[JURIST] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has implemented a law requiring the country's Internet service providers to retain records of users' incoming and outgoing data for at least three months, according to a Monday report [text] by the state-run PressTV [media website] news agency. The government said the law is designed to help catch those who illegally steal others' personal information from the Internet, and that the data would only be monitored under court order or in the interest of national security. Critics argue that the law will enable the government to monitor and censor the internet use [Al Jazeera report] of reporters and political dissidents, whose blogging and use of social networking websites have thus far been able to evade press restrictions.

Iran has been experiencing political unrest since Ahmadenijad won the country's disputed June 12 election [JURIST news archive]. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported that some arrested protesters were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with torture in an effort to force false confessions [report, text; JURIST report]. Also this month, opposition leaders called for the release [JURIST report] of those detained for their alleged involvement in the protests. Human rights groups have viewed the arrests as political repression [JURIST report], saying that Iranian forces are using the protests to "engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals."

[JURIST] The US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] on Tuesday delayed a vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor [WH profile; JURIST news archive] at the request of Senate Republicans. The vote on whether to send the nomination for consideration by the full Senate is now scheduled for July 28 [hearing notice]. Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] said that he was "disappointed" by the delay, but that he remained confident Sotomayor would be confirmed [Washington Post report] and seated by the time the Court reconvenes for a special argument session on September 9. Also this week, Sotomayor returned responses to written questions [materials] from several Republican senators. Four Republican senators have declared their support for Sotomayor, and she is likely to be supported by all Senate Democrats.

Sotomayor faced questions from senators during last week's confirmation hearings [JURIST report]. Earlier this month, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary [association website] gave Sotomayor a unanimous "well-qualified" rating [letter, PDF; JURIST report]. In May, Obama praised [JURIST report] Sotomayor's experience and wisdom, rebuking Republicans who would oppose her confirmation. Obama warned against partisanship in the confirmation process, saying that he hoped Congress would "avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship" that marked past confirmation hearings. Obama nominated Sotomayor in May to replace retiring [JURIST reports] Justice David Souter [official profile, PDF; JURIST news archive].

[JURIST] The French National Assembly [official website] voted Tuesday to delay a vote [debate text, in French; materials, in French] on a new version [text, in French] of a controversial Internet piracy law, past its original July 24 date. The French Senate [official website, in French] approved [JURIST report] the law earlier this month after portions of its original version were rejected [decision, in French; JURIST report] in June by France's Constitutional Council [official website]. The original law subjected violators of copyright laws to suspension of Internet access at the discretion of a newly-created administrative authority bestowed with judicial power. The new law would leave discretion to suspend services to a judge, since the Constitutional Council ruled that the power to restrict the fundamental right of accessing the Internet should not be entrusted to an administrative authority. The determination to suspend access would be made on an infringer's third violation, after previously receiving two warnings. An Assembly vote on the measure is now likely [Reuters report] in September.

The bill, introduced by Cultural Minister Christine Albanel and supported by President Nicholas Sarkozy [official websites, in French], is aimed at reducing illegal downloads of protected works by proposing an escalating series of responses for users that are caught. The original version of the law was challenged [JURIST report] by the Socialist party on the grounds that it failed to find a balance between the rights of Internet users and those of copyright holders. In May, the original bill was approved by the National Assembly after initially defeating [JURIST reports] it in April. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [organization website], representing the worldwide recording industry, has welcomed the legislation [press release], although it has been opposed [press release, in French] by French consumer interest group UFC-Que Choisir [advocacy website, in French] as well as cable and Internet providers [France 24 report].

[JURIST] Venezuela judge Alicia Torres said Monday that she has been removed from her position presiding over a case against Globovision TV [media website, in Spanish] owner Guillermo Zuloaga. Zuloaga has been charged with usury and conspiracy [LAHT report] to commit a crime, and Torres said she was removed from the case after she refused to issue an order [Nacional report, in Spanish] prohibiting Zuloaga from leaving the country. Globovision has been critical of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [JURIST news archive], and Zuloago has said the charges against him are politically motivated. Commentators have also said that Torres's dismissal is further evidence [Globovision report] of the government using the judiciary to quiet opponents.

Zuloaga's trial is the latest in a series of disputes between the government and independent media outlets. In May 2007, Venezuelan Information Minister William Lara filed lawsuits [JURIST report] against media giant CNN and Globovision, alleging that the two stations presented false information concerning Chavez and that Globovision issued a call for Chavez's assassination. In August 2007, the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice suspended an order [JURIST report] issued by the government's telecommunication commission requiring Radio Caracas Television to register as a "national audiovisual production service" or face shutdown after agreeing to hear a case on whether cable and satellite television channels are obligated to transmit government-mandated content. In July 2006, the Inter American Press Association claimed Chavez was silencing dissent [JURIST report] by prosecuting journalists under questionable circumstances.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] sent an open letter [text] Monday to US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] to "express [the organization's] strong support for opening a criminal investigation into abusive interrogation practices by the US government since the attacks of September 11, 2001." The letter appears to come in response to last week's Newsweek report [text; JURIST report] indicating that Holder was still considering appointing a prosecutor with "gravitas and grit" to investigate allegations of torture during the Bush administration. HRW's letter emphasized the need to fully investigate higher-level officials involved in policy-setting, saying "[a]ny investigation that failed to reach those at the center of the policy, while pinning responsibility on line officers, would lack credibility both domestically and internationally." Calls for an independent investigation of Bush administration policies have intensified in the last few months, since the Obama administration released four top secret memos [JURIST report] outlining the legal rationale behind controversial interrogation techniques.

In April, Democratic members of the US House Judiciary Committee sent Holder a letter urging him to appoint a special counsel [JURIST report] to investigate torture allegations made against Bush administration officials. Earlier that month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official profile] reiterated his calls for a non-partisan truth commission [JURIST report] to investigate those responsible for authorizing certain interrogation techniques. Also in April, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence [official website] released a DOJ report [JURIST report] indicating that in 2002 former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice approved the use of waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques used by CIA agents against Guantanamo Bay detainees.

[JURIST] A report on the closure of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], due to be presented to US President Barack Obama [official website] Tuesday, will be delayed [press release, RTF] for six months, officials reported Monday. The government task force, assigned to create a new policy on terrorism detainees, missed its Tuesday deadline for a full report, instead presenting an interim report [text, PDF; prosecution protocol, PDF]. Another task force, appointed to review detainee interrogation policies, also missed the Tuesday deadline and received a two-month extension for its report. Despite the delay, White House officials said they remain confident that the facility will be shut down by January, in order to comply with Obama's executive order [text; JURIST report]. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] Executive Director Anthony Romero said:

The Obama administration must not slip into the same legal swamp that engulfed the Bush administration with its failed Guantanamo policies. Any effort to revamp the failed Guantanamo military commissions or enact a law to give any president the power to hold individuals indefinitely and without charge or trial is sure to be challenged in court and it will take years before justice is served. The only way to make good on President Obama's promise to shut down Guantanamo and end the military commissions is to charge and try the detainees in established federal criminal courts. Any effort to do otherwise will doom the Obama administration to lengthy litigation. A promise deferred could soon become a promise broken.

[JURIST] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [official profile] on Monday approved amendments [text, in Russian; summary, in Russian] to the country's law that regulates non-governmental organizations (NGOs), loosening and simplifying registration requirements for the groups. The amendments eased reporting and auditing requirements on the groups and eliminated a requirement that the groups prove they are not a threat to the Russian state or identity. The amendments passed both houses of the Russian parliament earlier this month after being introduced [statement text] by Medvedev on the June recommendation of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council [official website]. They are part of a longer-term plan [text] recommended by the council to improve the government's stance towards the groups, and Medvedev has said he sees the changes as important ones:

In my view this represents quite an important change in the law on public associations, including non-governmental organisations. I think this draft law is a good idea and I am submitting it to the State Duma today for consideration. But it makes sense that the working group represented here today should go on working on the modernisation of legislation in this area and the general development of civil society, since modernising the legislation and monitoring -- public monitoring of its implementation -- would in my view also be useful. It is not only the prosecutor's office that should follow up on this, but as representatives of public associations you should be involved as well.

[JURIST] Chief judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] Royce Lamberth found [opinion, PDF] Monday that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] committed fraud in its efforts to keep documents related to eavesdropping allegations a secret. The judge ruled that the CIA must unseal more than 200 documents relating to the case. Lamberth is also considering charges [AP report] against 6 other CIA members, including former CIA director George Tenet [BBC Profile]. The judge wrote:

Although this case has been sealed since its inception to protect sensitive information, it is clear from reading the Court of Appeals 2007 public opinion in this case and seeing the unclassified appendix that was filed on appeal that many of the issues are unclassified. The government acknowledged that indeed, the case could be unsealed, and that much of the information is unclassified. Accordingly, the Court ordered the government to file with the Court unclassified versions of every document in the case.