[JURIST] The Canadian government Monday rejected fresh allegations that members of the Taliban captured by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were tortured by Afghan investigators after being transferred from Canadian custody. According to Montreal's La Presse, three prisoners said they were tortured [La Presse report, in French] by Afghan authorities after receiving assurances from Canadian officials them that Afghanistan no longer tortured detainees. Government House leader Peter Van Loan said in response that Taliban detainees frequently make false accusations of torture and that their statements should not be taken at face value. Reuters has more.

Allegations [JURIST report] of mistreatment of transferred detainees surfaced earlier this year when the Toronto Globe and Mail reported [text] that more than 30 terrorism suspects had been tortured by Afghan investigators after being transferred from Canadian custody. An independent investigation found no evidence [press release; JURIST report] that the Canadian army "may have aided or abetted the torture of detainees" by transferring them to Afghan custody. As a result of public outcry, Canada signed a new agreement regarding detainee transfers [JURIST report] with the Afghan government, giving Canada the right to inspect detainees following their transfer. A separate investigation regarding detainee abuse while in Canadian custody is ongoing [JURIST report].

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak [official profile, DOC; JURIST news archive] said Monday that torture was widespread and routine throughout Sri Lanka. Nowak visited Sri Lanka in early October and reported to the Third Committee [official website] of the UN General Assembly that torture has become pervasive in the country's counter-terrorism procedures. While Sri Lanka had attempted to reduce torture with its 1994 Torture Act implementing the international Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [texts], Nowak noted that only three people have been convicted under the legislation and described "credible" allegations that detainees were still routinely mistreated by police and coerced into giving faulty confessions. Nowak's report comes two weeks after Sri Lanka rejected a UN monitoring mission [JURIST report] supported by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official website].

The Sri Lankan government has been fighting the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [CFR backgrounder] since 1972. In August, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] accused [PDF text] the government of being responsible for a dramatic increase in unlawful killings and other human rights violations [JURIST report]. In June, the government started systematically detaining ethnic Tamils until the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka stopped the practice [JURIST report]. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of State [official website] has sheltered bodyguards working for private security firm Blackwater USA [corporate website; JURIST news archive] from prosecution related to a September shooting incident [JURIST report] in Baghdad, according to AP on Monday. The guards, who allegedly fired on civilians, killing 17 and prompting the Iraqi government to withdraw Blackwater's operating license [JURIST report], have received so-called "Garrity protections" from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security [official website], the branch of the State Department that oversees private security firms. Garrity protections prohibit statements made by public law enforcement officers from being used against them in criminal prosecutions. According to AP, the guards received the protections because they were working for the US government in a law enforcement capacity. The protections constitute a new hurdle for prosecutors, who will now have to show that any evidence used against the Blackwater guards in the future was obtained independently of statements made by them to the State Department.

The Blackwater allegations have caused domestic outrage in Iraq and have prompted legal controversy in the US. Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over an investigation [JURIST report] of the incident from the Department of Justice [official websites], and has been attempting to obtain evidence without using statements made by the guards who were granted protection. Iraqi government investigators probing the killings have concluded that the Blackwater security detail's actions were unprovoked, and amounted to "deliberate murder" [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Milberg Weiss [firm website] partner William Lerach pleaded guilty to conspiracy Monday for his part in the firm's illegal kickback scheme. Lerach reached an agreement with prosecutors last month to plead guilty [press release; JURIST report] to conspiracy to obstruct justice and will forfeit $7.75 million to the government, pay a $250,000 fine, and serve one to two years in prison. Milberg Weiss co-founder Melvyn Weiss pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] earlier this month to federal charges of conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Lerach's guilty plea is the latest in the ongoing seven-year federal investigation of Milberg Weiss' alleged illegal kickback scheme. In May of 2006, a federal grand jury indicted [JURIST report] the firm and two name partners, David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman, on charges of conspiracy to make false statements and obstructing justice. Lerach was named as "Partner B" in the indictment [PDF text]. As part of the scheme, certain individuals who agreed to serve as class action representatives were promised 10 percent of the attorney fees eventually gathered by Milberg Weiss. Three individuals pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in connection with the scheme in May 2006, and former Milberg Weiss name partner David Bershad pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to conspiracy charges in July. AP has more.

[JURIST] An Italian appeals court on Monday affirmed the conviction of Egyptian Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed [CBC profile] for belonging to an international terrorist network, but reduced his sentence from ten years to eight. Ahmed was convicted on charges separate from those brought against him for his role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive]. Prosecutors had alleged that Ahmed helped plan [JURIST report] terrorist attacks in Italy and to recruit extremists in Milan. His trial started [JURIST report] in January.

After his conviction late last year, Ahmed was extradited to Spain, where he and 27 co-defendants were charged with 192 counts of murder and upwards of 1,800 counts of attempted murder related to the March 11, 2004 bombings, which killed 191 people and injured almost 2000 more. Spain's National Court announced [JURIST report] earlier this month that verdicts and sentences for all defendants would be announced on Wednesday. Prosecutors are seeking jail sentences for eight suspected ringleaders of nearly 39,000 years each [JURIST report], although the maximum time they could serve under Spanish law is 40 years. The defendants have all protested their innocence and condemned the attacks. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The government of Peru plans to file a complaint against Chile [JURIST news archives] with the International Court of Justice [official website] seeking resolution of the countries' maritime boundary dispute [LA Times report] in November or December, el Comercio reported Monday. While Peruvian Minister of External Relations Jose Antonia Garcia Belaunde informed his Chilean counterpart of the government's decision during the recent session of the UN General Assembly [official website], the news became public on Monday. Belaunde commented that the complaint involves a "technical, legal demand" which should not disrupt bilateral relations between the two countries.

After the ICJ settled a similar dispute [JURIST report] between Nicaragua and Honduras earlier this month, Peruvian officials deemed the ruling a "decisive precedent" which would bolster its own claim. Tensions between the two countries have escalated over a 10,000-mile strip of ocean which Peru claims was ceded to it under 1952 and 1954 treaties; Chile claims that the treaties involved fishing rights only. Chile is expected to reject the jurisdiction of the ICJ [Andina report] in the case. El Comercio has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Monday in Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prison [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], 06-9130, to determine whether a Federal Tort Claims Act [text] exception barring claims for detained property against "law enforcement officers" includes federal prison officials who seized a Muslim prisoner's Korans and prayer rug, or whether it only applies to officials working in a tax, excise, or customs capacity. The case was filed by Abdus-Shahid Ali, an inmate serving 20 years to life for first-degree murder, who says that prison officials working for both the District of Columbia Department of Corrections and the US Bureau of Prisons [official websites] illegally confiscated his religious property and harassed him for expressing his Muslim faith while in custody. In his lawsuit, Ali alleged that the exception for "law enforcement officers," as defined under the Act, does not extend to prison officials. Lawyers for the Department of Justice [official website] argued Monday that he had no right to bring suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act because the exception applies to all law enforcement officers, and that he should only be permitted to file an administrative complaint for his claims. The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit earlier this month affirmed [opinion, PDF] a lower court dismissal of Ali's claims, ruling that the prison officials fit under the exception. AP has more.

The Court also heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Monday in Klein & Co. Futures v. Board of Trade City of New York [LII case backgrounder; merit briefs], 06-1265, where it must consider whether futures commissions merchants, who enter into contracts for future delivery of commodities, engage in "transactions" as defined under the Commodity Exchange Act [text]. Klein & Co. filed its lawsuit against the New York Futures Exchange and the New York Board of Trade, alleging that two boards' price-fixing schemes caused Klein to lose its trading licenses and go out of business. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled [PDF text] that Klein & Co. lacked standing to bring suit because it did not engage in any of the transactions set forth in the Act.

[JURIST] A group of senior lawyers from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] have sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon urging the promotion of the current ICTY deputy prosecutor, American David Tolbert [UN press release], to ICTY chief prosecutor when Carla Del Ponte [official profile] steps down from the position at the end of this year, the Associated Press reported Monday. In a letter written in May, the 18 lawyers described Tolbert as a "champion of international criminal justice" and said that he would be an "outstanding" appointment during what was described as a "critical phase" of the ICTY's work. The letter was written amid reports that the UN was considering appointing Serge Brammertz [official profile], the former International Criminal Court deputy prosecutor currently heading the UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, to replace Del Ponte [JURIST report]. No replacement for Del Ponte has yet been named.

Del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney general, has served two four-year terms as the ICTY chief prosecutor. The United Nations Security Council has extended [press release] her term until December 31. Del Ponte was initially expected to step down in September [JURIST report], but in June she said she would stay until the end of the year while the UN chooses her replacement. Tribunal observers have suggested that the ICTY would be best served by an internal promotion as it is currently scheduled to complete its work by 2010. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] granted certiorari Monday in a dispute over the punitive damages to be paid by Exxon Mobil [corporate website] for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill [EPA backgrounder]. Exxon Mobil and its shipping subsidiary have been ordered to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages for the spill of 11 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska. According to its Order List [PDF text] Monday, the Court limited its review of Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker (07-219) [docket] to the following questions presented [cert. petition, PDF]:

1. May punitive damages be imposed under maritime law against a shipowner (as the Ninth Circuit held, contrary to decisions of the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits) for the conduct of a ship's master at sea, absent a finding that the owner directed, countenanced, or participated in that conduct, and even when the conduct was contrary to policies established and enforced by the owner?

2. When Congress has specified the criminal and civil penalties for maritime conduct in a controlling statute, here the Clean Water Act, but has not provided for punitive damages, may judge-made federal maritime law (as the Ninth Circuit held, contrary to decisions of the First, Second, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits) expand the penalties Congress provided by adding a punitive damages remedy?

3. Is this $2.5 billion punitive damages award, which is larger than the total of all punitive damages awards affirmed by all federal appellate courts in our history, within the limits allowed by (1) federal maritime law...?

[JURIST] US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [official website] said Sunday that unless US Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey [WH profile] clarifies that he believes waterboarding is torture, Graham will consider opposing Mukasey's nomination. Speaking on CBS News' Face The Nation [transcript, PDF], Graham said that if Mukasey does not express opposition to the use of waterboarding, it will raise serious doubts about Mukasey's ability to serve as Attorney General:

I thought he did a good job explaining himself, generally speaking. But he was asked a specific question about an interrogation technique called waterboarding. I am convinced, as an individual senator, as a military lawyer for 25 years, that waterboarding, the technique that was described to Judge Mukasey does violate the Geneva Convention, does violate our war crimes statute and is clearly illegal under domestic and international law, and I think it would serve the attorney general nominee well to embrace that concept. He's talked around it. But you know, I want to win this war. And the way we win this war is to adhere to our values, don't adopt the enemies' values. The rule of law is something... that we embrace, and so I hope he will give a direct answer to that question. ...

I am urging him that he needs to come forward. If he does not believe that waterboarding is illegal, then that would really put doubts in my own mind because I don't think you have to be very--have a lot of knowledge about the law to understand this technique violates Geneva Convention Common Article III, the war crimes statute, and many other statutes that are in place.

there's been too many mixed messages out of this administration about torture. There's been too many activities at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib which constitute torture, which constitute inhumane treatment in violation of law. This has worked very heavily against us in terms of the enemies'--our enemies'--the terrorists' use of these tactics. He is sending a mixed message in his testimony. He should not be confirmed unless he is very, very clear about these aggressive techniques which violate our laws, and violate Geneva as being totally unacceptable because the attorney general is supposed to be at the head of the Department of Justice talking about what our values are, because those values are the things that have made this country strong and powerful and attractive, and they're essential that they be maintained for our own security.

ALSO ON JURIST  Op-ed: Waterboarding: The Key Question for Mukasey | Op-ed: Mukasey on Torture: Of Sins, Mistakes and Crimes

[JURIST] Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed [party profile; JURIST news archive] on Monday denied accusations of corruption during questioning by officials from the country's anti-corruption commission [governing statute, PDF], according to Hasina's lawyer. Hasina was questioned at the converted prison where she has been held since her July arrest on charges [JURIST report] that she allegedly extorted approximately $1.16 million from two businessmen. In September, Hasina was charged with another count of corruption [JURIST report] relating to a bribe supposedly taken from a Bangladesh power company.

Hasina is also charged with other counts of corruption and with murder [JURIST reports] stemming from the deaths of four protesters during political turmoil last October. She is among some 150 leading Bangladeshis arrested by the new interim government since emergency rule was declared [JURIST report] in January. Hasina was prime minister between 1996 and 2001 and is the the leader of the opposition Awami League [party website]. The interim government has also filed corruption charges against Hasina's rival, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia [UN profile]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Several human rights groups have challenged [press release] Israel's decision to reduce fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder] and its plan to cut the electricity supply, saying Sunday that the move could create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Gisha [advocacy website] and nine other human rights groups requested an injunction from the the Israeli Supreme Court Sunday, immediately following the government's announcement that it will cut back the energy supply to Gaza. The human rights groups say fuel supplies will be cut by 30 percent, while the Israeli government said the cut-back amounts to 11 percent. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Monday that cutting back fuel supplies was the only option the Israeli government had aside from a full-scale military operation. The government hopes the cut in fuel supplies will pressure Hamas to stop rocket attacks against Israeli towns.

Tensions between hard-line Islamist Hamas and the more secular Fatah [BBC backgrounders] heightened after Hamas defeated Fatah [JURIST report] in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, causing a major political shift in the region. Hamas has 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. Palestinian President Mahmoud 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. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two Egyptian journalists and an opposition leader have been sentenced to a month in prison after being convicted in absentia of libel, court officials said Sunday. The journalists, Anwar el-Hawari and Younes Darwish, of opposition party Al-Wafd's daily newspaper and Al-Wafd leader Mahmoud Abaza, have appealed the verdict and remain free on bail. Two lawyers from the ruling National Democratic Party [party website] brought the action against the defendants after Al-Wafd [media website, in Arabic] published a story about an illegal land transaction from the Ministry of Religious Endowments at a secret auction, despite the fact that Abaza has immunity as a parliamentary member himself.

Earlier this month, the trial [JURIST report] of controversial al-Dustour [media website] editor Ibrahim Eissa [al-Ahram profile] began on charges of allegedly spreading rumors about the health of Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak [official profile] in an August newspaper report. Last June, Eissa was sentenced [JURIST report] to one year in prison for publishing a report critical of Mubarak, but an appeals court reduced the sentence to a $4,000 fine. Under Egyptian law, citizens may file lawsuits against individuals who make statements that harm society, and the accused can face criminal punishment if found guilty. Last month, a court sentenced the editors of four tabloids [JURIST report] for publishing criticisms of Mubarak and the ruling National Democratic Party.

Many rights groups have criticized Egypt in recent years for its stance on freedom of expression. Last month, the Bush administration, in commenting on a recent order by the Egypt government mandating the closure of the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid [advocacy website], expressed concern about "setbacks on press freedom and civil society" in Egypt, calling recent decisions a "contradiction" of the Egyptian government's "stated commitment to expand democratic rights." Mubarak has previously pledged to decriminalize press offenses [JURIST report], but has yet to do so. AP has more.

[JURIST] The American Bar Association (ABA) [official website] said Monday that there are serious flaws in the fairness and accuracy of several state death penalty systems [project website], and called for a nationwide moratorium on executions [JURIST report]. The ABA task force studied eight sample states - Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee [JURIST reports] - and found poor collection and preservation of DNA evidence, misidentification by eyewitnesses, false confessions and racial disparities.

The ABA study did not examine lethal injections [JURIST news archive], a form of execution that has come under fire nationwide recently. Several states have placed a moratorium on lethal injections pending US Supreme Court review in Baze v. Rees (07-5439) [docket; cert. petition]. In that case, the Court will consider whether the controversial three-drug mixture [DPIC backgrounder] of an anesthetic, a muscle paralyzer and a substance to stop the heart constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Several constitutional challenges to the procedure have arisen across the country, arguing that the first drug fails to make the inmate fully unconscious, thereby making the inmate suffer excruciating pain when the heart-stopping drug is injected. AP has more.