[JURIST] The Russian human rights ombudsman [backgrounder] said Tuesday that Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev [campaign website, in Russian; BBC profile] has to honor his declared respect for Russian law and freedoms so that Russian courts and police will follow suit. Vladimir Lukin [party profile], a member of the liberal Yabloko party who was appointed as the country's ombudsman in 1997, said that Medvedev must ensure those freedoms and the proper operation of the legal system at all levels of government. Lower courts and small police agencies will not follow the law if it is not enforced up through the highest levels of government, he said. Lukin raised similar concerns in a meeting [transcript] last month with current President Vladimir Putin, stressing that the Russian judicial system is still failing to ensure uniformed enforcement of laws and individual rights. Reuters has more.

The Russian presidential election election has prompted significant public criticism. Election observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) [official website] Monday expressed reservations [JURIST report] about the fairness of the poll, pointing to media restrictions and alleged polling irregularities that hampered opposition candidates. Before the election, Amnesty International expressed concern [JURIST report] that authorities were harassing rights activists and journalists, monitoring opposition demonstrations, and said that police used violence in breaking up some opposition events while allowing pro-government events to proceed without incident.

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] said Tuesday that he "has not and will not" meet with any member of Uganda's Lord Resistance Army (LRA) [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The statement [PDF text] came in response to reports that representatives of LRA leader Joseph Kony [BBC profile] were planning to meet with him, apparently to seek the withdrawal of ICC warrants [JURIST report] for the arrest of Kony and other LRA leaders. Moreno-Ocampo said:

Should the LRA indictees through their legal representatives wish to challenge the admissibility of the Prosecutor's case against Joseph Kony and the three other commanders, they can do so by making an application to the judges. Any LRA legal representative would have to follow the judicial procedures and file applications before the Pre-trial chamber. The process is clear and does not involve the OTP.

For his part, the Prosecutor is confident that his case is admissible. Joseph Kony and other commanders of the LRA have slaughtered entire communities in Northern Uganda. They have abducted thousands of children, transforming them into killers and sex slaves. The arrest warrants issued two years ago against Kony and the three other commanders remain in effect. Other members of the LRA are not sought by the ICC.

[JURIST] Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande and the registrar of the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive], Adama Dieng [official profile] signed an agreement Tuesday allowing those convicted by the genocide tribunal to serve their sentences in Rwanda. Rwanda joins Benin, France, Italy, Mali, Swaziland and Switzerland as a country qualified to hold those convicted by the court, but under Article 26 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [PDF text], it is the preferred host providing it meets UN requirements. The agreement was met by protests by current ICTR detainees, who said the transfers would amount to death sentences. ICTR judges will have final say over which detainees will be transferred to the UN-approved detention center in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. AFP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

The ICTR was established to try genocide suspects for crimes that occurred during the 1994 Rwandan conflict [BBC backgrounder] between Hutus and Tutsis, but in 2007 ICTR announced that it will be unable to complete its work [JURIST report] before its mandate expires in December 2008. ICTR officials plan to transfer uncompleted cases to Rwandan national jurisdiction. Amnesty International has urged the ICTR not to transfer genocide suspects to Rwanda [JURIST report; press release], saying that there are concerns regarding the fairness and impartiality of Rwanda's justice system, and ICTR detainees have staged hunger strikes [JURIST report] in protest at the plan.

[JURIST] US Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) [official website] pleaded not guilty Tuesday in the US District Court of Arizona [official website] to charges [indictment, PDF text] including extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud in connection with a complex land scheme. Renzi was indicted [JURIST report] last month along with Texas real estate investor James W. Sandlin and former business partner Andrew Beardall. Renzi was released without bail. If convicted, he could face thousands in fines and prison time.

Prosecutors allege Renzi used his position on the House Natural Resources Committee [official website] to block federal land transfer deals unless land owned by Sandlin was included. In exchange, Renzi allegedly received over $700,000 in payoffs. AP has more.

[JURIST] Italian prosecutors have filed an appeal of a Rome court's dismissal [JURIST report] of a criminal case against US Army Spc. Mario Lozano [defense website] for the alleged 2005 murder of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and the attempted murders of agent Andrea Carpani and Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena [BBC profile] in Iraq, according to Tuesday media reports. The Italian agents and journalist were shot while entering a US checkpoint [JURIST report] on the way to the Baghdad airport after the agents secured the release of Sgrena from Iraqi kidnappers; US and Italian officials have failed to agree [JURIST report] on details surrounding Calipari's death.

In October 2007, the Rome court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. Prosecutor Franco Ionta said in January he would appeal the decision [JURIST report]. Lozano was tried in absentia [JURIST report] beginning in April last year, but the court accepted defense lawyers' arguments that the Italian court lacked jurisdiction [JURIST report], as members of multinational forces in Iraq were each under the sole jurisdiction of their home countries. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments [recorded audio; case materials] Tuesday in consolidated cases challenging California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive]. In 2006, the state Attorney General requested [JURIST report] that the Court review an intermediate appellate court's decision to uphold [JURIST report] the same-sex marriage ban. Plaintiffs in In re Marriage Cases argued that the right to marry is protected by the California Constitution [text]. Plaintiffs also compared the ban against gay marriage to California's old ban against interracial marriage, which was struck down by the Court's decision in Perez v. Sharp [PDF text] in 1948. California Deputy Attorney General Christopher Krueger, representing the state, argued that California's traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman has "stood the test of time" and was approved by the state legislature in 1977 [California Code 300-310, text].

The lawsuits stem from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's 2005 decision to issue marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples. The Court must rule in 90 days. The San Francisco Chronicle has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Some 200 Afghan parliamentarians demonstrated Tuesday at the parliament building in Kabul against last month's reprinting of a cartoon depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad [JURIST report] by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Poste [media website]. The protesters urged the government to call on Danish envoys to discuss what they saw as a challenge to Muslim communities across the world. They also condemned an upcoming film by right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders [personal website] which depicts Islam in a highly negative light. The demonstrations in Kabul follow similar protests last month by Muslims in the Gaza Strip, Pakistan, Denmark, Indonesia and Sudan [JURIST reports].

Jyllands-Poste and 16 other Danish newspapers reprinted the cartoon [Le Monde slideshow] earlier this month one day after Danish police arrested three people [JURIST reports] suspected in a plot to murder Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard for his characterization of Muhammad. Westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists who created the Muhammad cartoons [JURIST news archive] first published in 2005, which sparked widespread protests across the Islamic world. The Danish newspapers accompanied the reprinted cartoons with statements defending freedom of speech and the public's right to see the cause of the backlash. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge Tuesday dismissed [opinion, PDF] a lawsuit brought by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) [group website] against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website] and Barr Pharmaceuticals [corporate website] seeking to overturn the FDA's 2006 decision to approve the over-the-counter sale [JURIST report] of so-called "morning after" Plan B emergency contraceptive pill [product backgrounder] to women 18 and over. The plaintiffs had challenged the FDA's decision on the grounds that administering the drug without a prescription violates FDA regulations, asserting that the drug has not been proven to be safe for over-the-counter use. Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] granted the FDA's motion to dismiss, ruling that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring suit because they "lack[ed] a sufficient personal stake in the outcome of the litigation so as to warrant the invocation of federal-court jurisdiction." Bates also ruled that plaintiffs had "failed to exhaust the administrative process mandated by regulation."

The FDA approved Plan B for prescription sales in 1999 and under the FDA's 2006 decision, a woman under the age of 18 must still obtain a doctor's prescription before receiving the pill. Many critics argued that the FDA's delay in approving over-the-counter sales of the drug was politically motivated [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The National Parliament of East Timor [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] voted Monday to recommend that an international commission be formed to investigate last month's assassination attempts against East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao [BBC profiles]. The parliament urged that the government coordinate with the United Nations to establish the commission, which should include a variety of experts from several countries. Parliament noted that its power to recommend such action derives from Article 92 of the young country's constitution [PDF text], which gives the body "legislative supervisory and political decision making powers."

On Monday, a suspect in the assassination attempt surrendered [JURIST report] to authorities; so far he is the only person in custody in connection with the attacks. Ramos-Horta, the second president since the small island nation gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, was transferred out of intensive care [The Age report] Monday after awaking from a coma [CNN report] following gunshots he sustained during the attacks. 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 had led previous revolts against the government and drew wide support from some members of the ruling coalition. Gusmao was the subject of a second attack on the same day but escaped unharmed. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Egyptian security officials arrested 54 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder] Tuesday, as Egypt began candidate registration for the upcoming April 8 provincial council elections [MB report]. Egypt's provincial councils administer local municipal government services. These municipal elections were originally scheduled for 2006, but the Egyptian legislature passed a law [JURIST report] delaying the election for two years after the Muslim Brotherhood made a strong showing in the 2005 parliamentary elections. The Muslim Brotherhood, which has accused the government of trying to prevent it from running candidates in the upcoming elections, also said that 43 members were detained on Monday.

Egyptian police arrested 25 members [JURIST report] of the Muslim Brother last Wednesday, following the arrest of 17 members last Tuesday. Muslim Brotherhood members officially run as independents in elections as the organization has been banned in Egypt [JURIST news archive] since 1954. The Egyptian government accuses the group of trying to create an Islamic theocracy through violence. AP has more.

[JURIST] Serbian prosecutors on Tuesday ordered the arrest of an unidentified suspect believed to be responsible for the burning of the US embassy [JURIST report] in Belgrade last month. The unidentified suspect, who is facing charges of violating public security and theft, faces a maximum sentence of up to 12 years in prison. On February 22, Serbian demonstrators set fire to the US Embassy in Belgrade [official website] after an estimated 150,000 people gathered to protest Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence [text; JURIST report].

Last Friday, Serbian police filed criminal charges against 80 people allegedly involved in the attacks on the US and other embassies in Belgrade during protests the Kosovo [JURIST news archive] independence protests. Serbian chief prosecutor Slobodan Radovanovic has said that Serbia is actively searching for the rioters [JURIST report], noting that Serbian police have already arrested over 200 suspects. The United States, Great Britain, Italy, Turkey, France, and Germany have recognized Kosovo's independence [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff [official profile] sent letters to the governors of several states on Monday, urging them to comply with an upcoming deadline to adopt comprehensive driver's license standards to bring their state IDs in line with the requirements of the Real ID Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive]. According to the letter, if holdout states fail to request an extension by the end of March, residents of those states will be unable to board domestic flights using their state IDs beginning in May 2008. Since the REAL ID Act passed in May 2005, several states have passed anti-REAL ID legislation rejecting implementation of the Act. Most recently, Washington passed legislation [JURIST report] with strong support that dictates that the state not spend any money implementing the REAL ID Act unless privacy and security concerns are addressed. Only four states, however, have yet to seek an extension - Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Montana. New Hampshire governor John Lynch wrote to Chertoff [press release] last week to request that "New Hampshire driver's licenses continue to be acceptable as identification by federal agencies for official purposes after May 11, 2008."

Initially drafted after the Sept. 11 attacks and designed to discourage illegal immigration, the REAL ID Act attempts to make it more difficult for terrorists to fraudulently obtain US driver's licenses and other government IDs by mandating that states require birth certificates or similar documentation and also consult national immigration databases before issuing IDs. The law is also meant to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to board aircraft or enter federal government buildings. After controversy and strenuous opposition from civil libertarians [FindLaw commentary], it finally passed in 2005 [JURIST report] as part of an emergency supplemental appropriations defense spending bill. State lawmakers have previously expressed concern [JURIST report] about possible problems expected to accompany the implementation of the REAL ID Act, fearing that they will not be able to comply with the law's requirements before a May 2008 deadline. In March, Homeland Security responded to these concerns by extending the deadline for compliance by 18 months [JURIST report]. In January, the DHS issued a final rule [text; DHS backgrounder] establishing the new minimum standards [press release; JURIST report] for state-issued identification cards. AP has more.