[JURIST] Spain should repeal its 1977 amnesty law [press release] that bars investigation and prosecution of crimes committed under the Franco regime rather than "prosecuting a judge seeking accountability for past abuses," Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Friday. HRW called for Spain to comply with the 2008 recommendation [press release] from the UN Human Rights Committee [official website] to end the amnesty law. HRW asserts that the criminal investigation and pending judicial proceedings against Spanish National Court judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] are at odds with the very principles that Garzon helped to enforce in prosecuting human rights abuses abroad. According to HRW Americas director Jose Manuel Vivanco, "Spanish courts have routinely failed to investigate allegations of horrendous crimes of the past, but are being surprisingly active in prosecuting a judge who tried to push for accountability."

Garzon is under judicial scrutiny for ordering an investigation [JURIST report] in September 2008 in response to a complaint by the Organization for Restoring Historical Memory [advocacy website, in Spanish] that the Franco regime carried out systematic killings and enforced disappearances of opponents. Last month, a Spanish Supreme Court [official website] judge rejected Garzon's motion to dismiss the complaint [text in Spanish, DOC] originally lodged by Manos Limpias [advocacy website], a far-right leaning advocacy organization. The judge ruled that Garzon may have exceeded his jurisdictional authority when he launched an investigation [JURIST report] into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco [BBC backgrounder] and during the Spanish Civil War [LOC backgrounder]. Garzon maintains that he acted within the bounds of the law, basing his jurisdiction determination on the National Court's competence over crimes against the government and high authorities of the state. Garzon has petitioned [text in Spanish, PDF; El Pais report, in Spanish] the Spanish Supreme Court to allow him to continue in his duties during the investigation.

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Friday rejected a proposed settlement to address the claims of people with illnesses from working on the World Trade Center (WTC) in the months following 9/11 [JURIST news archive]. Judge Alvin Hellerstein cited concerns [WP report] over the fairness of claim amounts and the process to determine compensation as over-complicated. In addition, the judge said that lawyer fees should be limited and paid by the WTC Captive Insurance Company rather than by the claimants. The settlement [NYT report], announced last week, would have addressed more than 10,000 claims and would have awarded up to $657 million if all claimants accepted the settlement. Claimants would have been required to accept the terms of their settlement within 90 days and would have been allowed to appeal settlement amounts. Hellerstein will now require WTC Captive Insurance to consult with claimants on the settlement's terms, and he ordered judicial supervision of the claims process. The settlement will not be considered finalized until 95 percent of claimants have approved [NYT report] it. WTC Captive Insurance President Christine LaSala decried the judge's decision on what the insurer views as a fair settlement [fact sheet], and considered that the decision would render compensating claimants more difficult [WSJ report].

The WTC Captive Insurance Company is a non-profit company that was created by Public Law 108-7 [text, PDF] with $1 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] funding to provide for workers' claims over sicknesses contracted from exposure at the WTC site in the months following 9/11. In 2007, the City of New York agreed to enter into settlement negotiations over a federal class action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 9,000 emergency and cleanup workers who may have inhaled toxic dust at WTC site, which Hellerstein allowed [JURIST reports] to proceed.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that the Federal Reserve [official website] must release information about loans it made to banks during April and May 2008, a key moment in the financial crisis. The information was sought by Bloomberg News under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text, PDF]. The Second Circuit affirmed a ruling by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] and rejected the Federal Reserve's argument that the records fall under FOIA exceptions [text] four and five and that the information was privileged. In rejecting the Federal Reserve's argument, the court said:

The Board and the Clearing House undertake to show that disclosure would harm the banks that borrowed (by disclosing their prior distress) and the banking system as a whole (because banks under stress may hesitate to seek relief or rescue), and that these harms will reduce the effectiveness of measures critical to the banking system. The arguments are plausible, and forcefully made. But a test that permits an agency to deny disclosure because the agency thinks it best to do so (or convinces a court to think so, by logic or deference) would undermine "the basic policy that disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of [FOIA]."

[JURIST] The criminal court of Evry on Thursday convicted 14 members of neo-Nazi [JURIST news archive] group Nomad 88. The defendants faced charges [JURIST report] for their participation in a combat group, the illegal detention of weapons and explosives, and their responsibility in a shoot-out in 2008. The two leaders of the group, Camille Farout and Thomas Coumont, were sentenced [AFP report, in French] to four and three years imprisonment respectively, with partially suspended sentences, and ordered to pay damages. The other members received shorter or suspended sentences. The prosecution had demanded sanctions ranging from fines to 42 months of imprisonment. The hearing revealed that although the group was in possession of a substantial quantity of weapons [Le Parisien report, in French] and had engaged in military training, the ideological component was far from developed. The group committed mainly hate crimes, targeting easily identifiable social groups such as Romas [JURIST news archive] or immigrants. The court was told that since the start of the legal proceedings in 2008, the members had broken their ties to the neo-Nazi movement.

Formed in 2007, the group was disbanded in mid-2008 following the arrest of two of its members involved in a shoot-out. During its existence, it formed ties with other extremist nationalist groups, such as the Socialist Right [Le Figaro profile, in French], which are still in operation today despite governmental surveillance and efforts to suppress the movement [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The Turkish government indicted 33 people Friday on charges of attempting to overthrow the government and establish military rule. The accused, some of whom include high-ranking military officials [AFP report], are alleged to have plotted with a secret group called Ergenekon [BBC Backgrounder; JURIST news archive] to assassinate prominent members of Turkey's Christian and Jewish minority groups, blame Islamic terrorists for the deaths, and seize power in the process. The plot was never carried out. A trial date is set for June 15.

Earlier this week, Turkish police detained [JURIST report] 20 people in connection with the alleged Ergenekon plot. Turkish prosecutors recently charged [JURIST report] an army general and a state prosecutor with belonging to Ergenekon and plotting to overthrow Turkey's ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish]. In February, more than 40 military officers were arrested and charged with a separate plot [JURIST report], the so-called Sledgehammer plot [JURIST report], to stage a coup by provoking a military confrontation with Greece and take advantage of the ensuing chaos. The Ergenekon investigation has been criticized as an attempt by the AKP to silence the opposition and impose [JURIST report] islamic principles on secular Turkey. Trials against the Ergenekon group started [JURIST report] two years ago.