[JURIST] The US has rejected a Japanese request that any fuel provided to US ships as part of Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean not be used henceforth for military or humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan, sources told Kyodo News Thursday. The US has said that recent amendments to Japan's anti-terror bill [JURIST report] requiring US forces to only use the provided fuel for specific purposes would place unacceptable restrictions on US anti-terror efforts. Kyodo News has more.

In November 2007, the Japanese House of Representatives passed [JURIST report] the bill re-authorizing Japan's support for US anti-terror operations in the Indian Ocean, making it possible for Japanese ships to resume refueling for US vessels involved in anti-terrorism or anti-smuggling operations. The bill, which bars the refueling of US vessels involved in military or humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan, was a compromise between Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) [party websites]. It now goes to the Japan's House of Councillors for approval, but in light of US objections it is likely that the final bill will not place conditions on the fuel's use.

[JURIST] China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) [official website] Thursday announced plans to phase out gunshot executions of condemned prisoners and instead switch to lethal injections [JURIST news archive]. Court vice-president Jiang Xingchang [official profile] said that lethal injection was a more humane execution method already used by half of China's intermediate courts. He said that the SPC will work to train court officials and provide facilities for lethal injections, but did not give a timetable for completely replacing gunshot executions. Gunshot executions are generally accomplished by a single shot to the back of the head. AFP has more. China Daily has local coverage.

Although Xingchang has said that death sentences in China hit a ten-year low [JURIST report] in 2006, Amnesty International reported [press release] in April 2007 that China continues to lead the world in executions, with 7,000 to 8,000 people believed to have been executed in 2006. In response to wrongful convictions and international criticism, China implemented reforms at the beginning of 2007 requiring that all death sentences be approved [JURIST reports] by the SPC.

[JURIST] A new labor law that requires all Chinese workers to have written employment contracts went into effect on January 1 in China [JURIST news archive], Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The Contract Labor Law [MinterEllison backgrounder] also gives Chinese workers the right to severance pay upon termination, sets a minimum wage, and puts limits on the amount of overtime that companies can legally ask employees to perform. Labor rights groups have hailed the law as a major step toward combating the sweatshop mentality, while economists predicted that the new law may cause companies that have traditionally favored doing business in China for its low labor costs to move their manufacturing to other countries. Bloomberg has more.

The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress [official website] adopted the law [JURIST report] in June amid revelations that labor officials failed to report [JURIST report] the enslavement of hundreds of people at various brick kilns in China's Shanxi and Henan provinces. Criminal charges have were brought against government officials, and a State Council conference, chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao [BBC profile] said that those who have illegally employed children or subjected workers to slave conditions would be severely punished.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] has ruled that human rights organizations possess the same right to protect sources when reporting on human rights abuses as traditional journalists. Magistrate Viktor Pohorelsky [official profile] found on Tuesday that Amnesty International [advocacy website] was not required to reveal the names of lawyers that the group quoted anonymously in a 2002 report that expressed concerns that meetings between lawyers and their clients were being secretly videotaped at a New York City federal jail. Lawyers for Amnesty praised the decision, saying that it affirmed the group's belief that it should be afforded similar freedoms because "Amnesty is part of the press in terms of gathering information and disseminating it."

The issue stems from a 2004 suit brought by Lawyers for Legal Aid against administrators at the jail for allegedly ordering or sanctioning the recording of meetings between prisoners arrested in the wake of the September 11 attacks and their lawyers. That case has yet to be decided. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] China [JURIST news archive] is imposing new controls on online videos, according to Chinese government websites Thursday. Under new regulations, videos will henceforward have to be posted on the websites of state-controlled companies. Websites will also be banned from providing videos that reveal state secrets, encourage social upheaval, or distribute pornography. It is unclear how the new regulations, which will take effect on January 31, will be enforced or how they will affect videos hosted on websites based outside of China. An explanation of the regulations was posted on Chinafilm.com [website], a website operated by the state-run China Film Group. AP has more.

China has long been criticized for attempts to clamp down on Internet expression, including its prosecution of cyber dissidents and online journalists. In July 2006, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] took Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo! [corporate websites] to task for allegedly undermining freedom of expression in China [PDF report] as part of a campaign, to "combat internet oppression" worldwide. The report claimed that the Internet companies have been complicit in efforts by the Chinese government to silence government critics. Also in 2006, a Chinese court sentenced [JURIST report] writer Li Yuanlong, a reporter for the Bijie Daily newspaper who wrote essays on websites banned by the Chinese government.

[JURIST] An Indonesian court ruled Thursday that the trial of the head of Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive] can proceed. A defense lawyer for Abu Dujana [BBC profile] moved to dismiss the trial, arguing that the South Jakarta court had no jurisdiction over his client as the crimes he is charged with were not alleged to have been committed in Jakarta, but the trial court judge ruled that the court had been sanctioned by the Indonesian Supreme Court to hear the case and that the trial would go ahead as planned.

Dujana, who was was arrested [JURIST report] in June, has confessed to leading the Jemaah Islamiyah's military wing, which has claimed responsibility for the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and a series of 2005 Bali bombings [BBC reports]. He has been charged with possessing explosives as well as assisting and harboring two men wanted in connection with the 2002 Bali night club bombings [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Dujana faces the death penalty if found guilty. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Laura Swain Wednesday dismissed Spanish damage claims against the American Bureau of Shipping [official website] (ABS), a non-profit organization that inspects and certifies ships, in connection with a major 2002 oil spill. Spain had filed suit in the Southern District of New York [official website] against ABS after the Bahamas-flagged oil tanker Prestige [Wikipedia backgrounder] sank off the northwest coast of Spain, spilling nearly 77,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil in the country's worst pollution disaster. Citing the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC) [text], which provides that the owner of a vessel that has spilled oil carries liability for pollution damage and exempts third parties unless they acted recklessly, Swain ruled that "Spain, as a signatory to the CLC, is bound by CLC's provisions and, therefore, must pursue its claims under that convention in its own courts.” Reuters has more.

In mid-November 2002, one of the twelve tanks on the Prestige burst during a storm off Galicia, prompting the captain to radio for help from Spanish authorities. Spain, however, refused to give the ship port and the leaky vessel was tugged around stormy seas for six days before it split in two and sank. Spain argued that ABS was negligent in classifying the 26-year-old, single-hulled vessel as fit to carry fuel six months prior to the disaster. ABS disputed Spain’s allegations, stating that the disaster could have been averted if Spain had better handled the situation.

[JURIST] Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako [official profile] called Thursday for an independent investigation of the disputed reelection of President Mwai Kibaki [official profile] amid continued violent protests. In a public statement [text] carried in the Nairobi Daily Nation newspaper, he warned that Kenya “is quickly degenerating into a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions” and that the situation, if left unchecked, “will tear apart the economic and social fabric of...Kenyan nationhood.” Citing accusations of election fraud raised by Samuel Kivuitu, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya [official website], Wako insisted that “a proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately” by an independent and mutually agreed-upon body. Reuters has more.

The controversial presidential vote has sparked simmering ethnic tensions in Kenya [JURIST news archive], where Kibaki has long been accused of using his position to favor members of the Kikuyu tribe. Fueling accusations of malfeasance, Kibaki won the election despite early opinion polls that placed rival candidate Raila Odinga [campaign profile] in the lead. Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets [JURIST report] Sunday and Monday prompting the government to temporarily ban public rallies. Odinga [party website] has boycotted crisis talks with the reelected president. Post-election violence, including the mob burning of a church in the town of Eldort, has so far caused over 300 deaths and displaced nearly 70,000 people.