[JURIST] Attacks carried out by the Sudanese Army in four Darfur villages earlier this year constituted human rights violations, according to a report [PDF text; press release] released Thursday by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) [official website]. The attacks, ostensibly meant to drive back the rebel Justice and Equality Movement [group website, in English], left at least 115 dead and some 30,000 displaced. The UN report documented human rights violations by both the Sudanese military and armed militias, including rapes, looting, and the deliberate destruction of food reserves:

Military attacks in [the villages], involved aerial bombardments by helicopter gunships and fixed-wing aircraft, accompanied by ground offensives by militia and SAF. Consistent information gathered by UNAMID Human Rights Officers (HROs) indicated that these actions violated the principle of distinction stated in international humanitarian law, failing to distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives. Moreover, the scale of destruction of civilian property, including objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, suggests that the damage was a deliberate and integral part of a military strategy. Information on extensive pillaging during and after the attacks was also gathered. In addition, consistent and credible accounts of rape committed by armed uniformed men during and after the attack in Sirba were collected.

[JURIST] Bangladeshi authorities Thursday released a cartoonist detained for allegedly insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammad after the police official pressing charges against him repeatedly failed to appear in court. Arifur Rahman was arrested [RSF report; JURIST report] in September after the magazine Alpin, a subsidiary of Prothom Alo [media website, in Bangladeshi], published a cartoon that he created depicting a young boy and his "Muhammad cat." The cartoon sparked protests by Bangladeshi Muslims who demanded that the cartoonist, editor and publisher be arrested. AP has more. E-Bangladesh has local coverage.

Separate cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive] sparked controversy last month when Danish newspaper Jyllands-Poste [media website] reprinted a cartoon [image; JURIST report] drawn by Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists who published cartoons [Le Monde slideshow] of the Muslim prophet Muhammad in 2005 that led to widespread protests across the Islamic world. In January, a former newspaper editor in Belarus was sentenced to three years in prison [JURIST report] for reprinting the cartoons in the Zhoda newspaper. On Wednesday, a tape recording allegedly made by Osama bin Laden was released, threatening retaliation against European Union countries [Reuters report] for reprinting the cartoons.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] Thursday ruled [order] that lawyers for Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] could present evidence before the Court that the US is detaining Khadr in violation of international law. At a hearing scheduled for next week, Khadr's lawyers are also expected to argue that Canadian officials have acted contrary to Canadian law by cooperating with the US and not pushing for Khadr's extradition. Khadr is also seeking the release of key documents [JURIST report] on his detention allegedly held by the Canadian government; the Canadian Justice Department [official website] has appealed an appellate court ruling [text] ordering it to hand over the documents. CBC News has more.

Khadr, now 21, faces life imprisonment after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed one US soldier and wounded another while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. He was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying. Khadr is one of four [JURIST report] Guantanamo detainees prosecuted under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text]. Last week, a US military judge ruled [JURIST report] that some correspondence between US and Canadian government officials regarding Khadr must be turned over to Khadr's defense team. In an affidavit released earlier this week, Khadr said that US interrogators in Afghanistan threatened him with rape, physically abused him, and forced him to swear to false statements [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The District of Columbia Court of Appeals [official website] Thursday issued a disbarment order [PDF text] for former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [JURIST news archive], banning him from practicing law in the District of Columbia. The DC Bar's Board on Professional Responsibility [official site] found that Libby's March 2007 conviction [JURIST report] on perjury and obstruction of justice charges constituted crimes involving moral turpitude per se, and recommended Libby's disbarment if an appeals court affirmed his conviction. In December, Libby announced that he had moved for voluntary dismissal of his appeal [JURIST report] before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, leading the district court to rule Thursday that disbarment is "mandatory" under DC Code Section 11-2503(a). Libby was licensed to practice in the District of Columbia in 1978. AP has more.

Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison [JURIST report] and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine in connection with the investigation into the Valerie Plame CIA leak [JURIST news archive]. US President George W. Bush commuted Libby's prison sentence [JURIST report] last July, saying that the jury sentence was "excessive." Libby is still required to pay the fine and is also subject to two years of probation. Bush has previously said that he may pardon Libby [JURIST report] before he leaves office, but did not include Libby in his 2007 year-end pardons [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] The Russian Office of the Prosecutor-General [official website, in Russian] has opened a criminal investigation into allegations that exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] falsely claimed the country's secret service had targeted him for assassination, an office spokesperson told the Itar-Tass news agency Thursday. Prosecutors are investigating whether Berezovsky violated Article 306 of the Russian Criminal Code [text]. Itar-Tass has more.

Berezovsky, who resides in the UK as a political refugee, has previously been accused of plotting a coup [JURIST report] against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last November, Berezovsky was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling 214 million rubles from Russian national airline Aeroflot; a Moscow City Court rejected his appeal [JURIST reports] last month. Berezovsky has denied all charges, which he says are politically motivated.

[JURIST] Milberg Weiss [firm website] partner and co-founder Melvyn Weiss on Thursday agreed to plead guilty [statement, PDF; firm statement, PDF] to federal charges stemming from a long-running US Attorney investigation into an alleged kickback scheme. Weiss was indicted last year for conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and making false statements and initially pleaded not guilty [JURIST reports] in October 2007. Under the plea deal, Weiss will receive an 18-33 month sentence, some of which may be served as home confinement, and must pay $10 million in fines and penalties. Weiss will also resign from the firm, to be renamed Milberg LLP, where he had remained of counsel since the indictment. Reuters has more.

The indictment alleged that since 1984, Milberg Weiss paid up to $11.3 million in illegal kickbacks under a scheme where individuals agreeing to serve as lead plaintiffs in class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits were promised 10 percent of the attorney fees eventually gathered by the firm. Last month, former Milberg Weiss partner William Lerach was sentenced to two years in prison for his part in the scheme; he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to obstruct justice after reaching an agreement [JURIST reports] with prosecutors in September. Three individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme in May 2006 after a federal grand jury indicted [JURIST reports] the firm. Partner David J. Bershad pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to conspiracy charges in July 2007.

[JURIST] Representatives of Cuba and Venezuela Wednesday criticized the US during a UN Security Council meeting [press release] for failing to turn over anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles [JURIST news archive; case materials], saying that the US is bound by international treaties, including the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation [texts], to extradite Carriles. Carriles, a Venezuelan-born Cuban citizen, is wanted in both Cuba and Venezuela on terrorism charges relating to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airline [Aviation Safety Network backgrounder]. A senior US diplomat denied that the US is acting contrary to law, saying that US actions are "consistent with international law as well as our domestic legal framework, which provides for due process and various constitutional safeguards." AP has more.

Carriles was arrested in 2005 [JURIST report] for illegally entering the United States and had been under the custody of immigration officials until his release on bail [JURIST report] in April 2007. Cuba criticized Carriles' release, and accused the United States of violating international anti-terrorism treaties by freeing him and dismissing charges [JURIST reports] against him. Also in April 2007, Venezuela announced plans to challenge the US [JURIST report] before the Organization of American States [official website] and other international forums for refusing to prosecute or extradite Carriles for the terrorist bombing. The US government has thus far denied Cuban and Venezuelan requests [JURIST report] for Carriles' extradition, citing the UN Convention Against Torture as Carriles may face torture in Cuba or Venezuela.

[JURIST] China [JURIST news archive] has arrested 24 suspects in Tibet for their role in pro-Tibet protests [BBC backgrounder] that erupted throughout the region last week, the Tibet Daily reported Thursday. The suspects are charged with endangering national security, among other crimes, and many more are expected to be detained in the near future. Some groups maintain, however, that hundreds more have already been arrested. Deputy Chief Prosecutor in Lhasa Xie Yanjun said that evidence against the suspects is solid, and placed blame on the exiled Dalai Lama [personal website] for organizing the riots. Reuters has more.

Also on Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] appealed to the government of Nepal to end its crackdown on Tibetan protesters in that country. On Tuesday, Nepalese police arrested 50 protesters [JURIST report] after roughly 200 Tibetan exiles demonstrated near the country's UN headquarters in Kathmandu, demanding a UN investigation into China's recent crackdown against the protests. HRW urged Nepal to "stop doing Beijing's bidding," saying that:

The government of Nepal should cease arbitrary arrests and detentions, harassment, and the use of excessive force to silence Tibetan protesters, activists and journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. Nepal's government, which came to power after protests against the rule of King Gyanendra, should reaffirm its commitment to freedom of assembly, association, and expression.

[JURIST] The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] on Thursday rejected a request by former Khmer Rouge official Nuon Chea [PBS backgrounder] to be released from provisional detention [JURIST report]. Nuon Chea, known as Brother Number Two in the Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder], was arrested and charged [JURIST report] in September and has since been held by the ECCC. Nuon Chea's lawyer had argued that the judges investigating the case did not follow proper criminal procedure and said that Nuon Chea was not a flight risk, but the court held that he must remain in detention until trial.

In February, a Cambodian genocide survivor testified against Nuon Chea [JURIST report] at a pre-trial hearing, marking the first time that a victim has ever taken the stand against a former Khmer Rouge official. The ECCC said it plans to try as many as eight suspects [JURIST report] on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the Khmer Rouge, which is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Chilean court convicted 24 former Chilean police officers of human rights violations on Wednesday for their role in the 1973 murders of 30 leftist prisoners. A woman who survived the incident, which took place during the regime of former dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive], testified that the officers tortured and shot some 30 inmates, and then dumped their bodies into a river. The officers received sentences ranging from four to 20 years, with one receiving a sentence of life in prison. AP has more. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage, in Spanish.

In January, a Chilean appeals court sentenced [JURIST report] General Manuel Contreras, the secret police chief under Pinochet, to 10 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping of seven neighborhood leaders from La Legua in December 1973. In November 2007, Chile's 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 murders occurred.

[JURIST] Seventeen Chinese Uighur Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay for six years have still not been told why they are being held at the military facility, according to a letter [DOC text] written by one of the detainees and released by his lawyers Wednesday. According to Abdulghappar Turkistani, he and other Uighur detainees hoped that the US would soon release them to a safe country; lawyers say that they would face persecution [BBC report] for their Muslim faith [HRW backgrounder] if returned to China. Turkistani said that the detainees were told they would be released as early as 2005, but US authorities have said that they have so far been unsuccessful in finding a country willing to provide refuge to the men. BBC News has more. AP has additional coverage.

In 2006, five Chinese Uighur detainees were released to Albania [JURIST report], where officials reviewed applications for asylum. The transfer, which was criticized by China, ended a court challenge against the detainees' indefinite detention [JURIST report]. In December 2006, lawyers for seven Uighur detainees filed a lawsuit [JURIST report], arguing that the process by which they were determined to be enemy combatants was flawed.