[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Thursday found [order, PDF] the US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] in contempt for failing to videotape the testimony of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mohammed Al-Adahi. Al-Adahi had petitioned for habeas relief in 2005, which the court granted [JURIST report] in August, and Judge Gladys Kessler had directed the DOD to videotape the testimony at the merits hearing in June so that the public and news media could see it. The government failed to comply with that order, claiming it was "due to oversight and miscommunication." In her order, Kessler wrote:

The purpose of the Court's Order requiring the Government to videotape Petitioner's testimony was to ensure the maximum amount of public accessibility to the judicial process. By requiring the Government to videotape Petitioner's direct testimony and crossexamination, and then make it public after classification review, the Court sought to ensure that the public would have an opportunity to observe as much of the testimony as possible. Thus, there are two other justifications for imposing sanctions against the Government: to minimize the damages to the public's lost opportunity to observe an actual Guantanamo Bay trial (or "Merits Hearing," as it is referred to), and to deter further noncompliance with court orders.

[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court [official website, in Russian] upheld a lower court decision [press release, in Russian] to shut down the Taganrog Jehovah's Witness congregation and ban the distribution of 34 Jehovah's Witness publications on Tuesday. Both the Jehovah's Witness congregation and the publications are "extremist," the Supreme Court said [Forum 18 report] in its decision. In response to the Supreme Court's decision, Chairman of the Presiding Committee of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Vasily Kalin, said [press release]:

I am very concerned that this decision will open a new era of opposition against Jehovah's Witnesses, whose right to meet in peace, to access religious literature and to share the Christian hope contained in the Gospels, is more and more limited. When I was young I was sent to Siberia for being one of Jehovah's Witnesses and because my parents were reading The Watchtower, the same journal being unjustly declared 'extremist' in these proceedings.

[JURIST] Iranian human rights violations following the disputed presidential election [JURIST news archive] in June were among the worst in the past 20 years [press release], according to a report [text, PDF] published Thursday by Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website]. The report, "Iran: Election contested, repression compounded," contains testimony from individuals detained during the protests that ensued after the election. According to AI, individuals were unlawfully detained, beaten, tortured, and raped, resulting in numerous deaths in detention. According to the report:

The presidential election on 12 June 2009 heralded sweeping repression and the eruption of mass protests on a scale not seen since the revolution that established the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. Long-standing patterns of human rights violations, including severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, intensified during the protests, and have continued since, leading to the most severe period of repression since the end of the revolutionary period which culminated in the "prison massacre" of 1988. As a result, the many Iranians who dispute the outcome of the election are living with a heightened fear of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, unfair trial and even execution.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] announced Wednesday that its largest anonymous donor will be sharply cutting donations next year [press release] in light of the current economic crisis. The ACLU released a statement [text, PDF] from philanthropist David Gelbaum in which he publicly identified himself and explained that his "investments in alternative, clean energy companies have placed [him] in a highly illiquid position as a result of the general credit crisis in the American and world financial systems." Gelbaum donated $94 million to the ACLU between 2005, and 2009, including his most recent gift of more than $20 million, approximately 25 percent of the ACLU's annual budget. Gelbaum will also be reducing donations to the Sierra Club and the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund [advocacy websites]. Gelbaum said that "[t]he future viability of these programs will depend on the generosity of others." Although several other organizations have already pledged funds [NYT report] to the ACLU, it is unclear how great the budget shortfall will be and what programs will have to be cut.

The ACLU's budget has already suffered due to a decline in giving resulting from the Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive] scandal. The ACLU has been forced to cut 10 percent of its national staff, or 36 jobs, and Executive Director Anthony Romero has taken a pay cut. The organization has also instituted a hiring freeze. The ACLU, founded in 1920, describes itself as "our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country."

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) [official website] held a hearing [press release; video] Wednesday in a case brought by three women alleging that current Irish abortion [JURIST news archive] laws violate their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. The three women, who all traveled to the UK to have abortions, lodged the complaint in July 2005, alleging that the current Irish abortion laws make the procedure "unnecessarily expensive, complicated, and traumatic." The complaint invokes the Article 2 right to life, Article 3 prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, and Article 8 right to respect for private and family life of the Convention. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) [advocacy websites] are both supporting the women's suit. The IFPA commented [press release] that "women and girls' rights are disproportionately infringed upon by the inaccessibility and criminalisation of safe and legal abortion services in Ireland." A judgment is expected [Irish Times report] in six to eight months.

Abortion laws in Europe vary widely and have been the subject of much social and political debate. Irish and Spanish abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe. One of the main concerns of Irish voters during the Lisbon Treaty [JURIST news archive] referendum [JURIST report] was that it would affect Irish abortion laws. In September, the Spanish Council of State [official website, in Spanish] unanimously approved [JURIST report] a proposed law [text, DOC; in Spanish] that would relax abortion restrictions, leading to widespread protests [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Supporters of a New Jersey same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] bill [text, PDF] decided Wednesday night to delay a State Senate vote scheduled for Thursday. The bill's sponsors, Democratic senators Raymond Lesniak and Loretta Weinberg, withdrew the bill [NYT report] from the senate agenda, saying they wanted to allow a hearing in the general assembly before the vote took place. Opponents of the legislation have criticized the delay as an affront to the legislative process, while supporters have said that a hearing in the general assembly is the best way for everyone to voice their opinions. The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-6 Monday in favor of the bill [JURIST report], the first time that any body in the state legislature [official website] has approved same-sex marriage legislation. The vote came after hours of debate [NYT report] with testimony from supporters and opponents of the legislation. Supporters are hoping to pass the legislation before outgoing Governor Jon Corzine (D) leaves office on January 19. He has promised to sign the bill [CNN report], but Governor-elect Chris Christie (R) has vowed to veto it.

Last week, the New York Senate defeated legislation [JURIST report] to allow same-sex marriage. In November, Maine voters vetoed [JURIST report] a same-sex marriage bill passed by that state's legislature. The Maine vote came a year after California voters approved Proposition 8 [JURIST report], an amendment to the state constitution overturning the state's high court ruling [JURIST report] in favor of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is legal in four states in the US - Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Vermont - and will be legal in New Hampshire [JURIST reports] starting January 1. New Jersey has recognized same-sex civil unions [JURIST report] since 2006.

[JURIST] Chinese authorities on Tuesday executed [Xinhua report] a former general manager of a major Chinese securities trading corporation who was convicted of embezzling and misappropriating more than USD $14 million. Yang Yanming was convicted and sentenced to death in December 2005 in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. In April, the Higher People's Court of Beijing denied his appeal, and his sentence was approved by the Supreme People's Court [official website, in Chinese]. Yang headed securities trading at Galaxy Securities [corporate website], formerly China Great Wall Trust and Investment Corporation between 1998 and 2003. Chinese authorities have reported that Yang refused to disclose the location of about $10 million of the funds. Yang's execution is the first time the Chinese government has executed a high executive in the finance sector.

In August, Chinese authorities executed [JURIST report] the former head of the company that owns the Beijing Capital International Airport after he was convicted of bribery and embezzlement. Li Peiying, former chairman of the Capital Airports Holding Company [corporate website], was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of accepting bribes of 26.61 million yuan (USD $3.9 million) between 1995 and 2003 and embezzling 82.5 million yuan for personal use between 2000 and 2003. In July, anti-death-penalty group Hands Off Cain [advocacy website] said that although the number of countries with capital punishment, as well as the total number of executions was down in 2008 [report] from the previous year, China continues to account for more executions [JURIST report] than any other country. In 2008, the country executed at least 5,000 people, or more than 87 percent of the world's total. China said in July that it plans to reduce [China Daily report] the number of executions it conducts, reserving the death penalty for only a small number of severe crimes.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Wednesday that Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Fouad Al Rabiah has been transferred [press release] to the control of the Kuwaiti government. Al Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national, had been held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly eight years under suspicion of aiding al Qaeda and the Taliban. The transfer came after a judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] in September granted [order, PDF] Al Rabiah's habeas corpus petition and ordered his release [JURIST report]. According to the DOJ, the "transfer was carried out under an arrangement between the United States and the government of Kuwait. The United States will continue to consult with the government of Kuwait regarding this individual."

Al Rabiah was one of three Kuwaiti nationals remaining at Guantanamo out of 12 who were detained there. In October, the DOJ announced that Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee Khaled Al-Mutairi had been returned to his home country [JURIST report]. The US government alleged that Al-Mutairi had fought against American troops in Afghanistan, but in his almost eight years at the facility, no charges were ever filed. Al-Mutairi's release was ordered [JURIST report] by federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the DC District Court when she granted his petition [opinion, PDF] for habeas corpus in July. In September, Kollar-Kotelly denied the petition [JURIST report] of Kuwaiti detainee Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, who admitted to traveling to Afghanistan to meet with the Taliban. The other Kuwaiti remaining at Guantanamo [Miami Herald report] is Fayiz al Kandari, who allegedly trained with al Qaeda.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that a US citizen who served as Bosnian ambassador to the UN cannot be extradited to Sarajevo to face charges of embezzlement. The appeals court reversed a decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website], which had upheld the extradition of Muhamed Sacirbey in 2006. In granting Sacirbey's request for habeas relief, the appeals court determined:

While the factual and procedural history of this case is extraordinary, our resolution of it requires only that we apply the plain meaning of the provisions of the relevant treaty. The treaty authorizes the extradition of an individual who has been "charged" with a crime and requires that an arrest warrant and supporting materials be provided in order to obtain that extradition. Because the arrest warrant at issue in this case was issued by a court that neither has jurisdiction over the matter nor authority to enforce the warrant, the requirement of the treaty that an individual be "charged" with an extraditable offense has not been satisfied. This defect falls within the narrow category of issues that is cognizable on habeas review of an extradition order; we therefore reverse the order of the District Court denying the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.