[JURIST] CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] appeared before the US Senate Intelligence Committee [official website] in a closed session Tuesday to testify about the CIA's destruction of videotapes [JURIST news archive] allegedly showing the harsh interrogation of "high value" terror suspects. Panel members noted that major questions still remained following Hayden's testimony, including who actually authorized the tapes' destruction [JURIST report] and why Congress was not informed of the decision. Hayden told reporters afterwards that he spoke on why the tapes were destroyed and how that decision was made. Hayden is scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. AP has more.

Hayden acknowledged [statement text] last week that the CIA had videotaped the interrogation [JURIST report] of two terror suspects in 2002, but said that the tapes had been destroyed in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators. Several probes into the tapes' destruction have been launched, including a joint DOJ-CIA preliminary investigation [DOJ letter; JURIST report] and multiple congressional inquiries.

[JURIST] The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [official backgrounder] Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF; ACLU press release] against publicly releasing documents regarding the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive], finding that the documents deal with national security secrets. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion [PDF text; JURIST report] with FISC, asking the court to "disclose recent legal opinions discussing the scope of the government's authority to engage in secret wiretapping of Americans." The ACLU's request included a recently disclosed FISC decision [JURIST report] restricting the government's monitoring of e-mail and telephone conversations of suspected terrorists in foreign countries. A FISC judge said in August that the court would consider the request [JURIST report]. AP has more.

In August, President George W. Bush signed the Protect America Act 2007 [S 1927 materials; JURIST report], legislation that gives the executive branch expanded surveillance authority for a period of six months while Congress works on long-term legislation to "modernize" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [text; JURIST news archive] under which FISC operates.

[JURIST] Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for abuse of authority in the last months of his 1990-2000 rule. Fujimori was convicted of ordering a warrantless search in 2000 on the apartment of the wife of former Peruvian Intelligence Director Vladimiro Montesino [BBC profile]. Prosecutors alleged that the search was intended to uncover and confiscate documents that might incriminate Fujimori. Fujimori admitted to ordering the raid, but said that it was meant to find Montesino, who was wanted for money laundering. This was the first time that Fujimori has ever been sentenced for a crime. AFP has more.

On Monday, Fujimori pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges in a separate trial for human rights abuses. Fujimori is charged with ordering the 1992 murder of 25 people, including a professor and nine students at the so-called La Cantuta massacre [backgrounder] at Lima's La Cantuta University. Fujimori was transferred to Peru last month following the Supreme Court of Chile's decision [JURIST report] to allow his extradition from that country on human rights and corruption charges. He faces three other trials in Peru, which are a consolidation of six separate charges all stemming from his actions during three presidential terms in office from 1990-2000, including authorizing illegal phone taps, bribing key congressmen and government officials, and misusing government funds.

[JURIST] Cuba will sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text] in the first quarter of the coming year, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque [official profile, in Spanish] said Monday during an event to mark International Human Rights Day. He also said Cuba would join the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [text], and that the country would begin allowing UN observers to monitor its human rights [VOA report] beginning in 2009. Roque made the announcements at a news conference as competing groups of dissidents and government supporters protested nearby. A representative of the UN in Cuba said the statements were an encouraging sign. AP has more.

Human rights groups estimate that the number of political prisoners in detention has dropped by over 20 percent since acting president Raul Castro assumed duties from Cuban President Fidel Castro [BBC profiles] on July 31, 2006. The Castro government released two dissidents [JURIST report] in August; however, it still denies the existence of political prisoners in Cuba.

[JURIST] The European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] Tuesday ruled [opinion;press release, PDF] that labor unions can try to prevent employers from hiring cheaper labor from other EU countries, but limited workers' right to strike. The court found that workers were entitled to strike to protect existing jobs or to preserve existing employment conditions, but that they could not prevent companies from moving to new bases of operation.

The case arose from an attempt by a Finnish ferry company to take advantage of cheaper Estonian workers by redesignating one of its ships as part of an Estonian fleet, a move opposed by unionized Finnish workers. The International Transport Workers’ Federation [union website] brought the case in England, and the English court asked the ECJ for help in interpreting EU law. The ECJ ruled that striking is legal "only if it pursues a legitimate aim such as the protection of workers." AP has more.

[JURIST] Prosecution and defense lawyers said Tuesday that they will be ready to present evidence when the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor [SCSL case materials; JURIST news archive] resumes in January at the Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website]. Taylor's trial began in June, but proceedings were postponed to allow Taylor's new defense team [JURIST reports] more time to prepare. At a status conference in The Hague Tuesday, lawyers from both sides told the court they would be ready to proceed when the trial begins again on January 7, 2008.

Taylor faces charges [indictment, PDF] of murder, rape, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers during a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone. He has previously complained that his single court-appointed defense lawyer was unfairly outnumbered [JURIST report] by the prosecution team. The criticism prompted the SCSL to add four people to Taylor's defense team and increase funding available to Taylor [JURIST report] to approximately $100,000 per month, despite a UN report that concluded Taylor may control millions of dollars [JURIST report] held in bank accounts worldwide. The trial has been moved to The Hague [JURIST report] for security reasons. AP has more.

[JURIST] A former Guantanamo detainee who alleges he was tortured when the CIA handed him over to Moroccan interrogators has asked the UK government to ensure that photographic evidence of his torture is preserved, according to Tuesday reports. Ethiopian Binyam Mohamed [Reprieve profile] says that in 2002 US forces "outsourced" his interrogation to Moroccan agents, who tortured him; he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] in 2004. Mohamed's lawyer Sunday sent a letter [DOC text] to UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband [official profile], saying that he can prove the CIA photographed Mohamed's torture and asking that Milliband intervene to make sure that these photographs are not destroyed. The CIA did not confirm or deny the existence of the alleged photos, but defended its practice of outsourcing interrogations. Mohamed's lawyer first revealed details of the alleged torture in an amicus brief [PDF text] to the US Supreme Court during its review of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [JURIST news archive]. The Miami Herald has more.

Mohamed was one of five UK residents being detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] being held at Guantanamo; earlier this month, it was reported that the other four are scheduled to be released [JURIST report]. The US government has asked for assurances that the men will not pose any terrorist threat after release, but has not conditioned their release on any promise by UK authorities to detain the men. Earlier this month, CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] sent a memo to CIA employees saying that the agency videotaped the interrogations [JURIST report] of two terror suspects in 2002, but that the tapes were destroyed in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators.

[JURIST] The superior courts of Pakistan are facing a massive shortage of judges in the wake of automatic dismissals following President Pervez Musharraf's November 3 declaration of emergency rule, according to Pakistani officials in the country's Law Ministry [official website] quoted by Pakistan's News daily Tuesday. While the country's Supreme Court [official website] has been staffed with 14 judges so far, only slightly down from its regular strength of 17, the superior courts as a whole are at less than 50 percent strength, with 59 seats out of a total 116 vacant. A number of provincial courts are virtually skeletal, with the Lahore High Court (LHC) sitting only 19 judges of 50 and the Sindh High Court (SHC) [official websites] only 11 of 28. Law Minister Afzal Haider told the News that “We are shortly bringing in a new fleet of judges but I cannot give you a deadline.”

The superior court judges were effectively dismissed en masse by the emergency Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) [text]; while some have since taken oaths under the PCO many others have refused or have simply not been invited. The situation of the now-sitting PCO judges has been complicated by the refusal of many lawyers opposed to emergency rule to appear before them, seriously stalling litigation. Bar spokesmen have said that lawyers are nonetheless moving urgent cases through on a priority basis. The News has more.

[JURIST] About one dozen officers on trial in the Philippines [JURIST news archive] in connection with a failed 2003 mutiny [BBC report] apologized to the court Tuesday for an aborted coup attempt [JURIST report] against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [official website; BBC profile] last month. In a letter provided by their lawyers, the defendants said they walked out of court in the heat of the moment, and never intended to "cause a commotion." In November, the defendants walked out of court, took control of a Manila hotel, and demanded Arroyo's resignation. Philippine military and police forces subsequently regained control of the hotel after a lengthy confrontation. The Philippine government deployed over 1,000 soldiers and policemen to guard proceedings Tuesday in an effort to prevent a second walk-out by the defendants. AP has more. The Philippines Star has local coverage.

Last week, the officers and their supporters involved in the November coup attempt were formally charged with rebellion [JURIST report]. Among those charged were Sen. Antonio Trillanes [personal website], who had also been charged in the 2003 coup attempt, and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona [official profile]. In April, a Philippine military tribunal sentenced 54 military officers [JURIST report] to seven years and six months in prison for their involvement in the 2003 coup attempt. Charges were later dismissed [JURIST report] in October against four additional military officers connected to the same mutiny.

[JURIST] A retired US CIA agent told ABC News Monday that CIA interrogators have successfully used waterboarding [JURIST news archive] to get crucial information about planned terror attacks, though the agent did say he considered the technique to be torture. Retired agent John Kiriakou, in an ABC News interview [ABC News video; PDF transcript part 1 & part 2], confirmed the use of waterboarding during the interrogation of top al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], one of the first key terror suspects taken into custody following Sept. 11. While Kiriakou, who led Zubaydah's interrogation, expressed some disapproval over the use of simulated drowning in interrogations, he said its efficacy in helping to disrupt "a number of attacks, maybe dozens" outweighed its harshness.

Kiriakou's comments come amid controversy surrounding the CIA's destruction of videotapes [JURIST report] of the interrogation of Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Sashiri [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The New York Times reported Tuesday that CIA lawyers had approved the destruction of the videotapes [JURIST report], despite warnings [JURIST report] from the White House and the Justice Department against that. ABC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Thailand will pardon [statement, in Thai] as many as 25,000 prisoners in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 80th birthday, Thai Department of Corrections [official website] Director Wanchai Roujanavong told AFP Tuesday. Approximately 25,000 inmates are eligible for pardons and a number of other prisoners will have their sentences reduced, though Wanchai said that a final number has not been set. Royal pardons [DOC backgrounder, PDF] will be issued for prisoners convicted of minor crimes, inmates over the age of 60, and prisoners who have less than a year left to serve. AFP has more.

The Bangkok Post reported Tuesday that the King has begun the pardon process for 10,000 prisoners. The Bangkok Post has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers from the CIA's clandestine operations branch, formerly known as the Directorate of Operations, provided written approval for the CIA's destruction of videotapes [JURIST report] showing the interrogation of terror suspects, the New York Times reported Tuesday. According to the Times' source, a former CIA official speaking on the condition of anonymity, discussions about destroying the videotapes lasted close to two years. The tapes were destoryed after the CIA legal opinion was offered, despite advice from the White House and Justice Department warning against the destruction of the tapes [JURIST report]. Then-CIA General Counsel John Rizzo participated in the discussions, but was not asked to provide final approval authorizing the tapes' destruction. The Times' source said that at no time did CIA receive direct instructions from the Justice Department or White House not to destroy the tapes.

CIA Director Michael Hayden acknowledged [statement text] last week that the CIA had videotaped the interrogation of two terror suspects in 2002, but said that the tapes had been destroyed in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators. Several investigations into the tapes' destruction have been launched, including a joint DOJ-CIA preliminary investigation [DOJ letter; JURIST report] and multiple congressional inquiries. Hayden is scheduled to appear during a closed Senate Intelligence Committee briefing Tuesday. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Portions of the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) [text] and its 2004 amendment, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act [text] which make it a crime to help groups considered to be terrorist organizations by the US government are too vague, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday. Judge Harry Pregerson noted that the statutes could theoretically be used to prosecute people who trained members of foreign organizations on ways to "use humanitarian and international law to peacefully resolve ongoing disputes," and struck down those ambiguous portions of the statute. Pregerson affirmed a 2005 District Court decision declaring portions of the law too vague.

The case, filed by the Humanitarian Law Project [advocacy website] on behalf of the Kurdish Workers Party [FAS backgrounder] in Turkey and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [CFR backgrounder] in Sri Lanka, challenged provisions of the law including training, expert advice and services in the definition material support to terrorist organizations. The statute, first amended by the USA Patriot Act after Sept. 11, was successfully challenged in 2003, which lead to the 2004 amendment specifying that the ban on material support applied only to organizations known to be on the US terror list. The Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that the amendments were still too vague, saying it would be difficult for a lay person to distinguish between "teaching someone to petition international bodies for tsunami-related aid, [and] one [that] is imparting a 'specific skill' or 'general knowledge'"to terror organizations. Reuters has more. The San Francisco Chronicle has local coverage.