[JURIST] The British military has held the last two Iraqis in its custody without charge or access to lawyers for five years, similar to US detentions at Guantanamo, lawyers for the men alleged in a report published in the Independent Sunday. Faisal Attiyah Nassar al-Saadoon and Khalaf Hussain Mufdhi, both supposedly involved in the deaths of two British soldiers [BBC report] in 2003, wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official website] that they were not involved in the soldiers' deaths and that they should either be released or given a fair trial. A lawyer for Public Interest Lawyers [firm website], retained by the men's families to work for their release in the British courts, said that the detentions are groudless. The men are at a British Army base at Basra airport, even though British officials have said their case is now before the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website]. The High Court in London will likely hear the claim regarding their detention within the next week.

In May, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) [official website] announced plans to conduct a public inquiry [MOD press release; JURIST report] into the death of Baha Mousa [BBC report; JURIST news archive], an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died in British military custody in 2003. In March, UK Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne [profile] admitted that British soldiers had violated the rights of detainees [JURIST report] in Basra in 2003, and that the MOD would specifically admit to substantive breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF].

[JURIST] Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan [profile; JURIST news archive] told the Associated Press Sunday that despite the end of the "long march" the country's lawyers' movement will continue protesting [JURIST news archive] for the reinstatement of judges ousted after President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency law [text, PDF; JURIST report] in November 2007. The "long march" began in Lahore Monday and ended [JURIST reports] with a peaceful gathering of some 300,000 in front of the Parliament House in the capital, Islamabad last Friday, culminating in speeches in the small hours of Saturday morning local time. AP has more.

A Supreme Court Bar Association committee said earlier this month that a constitutional amendment package [JURIST report] proposed by the the Pakistan People's Party, the dominant party in the ruling coalition, is just an attempt to delay the judges' reinstatement [JURIST reports]. PPP leaders have acknowledged that it will likely take months for parliament to pass the package and some top lawmakers have expressed skepticism that the measures will be approved at all.

[JURIST] The top judge in South Africa's Cape High Court accused judges of the Constitutional Court of South Africa [official website] Friday of political bias after they filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the country's judicial disciplinary body earlier this month against him. The Constitutional Court judges said in a unusual public statement [text, DOC] that they were filing the complaint against Judge John Hlophe to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) [backgrounder, DOC] because he had violated the constitution [text, Schedule 2, Item 6] by attempting to influence the judges in a pending corruption case against African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Hlophe's lawyers said that they issued the statement before actually submitting a proper complaint to the JSC and thereby jeopardized the Constitutional Court's case against Zuma. "The conduct was deeply vindictive and grossly inconsistent with any procedural fairness requirements that it cannot but be concluded that the motives in issuing the statement were motivated by undesirable political consideration," the complaint charges. Hlophe has temporarily stepped down, but the Constitutional Court judges have already missed a JSC deadline [Star report] to submit evidence and testimony and the JSC has subpoenaed two of the judges [SAPA report] to testify against him. The Star has more.

Hlophe's alleged unconstitutional behavior is in connection with a March hearing to determine whether raids on Zuma's home violated his rights to privacy and a fair trial [JURIST report]. Zuma has been facing corruption allegations [BBC timeline] and other charges for several years; he was first charged with corruption in 2005, but those charges were later dismissed [JURIST report] because prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures. In December 2007, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority [official website] served an indictment [JURIST report] on Zuma, charging him with corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering related to alleged bribes received from arms manufacturer Thint, a subsidiary of the France-based Thales Group [corporate website]. His trial is scheduled to begin in August. As leader of the ruling ANC, Zuma is in a position to become the country's next president when current South African President Thabo Mbeki retires.