[JURIST] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to approve the formation of rules [notice, PDF] mandating so-called "net neutrality" [Google backgrounder; JURIST news archive], promising openness commensurate with the ideals of the Internet itself. The idea of net neutrality, supported unanimously by the FCC commissioners, is to allow an open flow of information over the Internet, regardless of the amount of revenue generated by the information. The implementation of new rules has been vigorously opposed by telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T [corporate websites], among others, which argue that such rules would inhibit their ability to effectively manage Internet traffic. The FCC at the same time announced a call for public input [press release, PDF] to the process, in order to maximize consumer benefit under the proposed rules. Verizon released a statement [text] in response, calling the new rules an improvement over those previously considered, but renewing its claim that the Internet, as currently constructed, works efficiently.

The issue of net neutrality arises from concerns that broadband providers should not be free to accept money from content providers in exchange for preferential bandwidth treatment or to interfere with the content of competitors. In September, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski proposed new regulations [JURIST report], including preventing Internet providers from discriminating against particular Internet content and ensuring that Internet providers are transparent about their network practices. Last year, the FCC said that it was ready to act [JURIST report] to ensure a proper balance is struck between consumer proponents of net neutrality principles and the telecommunication industry's interest in controlling the flow and content of Internet traffic over its networks. In 2006, the House Judiciary Committee approved [JURIST report] a net neutrality bill [HR 5417 materials] that would have applied federal antitrust law to alleged breaches of net neutrality, but the legislation was never approved by the full House.

[JURIST] Finnish telecommunications company Nokia [corporate website] filed suit [press release] Thursday against Apple [corporate website] in the US District Court for the District of Delaware [official website], alleging that Apple infringed 10 of its patents on its iPhone. The patents cover wireless data transmission, speech coding, and security/encryption, specifically GSM, UTMS (3G), and WLAN standards. Nokia alleges that Apple has infringed its right to exclude others from those technologies since the first iPhone was released in 2007. Nokia's Vice-President of Legal and Intellectual Property Ilkka Rahnasto said that:

those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for. ... By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] on Thursday unanimously struck down [judgment text; press release] a Quebec law restricting certain students' access to English-language schools as unconstitutional. The court's decision overturns Bill 104 [text], enacted by the Quebec government in 2002, rejecting two appeals by the Quebec government to protect the legislation. The controversial law was adopted to promote the French language in Quebec and closed a loophole in Bill 101 [text], which had allowed parents to enroll ineligible students in English-language public schools by first sending them to private English school for at least one year. The law was originally ruled unconstitutional [judgment text] by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2007 for violating section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [official website], which guarantees minority-language educational rights. The Supreme Court is suspending the law for one year to allow Quebec's National Assembly to review and replace the legislation.

Quebec's strict language education laws have long been an issue of political debate. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously upheld [JURIST report] Bill 101 itself, which requires French-speaking parents to send their children to francophone schools. Under the bill, parents must have received the majority of their own schooling in English to be able to have their children educated in that language. Eight families had sought to prove that Bill 101 was discriminatory in precluding their children from receiving an education in English. The court found that members of the linguistic majority have no constitutional right to an education in English, the minority language in Quebec.

[JURIST] INTERPOL [official website] announced Thursday that Rwandan genocide suspect Emmanuel Uwayezu has been arrested [press release] in Italy. The former Rwandan clergyman had long been sought by Rwandan authorities in connection with the killings of approximately 80 Gikongoro province students in May 1994. At the time, Uwayezu served as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho. INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michael Louboutin praised collaborative efforts between Italian and Rwandan police forces that resulted in Uwayezu's arrest:

The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification, location and apprehension of fugitives around the world.

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled [judgment] Tuesday that Turkish authorities violated European human rights laws in shutting down four newspapers accused of publishing propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. The daily publications were shut down for periods of 15 days to one month between November 2006 and October 2007 on the orders of an Istanbul court. The unanimous ruling by the ECHR found that this periodic closure was in violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF], which guarantees freedom of the press in signatory states. The ECHR stated in a press release [text, PDF]

The Court held that less draconian measures could have been envisaged by the Turkish authorities, such as confiscation of particular issues of the newspapers or restrictions on the publication of specific articles. The Court held unanimously that by having suspended entire publications, however briefly, the authorities had restricted unjustifiably the essential role of the press as a public watch-dog in a democratic society, in violation of Article 10.

[JURIST] Lithuanian lawmakers on Wednesday demanded an investigation [press release, in Lithuanian] into allegations that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] established a secret prison [JURIST news archive] for al Qaeda suspects in the Baltic country. The Lithuanian Parliament [official website, in Lithuanian] National Security and Defense Committee said it wants the full 141-member assembly to approve the probe next week. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite [official website, in Lithuanian] on Tuesday said that she has suspicions about the existence of secret prisons in the country [press release, in Lithuanian] and, if these facilities existed, that Lithuania should take responsibility for its actions and promise it will never happen again. Former CIA officials have reportedly told ABC News states that Lithuania provided the CIA with facilities [ABC News report] for a secret prison for high value al Qaeda suspects in order to improve relations with the US. The facilities were allegedly located in the outskirts of Vilnius, the country's capital, from September 2004 through November 2005, when they were moved because of public disclosures about the program. Former president Valdus Adamkus and former prime minister Algirdas Brazauskas, who were both in office during the specified time period, have denied reports of any clandestine prison in Lithuania. Lithuania, which in February announced [JURIST report] it had been asked to take in inmates from Guantanamo, warned that it would not accept any until cleared of CIA allegations.

On his third day in office in January, US President Barack Obama ordered the closure [JURIST report] of all CIA secret prisons. The European Parliament voted [JURIST report] in February 2007 to approve a report that condemned member states for cooperating with the CIA in operating secret prisons. In January 2007, the UK admitted knowledge of the CIA prison network, and then-president George W. Bush publicly acknowledged [JURIST reports] in September 2006 that these types of facilities existed. In June 2006, the Council of Europe [official website] released [JURIST report] a report [text, PDF] that 14 European countries collaborated with the CIA by taking an active or passive role in a "global spider's web" of secret prisons and rendition flights. The existence of CIA prisons in Europe was first reported in November 2005.

[JURIST] Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [case materials; JURIST news archive] on Thursday announced his intention to boycott the opening of his war crimes trial, set to come before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Monday. Karadzic claims that the tribunal's schedule does not provide him adequate time to prepare [text, PDF] his defense, and that two years would be necessary for a case of such magnitude. ICTY spokesperson Nerma Jelacic said that the trial would proceed as scheduled despite Karadzic's statement. Karadzic, underscoring his belief that the trial process has been rushed, said:

all this is happening in unequal, disproportionate and unjust circumstances, where the defence is deprived of an absolute minimum conditions for the preparations that would make the defence a serious and respectable opponent.

[JURIST] The Cambodian National Assembly [official website] approved legislation Wednesday banning demonstrations of more than 200 people. The bill, which passed [Phnom Penh Post report] Cambodia's lower house by a vote of 76-25, would also ban any gathering inside or outside the gates of factories or government buildings, and would require groups to obtain permission for planned demonstrations a minimum of 12 hours in advance. Officials from the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) [party website] described the bill as an initiative to enhance security and public order. The opposition Sam Rainsy Party [party website] said that the legislation is a pretext to limit free speech [AFP report] and stifle dissent. The bill must be approved by the Cambodian Senate and King Norodom Sihamoni [official websites] before becoming law.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly approved [Phnom Penh Post report] a measure criminalizing defamation and insult, which was also opposed on free speech grounds. In August, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi [official profile] said that Cambodian restrictions on free speech were inconsistent [press release, PDF] with international standards. Subedi's comments came after the conviction [JURIST report] of opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua on charges that he defamed Prime Minister Hun Sen [official profile]. By way of contrast, the South Korean Constitutional Court [official website, in Korean] overturned a ban on nighttime assemblies last month, ruling it to be an unconstitutional [JURIST] violation of the right to free assembly. South Korea's Assembly and Demonstration law was enacted in 1962, also under the auspices of protecting national security and public order.

[JURIST] Two Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military judges on Wednesday granted continuances for prosecutors in the cases of two Sudanese detainees allegedly involved with al Qaeda. Noor Uthman Mohammed [DOD materials; charge sheet, PDF], who is accused of working as a weapons instructor and logistician in Afghanistan, has already had his case delayed twice before at the request of the Department of Defense. Ibrahim al Qosi [DOD materials; charge sheet, PDF] is accused of serving as Osama Bin Laden's bodyguard and driver in Afghanistan, as a supply officer at a Jalalabad compound and as a member of a mortar crew. The continuances will make way for a decision [AP report] on whether to hold the remaining Guantanamo detainee proceedings in civilian or military court.

There are currently six active military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay. On Tuesday, the US Senate voted in favor [JURIST report] of a bill [HR 2892] that would permit Guantanamo detainees to be brought to the US for trial. The measure was part of a $42.7 billion Homeland Security spending bill and would require the Obama administration to develop a plan for addressing the anticipated January 2010 closure date of the facility. Last year, charges against Uthman were dismissed [JURIST reports], although he remained held until new charges were filed. Al Qosi was originally accused of being an al Qaeda payroll clerk but those charges were later dropped [Miami Herald report].

[JURIST] The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that a 1962 law requiring a woman's male guardian to grant her permission to obtain a passport is unconstitutional. The court found [Kuwait Times report] that the article in the Personal Status Law that required a woman to obtain the approval of her husband, her parents, or her guardian before she could obtain a passport violated guarantees of personal freedom and gender equality in the Kuwaiti Constitution [text]. Women and activists are currently working [Al Jazeera report] on equal access to government housing and the right of a mother to pass citizenship onto her children, while the conservative sector continues to advocate restricting women's rights and visibility in society. This month, legislator Mohammed al Hayef petitioned [National Report] the ministry of Islamic affairs to determine whether Sharia law requires women to wear the hijab as a result of ongoing controversy over recently elected female legislators who do not wear the hijab in the National Assembly.

Earlier this year, four women [BBC report] out of 16 candidates who ran were elected as the first female members of the Kuwait National Assembly. One of them served previously as the first appointed female member of Cabinet in 2005. The US State Department 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [DOS materials] praised [JURIST report] Kuwait for increased female participation in government. Women voted for the first time in parliamentary elections in June 2006, and the National Assembly granted [JURIST report] women the right to vote and run in parliamentary elections in May 2005.

[JURIST] Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandre Cece Loua [GuineeNews profile] said during a visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Wednesday that the Guinean judiciary is capable of and intends to investigate [press release] and prosecute any crimes committed during the September 28 incidents at Conakry [BBC backgrounder]. Loua met with Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda [official profile] and Head of the Office of the Prosecutor's Jurisdiction, Complementarity, and Cooperation Division Beatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, who gave Loua a written request for information on the crimes and efforts to investigate and prosecute those crimes. As a party to the Rome Statute [text], Guinea continues to have the "primary responsibility to conduct proceedings", but the ICC would intervene "if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely."

The Guinea junta on Saturday appointed [AP report] a mixture of 31 doctors, lawyers, and judges to a National Commission for an Independent Investigation that will work with the committee established [JURIST report] last week by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] to look into possible human rights abuses by Guinean soldiers on September 28. Official Guinean reports recognize 56 deaths, in contrast to UN and human rights group estimates that more than 150 civilians were killed and more than 1,200 were wounded. The ICC last week placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation [JURIST report] for human rights violations the September 28 incident. Military junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara [BBC profile] led a coup in December 2008 after the death of president Lansana Conte [BBC obituary]. Despite an initial reaction welcoming [Washington Times report] Camara as a change from Conte's 24-year regime, there is now widespread opposition against the junta. Conditions inside the African country have since declined [HRW report] with a rise in violence and increasing crackdown on opposition.