[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] on Tuesday announced [press release] that two Guantanamo [JURIST news archive] detainees have been transferred to Algeria. The DOD hailed the move as proof of the effectiveness of its review processes, and stated that another 65 detainees are scheduled for transfer. Plans for the transfer were first made public [press release; JURIST report] in July, and it is estimated that 265 detainees remain at the base. The Bradenton Herald has more.

Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz indicated in March that officials from his country had visited Guantanamo to identify Algerian detainees [JURIST report], and said that although the country would accept repatriation of the 17 then still held there, some might face criminal charges upon their return. Another Algerian, Sufyian Barhoumi [charge sheet, PDF] was among a group of three Guantanamo prisoners charged [JURIST report] in May with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism based on alleged involvement with an al Qaeda bomb-making group in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[JURIST] Lieutenant-Colonel Ephrem Setako [ICTR case materials] went to trial Tuesday [ICTR press release] before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. Setako is the former director of the Judicial Affairs Division of the Rwandan Ministry of Defence, and served as a colonel for the Rwandan armed forces during the 1994 genocide [BBC backgrounder]. He is accused of inciting, ordering, or authorizing the mass killings of Tutsi civilians, as well as distributing weapons used in the massacre. Setako was arrested in Amsterdam on February 25, 2004, and subsequently pleaded not guilty [ICTR press release] to six counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violating the Geneva Convention. UN News Centre has more.

The ICTR was established by the UN in 1995 to try those suspected of having committed genocide during the 1994 Rwandan conflict between Hutus and Tutsis, in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, were killed. Earlier this month, an independent Rwandan commission issued a report [BBC report] accusing France of knowing of the genocide and providing training assistance to Hutus, as well as directly aiding in the killings. French officials have denied the allegations [NY Times report].

[JURIST] New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo [official website] announced on Monday that twelve states have filed suit [press release] against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] for its alleged failure to enforce provisions of the Clean Air Act [text; EPA materials] requiring oil refineries to adopt measures curbing the pollution contributing to global warming. The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website], alleges that the EPA is required to issue so-called New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) [EPA materials] to oil refineries, power plants, and any other facility the EPA concludes emits air pollution posing a danger to public health. These standards, once issued, require the facility to install new technologies mitigating the release of such pollutants. According to the complaint, on June 24 the EPA finalized new air pollution control standards [PDF text] for oil refineries without issuing an NSPS, violating the Clean Air Act's protocols. Along with New York, the other states joining in the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oregon, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington, Massachusetts, and Delaware. AP has more.

The lawsuit is the latest attempt by New York and several other states to force the EPA to comply with Clean Air Act terms requiring global warming pollution regulation. Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] vacated [decision, PDF; JURIST report] a 2006 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] rule [Federal Register notice] prohibiting state and local governments from monitoring air pollution below acceptable levels set by the EPA for "stationary" sources such as power plants and factories. Earlier this year, 14 states sued the EPA over new smog regulations [JURIST report]. In 2006, a group of states sued the EPA [JURIST report] over its alleged failure to regulate smog emissions from power plants.

[JURIST] US District Judge Joseph Tauro [official profile] held [PDF text] Friday that a Massachusetts statute [text] establishing a 35-foot buffer zone outside facilities which perform abortions [JURIST news archive] does not violate protesters' constitutional rights. Tauro found that the law does not unconstitutionally burden First Amendment rights or the guarantees of equal protection or due process. In upholding the statute as a valid time, place and manner regulation of speech, Tauro wrote:

[T]he law does not burden substantially more speech than necessary to further these public safety goals. ... "[T]he government is not required to choose the least restrictive approach in content-neutral regulation." Here, the Legislature appears to have carefully considered and balanced the Act's effects on speech with the Commonwealth's legitimate governmental interests. The result was a 35-foot fixed buffer zone that targeted the problematic areas (areas immediately adjacent to [clinic] entrances and driveways), during the problematic times.

[JURIST] A change to Chinese criminal law [1997 text] which would strengthen insider trading prohibitions was introduced before the country's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC) [government backgrounder] on Monday. If adopted during the committee's week-long session, the amendment would prohibit employees from using not only classified, but also other non-public information to buy stocks. The committee will also consider amendments which increase penalties for those who illegally use or copy military license plates in order to gain additional vehicle privileges, and for those who organize or participate in pyramid schemes [Xinhua reports]. Xinhua has more.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also taken steps to increase controls over insider trading, and announced [press release; JURIST report] earlier this month that it had reached a tentative agreement [PDF text] with ten US stock exchanges to centralize insider trading controls among the institutions. Under that plan, the programs to prevent and detect insider trading will be centrally controlled by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and a section of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) [corporate websites], instead of having each exchange run its own program. 

[JURIST] Swiss Prosecutor General Daniel Zappelli announced on Monday that he will not pursue money-laundering charges against Pakistani presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari [CV; BBC profile], who is the widower of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Zappelli explained that Geneva was left with insufficient evidence to continue after authorities in Pakistan [JURIST news archive] dropped their own corruption and smuggling charges [JURIST report] against Zardari, who heads the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [party website]. Zardari and Bhutto had been suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million paid by companies which contracted with the Pakistani government to perform customs inspections, but Pakistani authorities dismissed charges against Bhutto shortly after she was assassinated last year [JURIST reports]. Zappelli has unfrozen $60 million in seized assets [Reuters report] but Geneva's government will receive over $3 million. AP has more. PakTribune.com has local coverage.

If elected, Zardari would be the successor to Pervez Musharraf [JURIST news archive], who announced his resignation [JURIST report] earlier this month in order to avoid impeachment for his alleged abuses of authority, including the mass dismissal of judges [JURIST report] last year. On Monday, Pakistan's coalition government dissolved [JURIST report] after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif withdrew his Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) [official website] party over the failure to reach an agreement with the PPP to reinstate the ousted judges.

[JURIST] British nationals and former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith have petitioned [cert. petition, PDF] the US Supreme Court [official website] to hear a lawsuit [advocacy backgrounder] in which they seek religious rights and protection from torture for those still at the facility. In the petition, docketed [08-235 text] Monday, the men argue that a lower court's dismissal of their claims [JURIST report] should be reversed after Boumediene v. Bush [Duke Law backgrounder; JURIST report], in which the Court ruled that that detainees have the right to file habeas corpus petitions in federal court. The men argue that the Court should hear the case because of the gravity of the issues addressed and the claimed error of the lower court:

Guanta?namo continues to present numerous jurisprudential challenges to the judiciary. This case provides a critical opportunity for this Court to affirm strongly the guarantee to Guanta?namo detainees of an irreducible minimum of human rights. It is essential for this Court to reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision, which manifests indifference to religious abuse and torture and flouts the Guanta?namo jurisprudence carefully developed and expounded by this Court.

[JURIST] The US will begin providing direct financial aid to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] once the genocide tribunal takes adequate measures against corruption, stated outgoing US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli [official profile] on Monday during his final press conference in Phnom Penh. The UN-sponsored court was established to try former Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder] leaders accused of committing genocide during the 1970s, but has received little funding from international donors due to allegations of kickbacks and other irregularities [Phnom Penh Post report]. Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith announced Sunday that a draft anti-corruption law would be presented to the National Assembly [official website] next month when the newly elected body convenes. The proposed law, advocated by donor nations [JURIST report], has been in the works for more than a decade. AFP has more. Xinhua has additional coverage.

In June, the ECCC announced it had significantly reduced its budget [JURIST report] and would complete its work a year early, in 2010, because of the shortfall. An independent audit earlier this year cleared the ECCC of financial mismanagement [JURIST report]. Among the Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trial is former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav [TrialWatch profile], also known as Duch, who was indicted last month [JURIST report] on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions.

[JURIST] Arkansas Secretary of State [official website] Charlie Daniels has certified a ballot measure [text; AR AG opinion, PDF] which could prohibit gays, lesbians and other unmarried cohabiting couples from becoming either foster or adoptive parents. Daniels announced [press release] Monday that the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee [advocacy website] had submitted petitions containing the valid signatures of more than 85,000 registered voters - nearly 25,000 more than needed to place the measure on the November ballot. The proposed act provides, in part, that

(a) A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state.
(b) The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.