[JURIST] US Supreme Court [official website] nominee Sonia Sotomayor [WH profile; JURIST news archive] reiterated her commitment to applying the law fairly to the facts of each case as members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] concluded their questions [materials] Thursday. During questioning from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) [official website], Sotomayor said:

The role of the courts is to interpret the law as Congress writes it. It may be the effect in a particular situation that, in the court doing that, in giving effect to Congress's intent, it has that outcome, but it's not the role of the judge to create that outcome. It's to interpret what Congress is doing and do what Congress wants.

Despite the important civil rights and constitutional claims we raised, the Court of Appeals panel disposed of our case in an unsigned, unpublished summary order that consisted of a single paragraph that mentioned my dyslexia and thus led everybody to think that this case was about me and a disability claim. This case had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with ensuring our command officers were competent to answer the call and our right to advance in our profession based on merit regardless of race.

[JURIST] Detainees held at the US detention facility at Bagram Air Base [JURIST news archive; GlobalSecurity backgrounder] in Afghanistan have refused prison privileges to protest their detention, according to Thursday reports. Since early July, hundreds of Bagram detainees have refused shower and exercise time and have ceased participation in a family visits and teleconferences set up by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website]. The ICRC, the only humanitarian group given access to the base, has discontinued [AFP report] the programs during the protest. A US military officials said that the detainees were protesting their lack of access [AP report] to US courts and the indefinite length of their detention.

Last month, a judge from the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] dismissed [JURIST report] a habeas corpus petition filed by Afghan national and Bagram detainee Haji Wazir, because he was detained in a theater of war and his release would likely cause "friction with the host country." Also last month, several former Bagram detainees alleged [JURIST report] that they were subjected to physical abuse, death threats, "stress positions," extreme temperatures, and forced nudity while at the US facility. In April, the DC Circuit allowed habeas petitions [JURIST report] brought by three non-Afghan to proceed, but later certified and suspended [JURIST report] the order, allowing an interlocutory appeal on whether the detainees may invoke the Constitution's Suspension Clause [text].

[JURIST] The French National Assembly [official website, in French] on Wednesday approved [materials, in French] 282-238 a bill that would relax the country's restrictions on Sunday commercial activities. If passed by the Senate next week, the bill would alter a 1906 law establishing the principle of "Sunday rest" to allow businesses in tourist zones and major cities to open on Sundays. The proposal requires that businesses give employees the option to refuse Sunday working hours, that the refusal to work on Sunday should not effect employment or termination decisions, and that some workers be given overtime compensation for Sunday hours. French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] and his Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) [party website] supported the measure as a way to increase economic activity, while labor unions such as the French Confederation of Christian Workers [union website] said that the bill undermines [press release] the country's social ties and threatens worker's quality of life.

The lifting of the Sunday commercial restriction is part of Sarkozy's plan to encourage more entrepreneurial activity in France. The measure was defeated [Guardian report] last year after meeting resistance from inside UMP, being condemned by the Catholic church and protested by workers and their representatives. Sarkozy was elected [BBC report] in May 2007 on a platform that included liberalization of France's economic policies, urging [Times report] citizens to "work more to earn more" as a means to encourage economic growth.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] stated on Wednesday that they do not oppose [response, PDF] a motion to suppress [text, PDF] the allegedly torture-induced confession of Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad [ACLU materials; JURIST news archive]. Jawad's motion sought to suppress all out-of-court statements made to US and Afghan officials on the grounds that they were the product of coercion and because they did not meet the voluntariness requirement of federal habeas proceedings. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] supported Jawad's motion, claiming that the government is still relying on the statements [press release] in question. Mainly at issue is a confession signed by Jawad at an Afghan police station after being arrested for allegedly throwing a grenade at US soldiers. Jawad's motion claimed that the confession was written in Persian, which he does not understand, and that he is "functionally illiterate," even in his native language. The motion also alleged that interrogators threatened to kill Jawad and his family if he did not confess. Post-arrest statements made by Jawad were previously suppressed by a military tribunal judge on the grounds that they were elicited by torture. Jawad's motion claimed that the government was collaterally estopped from religitating the issue. In their response, the DOJ asked for the status conference on Jawad's habeas action to be postponed until August.

Jawad's case has been controversial due to repeated delays in the proceedings. In May, Jawad's military lawyers asked the Supreme Court of Afghanistan to demand his release [JURIST report] from Guantanamo. The petition for his release was because the planned closure [JURIST news archive] of the facility allegedly delayed the case in the US. In April, a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that Jawad's habeas petition should not be delayed. The judge based the ruling on the Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF] decision, which calls for the prompt adjudication of Guantanamo detainees' habeas cases. The original military prosecutor of the case quit the military commission in September citing conscience reasons. Jawad has been charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] with attempted murder and intentionally causing serious bodily injury for his alleged role in a December 2002 grenade attack in Kabul that injured two US soldiers and an Afghan translator. In May 2008, Jawad moved [JURIST report] to have all charges against him dismissed, alleging that he has been tortured in US custody and subjected to the so-called "frequent-flier program," in which certain inmates are moved between cells at two to four hour intervals in an attempt to cause physical stress through sleep deprivation.

[JURIST] Military prosecutors at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on Wednesday sought to delay the trials of three suspected terrorists while the US government revises the military commission [JURIST news archive] system used to try them. At the second day of hearings held at the detention facility since US President Barack Obama [official website] took office, judges granted a government request to postpone proceedings in the case of accused al-Qaeda member Mohammed Kamin, but did not rule on similar motions in the cases of Omar Khadr and Ibrahim Ahmed al Qosi [DOD materials]. Military prosecutors said that, since changes made to the military commissions structure may invalidate the current proceedings [Reuters report] or require rehearing on specific issues, the court should stay the cases until the revisions are complete. Defense counsel for the detainees said that the delays would violate American legal principles by endorsing indefinite detention. Commander Suzanne Lachelier, defense counsel for alleged 9-11 co-conspirator Ramzi Binalshibh [DOD materials], predicted [Bloomberg report] that no more full trials would be completed at Guantanamo before its closure in January 2010, due to the inefficiencies created by the rules of evidence and the systemic review. An anonymous US official said on Wednesday that more than 60 detainees [Bloomberg report] had been cleared by the US government for transfer to other countries.

Last week, a former Guantanamo prosecutor told the House Judiciary Committee [official website] that the military commission system is "broken beyond repair" [JURIST report]. Also last week, a former US Navy Judge Advocate General [official website] told the Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [text, PDF] should be repealed rather than reformed [JURIST report]. Last month, that committee approved [JURIST report] a version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 [S 1033 materials] that would reform the use of classified, coerced, and hearsay evidence and allow defendants greater access to exculpatory evidence. Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) [official website] said that the changes were necessary for the military commissions to be considered "regularly constituted courts" within the meaning of the 2006 Supreme Court [official website] decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [opinion, PDF; JURIST report]. In May, US President Barack Obama [official website] announced [JURIST report] that he would use the controversial military commissions system to try some Guantanamo Bay detainees. The move drew criticism [JURIST report] from human rights groups, which called the plan "fatally flawed," continuing a long line of criticism of the commissions [JURIST report] for admitting some evidence that is barred from federal court, including hearsay or coerced confessions. In January, Obama issued an executive order [text; JURIST report] directing the military prison be closed "as soon as practicable and no later than one year from the date of this order."

[JURIST] The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) [official website] was criticized [press release] by the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) [official website] Wednesday for its role in interrogating Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive]. The committee reported [text] that the intelligence agency failed to consider Khadr's age and human rights issues regarding alleged mistreatment by US authorities during interviews. The report states that the detainee's age should have been taken into account because Canadian and international law dictates that minors are entitled to special consideration. SIRC chairman Gary Filmon suggested that CSIS "undertake a fundamental reassessment of how it carries out its work," stressing that it is important for the agency to demonstrate its capability of conducting operations abroad. The report additionally alleges that the service violated policies on confidentiality by allowing US authorities to videotape the interrogations. Also on Wednesday, Khadr reaffirmed his previous request [JURIST report] to have his US military lawyers dismissed from his case [AP report] for arguing and disagreeing among themselves. Khadr told the judge that he did not trust the military lawyers or their office.

The disputes among the members of Khadr's US defense team arose from chief defense counsel Colonel Peter Masciola's efforts to dismiss Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler [JURIST news archive] as lead counsel for Khadr after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against Masciola alleging a conflict of interest. After Masciola removed Kuebler [JURIST report] from the case, Parrish reinstated him [JURIST report], ruling that Masciola did not have the authority to remove counsel. Kuebler has long criticized Masciola's handling of the case and, in February, stated that he had prompted the investigation [JURIST report] of the defense team's ethics based on Masciola's leadership. Khadr has maintained his desire to be represented by Canadian lawyers Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling. In April, the Federal Court of Canada ruled [JURIST report] that Prime Minister Stephen Harper must advocate for Khadr's repatriation based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom [text]. Soon after the ruling, an official for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs [official website] confirmed [JURIST report] the government’s intention to appeal. Khadr has allegedly admitted to throwing a hand grenade [JURIST report] that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan, and was charged [JURIST report] in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying.

[JURIST] The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Thursday received and reviewed [press release] a sealed envelope listing the names of those believed to be responsible for the post-election violence in Kenya [JURIST report] in late 2007 and early 2008. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] also received "six boxes of documents and supporting materials" compiled by the Commission of Inquiry on Post Election Violence (CIPEV), or Waki Commission. Moreno-Ocampo pledged to safeguard the contents of the envelope, so as not to jeopardize efforts to form a special tribunal [JURIST report] in Kenya to try perpetrators.

The content of the envelope will remain confidential, there will be no leaks[.] In accordance with the Rome Statute, my Office utilises all information received in our analysis work. The findings of the Waki Commission are important but they do not bind the Office; I should reach an impartial conclusion.

[JURIST] The Swiss Federal Criminal Court [official website, in German] on Tuesday released the frozen assets [judgment, PDF; in German] of former Zaire leader Mobutu Sese Seko [profile]. The court ruled that the approximately 7.7 million Swiss francs stored in banks, which were said to have been gained illegally, will be returned to the late Mobutu's heirs. The funds were originally sought by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire under Mobutu's control, but the Swiss prosecutor's office decided that Mobutu's heirs should receive it because the statute of limitations had run on the DRC's claim. An appeal brought by Basel University criminologist Mark Pieth to keep the assets frozen [BBC report] was subsequently rejected. Pieth alleged that Mobutu's heirs were criminal suspects and thus should not receive the funds. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs [official website, in German] opposed the ruling [Geneva Lunch report], calling for legal reform on the issue of illicit assets. DRC Information Minister Lambert Mende claimed that Switzerland did not make enough of an attempt to give the disputed funds back to the country [BBC report].

The Swiss Federal Council ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs in December to draft a new law to address the confiscation and return of illicit assets of "politically exposed persons." Mobutu changed the Congo region's name to Zaire in 1971 after seizing power in 1965. His regime was overthrown in 1997 and he died a few months later while exiled in Morocco.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that Maryland alcohol price regulations violate federal antitrust laws. The court upheld their previous ruling [opinion, PDF] from 2001 that state pricing schemes for liquor and wine wholesalers restrain trade and constitute horizontal price fixing under the Sherman Antitrust Act [materials]. The regulations required wholesalers to disclose and lock-in prices at a fixed date every month and restricted them from offering volume discounts to retailers. Maryland defended the laws, claiming that their rights under the 21st Amendment [text] outweigh the federal law. The Fourth Circuit previously rejected the state's claims that the suit was barred by 11th Amendment [text] state immunity and that the Sherman Act did not apply to state actors. The court discussed the 21st Amendment issue:

despite the scheme's violation of federal law, the state is given the opportunity to demonstrate that its own interests outweigh those of the federal government. Here, a determination of effectiveness is essential to weigh the competing interests because the state's interests are weighed in the balance only insofar as they are actually advanced by the regulatory scheme. ... The 21st Amendment may provide "shelter" for a state's liquor statutes that violate the Sherman Act only if the state's interest truly outweighs the federal interest.

[JURIST] The head of the UK's judiciary on Wednesday said that judges have been improperly excluded [text, PDF] from debate over "major constitutional changes" in recent years. In a speech at a judicial banquet held by the Lord Mayor of London Ian Luder, Lord Chief Justice Lord Igor Judge [official profiles] suggested that judges may have a have a "duty to speak" when issues affecting "constitutional arrangements and the administration of justice" are being considered by parliament, despite a new law that removes the Chief Justice's ability to speak in the House of Lords [official website]. Judge addressed a proposal to allow judicial review of parliamentary actions, saying that the he was "concerned" by the proposal because "it is imperative that ultimate responsibility for the governance of Parliament should remain with Parliament."

As I have said the judiciary should not be involved in the parliamentary process ... . Responsibility for ensuring that our parliamentary arrangements are satisfactory is vested directly in the High Court of Parliament itself, and it is and should remain accountable, not to the judiciary but to the electorate which, in our democratic process, ultimately hires and fires both the executive and the major legislative body.

[JURIST] Russian human rights activist Natalia Estemirova [BBC obituary] was kidnapped in Grozny Wednesday morning and shot to death, according to news reports. Estemirova, 50, investigated allegations of human rights violations in Chechnya for about 10 years. Estemirova's body, which had been shot multiple times, was found Wednesday afternoon [Moscow Times report] in nearby Ingushetia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [official profile] said he was outraged [AFP report] and ordered an inquiry [BBC report] into Estemirova's killing. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] condemned Estemirova's killing and urged Russian leaders to ensure her killers are brought to justice [press release]. A Kremlin spokesperson said a motive for Estemirova's slaying was likely linked to her activism. Estemirova worked for Russian human rights organization Memorial [advocacy website, in Russian], which has accused [press release, in Russian] Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov [BBC profile] of responsibility in her death.

Estemirova is one of several rights advocates to be gunned down in Russia in recent years. In January, Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov was shot and killed [JURIST report] in Moscow. Markelov represented journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary], who was shot to death [JURIST report] in October 2006. In April, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin [official profile] expressed concern [JURIST report] that activists in Russia were being attacked with greater frequency. According to HRW, more than 100 European Court of Human Rights [official website] judgments have found that Russia is responsible for grave human-rights violations in Chechnya.

[JURIST] The sodomy trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim [official profile; JURIST news archive] began in Kuala Lampur on Wednesday, one year after he was arrested. Anwar is charged with sodomizing a male aide in June 2008, though his lawyers have claimed that he was not at the site of the suspected act [Bernama report]. Prior to the commencement of trial activities, Anwar's defense was denied a postponement to replace lead attorney Sulaiman Abdullah, who had withdrawn himself from the case due to illness [Star report]. While speaking with the press before the trial began, Anwar called the decision unreasonable and questioned whether he would receive a fair trial.



If convicted, Anwar faces up to 20 years in prison.

Anwar pleaded not guilty in August to the sodomy charges [JURIST report]. Anwar has called the accusations part of a government campaign to upset his political aspirations, including a parliamentary by-election he won [BBC report] in August. The current sodomy charge is the second against Anwar in the past 11 years. Anwar was Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister until he was fired in 1998 following sodomy charges of which he was initially convicted but later acquitted. He only recently reentered Malaysian politics following the expiration of a ten-year ban [JURIST report] against him for unrelated corruption charges.