[JURIST] US Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey [WH profile] told the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] in a letter [PDF text] released Friday that the Constitution does not preclude the president from wiretapping terrorism suspects without a warrant. His comments came in response to an earlier letter [PDF text; press release] in which committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] asked Mukasey to clarify his position on the scope of executive power, given Mukasey's statements in testimony that the Constitution and other laws did prohibit the president from authorizing torture. In his letter Mukasey wrote:

Warrantless surveillance for the collection of foreign intelligence requires a different analysis. As an initial matter, it is widely accepted that the Constitution does not require that all searches be conducted pursuant to a warrant. The Supreme Court and lower federal courts have upheld warrantless searches in numerous settings. Searches incident to arrest, border searches, and vehicle searches, to name a few examples, may be conducted without a warrant. Warrantless searches of this sort must still, of course, comply with the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement. The federal courts have treated warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence analogously, holding that the Constitution does not require a warrant, although it does require that the searches be reasonable….

[JURIST] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile] has signed new money laundering regulations meant to hinder the flow of funds to Hamas [BBC backgrounder] and to show foreign banks doing business with Palestinian counterparts that they are not violating US and Israeli counter-terrorism regulations. The new regulations include penalties of up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to 600,000 shekels (US $150,300). Abbas' Fatah [BBC backgrounder] movement claims Hamas receives money channeled through moneychangers and merchants from Iran and other Arab countries, as well as Islamic charities abroad. Hamas, meanwhile, said that the new law might reduce its cash flow but would not cut it off completely. AP has more.

Tensions between the Islamist Hamas and more secular Fatah factions heightened after Hamas defeated Fatah [JURIST report] in the 2006 Palestianian parliamentary elections, causing a major political shift in the region. Hamas refused to distance itself from terrorism or recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation-state, resulting in increased ostracism by the United States, the European Union, and Israel. Abbas eventually dissolved the Hamas-led government, but Hamas continues to exercise de facto power in Gaza [JURIST report] after a violent take-over [JP report] of the area in June. Fatah controls the West Bank. Earlier this week Amnesty International released a report criticizing Hamas and Fatah [JURIST report] for infighting that it said had destroyed the lives of hundreds of civilians and led to human rights abuses, including illegal detention and torture.

[JURIST] UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions [official website] Philip Alston [JURIST news archive] said Friday he is planning an official visit to the US to investigate allegations of unlawful killings by US military and non-military actors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Incidents like the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha [JURIST news archive], prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and civilian deaths caused by airstrikes in Afghanistan have all raised issues that Alston would like to investigate. At a news conference following his latest report [UN summary] to the UN Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) Alston said he wanted to include "non-state actors and military contractors" in reference to the September 16 killing of 17 Iraqis by the Blackwater security firm [JURIST report].

While praising the US for inviting him to visit, Alston expressed concern that almost 30 countries, including members of the UN Human Rights Council, have not responded to similar requests to visit them. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iraqi prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon [JURIST news archive] defended the death sentence for convicted Saddam Hussein-era defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai [TrialWatch profile] Friday, saying that al-Tai personally oversaw the deaths of 180,000 people during brutal military campaigns against Iraq's Kurds in late 1980's and that his use of chemical weapons and his in-court confession of involvement in the planning of the Anfal Campaign [HRW backgrounder] warranted his execution. His statements in a televised interview on Alhurra TV [media website], were a direct response to both Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani [BBC profile], who have publicly spoken out against al-Tai's planned execution. Al-Faroon argued that although Talabani and his Presidential council are able to pardon those sentenced to die by the Iraqi High Tribunal, this power did not apply to al Tai as a result of his conviction for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

In September Talabani said that al-Tai should receive clemency [JURIST report] because he was only acting under the threat of death from Hussein and had worked with the Kurdish community while he was an official in Hussein's regime. Al-Mashhadani echoed his concerns [JURIST report] Thursday, saying that al-Tai's execution would cause military officers to question their commanders' orders out of fear that they could be held accountable after the governing regime changes. Al-Tai and two other former officials from Saddam Hussein's regime, including Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid - known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali" [BBC profile] - were all convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity [JURIST news archive] in June for their roles in the Anfal Campaign. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Army Board for Correction of Military Records [official website] ruled Friday that a group of African-American soldiers court-martialed in 1944 for rioting and attacking Italian POWs held at at Seattle's Fort Lawton should have their convictions overturned. One Italian POW, Guglielmo Olivotto, was found hanged in the woods the morning after the riots. The ruling applies to Samuel Snow and three other former soldiers now deceased. The board found that the soldiers were denied the sufficient time to prepare a defense and were not allowed access to investigative records. Snow and the families of the deceased soldiers were able to petition the board with the help of US Representatives Jim McDermott [official website] and Duncan Hunter [official website].

The court-martial of the black troops was one of the largest during World War II. The soldiers were awaiting transshipment to New Guinea and were barracked near white Italian POWs who enjoyed better living conditions and fewer restrictions. Tensions broke out into violence one night after members of the two groups had too much to drink and started hurling insults. Originally 43 black soldiers were charged in connection with the incident; 28 of the 43 were convicted of rioting, two were convicted of manslaughter, and some were sentenced to as much as 25 years in prison. Of the 28, only Snow and another soldier are believed to be still alive. The ruling could lead to the convictions of the other 24 soldiers not covered by Friday's decision being overturned, allowing for their honorable discharge, and back pay and benefits for their families. AP has more. The Seattle Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] Myanmar's military junta has announced the release of 87 people held in the wake of the government's crackdown against protesters and political dissidents which began in August. The released prisoners include more than 50 members of the National League for Democracy, the pro-democracy political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The announcement follows reports [JURIST report] this week that UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile] has been given permission to visit the country in November to investigate alleged human rights abuses [press release].

In August and September the government detained an estimated 3,000 protesters [JURIST report] involved in anti-government demonstrations. According to the government, 10 people were killed by government soldiers who fired shots into nonviolent crowds [JURIST report] at protests in September; dissident groups claim that 200 people have been killed since the crackdown began. The protests only subsided when junta troops effectively locked down Myanmar's major cities. Last week the junta lifted a curfew and a ban on assembly [JURIST report] that was imposed during the protests. Reuters has more.