[JURIST] A former Rwandan government official pleaded guilty [press release] Thursday to one count of complicity in genocide before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. Michel Bagaragaza [ICTR materials; Trial Watch profile] accepted charges that he funded, trained, and provided weapons to the Interahamwe [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], an extremist Hutu militia that was responsible for the deaths of thousands of ethnic Tutsi during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder]. Prosecutors submitted an amended complaint with the plea agreement that withdrew genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide charges against the former director general of OCIR-Tea [official website], the agency which oversees Rwanda's tea industry. A sentencing hearing is planned for November 2.

Bagaragaza was transferred [JURIST report] in May 2008 to the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania, after a Dutch court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to try his case. In August 2007, the ICTR revoked [JURIST report] a previous order transferring Bagaragaza's case to a local court in the Netherlands after the country expressed doubt that its court system could handle the trial. In 2006, the ICTR denied [JURIST report] prosecutors' request to transfer Bagaragaza's trial to Norway because Norway did not have a specific law against genocide. Bagaragaza surrendered [JURIST report] to the ICTR in August 2005.

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania [official website] ruled Thursday that the City of Pittsburgh [official website] must allow a tent city protest during next week's Group of 20 (G-20) [official website] summit [official website], but that it could deny permits to two other groups. In response to a lawsuit [JURIST report] brought last week by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) [advocacy websites], Judge Gary Lancaster ruled [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report] that the city must issue a permit to CodePink [advocacy website] to set up a tent city in Point State Park [official website] in the days before the summit. Lancaster also ruled that the city could deny permits to the Thomas Merton Center [advocacy website] to hold a march through downtown and rally on a bridge and to other groups wishing to camp overnight in Schenley Park [official website]. CCR Vice President and University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor Jules Lobel said [press release]:

We regret the judge did not see eye-to-eye with us in allowing the groups to camp and rally. ... It is a still a great victory, however, that CodePink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence will be able to erect a symbolic tent city in the main park in downtown Pittsburgh and be heard during the G-20.

[JURIST] UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson [official profile] said Wednesday that the government will conduct a review of the control order [Guardian backgrounder; JURIST news archive] house arrest system in light of a June Law Lords ruling [judgment, PDF; JURIST report] requiring the government to let detainees know generally what charges they face so that they can mount a defense. Johnson issued a ministerial statement [text] saying that his "current assessment is ... that the control order regime remains viable," but that he would "be keeping this assessment under review." Speaking before the Police Superintendents' annual conference, Johnson said [text]:

[Control orders] are not and never were intended to be the first line of defence.

Where an individual is suspected of terrorist activity, our first objective will always be for that person to be tried and prosecuted in an open court, or deported if they are foreign nationals.

But there is a very small number of people who undoubtedly pose a substantial threat to public safety, and who for good reason, we can neither prosecute nor deport. ...

Control orders are a practical and proportionate legislative tool that can be applied in such cases. They are not perfect and one day, I hope they won't be necessary. But for a handful of people, they remain the best option we have for ensuring the public is safe and our security services are able to do their work effectively. That is why I announced in a ministerial statement issued an hour ago that I have decided to maintain the availability of control orders within the constrains of the House of Lords judgement.

[JURIST] A Virginia court on Wednesday set a November 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad [BBC profile], who was convicted of murder in 2005 for his role in a series of DC-area sniper shootings [JURIST news archive]. Prosecutors had sought to schedule [AP report] the execution for Monday, November 9, but Judge Mary Grace O'Brien of the Prince William County Circuit Court [official website] moved the date back one day to allow for last minute appeals [BBC report]. Muhammad's attorneys plan [AFP report] to ask Virginia governor Timothy Kaine for clemency, and to appeal Muhammad's death sentence to the US Supreme Court.

In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] upheld [JURIST report] the Virginia death sentence, despite Muhammad's allegations of "nondisclosure of exculpatory information by the prosecution" and "ineffective assistance of ... trial counsel." In 2007, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that a Maryland court did not err in finding Muhammad competent to stand trial in Maryland. Muhammad was sentenced in Maryland in June 2006 to six consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction [JURIST reports] by a Maryland jury of six counts of murder. Maryland prosecutors did not seek the death penalty but wanted a second conviction in case his earlier Virginia conviction [JURIST reports] was overturned on appeal. Accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo [BBC profile], who pleaded guilty to the Virginia charges and received a life sentence, testified [JURIST reports] in the Maryland case that Muhammad pulled the trigger in five of the six killings there.

[JURIST] The Obama administration on Wednesday sought a two-month delay [brief, PDF] in trials for detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] while new options are considered. While trials have been on hold since President Barack Obama announced the planned closure of Guanatanamo [JURIST report] in January, the government declared its intention in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the case of Ramzi bin al-Shibh [JURIST news archive], a Guantanamo detainee who has been held since 2002. The government filed a brief in response to a motion to stay proceedings and a petition [texts, PDF] to rule the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [text, PDF] unconstitutional [JURIST report] filed by al-Shibh's lawyers. One of the options being considered by the administration to handle the cases of the more than 200 detainees still at Guantanamo is moving the trials to federal court [Washington Post report], an option that is also being considered for al-Shibh.

While the Obama administration decides what to do with Guantanamo detainees who are under investigation or who have been charged with crimes, a number of former detainees are being relocated around the globe. On Wednesday, Hungary said that it would select one Guantanamo detainee [JURIST report] to be relocated who is not under investigation by the US, and who cannot return to his home country. Earlier this month, three Chinese Uighur Muslims agreed [JURIST report] to be relocated to the Pacific island nation of Palau. In late August, Portugal accepted two Syrian nationals , and five other EU members agreed [JURIST reports] to give serious consideration to receiving former detainees.

[JURIST] California courts were closed Wednesday in the first of what will be a monthly shut down of the judiciary in an effort to reduce the state's budget gap. The closures were authorized as part of California Code 68070 [text], which allows for closure of the courts one day per month, "for the transaction of judicial business for one day per month and may adopt rules of court to implement this section." While the move may slow some court business, one provision of the code does mandate that a court officer:

be available for the signing of any necessary documents on an emergency basis during the time a court is closed under this section on the same basis as a judicial officer is available on Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays, and any other time a court is closed.

[JURIST] FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] addressed the FBI's role in leading the new specialized interrogation group to question top terrorist suspects as well as many other topics in a wide ranging oversight hearing [materials; recorded video] before the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Wednesday. Mueller said that the new interrogation panel [JURIST report] will be a "joint effort" between the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website]. In prepared remarks, Mueller said that while "safeguarding ... national security remains [the] primary concern," the FBI has also been making progress in other areas, such as combating white collar and violent crime. Mueller said that as of July 31, the FBI had more than 2,600 mortgage fraud cases pending, up from 1,600 cases in 2008, and that the agency has redirect resources into this area. Mueller also responded to a question about a recent Associated Press report [text] that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) [official website] have been in conflict over each agency's responsibilities, saying that "as the inspector general points out, there are still issues." Mueller also denied that there is a proposal under consideration to strip protections from FBI whistleblowers.

Last month, the New York Times reported [text; JURIST report] that eight years after 9/11 [JURIST news archive], counterterrorism efforts continue to dominate the operations and budget of the FBI. Since the attacks, the bureau has doubled the number of agents it assigns to counterterrorism efforts and has created specialized "threat squads" to investigate possible threats. In March, Mueller told the Judiciary Committee that the rise in financial fraud investigations is limiting the ability [JURIST report] of the FBI to fight other crimes. In February, the FBI announced [JURIST report] that it was looking at shifting a number of agents from national security and counter terrorism activities to investigations involving financial fraud.

[JURIST] The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] on Wednesday announced [press release] that they would reconsider 2008 national smog standards regulations [text] to ensure accuracy and public health. After a thorough review of the scientific methods behind the existing standards, the EPA will propose revisions by December and will issue a final decision by August 2010. Ground-level ozone, referred to as smog, has been linked to respiratory health issues and adverse effects on the environment. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson addressed the decision to reconsider, saying:

This is one of the most important protection measures we can take to safeguard our health and our environment. Smog in the air we breathe can cause difficulty breathing and aggravate asthma, especially in children. Reconsidering these standards and ensuring acceptable levels of ground-level ozone could cut health care costs and make our cities healthier, safer places to live, work and play.

[JURIST] The US closed [press release] the Camp Bucca [backgrounder] prison facility in Southern Iraq Wednesday, pursuant to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [text, PDF]. The remaining detainees were transferred from Camp Bucca, once the largest US detention facility in Iraq, to the two remaining US prison facilities, Camp Cropper and Camp Taji. Since the SOFA took effect on January 1, 5,703 prisoners have been released [JURIST report], while 8,305 remain in US custody. According to the agreement, the Iraqi government must have arrest warrants or detention orders to accept transferred prisoners into Iraqi facilities, otherwise risking release. Under the SOFA, the US must release all prisoners or transfer them to the control of the Iraqi government by 2011.

In anticipation of prisoner releases and transfers, the US began building a facility [JURIST report] in July to train Iraqi corrections officers. In November, Iraqi human rights activists expressed concern about the treatment of detainees [JURIST report] due to be transferred from US military custody to Iraqi authorities under the then-proposed security agreement. In August 2008, the US military said that it had released more than 10,000 Iraqi detainees [JURIST report] over the past year. Also that month, six US sailors were charged [JURIST report] for allegedly abusing detainees at Camp Bucca. Camp Bucca was at the center of controversy in 2003 when the so-called Taguba report [text, PDF] detailed instances of detainee abuse and found that the detention camp was well over its carrying capacity.

[JURIST] Myanmar authorities have denied [AFP report] a request from opposition pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to attend arguments on her appeal, her National League for Democracy (NLD) [party website] party told the Agence France-Presse Wednesday. NLD spokesperson and lawyer for Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, said an application to the police special information branch to be present for Friday's arguments was rejected. Government officials defended [AP report] that decision Thursday in commentary published in state newspaper Myanma Ahlin [text, PDF, in Burmese/Myanmar], saying that unless the court specifically required the presence of a defendant, the appeals process, including judgment, could be completed without her presence.

Earlier this month, the Divisional Court in Rangoon agreed to hear the appeal of Suu Kyi's recent conviction [JURIST reports] for violating state security laws. Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest for allowing American John Yettaw to stay in her home after he swam across a lake to get there. Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years in prison with four years of hard labor, was released [JURIST report] last month after negotiations with US Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, and her latest conviction has been condemned [BBC report] by many world leaders and has given rise to international sanctions [JURIST report] against Myanmar's junta and members of the judiciary.