[JURIST] The government of Sudan [JURIST news archive] Sunday announced it had laid criminal charges against 25 opposition politicians. The announcement came one month after the country's Court of Appeal rejected a request [JURIST report] for the release of the members of the opposition Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Umma Party for Reform and Renewal. The charges include illegal possession of firearms, organizing terrorist groups, abetting mutiny, holding illegal military training and calling for opposition to public authority using criminal force. Sudan's Criminal Procedure Act of 1983 allows for the detention of suspects under investigation for up to two weeks before they must be released or charged. The suspects, all taken at gunpoint from their homes, were in custody for almost four months after a flurry of arrests [Reuters report] before being charged.

The 25 detainees, including Umma Party for Reform and Renewal leader Mubarak al-Fadil, his secretary-general Abdel Jalil al-Basha, DUP deputy secretary-general Ali Mahmoud Hassanein and retired police, security and army officers, plan to take their case to the country's Supreme Court. Amnesty International, citing medical reports, continues to accuse the government of torturing and mistreating the detainees [AI report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] is expected to decide this week if a bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive] will grant immunity from prosecution to telecommunications companies [JURIST report] that assisted in government eavesdropping between 2001 and 2007. The bill would replace the Protect America Act 2007 (PAA) [S 1927 materials], legislation passed [JURIST report] in August that temporarily gave the executive branch expanded surveillance authority while Congress worked on long-term legislation to "modernize" FISA. Kenneth Wainstein, an assistant attorney general with the US Department of Justice, called on the Senate two weeks ago to include a provision granting blanket immunity [JURIST report] to the companies and to eliminate a proposal to extend the jurisdiction of the court that administers FISA to cover surveillance of United States citizens located outside the country. The White House has promised to veto any bill that does not meet the immunity condition.

Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Donald Kerr has meanwhile said that it is time Americans changed their definition of privacy. In a speech [PDF text] to the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation [advocacy website] in late October, Kerr said, "Privacy no longer can mean anonymity... in our interconnected and wireless world, anonymity–or the appearance of anonymity–is quickly becoming a thing of the past... Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won." AP has more.

[JURIST] US Army Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley [JURIST news archive] was acquitted [AP report] at court-martial late last week of premeditated murder charges related to the separate deaths of three Iraqi civilians in April and May this year in the vicinity of Iskandariyah [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], according to a statement [text] issued by the US military Saturday. He was, however, convicted under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice of wrongfully placing an AK-47 rifle with the remains of one Iraqi man and was also found guilty under UCMJ Article 89 for showing disrespect to a superior commissioned officer. Hensley, a sniper and platoon sergeant with the 25th Infantry Regiment, 501st Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, was sentenced [LA Times report] to time served, given a demotion to the rank of sergeant, and received a letter of reprimand as punishment. In August, Hensley had rejected a plea deal [JURIST report] and maintained his innocence of the charges. The New York Times has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

In September, another US Army soldier from Hensley's unit, Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, was found not guilty [JURIST report] of similar charges. Hensley, Sandoval, and a third soldier, Sgt. Evan Vela, were all charged [JURIST report] in June with premeditated murder and wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of deceased Iraqis.

[JURIST] Two Pakistani bar leaders warned Sunday that the government of President Pervez Musharraf is drafting papers to get Musharraf's declaration of emergency [PDF text] and Provisional Constitution Order [text] validated by the new Supreme Court put in place by Musharraf after proclaiming emergency rule. Former Supreme Court Bar Association president Hamid Khan [Wikipedia profile] and Vice Chairperson of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) [profession website] Mirza Aziz Akbar Beg claimed in a press release that

the government is vigorously following a policy of deceit. The Musharaf [sic] regime has no intentions to restore democracy or respect the rule of law...The leaders of the bar have credible information that Mr Iqbal Tikka, who has been notoriously hosting General Musharaf at his residen[ce], has filed one such decoy petition. The Bar Associations have no doubt that it is being filed to wangle a stamp of legitimacy to the illegal acts of this government. Any rubber stamp judgment of the PCO judges will not be accepted by the legal fraternity and they will continue to oppose this judicial farce. The leaders of the bar have called upon the lawyers to remain watchful of such nefarious acts of the government.

[JURIST] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] accused the US military on Sunday of thwarting Iraqi attempts to execute Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], better known in Western media as "Chemical Ali," and two other former members of Saddam Hussein's former regime. The Iraqi Prime Minister said the US embassy in Iraq had played an "unfortunate role" in preventing the handover of the three prisoners, who, like most other high-ranking members of Hussein's government, remain in US military custody. In expressing his "determination to ensure that the sentences are carried out," Maliki requested that the prisoners "be delivered so the decision against them can be implemented." US commanders have said that al-Majid will not be transferred until they receive an "authoritative government of Iraq request." BBC News has more.

The Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced [JURIST report] al-Majid to death in June on genocide and war crimes charges. The Tribunal's Appeals Chamber upheld the death sentence [JURIST report] in September. Iraq's Presidency Council, including Kurdish President Jalal Talibani, Shi'ite Vice-President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, and Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, have nonetheless refused to sign any execution order [JURIST report]. An Iraqi judge said in September that presidential approval is not required [JURIST report] to carry out an execution for al-Majid and his co-defendants, but al-Hashemi reasserted in October that the presidency did in fact have the power to block the carrying out of the death sentences [AP report], regardless of their approval by al-Maliki.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile] flew into Myanmar on Sunday to investigate the military government's crackdown on protesters [JURIST report] going on since September. Pinheiro's trip comes three weeks after the junta in Myanmar agreed [JURIST report] to allow the UN rights expert into the country. He has been blocked from visiting Myanmar since 2003. Pinheiro submitted a proposed itinerary to Myanmar's military junta, but it had not been approved Sunday night when he arrived. The UN representative has promised to leave the country if not given full cooperation.

The announcement of Pinheiro's trip came as UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari [official profile] continued his tour of Southeast Asia after visiting the country [JURIST report] earlier this month. Gambari plans to return to Myanmar in November in order to continue efforts to encourage the country's military junta to move towards democratization and reconciliation in the wake of the government crackdown against protesters which began in August. The crackdown started when Myanmar [JURIST news archive] security officers arrested hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrating against rising fuel prices and human rights abuses by the military regime. Protests only subsided when junta troops effectively locked down Myanmar's major cities. At least 10 people were killed when government soldiers shot into protesting crowds [JURIST report] and the government has said that some 3,000 people were arrested for participating in the protests. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [official website; BBC profile] said Sunday that Pakistan would hold anticipated parliamentary elections before January 9, but set no time limit to the emergency rule [JURIST report] he declared a week ago. At a press conference in Islamabad Musharraf claimed the state of emergency was necessary to ensure a fair election and for fighting Taliban and al Qaeda linked terrorists. International critics have expressed dismay [JURIST report] at the government's dismissal of top judges, its detention of hundreds of lawyers and opposition activists, and its restriction of independent television programming. Musharraf nonetheless said he expects no foreign sanctions for his recent measures.

On Sunday, Musharraf also accused former Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] of corruption and illegal interference in government affairs, vowing that he and his dismissed high court colleagues would never return to the court. Chaudhry is one of seven Supreme Court judges who refused to retake the oath of office under Musharraf's emergency rule [JURIST report]. Musharraf originally suspended Chaudhry from the court [JURIST report] in March, hoping to forestall legal challenges to extending his eight-year rule by another five years. After massive protests led by lawyers across Pakistan, Chaudhry was reinstated in July [JURIST report]. He and the other dismissed judges have been under virtual house arrest since last week, as the government continues to arrest lawyers and senior bar leaders in an attempt to end protests. AFP has more.

Musharraf issued his proclamation of emergency rule [PDF text; JURIST report] on November 3rd, ahead of a much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on whether Musharraf had been eligible to run for re-election [JURIST reports] for president while remaining chief of the army. Media reports suggested that the court had already prepared a ruling against Musharraf, but Musharraf's Provisional Constitution Order [text] barred the high court and any court from making "any order against the President or the Prime Minister or any person exercising powers or jurisdiction under this authority." AP has more.

[JURIST] United Nations researchers called for a global ban on human cloning in a report [PDF text] issued Saturday. The United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies [official website] did not call for a ban on all types of cloning, recommending that therapeutic cloning for research purpose be allowed to continue, but did strongly recommend the outlawing of reproductive cloning.

In 2005, the UN General Assembly passed [JURIST report] a non-binding resolution [PDF text] 84-34 that called for a total ban on human cloning after negotiations for a binding treaty collapsed. UNESCO's Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights [text] calls for a ban on human cloning. Over 50 countries have thus far banned human cloning domestically. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Saturday promulgated an amending ordinance to the Army Act of 1952 allowing military courts to try civilians on a wide-range of charges ranging from treason to "assaulting the president." The act as amended also gives Pakistani security agencies wide powers of detention. The ordinance is to take effect immediately but be applicable to offences committed from January 2003. Observers suggest that the transfer of civilian matters to the military courts is an effort to end-run alleged problems with civilian court adjudication of terrorism cases. PTI has more. Dawn has local coverage.

The amendment was mooted [JURIST report] by the government at the beginning of November before Pakistan came under emergency rule but was specifically promulgated Saturday under the government's emergency powers. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan [advocacy website] has objected to the ordinance, saying that Pakistan intelligence agencies should not have any additional powers and that the amendment could lead to the creation of summary military courts, which the Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] has already banned. ANI has more.