[JURIST] A judge in India [JURIST news archive] on Wednesday removed the defense lawyer from the trial of an accused gunman in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], citing a conflict of interest. Judge M.L. Tahiliyani said Anjali Waghmare [Sindh Today profile] could not represent Ajmal Kasab in the special court trial because she had agreed to represent a victim [Times of India report] of the attacks in a civil case. Waghmare denied [Telegraph report] any "professional misconduct," saying that she had met with a victim but had not committed to representing him. Kasab, who faces 12 charges including murder and waging war against India, asked for a lawyer from his native Pakistan. Tahiliyana said Kasab's new lawyer must be from India, but that the Pakistani government could help make the selection.

Kasab first appeared before Tahiliyani last month via video. In February, Pakistan officials conceded [JURIST report] that the attacks were partially planned in their country. Pakistan also stated that the perpetrators traveled by ship [NYT report] from southern Pakistan to Mumbai, where they launched the attack from inflatable boats using outboard engines purchased in Karachi, Pakistan. One scholar suggested that an international tribunal be formed [JURIST op-ed] to prosecute persons involved in Mumbai attacks in order to avoid further complications to the already unstable relationship between Pakistan and India. The attacks in Mumbai, which claimed at least 170 lives, were carried out at ten locations across the city including the landmark Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

[JURIST] US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano [official profile] on Wednesday appointed [press release] former federal prosecutor Alan Bersin as assistant secretary for international affairs and special representative for border affairs to oversee illegal immigration and anti-crime efforts along the country's borders. Bersin's duties will include improving relationships with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] and international, state, and local communities, as well as leading efforts to lessen violence [press release] along the US-Mexican border to "help Mexico target illegal guns, drugs and cash." Bersin and Napolitano conducted a press conference [AP report] on a bridge over the Rio Grande connecting El Paso with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to address concerns that have been expressed in regards to the border. Bersin rejected requests by state officials to patrol the border with military personnel by referring to the Posse Comitatus Act [text] which provides that, except where specially authorized, the Army and Air Force should not act as law enforcement. Bersin also stressed the importance of not exaggerating any potential security threats that the border may pose. Napolitano addressed the recent border efforts and Bersin's appointment:

The Department of Homeland Security has taken strong action to put the right resources in key places along the Southwest border. Thanks to additional technology and personnel along the border, we are getting better intelligence leading to drug and weapons seizures and better identification of illegal and criminal aliens.

Alan brings years of vital experience working with local, state and international partners to help us meet the challenges we face at our borders. He will lead the effort to make our borders safe while working to promote commerce and trade.

[JURIST] Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mohammad El Gharani [advocacy backgrounder] has alleged that he has been recently abused by guards at the military prison, according to a Tuesday report [text] by Al Jazeera. El Gharani reportedly made the allegations during a phone interview with the Middle-Eastern news service, saying that guards regularly beat him, have used tear gas against him, and have broken his teeth. He also said the abuse started before US President Barack Obama took office, but has still continued. In response to the allegations [AP report], US Navy Lieutenant Commander Brook DeWalt on Wednesday said that there was no evidence to support El Gharani's claims, and that the US does not permit news agencies to interview detainees because it is prohibited by the Third Geneva Convention [text]. DeWalt said that El Gharani apparently took part in the interview during a phone call he was permitted to make to his family, and that the US is investigating the phone call.

In January, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] granted habeas [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] to Gharani and ordered his release. In March, excerpts from a previously-undisclosed report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] characterized tactics used against terrorism suspects at Guantanamo during the George W. Bush administration as torture [text; JURIST report]. In February, the US Department of Defense officially released [JURIST report] a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] in which it said that detainee conditions at the prison now comport with the Geneva Conventions.

[JURIST] The Public Prosecution Service of Canada [official website] on Tuesday sought leave to appeal [press release] the prison sentence of 10.5 years given to Mohammed Momin Khawaja [CBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], the first person to be charged and tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act [text; CBC backgrounder], arguing that the sentence was too lenient. Khawaja was convicted [JURIST report] in October of designing a remote detonator and providing other support to a group that was convicted in 2007 [JURIST report] of planning to detonate a large fertilizer bomb. When Ontario Superior Court [official website] Justice Douglas Rutherford sentenced Khawaja [reasons for sentence, PDF; JURIST report] in March, prosecutors asked that he be given more than two life sentences. Lawyers for Khawaja have also said they will appeal the sentence [CNS report], arguing that it was too long, and that he should have been granted more credit for time served.

Khawaja was found guilty of participating in a terrorist group, instructing a person to finance terrorism, making property available to terrorists, contributing to a terrorist group, and facilitating terrorism. In June, Khawaja pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charges and his lawyer said the allegations were exaggerated and based on hearsay evidence that should have been excluded. In 2007, Canadian Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley refused to require the release of confidential evidence [JURIST report] against Khawaja, explaining that "disclosure of most of the information would be injurious to national security or to international relations." Khawaja was arrested [JURIST report] in March 2004.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida [official website] on Tuesday struck down [order, PDF] as unconstitutional a Florida state law that requires travel companies offering service to Cuba to post substantially higher bonds than companies that do not offer Cuban travel. Last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] entered a Statement of Interest [text, PDF] in the case, urging the court to overturn the 2008 Sellers of Travel Act [materials] because it impeded the federal government's ability to speak with one voice when managing relations with other nations. The DOJ argued that recent amendments to the act unlawfully impose burdens on federally protected travel that promotes Cuba's "peaceful transition to democracy." Fully adopting DOJ's position, the court declared the law unconstitutional, holding that, "[t]he State of Florida is not entitled to adopt a foreign policy under our Constitution or interfere with the prerogative of the United States to establish a carefully balanced approach to relations with foreign countries, including Cuba." The court also said that the law violates the Supremacy Clause, the federal government's foreign affairs power, the Foreign Commerce Clause, and the Interstate Commerce Clause. Florida State Rep. David Rivera (R) [official profile], a Cuban American and original sponsor of the law, deplored [Tampa Bay Business Journal report] the decision and said he will consider introducing new legislation on the issue.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama ordered the lifting of travel restrictions and restrictions on money transfers [press release; JURIST report] between Cuban-Americans and their families in Cuba. He also ordered that US telecommunications companies be allowed to work within Cuba to facilitate communication between families split between the two countries. Earlier this year, Congress approved legislation that relaxed rules put in place by the Bush administration in 2004 [JURIST report]. In February, a bill [H.R. 874 materials] was introduced [JURIST report] into the House of Representatives [official website] that would end the ban on travel by US residents to Cuba. A similar bill [S. 428 materials] is pending in the Senate [official website].

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia [official website] on Tuesday dismissed [opinion, PDF] a defamation suit [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] filed by a former US Marine against Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) [official website] after ruling that Murtha was acting in an official capacity when he made allegedly defamatory statements to the press in 2006. Former US Marine Corps sergeant Frank Wuterich [JURIST news archive] alleged that Murtha's comments suggesting that Wuterich had participated in killing innocent Iraqi civilians were made outside of the scope of official duty on the grounds that they were not "of the kind he is employed to perform" and that they were intended to serve his private interests. The three judge panel held that Murtha was acting in his official duty and that the Westfall Act [text], which grants federal employees absolute immunity from tort claims arising out of actions taken in the course of official duties, applied:

[I]t is clear that Wuterich has not alleged any facts that even remotely suggest that Congressman Murtha was acting outside the scope of his employment when he spoke about the Haditha incident… [T]he underlying conduct – interviews with the media about the pressures on American troops in the ongoing Iraq war – is unquestionably of the kind that Congressman Murtha was employed to perform as a Member of Congress. [citations omitted]

[JURIST] A group of approximately 300 Afghan women protesting a law that critics say severely curtails womens' rights were confronted by a crowd of approximately 1,000 counter-protesters Wednesday, some of whom threw stones and gravel at the women. The protest took place outside a mosque run by Shi'ite cleric Mohammad Asif Mohseni who spoke out [JURIST report] in support of the Shi'ite Personal Status Law [JURIST news archive] over the weekend. Police stood between the two groups [AP report] to prevent further violence against the women. Protesters say that the new law, which reportedly allows husbands to demand sex from their wives at any time except in a few narrowly defined circumstances and prevents women from leaving their home unaccompanied without their husband's permission, is reminiscent of laws under the Taliban [JURIST news archive] and violates Afghanistan's constitution [text, PDF]. The larger group of counter-protesters shouted down the protesters, claiming that the protesters and international critics of the law are attempting to interfere with Afghan democracy. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] supported the protest [press release] and urged Afghanistan's government to heed the protesters' call to the reverse the law.

The Taliban claimed responsibility [JURIST report] Sunday for killing Afghan politician and women's rights advocate Sitara Achakzai outside her home. Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] announced the law would not be enforced [JURIST report] until the Ministry of Justice [official website] had reviewed the bill as Karzai ordered [JURIST report] two days before. Karzai faced international criticism after signing the still unpublished bill [JURIST report] last month. The law affects only Shi'ite Muslims [BBC backgrounder] who make up 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's population and was seen by many as a conciliatory move by Karzai to appease the Taliban and increase his approval among Shi'ites before he faces re-election in August [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Bolivian President Evo Morales [official website; BBC profile] ended his five-day hunger strike after the Bolivian National Congress [official website, in Spanish] approved [press release, in Spanish] the final version of a new election law [proposed text, in Spanish]. Approval of the law paves the way for Morales to run for another term [BBC report] as president this December. Morales declared himself on hunger strike [YouTube video, in Spanish; AP report] Thursday until congress passed the law because the 60-day period decreed in the new Bolivian constitution [text, PDF] had lapsed earlier in the week. The congress approved the general framework [press release, in Spanish; JURIST report] on Thursday but had not agreed on the final details until Tuesday.

The law will regulate election of the congress, president, and vice-president of Bolivia. In February, Bolivia's new constitution went into effect, after being approved [JURIST reports] by national referendum in January. Other measures adopted by the constitution include land reform and regulations [JURIST report] on single farms to limit acreage to 12,400 and placing economic and social requirements on them.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] granted [order, PDF] Tuesday a stay of deportation of accused Nazi prison guard John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile; JURIST news archive]. The court issued the stay while it considers Demjanjuk's appeal of last Friday's order by the Board of Immigration Appeals that denied his emergency stay of deportation [JURIST report]. Demjanjuk faces deportation to Germany, where in March a Munich district court charged [JURIST report] him with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder for his alleged involvement at the Sobibor [Death Camps backgrounder] concentration camp. In his motion [text, PDF], Demjanjuk argued that public interest weighed in favor of the stay, while the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] argued [response, PDF] that the court lacked jurisdiction to order the stay since no final order of deportation had been issued. In granting the stay, the Sixth Circuit ruled that "[b]ecause it is our understanding that the government may remove the petitioner later today, we are compelled to rule on the motion for a stay prior to addressing the jurisdictional concerns raised by the government."

Last week, a US immigration judge revoked a stay of deportation [JURIST report] issued for Demjanjuk. The stay had been ordered [AP report] after Demjanjuk filed a motion to reopen his case. The immigration judge ruled [AFP report] that the stay had been ordered in error and revoked it, stating the motion should have been filed with the BIA. Demjanjuk has fought a lengthy legal battle over his alleged involvement with Nazi death camps during World War II. In 2008, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in Demjanjuk v. Mukasey [order, PDF; JURIST report], ending the appeals process for his deportation order. Demjanjuk was appealing a 2005 ruling [JURIST report] by then-US Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy which ordered his deportation. Demjanjuk had previously lost his appeal to the BIA. Additionally, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied Demjanjuk's petition for review [text, PDF] in January 2008. In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death by an Israeli court which found that he was a notorious guard from Treblinka nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible." The sentence was vacated by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993, and Demjanjuk returned to the US.