[JURIST] Azerbaijan's parliament, the Milli Majlis [official website, in Azerbaijani], on Friday voted 100-7 to approve a March 18 referendum [press release, in Azerbaijani] that could amend the nation's constitution [text] to remove presidential term limits. The present law contains a two-term presidential limit, which would bring the administration of President Ilham Aliyev [official website; BBC profile] to an end in 2013 after the expiration of his second five-year term. On Wednesday, a plenary session of the Azerbaijani Constitutional Court [official website] ruled that the proposals may be put to a national referendum [press release, PDF]. The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party, which holds a substantial parliamentary majority, said that the referendum strengthens democratic rights of citizens. Opposition parties including the Musavat Party [party website] and the Liberal Party have denounced the move as threatening to create a de facto monarchy. Among the other proposals to be put to vote are provisions that would postpone national elections during wartime.

Aliyev was elected president of Azerbaijan [JURIST news archive] in 2003 following the death of his father Heydar Aliyev [BBC profile], a prominent leader in the the oil- and gas-rich former Soviet republic since 1969. In October, Aliyev was reelected with nearly 90% of the vote [BBC report], though the election was boycotted by opposition parties and was internationally criticized for failing to meet democratic standards [OSCE report; NATO statement]. Aliyev has been accused by members of the press of heavy-handed repression of the media [JURIST report]. In June, a Freedom House rights group report said that corruption and repression are increasingly threatening legal rights [JURIST report] in Azerbaijan.

[JURIST] The French Foreign Ministry [official website] on Friday urged the European Union (EU) to adopt a unified policy [DW report] on whether to accept detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military prison if US President-elect Barack Obama closes the facility. The French government has said it would welcome the prison's closure, but Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier on Wednesday did not indicate whether France itself would accept any detainees [press conference transcript]. Some of the EU's 27 member states have recently expressed opposing views on the matter. Germany and Portugal [JURIST reports] have said they would consider taking in released Guantanamo detainees, and have encouraged all EU member states to cooperate in formulating a plan for accepting prisoners who cannot be returned to their homelands because of risk of torture. Britain said Wednesday it will consider accepting detainees on a case-by-case basis. Also Wednesday, however, a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that the Netherlands would not accept any Guantanamo inmates [AFP report], and Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero said that although Spain might be amendable to requests to accept detainees, the move would raise "serious legal problems" [PL report]. No EU-wide talks are expected before the Czech Republic assumes the EU Presidency [Czech Presidency website] on January 1.

On December 18, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the Pentagon to draft a proposal for shutting down [press release; JURIST report] the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in preparation for a possible order from President-elect Obama. On Tuesday, US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack called the European response to the need to relocate detainees "quite encouraging" [press conference transcript]. Rights groups have urged Obama to close the controversial military prison upon inauguration in January. Last month, the ACLU launched an ad campaign [image, PDF] calling on Obama to close Guantanamo Bay and end the use of military commissions on his first day in office. Obama and his advisers have yet to reach a firm decision [JURIST report] on the closure of the facility.

[JURIST] Six criminal trials in four separate courts began Friday in China's Hebei province for six people accused of involvement in the country's recent melamine-tainted milk scandal. The six cattle farmers and milk collectors are accused [Xinhua report] of making several hundred tons of melamine-containing protein powder and adding it to raw milk before selling the mixture to Chinese dairies between October 2007 and August 2008. They are formally charged with committing crimes against public security. According to prosecutors, one farmer sold over 600 tons of protein powder for $1 million. The main dairy that purchased the additive was government-owned farm Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., which was forced to cease production in September [Xinhua report]. The milk company filed for bankruptcy this Wednesday, and the petition was accepted by a court Friday [CNN reports]. Former Sanlu general manager and board chairwoman Tian Wenhua is scheduled to face trial next Wednesday. Earlier this month the Hebei Supreme Court rejected a class action suit [JURIST report] filed against Sanlu by the families of children who died or were harmed as a result of tainted milk.

News of possible milk powder contamination by the chemical melamine first broke in September [Guardian report], following the death of an infant and reports that at least 50 other infants had fallen ill after consuming baby formula, leading to massive recalls [BBC report] of both liquid milk products and milk powders. To date, the Chinese Health Ministry has attributed the contamination to the deaths of six children, and at least 294,000 other children have been affected.

[JURIST] Leading Zimbabwe human rights activist Jestina Mukoko [advocacy website] has been taken to the high-security Chikurubi prison [AP report] outside of Harare in violation of a court order that she be taken to a hospital, according to human rights lawyers Friday. Mukoko, who is charged with attempting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], went missing for three weeks earlier this month and was feared dead [Zimbabwe Metro report]. She nonetheless appeared in court [BBC News report] on Wednesday to face the charges against her while claiming she had been tortured during her three-week detention. The judge ruled her detention was illegal and that she be taken to a private hospital and given police protection, but she never appeared at the hospital. Eight other rights activists whose release had also been ordered were taken to the prison. They could have faced the death penalty if they had been tried and been found guilty for the crimes alleged.

Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), has played a key role in monitoring and publicizing the wave of violence that has hit the country before and after recent presidential elections and the run-off elections [JURIST reports] that followed. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], presidential candidate of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website], have been disputing results of March elections for months. They signed a power-sharing agreement [Harare Tribune text] in September, under which Mugabe would remain president, Tsvangirai would become prime minister, and each would have two deputies. The agreement, however, has been stymied over disagreements regarding division of top Cabinet posts, and violence and allegations of human rights violations continue to mar the election results, with the MDC estimating that nearly 100 of its members have been killed since March, and more than 100 imprisoned [AFP report].