[JURIST] The UK Home Office [official website] on Wednesday unveiled [press release] its plans for the retention of DNA profiles [JURIST news archive] in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The new proposals limit the amount of time DNA and fingerprint records of innocent people can be retained on the national database [official website]. Under the proposed measures, the profiles of all adults and 16- and 17-year-olds arrested but not convicted cannot be retained for more than six years. All other juveniles arrested but not convicted of any offense will have their profiles retained for three years, regardless of their age at the time of their arrest. The proposals maintain the ability to indefinitely hold DNA profiles of all convicted adults, juveniles convicted of serious offenses, and terror suspects whose profiles could be retained indefinitely, even if they are found not guilty, through a case-by-case review on national security grounds. In a statement [text, PDF], UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson [official profile] said he believes the proposals balance the public's concerns with the legitimate operational needs of the police:

The UK has been at the forefront of using DNA in the detection of crime for many years, and it has played a key role in the conviction of numerous individuals for the most serious of crimes over the years. The Government is determined that DNA and fingerprints should continue to play a key role in public protection and the prevention and detection of crime.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed suit [complaint, PDF; press release] Tuesday on behalf of US citizen Amir Meshal, alleging that FBI agents were involved in his interrogation and rendition in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia in 2007. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website], alleges that agents repeatedly threatened Meshal with torture, disappearance, and execution in order to force him to acknowledge ties with al Qaeda. Meshal was originally detained in Kenya while fleeing fighting in Mogadishu between militia known as Islamic Courts Union [BBC profile] and forces of the US and Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [official website; JURIST news archive]. After being held in Kenya, Meshal was returned to Somalia and eventually taken to Ethiopia where he was held until his release in May of 2007. No charges were ever filed against Meshal.

The issue of west African renditions was first raised by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] in March 2007 when they claimed [JURIST report] that the US, Kenya, and Ethiopia were cooperating with the transitional government of Somalia to secretly detain people fleeing that country's conflict. Further reports alleged [JURIST report] that US intelligence agents were involved with the secret prisons in Ethiopia and that citizens of western nations such as Sweden, Canada, and the US were being held there along with citizens of west African nations. The governments of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia have all denied illegally transporting and jailing people, claiming they have only taken action against legitimate suspects.

[JURIST] Lawyers for four Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] filed a petition for certiorari [text, PDF] with the US Supreme Court [official website] Tuesday, raising issues with the government policy for transferring detainees to other locations. The case, known as Kiyemba II, is an appeal from an April ruling [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] by the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and is separate from a case that the Court agreed to hear [JURIST report] last month, known now as Kiyemba I. The first issue raised in the appeal is whether a federal court can require the government to give 30 days notice before detainees can be transferred out of Guantanamo Bay. This period would give the detainees time to bring any claims related to the transfer, such as potential persecution or torture, in US courts before they are transferred to locations outside of federal court jurisdiction. The second issue is the standard required for federal courts to issue an injunction under the All Writs Act [28 USC § 1651 text].

Of the 17 Uighurs were initially detained at Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan, seven remain at the facility. Six Uighurs were released and transferred to the Republic of Palau last month, and four were released and transferred [JURIST reports] to Bermuda in June. All 17 Uighurs were cleared for release after the Bush administration no longer found them to be unlawful enemy combatants [10 USC § 948a text; JURIST news archive]. The Supreme Court is currently considering whether federal courts can order their release into the US.

[JURIST] Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri [official profile] vetoed legislation [text, PDF] on Tuesday that would have allowed domestic partners, including those in same-sex relationships, to claim the body of their partner and to make funeral arrangements. Neither domestic partnerships or civil unions are recognized in Rhode Island, and the bill would have required that a same-sex partner produce documentation establishing the nature of the relationship, such as proof of a joint bank account, mortgage, or car registration, and that the relationship had lasted for a year or longer. In his letter to lawmakers [text, PDF] explaining the veto, Carcieri said:

This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue. If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnership, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of State of Rhode Island decide.

[JURIST] Minority groups in northern Iraq have been the target of attacks [press release] by Sunni Arab extremist groups and harassment by Kurdish forces because of ongoing disputes with the country's central government, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF] released Tuesday. HRW alleges that Yazidids, Shabaks, and Assyrian Christians are caught between the Arab and Kurd struggle for control of ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse disputed territories – the main front being Iraq’s second-most-populous province of Ninevah. The report documents attacks between February and March 2009 against minorities who resisted Kurdish efforts to bring the area under government control. HRW called on the Kurdish government to legally recognize Shabaks and Yazidis, allow minorities to participate in public affairs, and permit organizations with opposing political views to operate freely without retribution. HRW deputy Middle East Director Joe Stork said:

Iraqi Christians, Yazidis, and Shabaks have suffered extensively since 2003. Iraqi authorities, both Arab and Kurdish, need to rein in security forces, extremists and vigilante groups to send a message that minorities cannot be attacked with impunity.

[JURIST] A jury US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] found former Bear Stearns [corporate website] hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi [BusinessWeek profile] and Matthew Tannin [Huffington Post profile] not guilty of federal securities-related charges Tuesday. While Cioffi alone was charged with insider trading, both men were charged with three counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud in connection with the June 2007 collapse of their funds. As a result of the collapse, investors suffered nearly $1.8 billion in losses. US attorney Benton Campbell expressed disappointment [press release] with the verdict, but promised efforts to maintain the future integrity of securities markets.

The June 2008 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] complaint [text, PDF] alleged that Cioffi and Tannin had taken leveraged positions in financial derivatives based on subprime mortgage-based assets and then taken steps to conceal ensuing losses from investors. As the financial crisis [Federal Reserve Bank timeline] deepened, Bear Stearns filed for bankruptcy, and JP Morgan Chase acquired the firm in March 2008, causing several lawsuits [JURIST report]. The financial crisis has seen banks and Wall Street firms come under fire for the level of risk they assumed in connection to the subprime mortgage securities market. With the acquittal of Cioffi and Tannin, government prosecutors may be less likely to pursue securities fraud charges against Wall Street executives implicated in bringing about the credit crisis, despite pledging stronger enforcement [JURIST report] in July.

[JURIST] The Cambodian government on Tuesday refused Thailand's request to extradite former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], escalating a political row that threatens to destabilize the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [official website]. Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia earlier this week and was appointed an economic advisor [VOA report] to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, though Shinawatra will not live in the country. Both counries have recalled their ambassadors [Bangkok Post report] and Thailand has declared its extradition treaty with Cambodia null and void. Other treaties between the two countries will also be reviewed for possible termination or revocation. ASEAN meets this weekend in Singapore.

Shinawatra has been fighting from afar to keep his assets from being seized [JURIST report] by the Thai government. In April, a Thai court issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] for Thaksin, who fled Thailand last summer, a day after he called for the government to be overthrown. Last October, a Thai court found Thaksin guilty [JURIST report] in absentia on corruption charges and sentenced him to two years in prison. In August 2008, Thai prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to seize over $2 billion [JURIST report] from Thaksin's frozen accounts and holdings in relation to the charges. In July of last year, the Thai Attorney General's Office filed corruption charges [JURIST report] against Thaksin for his role in a 2003 resolution reducing fees paid by mobile phone companies to state telecommunications agencies. Later that month, Thaksin's wife, as well as her step-brother and secretary, were convicted of tax evasion [JURIST report] as a result of her transferring $16.3 million worth of stock to the two. Thaksin was ousted from power [JURIST report] in a 2006 military coup.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that license plates produced by the state bearing a picture of a cross in front of a stained glass window and the words "I Believe" violate the US Constitution. Judge Cameron Currie ruled that the "I Believe Act" [SC Code § 56-3-10510], which allows the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue the plates "violates the Establishment Clause of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by advancing, endorsing, and promoting religion." Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) [advocacy website] attorney Ayesha Khan, who represented the plaintiffs, stated [press release] that the government cannot advocate one religion over another and she was "delighted that the judge has reminded South Carolina officials of that fact." South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer [official website] said the state will likely appeal the decision. Meanwhile, the Palmetto Family Council [advocacy website] changed its name to "I Believe," taking advantage of a law that allows private organizations to place their name and design on license plates to be issued to its members. It is not clear whether this action would withstand a legal challenge, although a South Carolina-based secular humanist organization, Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry [advocacy website], currently issues South Carolina license plates reading "In Reason We Trust."

Several states have recently been challenged for issuing license plates displaying religious or political messages. In 2008, a federal appeals court ruled [JURIST report] that Arizona's refusal to issue license plates saying "Choose Life" to an anti-abortion group violated the group's First Amendment free speech rights. Also in 2008, a federal circuit court judge issued a similar ruling [JURIST report], overturning a Missouri law as unconstitutionally vague. In 2006, a federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] to a Tennessee statute providing for license plates with a pro-life message but not creating a pro-choice license plate. In 2004, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that a South Carolina law providing for license plates with an anti-abortion message violated the Constitution.

[JURIST] A French court on Tuesday ordered the country's government to extend adoption rights to a gay woman. The court held that French adoption law [Article VIII French Civil Code], which currently allows single people to adopt children but bars same-sex partners from doing so, illegally discriminates [Le Monde report, in French] against homosexuals. In 1998, a woman identified only as Emmanuelle B. attempted to adopt a child as an individual, but did not hide the fact that she had a same-sex partner. The French government denied her application numerous times on the basis of her homosexuality. Tuesday's ruling, which overturned a lower court decision, is in line with a 2008 European Court of Human Rights [official website] ruling [judgment text], which held that France's adoption law discriminates against homosexuals in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. The French government expressed disagreement [Le Monde report, in French] with Tuesday's decision, but said it would comply with the ruling.

Last year, a Florida court declared unconstitutional [JURIST report] a law barring adoption by same-sex partners. In 2007, Tony Blair announced that a British law prohibiting discrimination against same-sex couples [JURIST report] in the adoption process would apply to all adoption services in the UK. In 2006, a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that an Oklahoma statute barring same-sex couples from adopting violated the US Constitution.

[JURIST] US Senate Banking Committee [official website] chair Chris Dodd (D-CT) [official website] introduced Tuesday wide-ranging financial regulatory legislation [draft text, PDF; summary, PDF] designed to limit systemic risk to the country's economy. If passed, the bill would introduce a single federal bank regulator, create a consumer financial protection agency, and attempt to close certain regulatory loopholes. Dodd announced [press release] the bill, saying that it was necessary for the country's long-term financial stability:

This proposal will create a new architecture to make our financial institutions more transparent, more responsible, and more accountable to the American people. It will address the problems of the past, and look forward to the needs of the future. ... For decades, Washington has failed to deliver the substantial reform we need. If we fail again this time, our economy will be vulnerable to another crisis.

[JURIST] Convicted DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad [BBC profile] was executed by lethal injection Tuesday night after Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine [official website] rejected Muhammad's request for clemency and refused to suspend [press release] the execution. The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday had denied [order, PDF; JURIST report] Muhammad's application for a stay of execution and his petition for certiorari [texts, PDF], which he filed last week. In denying Muhammad clemency, Kaine said:

Muhammad's trial, verdict, and sentence have been reviewed by state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Having carefully reviewed the petition for clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts.

Accordingly, I decline to intervene.