[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Monday released a much anticipated 2004 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] inspector general report [text, PDF] detailing controversial interrogation techniques used on terror detainees. According to the report, interrogators threatened suspects' family members and conducted mock executions. The report also details other controversial techniques such as waterboarding [JURIST news archive] and acknowledges that interrogators used techniques that they knew had not been approved by DOJ lawyers. A heavily redacted version of the report was released last year, and Monday's release, which is still redacted, came after several delays [JURIST report] to allow government officials more time to decide which information could be released and which should be withheld in the interests of national security. The special report on counterterrorism and interrogation practices, authored by John Helgerson, was released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text] lawsuit [complaint, PDF] brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website].

The release of the report comes as US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] announced [press release] Monday that the DOJ will "open a preliminary review" [JURIST report] into allegations of prisoner abuse by CIA interrogators during the Bush administration. Also Monday, a presidential special task force on interrogations and transfer policies issued its recommendations [press release] calling on the Obama administration to create a specialized interrogation group [JURIST report] to question top terrorism suspects. The White House confirmed the creation of a special panel Monday that will be spearheaded by the FBI, rather than the CIA.

[JURIST] A presidential special task force on interrogations and transfer policies issued its recommendations [press release] Monday calling on the Obama administration to create a specialized interrogation group to question top terrorist suspects. The task force, created by executive order 13491 [text; JURIST report], in January recommended that the US create a joint panel, consisting of "experienced interrogators and support personnel from across the intelligence community" to interrogate high value terrorism detainees. Controversial techniques such as waterboarding will not be used [WSJ report] by the new panel, which will be spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and not the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official websites], which has previously taken the lead on interrogating detainees. The special task force's report to the president also endorsed the US Army Field Manual 2-22.3 [text, PDF] as a proper guide for interrogators and recommended greater State Department [official website] involvement before detainees are transferred abroad so as to ensure that they are not tortured once they leave the US. Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile], who chaired the commission, said the task force's recommendations would improve national security while respecting the rule of law:

The new policies proposed by the Task Force will allow us to draw the best personnel from across the government to conduct interrogations that will yield valuable intelligence and strengthen our national security. There is no tension between strengthening our national security and meeting our commitment to the rule of law, and these new policies will accomplish both.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Monday that Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mohammed Jawad [ACLU materials; JURIST news archive] has been repatriated to Afghanistan. Co-counsel for Jawad, US Air Force Major Frakt, hailed [press release] his client's release as a victory for justice:

Mr. Jawad has finally returned home to celebrate Ramadan with his family after nearly seven long years away. This is a tremendous victory for justice and the rule of law. Although nothing can ever replace those lost years, fortunately this remarkable young man is still young enough to build a life for himself. He is eager to go back to school and complete his education so that he can help others in Afghan society. We're hopeful that the many other innocent men still being illegally detained at Guantanamo will also soon be released.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] announced [press release] Monday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] will "open a preliminary review" into allegations of prisoner abuse by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] interrogators during the Bush administration. Holder's decision follows a recommendation by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) [official website]. Holder appointed Assistant US Attorney John Durham [NYT profile] to lead the investigation. Durham was appointed by former attorney general Michael Mukasey in 2008 to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations. Holder said:

There are those who will use my decision to open a preliminary review as a means of broadly criticizing the work of our nation’s intelligence community. I could not disagree more with that view. The men and women in our intelligence community perform an incredibly important service to our nation, and they often do so under difficult and dangerous circumstances. They deserve our respect and gratitude for the work they do. Further, they need to be protected from legal jeopardy when they act in good faith and within the scope of legal guidance. That is why I have made it clear in the past that the Department of Justice will not prosecute anyone who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the interrogation of detainees. I want to reiterate that point today, and to underscore the fact that this preliminary review will not focus on those individuals.

[JURIST] Scottish Justice Minister Kennny MacAskill [official profile] defended [statement] his order to release [JURIST report] to Libya convicted Pan Am Flight 103 [BBC backgrounder] bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi [BBC profile] in front of an emergency session [audio] of the Scottish Parliament Monday. MacAskill faced criticism from several members of parliament, including the leaders of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party [party websites], for his decision to allow Megrahi, the only man convicted in connection with the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, to return to his native Libya for the remaining portion of his life. Megrahi was recently diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, and doctors expect he has only about three months to live. In defending his decision, MacAskill reiterated parts of a statement he gave upon issuing the order to release Megrahi, stating:

In Scotland, we are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity. It is viewed as a defining characteristic of Scotland and the Scottish people. The perpetration of an atrocity and outrage cannot and should not be a basis for losing sight of who we are, the values we seek to uphold, and the faith and beliefs by which we seek to live.

[JURIST] The Chinese government on Sunday released prominent human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong on bail without any explanation. Xu was taken into custody last month and was formally charged [JURIST reports] last week with tax evasion. He was accused of failing to pay taxes [NYT report] on a $100,000 grant from Yale University earmarked for the legal research center of Xu's Gongmeng human rights group. Shortly after he was taken into custody, Chinese officials shut down [JURIST report] the legal research center. Xu may be able to avoid prosecution for the tax evasion charges if he pays a fine [AFP report] and cooperates with Chinese authorities. Though released, Xu will not be able to leave Beijing while the charges are being investigated.

Zhiyong's arrest was the latest in a series of incidents that human rights activists claim are an attempt by the Chinese government to quash dissidence as the 60th anniversary of Communist rule approaches in October. Last month, the Chinese government suspended the licenses of 53 lawyers [press release, in Chinese] in Beijing, including prominent human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong, for failing to pass an assessment or failing to register. In June, Chinese authorities charged prominent rights activist Liu Xiaobo [JURIST report] with "inciting subversion of state power" [PRC Criminal Law article 105, PDF]. Liu, who spent two years in prison following the Tiananmen Square [BBC backgrounder] uprising, has long challenged China's one-party rule, and co-authored Charter 08 [text], a petition calling for political reforms in the country.

[JURIST] The US military [official website] will now be notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] of the identities of suspected terrorist militants held in special operations camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a New York Times report [text]. In a reversal of past Pentagon policy, the ICRC will now have the ability to obtain information about and track detainees held at these facilities. While detainee identities will be shared under the new policy, the ICRC will still be denied access to the camps. Under this new policy, the US military must notify the ICRC of the detainees' names and identification numbers within two weeks of the detention. The military previously refused the names of detainees to the ICRC due to concerns of jeopardizing counterterrorism efforts. The policy shift took effect early this month.

The ICRC, which is formally entrusted under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols [materials] with protecting the victims of armed conflict and with promoting international humanitarian law in violent situations, has long lobbied the US military for access to these camps and information on the detainees. The policy shift comes as the Obama administration has vowed to change the way in which suspected terrorist detainees are interrogated and detained. Shortly after taking office in January, Obama ordered the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, expressly banned the use of torture in interrogations [JURIST reports], and directed the immediate shutdown of secret CIA detention facilities. In 2007, the ICRC reported that detainees held in secret CIA prisons throughout the globe were subject to abuse and sleep deprivation [JURIST report]. The ICRC has also accused Guantanamo doctors of violating medical ethics codes [JURIST report].

[JURIST] More than 200 people detained during last month's violent demonstrations in China's Xinjiang province will go on trial this week, Chinese state media reported Monday. The trials will take place [AFP report] in the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of the primarily Muslim region. The defendants will face charges ranging from vandalism to murder. Reports did not indicate how many defendants were Uighur and how many were Han Chinese, but did say that 170 Uighur and 20 Han lawyers were assigned to the case. Earlier this month, Chinese authorities announced [JURIST report] charges of murder, intentional injury, arson, and robbery against 83 people accused of participating in violent demonstrations. Xinjiang Prosecutor Utiku'er Abudrehman has said that 718 people, both Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uighur, are detained [Xinhua report] in connection with the riots as a result of police investigations of damaged stores, homes, and vehicles, as well as photographs and videos of the riots.

In early July, violence broke out [NYT report] between Han Chinese and Uighur residents in Xinjiang's regional capital. After two days of rioting, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] called for restraint [press release; JURIST report] from all sides and a respect for due process in arrests and prosecutions. The Chinese government claims [Xinhua report] that the majority of the 197 killed and 1,600 injured in the violence were Han residents killed by protesters, although the WUC and the UAA maintain that many protesters were killed by authorities but not included in the official death toll. Chinese officials have acknowledged [JURIST report] that 12 protesters were killed by police. The Uighur population, which is Muslim, is opposed [BBC backgrounder] to China's restrictive bans on religious practice, and say that the recent influx of Han Chinese has disenfranchised non-Chinese-speaking Uighurs.

[JURIST] Afghan opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah [BBC profile] on Sunday alleged widespread voter fraud in last Thursday's presidential election. Abdullah said his campaign has filed more than 100 complaints [Washington Post report] with the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) [official website] alleging ballot stuffing, inflated vote counts, and intimidation at the polls by supporters of incumbent President Hamid Karzai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Meanwhile, election observers have reported at least two instances of voters fingers, marked with indelible ink to avoid voter fraud, being cut off by Taliban insurgents [Los Angeles Times report]. The Free & Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) [official website] said the amputations took place in the southern Kandahar province, which has been plagued by violence. In preliminary findings [text, PDF; press release, PDF] released Saturday, the European Union Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan [official website] found that while the holding of the election was a victory for Afghan people, the process was marred with voter intimidation and security problems. Karzai is already claiming to have received more than 50 percent of the vote, meaning he would avoid a runoff with the second place candidate. Preliminary results are expected Tuesday, but official results are not due until September.

Karzai was elected in 2004 after serving nearly three years as interim leader. In March, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan [official website] decided to allow him to remain in office [JURIST report] until this August's general election. Under the Afghanistan Constitution [text], Karzai's term in office was to expire May 21, but the court held that since the extension of the election until August for security reasons was contrary to the constitution, the extension of Karzai's presidency would also be appropriate. Abdullah served as foreign minister in Karzai's cabinet until he was removed in 2006. Previous Afghan elections have also been marred by allegations of fraud, allowing officials to remain in power beyond the expiration of their terms while results were reviewed. In 2005, the official results of the assembly elections were not available for nearly two months due to allegations of fraud [JURIST reports]. During that election a joint electoral board formed between Afghanistan and UN found that the irregularities were not enough [JURIST report] to call the results into question.