] to a psychiatric institution earlier this year for suspicion of arson. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi government intends to oust Blackwater USA [corporate website], the private security firm involved in a September shooting incident [JURIST report], from its borders over the next six months, according to a report complied by Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi National Police. The report, which is the culmination of an investigation [JURIST report] by the Iraqi government into the shooting incident, also asserts that Iraq is the proper venue for prosecution of Blackwater agents and called for the extradition of the 16 security agents suspected of involvement in the incident. The report further demands that Blackwater pay eight million dollars in compensatory damages to each of the victims' families. It also concluded that Blackwater personnel killed 21 and wounded 27 civilians in previous shootings, although it did not recommend for or against prosecution in those cases.

On September 16, Blackwater guards allegedly fired on civilians, prompting the Iraqi government to withdraw Blackwater's operating licenses [JURIST report]. Blackwater maintains that the shootings were provoked [JURIST report], and has made long-term plans to stay in Iraq, despite an order to leave. The Iraqi government's investigation found no evidence [JURIST report] that the Blackwater guards had been attacked or provoked, and raised the death toll to 17 from the previously reported 13. The Iraqi government called for the Blackwater personnel involved in the shooting to be prosecuted in Iraqi courts, but deferred legal action until the US completes an FBI investigation into the incident [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] European laws need to be strengthened in order to more effectively fight organized crime throughout Europe, Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said Monday. Gratteri is investigating the August slayings of six Italians in Duisburg, Germany [BBC report], widely believed to be the result of a decades-old feud involving the Italian 'ndrangheta [BBC backgrounder] mob. Gratteri noted that 'ndrangheta has spread throughout Europe, becoming the biggest cocaine dealer in Europe, and that Europe needs to now consider 'ndgrangheta and other mob organizations a European-wide issue, rather than just an Italian issue. Prosecutors estimate that organized crime operations in Italy and throughout Europe are worth $50 billion, including loan-sharking, extortion and arms trafficking. 'Ndrangheta allegedly launders the money through businesses it purchased throughout Europe in the 1990s.

Gratteri added that Italy is better equipped to handle organized crime investigations than many European countries because Italy has such flexible wire-tapping laws and makes it a crime to simply associate with a mob organization. Other European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain require a higher standard to be guilty of a mob-related crime. AP has more.

[JURIST] Serbian police arrested 56 neo-Nazis for protesting the potential independence of Kosovo from Serbia [JURIST news archives] despite a ban against their planned demonstration, Serbian police said Monday. The arrests were made after fighting broke out Sunday between the neo-Nazis protesters and a group of anti-fascists, who were holding a counter-protest. The anti-fascist organizers accused Serbian police of failing to protect the demonstrators and demanded an explanation Monday for why the neo-Nazis were even allowed to gather to form their protest. Liberal Party leader Cedomir Jovanovic called for the resignation of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, saying it was the government's duty to demonstrate to neo-Nazis that the government will not tolerate Nazism. The government banned the neo-Nazi demonstration [BIRN report] last month after the Simon Wiesenthal Center [museum website] alleged the planned march was actually to celebrate the birthday of SS chief Heinrich Himler. AP has more.

The Neo-Nazi movement has been making headlines worldwide in recent months. In September, Israeli police arrested a gang of neo-Nazis [JURIST report] accused of attacking foreigners, homosexuals and Jewish people. In August, writer Gerd Honsik was arrested by Spanish police [JURIST report] for allegedly writing books denying the Holocaust; Honsik had already been convicted of neo-Nazi activities in his native Austria in 1992. Last year, the German Federal Office for Protection of the Constitution issued a report showing an increase in neo-Nazi violence [JURIST report], with nearly three attacks related to right-wing extremism occurring daily in Germany.

[JURIST] American Electric Power (AEP) [corporate website] has settled a lawsuit for $4.6 billion with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website], 12 environmental groups and eight northeastern states. The settlement is expected to be formally announced Tuesday, the same day the lawsuit was set to go to trial. Under the terms of the settlement, which must be approved by US District Judge Edmund Sargus, AEP will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions [EPA materials] by at least 69 percent over the next 10 years, pay $4.6 billion in pollution controls to reduce the causes of acid rain [EPA materials], and pay $15 million in civil penalties and $60 million in cleanup costs. The plaintiffs had alleged that AEP rebuilt coal-fired power plants without installing pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act [EPA materials]. AEP will clean up 46 coal-fired operations in 16 plants in the northeast and mid-Atlantic region.

Many environmentalists believe that acid rain caused by coal-fired power plants has caused severe pollution in the northeast, including erosion of the Statute of Liberty and the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. AEP spokesman Pat Hemlepp said that AEP plans to spend only $1.6 billion to install emission reducing machines in two plants, adding that the $4.6 billion figure quoted to AP likely included money AEP has already spent or committed to cleanup efforts outside of the settlement agreement. AP has more.