[JURIST] Commonwealth foreign ministers meeting in Uganda [meeting website] announced Thursday that they had agreed to suspend Pakistan from the group of 53 nations "pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in that country." A statement [text] issued by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group [official website] (CMAG) said that despite progress in Pakistan since President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on November 3, the conditions it had set out [JURIST report] earlier in the month for avoiding the country's suspension had not been met: the state of emergency had not been lifted, the Constitution and independence of the judiciary had not been restored, and "fundamental rights and rule of law remain curtailed." CMAG concluded that Pakistan therefore continued to represent a serious violation of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values set out under its Harare Declaration [text] and would be excluded from participation at all inter-governmental Commonwealth meetings and activities. The Telegraph has more.

This is the second time Pakistan has been suspended from the Commonwealth in recent years. It was last excluded in 1999 immediately after Musharraf led a military coup against a civilian government. That exclusion lasted until 2004.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Chile [official website] on Wednesday upheld an appeals court decision to drop embezzlement charges [JURIST report] brought against the widow and five sons of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive; BBC profile]. The six were originally indicted [PDF text, in Spanish; JURIST report] along with 17 others [full list, in Spanish] on October 4 in connection with allegations that Pinochet had embezzled $25 million in government funds. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed with the lower court's decision that since the accused were not government employees, they could not be charged with embezzling government funds. Charges against a spokesman and several advisers to Pinochet were also dropped.

Pinochet died of a heart attack [JURIST report] in December 2006 without ever facing trial on multiple charges of tax evasion and human rights violations. Last week, the Supreme Court affirmed seven convictions and overturned one [JURIST report] in cases involving murders committed by state agents during Pinochet's 1973-90 regime. The court based its decision on the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials], finding that Chile was in a state of internal armed conflict when the murder occurred. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UN General Assembly Third Committee Wednesday approved [press release] a draft resolution [PDF text] imploring the government of Belarus [JURIST news archive] to uphold its "obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfil [its] international obligations." The draft expressed concern about ongoing human rights violations in Belarus, including the continued detention and harassment of political dissenters and independent journalists, flawed election measures that do not meet international standards, and the prevalent use of arbitrary application measures that impede the operations of non-government organizations in the country. The draft calls on the Belarus government:

(a) To release immediately and unconditionally all individuals detained for politically motivated reasons and other individuals detained for exercising or promoting human rights;
(b) To cease politically motivated prosecution, harassment and intimidation of political opponents, pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders, independent media, national minority activists, religious organizations, educational institutions and civil society actors, and to cease the harassment of students;
(c) To bring the electoral process and legislative framework into line with international standards . . . and to rectify the shortcomings of the electoral process;
(d) To respect the rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association;
(e) To suspend from their duties officials implicated in any case of enforced disappearance, summary execution and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment . . . and, if [they are] found guilty, to ensure that they are punished in accordance with the international human rights obligations of Belarus;
(f) To uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief; [and]
(g) To investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the mistreatment, arbitrary arrest and incarceration of human rights defenders and members of the political opposition [...]

[JURIST] Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a former associate professor of business at Howard University in Washington DC who was one of three men indicted [press release] in 2004 by a US federal grand jury on charges of engaging in a 15-year conspiracy of providing funds to Hamas [JURIST news archive], was sentenced Wednesday to eleven years in prison for his refusal to testify before a federal grand jury earlier this year. In February, Ashqar was found not guilty of racketeering [JURIST report], but was convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal contempt. He refused to testify before a grand jury after receiving immunity from prosecutors.

US District Judge Amy J. St. Eve [official profile] said in her Wednesday ruling that he refused to testify because he wanted to "promote terrorism," and agreed with federal prosecutors who argued that without his testimony it was difficult to complete their investigations into crimes committed by Hamas, including deciphering coded messages. AP has more.

[JURIST] The bankruptcy administrator for the embattled Russian oil company Yukos [corporate website; JURIST news archive] announced Thursday that the company no longer legally exists. The Moscow Arbitration Court completed Yukos' liquidation this month and removed it as a legal entity Wednesday. Once Russia's largest oil company, Yukos was forced to declare bankruptcy [JURIST report] in August 2006 when it could not pay claimed back taxes. Yukos' remaining assets have been acquired by state-run Rosneft [corporate website], currently Russia's largest oil producer.

Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] was convicted of tax evasion [JURIST report] in 2005 and is currently imprisoned in Siberia; he has two appeals pending before the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. Russian prosecutors indicted Khordorkovsky on new money laundering charges [JURIST report] in early 2007. Khodorkovsky, an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has always insisted that the charges against him have been politically motivated, although Russian prosecutors say otherwise [JURIST report]. RIA Novosti has more.

[JURIST] The reconstituted Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] Thursday dismissed the final outstanding legal challenge to General Pervez Musharraf's October legislative re-election to the post of president of Pakistan. Rival candidate Zahoor Mehdi had argued that the Pakistan election commission [official website] should not have denied Mehdi a slot on the October ballot. The Supreme Court ruled that Mehdi's nomination papers were not valid. Earlier this week the court dismissed five similar claims [JURIST report] disputing Musharraf's eligibility to run for the presidency while still Army chief.

Pakistani Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum says that Musharraf plans on stepping down as head of the army later this week and will hold the presidency for another five year term. It is still unclear when Musharraf will lift his emergency rule [JURIST report], imposed November 3 when he suspended the country's constitution and effectively dismissed the country's then-sitting Supreme Court, citing growing danger from extremists and judicial interference in executive affairs. AP has more.