[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Committee [official website] has called on Uzbekistan to carry out an independent investigation into the May 2005 Andijan clashes [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] between Uzbek protesters, soldiers and police that human rights groups claim killed up to 500 people [JURIST report]. Uzbek officials have officially put the death toll at 173. The Committee's report [text] comes a week before a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website]. The report urges Uzbekistan to comply with previous recommendations and supply the Committee with information regarding Uzbek laws on use of firearms by police against civilians, stating:

[T]he Committee is concerned at the absence of a comprehensive and fully independent investigation on the exact circumstances of the events during which several hundreds of civilians, including women and children, were killed by the military and security services. It also notes with regret that [Uzbekistan] has not provided the requested information regarding the national rules on the use of firearms by security forces against civilians. [Uzbekistan] should conduct a fully independent investigation and ensure that those responsible for the killings of persons in the Andijan events are prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished, and that victims and their relatives are given full compensation.

[JURIST] A top Japanese judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Sunday called on more Asian governments to participate in the tribunal so its regional representation would be more balanced. Judge Kuniko Ozaki [official profile], who was elected to the ICC in January, said that both Asia and the Middle East are underrepresented [Bernama report] on the court. Of the body's 18 judges only two are Asian: Ozaki and current ICC president judge Song Sang-Hyun [official profile]. Ozaki's comments echo statements [press release, PDF] made by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton [official profile] which encouraged other Asian countries to join the ICC following the ratification [JURIST report] of the the Rome Statute [text] by Bangladesh earlier this week.

On Monday, the Bangladesh Cabinet [official website] ratified the Rome Statute of ICC. The ratification will not, however, aid in Bangladesh's pending war crimes trials in connection with the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] against Pakistan [JURIST news archive], as the ICC can only prosecute crimes that took place on or after the date the statute took effect in 2002.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] released information Friday on hundreds of people tried and convicted in federal courts on charges related to international terrorism since 9/11. The National Security Division (NSD) [official website] chart [text, PDF] has been maintained since the September 2001 attacks [JURIST news archive], and includes the name, charges, and sentences of 403 people, according to a letter [text] describing its contents. The chart divides the list into two categories. The first, including 159 names, comprises those convicted of crimes directly related to international terrorism, such as the use of weapons of mass destruction or terrorist acts against US nationals. The second category, including 244 names, is made up of those convicted of crimes not directly related to international terrorism, but with demonstrable links to it. In the letter, addressed to Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs [official websites] Ronald Weich explained the inclusion of the second category and outlined the benefits of federal trials:

Prosecuting terror-related targets using [the] ... offenses [in the second category] is often an effective method ... of deterring and disrupting potential terrorist planning and support activities. Indeed, one of the great strengths of the criminal justice system is the broad range of offenses that are available to arrest and convict individuals believed to be linked to terrorism, even if a terrorism offense cannot be established. ... Arresting and convicting both major and minor operatives, supporters, and facilitators can have crippling effects on terrorists' ability to carry out their plans.

The great majority of the terrorism cases cited ... are in no way comparable to [that of Mohammed]. Most of the convictions in this list are for far lesser offenses, such as document fraud and immigration violations, while only a small handful concern conduct even remotely similar to a mass-casualty terrorist attack. ... Among the cases cited is that of Zacarias Moussaoui, which was fraught with procedural problems, delays, appeals, risks to classified evidence, and even a lone holdout juror who spared the 20th hijacker the death penalty. Due to gaps in federal law, many of the problems prosecutors encountered in the Moussaoui trial will be experienced in future terrorism trials.

[JURIST] Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] spoke to a reporter [Reuters report] from Reuters Sunday verifying that he is alive and is living in Wutai mountain in China's Shanxi province. Gao, who had been missing for more than a year, said he had been released last year and that he wanted to "live a quiet life for a while." Another Chinese human rights lawyer, Li Heping, said that he had also spoken to Gao and confirmed his identity. Gao still appeared to be under some form of restraint in his interview, however, since he would not give details of his location nor did he answer any detailed questions about his current situation.

Gao drew international attention in September 2007 when he wrote a letter [JURIST report] to the US Congress requesting assistance in improving human rights in China. Gao, who has also defended Christians and coal miners in China, claimed that he was tortured [AP report] after being arrested earlier that year 2007. He was originally part of the Chinese Communist Party and handled prominent cases involving the outlawed Falun Gong movement [Falun Dafa website], but fell into disfavor with the government in 2006 when he was convicted of subversion [JURIST report] and placed under house arrest. Gao had been most recently detained since February 2009.