[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile] Monday called on Israel [press release] to conduct an impartial investigation into the deaths of Palestinians during recent Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder], noting that as an occupying power Israel "bears a particular responsibility under international human rights and humanitarian law to protect the civilian population and civilian installations in Gaza." More than 120 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes and military incursions into the territory since last Wednesday. In her comments, Arbour expressed dismay over Israel's "disproportionate use of force" in Gaza, and also condemned the use of rockets by Palestinian militants to attack Israel. Reuters has more. The UN News Centre has additional coverage.

In January, Arbour criticized [JURIST report] an Israeli blockade of Gaza, saying that Israel's policy of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings, coupled with the Palestinian militant practice of indiscriminate firings of bombs and rockets, had helped precipitate problems in the area. Israeli troops began to withdraw from Gaza Monday after an incursion last week, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert [JURIST news archive] warned that strikes would continue [Ha'aretz report] against local Hamas targets. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Monday unanimously confirmed Illinois US District Judge Mark Filip [official profile] as US deputy attorney general as part of an apparent compromise between the White House and Senate Democrats on a series of stalled nominations. Filip replaces Paul McNulty who, along with several other top Justice Department officials, resigned [JURIST report] in 2007 amid controversy surrounding the firing of federal prosecutors [JURIST news archive]. McNulty denied playing a key role [JURIST report] in the firings. The current Acting Deputy Attorney General is Craig Morford, a former federal prosecutor.

Filip was nominated [JURIST report] by President George W. Bush in November. Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) [official website], who had earlier voted against confirming then US Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey when Mukasey refused to comment on the legality of waterboarding [JURIST news archive], had briefly put a hold on Filip's confirmation. On Monday, Durbin relented [press release] on Filip's confirmation, saying:

The selection of Judge Mark Filip to be Deputy Attorney General is a good choice. Mark Filip has earned a solid reputation as a district court judge in the Northern District of Illinois and I believe he will make a good Deputy Attorney General.

Judge Filip and I may not agree on every issue - in fact we disagree on several - but his temperament, independence, and legal ability are not in question. Those qualities will serve him well in this new position.

The President did not nominate Judge Filip until last December. I announced that the Judiciary Committee would hold a hearing less than two weeks later, before Congress adjourned for the year, immediately upon receiving the necessary background materials from the White House. The Committee moved as expeditiously as possible and we reported out Judge Filip’s nomination at our first executive business meeting of the 2008 session.

What is being ignored by the President and Senate Republicans as they play to a vocal segment of their Republican base is that we have worked hard to make progress and restore the leadership of the Department of Justice. In the last few months, we have confirmed a new Attorney General, and held hearings for the number two and number three positions at the Department of Justice, as well as for several other high-ranking Justice Department spots.

It is vital that we ensure that we have a functioning, independent Justice Department. A month ago, the Judiciary Committee held our first oversight hearing of the new session and the first with new Attorney General Michael Mukasey. We will hold another oversight hearing this week with FBI Director Mueller. These are more steps forward in our efforts to lift the veil of White House secrecy, restore checks and balances to our government, and begin to repair the damage this administration inflicted on the Department, our Constitution, and fundamental American values.

[JURIST] Former Rwandan councillor Vincent Rutaganira [TrialWatch profile] was released Sunday after completing a six-year jail sentence [JURIST report] for crimes against humanity, according to a statement [text] Monday by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ITCR) [official website]. Rutaganira was convicted by the ITCR in March 2005 after pleading guilty to one count of "extermination as an accomplice by omission to a crime against humanity." ITCR judges found that Rutaganira, a former local government official in the Mubuga sector in western Rwanda, knew in advance about a planned attack in which thousands of Tutsis were killed, but did nothing to prevent it. At the time, Rutaganira's sentence was the shortest ever imposed by the court, which considered his voluntary surrender, his ill health and his advanced age in reaching its decision. Rutaganira also received credit for time already served after his 2002 arrest. The UN News Centre has more.

The ICTR was established by the UN in 1995 to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict [HRW backgrounder] between Hutus and Tutsis in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, were killed.

[JURIST] Nigerian opposition leader and presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari [campaign website] has asked the Supreme Court of Nigeria [official website] to review last week's decision by the country's election tribunal to uphold the results of last year's disputed presidential elections [JURIST reports], according to Monday statements by Buhari's lawyer. Buhari alleges that the election was marred by rampant fraud, but the Nigerian Presidential Petitions Election Tribunal ruled that there was no evidence of malfeasance and upheld results showing victory for Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua [BBC profile]. BBC News has more. Reuters has additional coverage. The Tide Online has local coverage.

In April 2007, the Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the winner of the country's presidential elections [JURIST report] to be Yar'Adua, prompting challenges from rival candidates Buhari and former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar [JURIST news archive]. European Union and NGO observers echoed opposition leaders in their sharp criticism of the poll [JURIST report]. As part of the six-month-long challenge, the election tribunal ordered the INEC to turn over certified copies of the ballots [JURIST report] and provide information on all officials and staff employed for the elections.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] on Monday called on the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website; JURIST news archive] to "create an environment of trust" and "spur greater accountability for action on human rights." In his speech [text] at the opening of the Council's seventh session [materials] in Geneva, Ban emphasized the importance of accountability and transparency as the Council commences its first performance review of the human rights of all UN member states. Ban called for equal scrutiny of all countries:

Almost two years have now passed since this Council was inaugurated. You have clearly set its direction on the right track in establishing your mechanisms and procedures.

The question for the Council, however, is whether you are fully meeting the high expectations which the international community has of you. What are those expectations? Most fundamentally, and in line with the very core jurisprudence of human rights, they are that this Council will recognize and promote the universal application of human rights values - and that it will do so without favor, without selectivity, without being impacted by any political machinations around the world.

If you meet this benchmark, you can count on my fullest support and defence in the face of criticisms and attacks, wherever they may come from.

[JURIST] Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] for the leaders of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive] "remain in effect and have to be executed" despite requests from Uganda that they be withdrawn, according to a statement [PDF text] issued by the office of ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo Monday. The LRA has refused to sign a final peace agreement with the Ugandan government unless the ICC withdraws its indictments [ICC materials; JURIST report] of several LRA leaders. Moreno-Ocampo's statement affirms an assertion by the ICC prosecutor's office in February that the indictments would remain in effect despite a recent agreement between the LRA and the Ugandan government to establish a national war crimes court [JURIST reports]. The Ugandan government and the LRA have yet to sign a final agreement but reportedly agreed upon the last in a series of key documents related to brokering a peace deal on Friday. Reuters has more.

The agreement to establish a war crimes court [JURIST report] to prosecute crimes against humanity committed during Uganda's civil war [BBC Q/A] is part of the government's larger effort to broker a peace deal with the LRA. The four ICC-issued warrants were executed in 2005 and include LRA leader Joseph Kony and LRA senior member Vincent Otti [BBC profiles]. In 2007, Otti was executed by rebels [BBC report], though official confirmation of his death was delayed until January amid fears that it would disrupt peace talks. Kony, who remains in hiding, is wanted for orchestrating the killing of thousands of civilians and the enslavement of thousands more children over two decades of conflict. The government has said that Kony is willing to face trial at home [JURIST report], but not at the ICC. A fifth arrest warrant was initially issued for Raska Lukwiya but was later withdrawn after a July 2007 ICC pre-trial chamber decision.

[JURIST] An Iraqi court has dropped all pending criminal charges against former Iraqi Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili and Brigadier General Hameed al-Shimmari "for lack of evidence," in part because many witness accounts were based on hearsay, Iraqi chief prosecutor Ghadanfar Mahmoud said Monday. The two high-level officials were accused of channeling millions in government money to the Mehdi Army militia [BBC backgrounder] and allowing Shiite death squads to use Health Ministry facilities and ambulances to target Sunnis. Al-Zamili and al-Shimmari were expected to go on trial [JURIST report] in late November, but a series of postponements delayed the start of proceedings until Sunday. Iraqi prosecutors may appeal the court's decision to drop the charges.

US and Iraqi forces arrested [JURIST report] al-Zamili in a February 2007 security crackdown in Baghdad, according to a statement [text] by the US military. According to military officials, al-Zamili had been infiltrating members of the Mehdi Army militia, headed by militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr [BBC profile], into the Iraq ministry. In November, an Iraqi government spokesperson said that the upcoming trial indicated that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] was serious about enforcing the rule of law [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in two cases Monday, including Boulware v. US [LII case backgrounder], where the Court overturned a Ninth Circuit decision [PDF text] upholding a criminal tax evasion prosecution. The Supreme Court wrote:

Sections 301 and 316(a) of the Internal Revenue Code set the conditions for treating certain corporate distributions as returns of capital, nontaxable to the recipient.... The question here is whether a distributee accused of criminal tax evasion may claim return-of-capital treatment without producing evidence that either he or the corporation intended a capital return when the distribution occurred. We hold that no such showing is required.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile] will not seek a second term when her commission ends on June 30, the Washington Post reported Monday citing anonymous sources. While serving as the UN's top human rights official, the Canadian-born Arbour has frequently spoken out against rights abuses by world powers, including the United States in the context of the "war on terror." Most recently, she said the US practice of waterboarding, not currently used by intelligence officials, is "clearly torture" under international definitions of the term, and criticized the Bush administration [JURIST report] for defending its past use of the interrogation technique. She has also pressed for greater respect for human rights in Darfur and the Middle East. The Washington Post has more.

Arbour was appointed [JURIST report] to her position in 2004 after 5 years as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She succeeded Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in a 2003 suicide bomb attack on UN offices in Baghdad. Arbour served as chief war crimes prosecutor for the UN in the late 1990s.

[JURIST] Pakistani police clashed with protesting lawyers outside the home of former Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] Monday, as the country's Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) announced plans to hold new demonstrations to pressure President Pervez Musharraf to reinstatement former Supreme Court justices who were ousted [JURIST report] after Musharraf declared emergency rule in November 2007. The protesters had gathered outside Chaudhry's home after media reports indicated that Musharraf had lifted Chaudhry's house arrest [JURIST report]; the scuffle began when it became apparent that the reports were not correct. SBCA President Aitzaz Ahsan [PILDAT profile] said that lawyers will begin a new week of protests [AP report] on March 9, exactly one year after Musharraf first suspended [JURIST report] Chaudhry. Chaudhry was later reinstated before being ousted in November. AP has more.

Last Tuesday, the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League [party websites] vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary [JURIST report]. The two parties, which will form Pakistan's new coalition government, also agreed to work together [JURIST report] toward the reinstatement of Chaudhry and other ousted Supreme Court justices.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak [UN profile] told AP on Sunday that multiple sources have confirmed that the US detained terror suspects at the US military base on the British island of Diego Garcia between 2002 and 2003, a claim which the US has previously denied. According to Nowak, his sources are "credible" and include former detainees at Diego Garcia.

Nowak's claim directly conflicts with a statement [text; AP report] made by US CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] last Thursday:

There has been speculation in the press over the years that CIA had a holding facility on Diego Garcia. That is false. There have also been allegations that we transport detainees for the purpose of torture. That, too, is false. Torture is against our laws and our values. And, given our mission, CIA could have no interest in a process destined to produce bad intelligence.

[JURIST] Election observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) [official website] Monday expressed reservations about the fairness of Russia's weekend presidential election, pointing to media restrictions and alleged polling irregularities that hampered opposition candidates. In a statement [text], PACE said:

this election repeated most of the flaws revealed during the Duma elections of December 2007. They were highlighted as failings by the PACE pre-electoral mission that was in Russia on 7 and 8 February 2008. None of the concerns of the pre-electoral mission were dealt with ahead of the 2 March vote. Candidate registration concerns could not have been accommodated, putting into question the degree of how free the election was. Equal access of the candidates to the media and the public sphere in general has not improved, putting into question the fairness of the election.

[JURIST] A suspect in the assassination attempt against East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta [BBC profile] turned himself in late Saturday, several weeks after the February 11 attempt on Horta's life outside his home. The suspect, Amaro da Costa, was described as an ex-police officer and is the only suspect in custody to date, though police have issued multiple arrest warrants [JURIST report] in connection with the attack. Horta has been transferred out of intensive care [Age report]; he has expressed forgiveness for his attackers, including rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who led the other rebels to Horta's home and was killed in the ensuing gunfight. Reinado has led previous revolts against the government and drew wide support from some members of the ruling coalition. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao [BBC profile] was the subject of a second attack on the same day but escaped unharmed. Last Friday, the National Parliament of East Timor voted to extend the country's state of emergency [JURIST report] for an additional month in the wake of the assassination attempts. AP has more.

Gusmao was the first named president of East Timor [JURIST news archive] following a 1999 UN-sponsored referendum in which the country voted for independence from Indonesia. He was appointed Prime Minister by Horta in 2007. In 2006, East Timor descended into violence and a state of emergency rule when former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri [BBC profile] dismissed 600 striking members of the armed forces, causing riots [BBC report] in April and continued violence throughout May [JURIST report] which left 37 dead. Alkatiri resigned in June 2006 and an independent United Nations commission later recommended criminal investigations [JURIST report] into Alkatiri and other government officials for their role in the violence.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] has upheld a lower court decision [PDF text; JURIST report] rejecting the Bush administration's attempt to exempt the US Navy from environmental laws [JURIST report] so that the Navy could continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the coast of southern California. In a ruling [PDF text] Friday, the appeals court affirmed the preliminary injunction put in place by the district court.

President Bush issued a memorandum [text] in January exempting the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act [text] and the Council on Environmental Quality authorized "alternative arrangements" [PDF text] for the Navy's compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act [EPA materials] due to "emergency circumstances." The executive action came despite a November 2007 ruling [PDF text] by the Ninth Circuit that the Navy should limit its use of high-powered sonar [JURIST report], and have now been rejected by both the district and appeals courts. In related litigation, a federal court in Hawaii also upheld a similar ban on exercises off the Hawaii coastline on Friday. AP has more.