[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] (HRW) called Wednesday for an investigation into alleged war crimes [press release] committed during the recent conflict between the government of Yemen [BBC timeline] and Shiite Huthi Rebels. According to HRW's report [text, PDF], "All Quiet on the Northern Front?: Uninvestigated Laws of War Violations in Yemen's War with Huthi Rebels," the February truce between the factions has not resulted in any meaningful inquiry into air strikes on populated villages, indiscriminate violence, summary executions, and child soldiers, among other alleged violations:

The elements of this shaky truce - the sixth in almost as many years - do not include investigations into alleged violations of the laws of war. ... The continuing failure of both the Yemeni government and the Huthi rebels to investigate alleged violations by their forces prevents perpetrators from being held to account, denies compensation to victims of abuses, and complicates efforts to reach a long-term political settlement.

[JURIST] Swedish Police [official website] on Wednesday arrested [press release, in Swedish] a Kosovo war crimes suspect. The suspect is accused of committing war crimes during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in the small village of Cuska in May 1999. A Swedish police spokesperson did not release the man's full name because of Swedish privacy laws but did state that the suspect is a Serbian man in his 30s [AFP/SW report]. The Swedish Prosecution Authority [official website, in Swedish] will request on Friday that the suspect remain in custody until trial. It is not clear where the suspect will face charges [AP report].

In March, a spokesperson for Serbia's Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor [official website] announced the arrest of nine individuals [JURIST report] suspected of committing war crimes during the Kosovo war. In June, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] marked the 10-year anniversary of the conflict's end by reporting that many human rights abuses that occurred during the war in Kosovo have gone uninvestigated and unpunished [JURIST report]. Prosecutors have nonetheless secured several convictions. A week after AI's report, a Serbian court convicted [JURIST report] four former paramilitary officers of killing 14 Albanians in northern Kosovo. In April 2009, four Serbian ex-policemen were convicted [JURIST report] of killing of 48 Albanian civilians in Suva Reka.

[JURIST] A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Wednesday convicted 29 members of the paramilitary group Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) [official website] on charges relating to their involvement in last year's border guard mutiny [BBC Backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The military-run court in Panchagarh district sentenced those convicted to jail terms ranging from four months to seven years. The sentences are the first of dozens of cases against approximately 3,500 alleged mutiny participants [WP report] who are being tried throughout Bangladesh. Civilian courts are hearing more serious charges [AFP report] related to the mutiny, such as murder, arson, and rape, and may impose the death penalty on those found guilty.

In September, Bangladesh's Supreme Court [official website] recommended against [JURIST report] military court-martial trials for BDR members who took part in the mutiny, which killed dozens of BDR officers, including the force’s commander. President Zillur Rahman [official profile] asked for the court's opinion to determine whether the accused should be tried under the Army Act of 1952 [text] or whether they should face civilian trials. The court took into account the advice of 10 top lawyers and legal experts, seven of whom opposed [People's Daily report] the use of military trials.

[JURIST] Several visual artist organizations filed a class action suit [complaint, PDF; press release] Wednesday against Google [corporate website] alleging copyright infringement resulting from the company's book scanning project [Google Books website]. The plaintiffs include the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the Graphic Artists Guild, the Picture Archive Council of America, the North American Nature Photography Association, Professional Photographers of America [websites], as well as individual photographers and illustrators. The visual artists' class action is being brought in the US District for the Southern District of New York [official website], the same court where an earlier class action was brought against Google by text authors. According to lawyers for the plaintiffs, ASMP and the other visual artists decided to bring a separate suit when they were prevented from joining the earlier action.

Last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] urged a federal court to reject [JURIST report] the proposed class action settlement [Authors Guild backgrounder] in the copyright suit [case materials] between text authors and Google due to copyright and antitrust concerns. In February, a federal judge heard arguments [JURIST report] on the proposed settlement but did not indicate when a ruling can be expected. The case originated when two lawsuits were brought against Google by the Authors Guild [advocacy website], a group seeking to preserve copyright protection for authors, and by other plaintiffs including the Association of American Publishers (AAP) [organization website], McGraw-Hill, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster [corporate websites]. Under the terms of the original settlement agreement, which was reached [JURIST report] in October 2008, Google would pay $125 million to authors and publishers of copyrighted works. In return, Google would be allowed to display online up to 20 percent of the total pages of a copyrighted book, and would offer users an opportunity to purchase the remainder of any viewed book.

[JURIST] Anti-government protesters in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday set fire to the prosecutor-general's office amid violent demonstrations that have led to the death of the interior minister, the arrest of several opposition leaders, and the deaths of dozens of protesters. The protests against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev [BBC profile], which appear prompted [NYT report] in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, began late Tuesday night in the city Talas then spread throughout the country Wednesday. Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev was killed [AFP report] during an attack by protesters in Talas. Former prime minister and presidential candidate Almazbek Atambayev and former parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev were among the many opposition leaders arrested [AFP report] as a result of the protests. Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency throughout the country, urging citizens to remain indoors. The protesters have also taken control [Reuters report] of the country's television station, and approximately a thousand people surrounded the prosecutor-general's office, reportedly setting it on fire. Reports vary as to the number of citizens that have been killed during the protests, with news organizations reporting as many as 50. Kyrgyz police used bullets and tear gas to protect the presidential office in Bishkek.

The protests come a week after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] called on Kyrgyzstan to protect all forms of human rights [JURIST report], including "free speech and freedom of the media." The statements follow recent events [RIA Novosti report] in the country that include the shutdown of an opposition newspaper, a police raid on a local television station that resulted in the station being taken off the air, and the confiscation of computers from a video web portal based on allegations of pirated software use. Opposition members gathered in support [RFE/RL report] of Ban's comments. Kyrgyzstan was once hailed as a model for democracy in the Central Asian countries that made up the former Soviet Union. It is believed that much of the media pressure [AP report] is the result of the election of Bakiyev following the Tulip revolution that removed Askar Akayev from power in 2005. Last year, the US State Department (DOS) [official website] criticized Kyrgyzstan over its treatment of journalists in its 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [DOS materials; JURIST report].

3:00 PM ET - Kyrgyz opposition leaders claim to have taken power [Reuters report], having forced the government to resign.

[JURIST] The Spanish Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] on Wednesday charged [order, PDF; in Spanish] National Court judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] with abuse of power for the investigation of war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco [BBC backgrounder] during the Spanish Civil War [LOC backgrounder]. In 2008, Garzon ordered the exhumation [JURIST report] of 19 mass graves in Spain in order to assemble a definitive national registry of Civil War victims, despite a 1977 amnesty law. Investigating magistrate Luciano Varela ruled that it is likely Garzon committed abuse of power by conducting the investigation. Garzon's lawyer plans to challenge [El Pais report, in Spanish] the charges on appeal and has described the proceedings as "contaminated." No trial date has been set. If convicted, Garzon could be removed from the bench.

After a February ruling that Garzon may have exceeded his jurisdictional authority by launching the investigation, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled last month that he could be formally charged [JURIST reports]. Garzon has consistently defended [JURIST report] the validity of the investigation by insisting that he acted within the bounds of the law and appropriately applied the law at all times. The Supreme Court agreed to review [JURIST report] Garzon's actions last May in response to a complaint filed by Manos Limpias [group website, in Spanish], a union of public servants in Spain, which alleged that Garzon did not have the requisite jurisdictional authority to launch the investigation. Just one month after Garzon launched the investigation in 2008, Spanish prosecutors and other political figures voiced their concern by challenging [JURIST report] the validity of the investigation. Garzon is widely known for using universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder; JURIST news archive] extensively in the past to bring several high-profile cases, including those against Osama bin Laden and former Latin American dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archives].

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva [official website, in Thai; BBC profile] on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and several nearby provinces in response to escalating political protests. The state of emergency was declared after protesters, known as red shirts [BBC backgrounder], broke into Parliament [AP report] earlier Wednesday, causing government officials to evacuate. Under the state of emergency [Bangkok Post report], which took effect immediately, public gatherings are banned, police are given broader powers to arrest and detain, curfews can be instituted, the government may censor media reports, and detainees can be held for 30 days without access to legal counsel. Abhisit stated his goals during the institution of the state of emergency include putting an end to escalating violence and restoring normalcy.

The declaration comes just days after a Thai court dismissed [JURIST report] the government's application for an injunction against protesters gathered in Bangkok's business district. The injunction would have ordered protest organizers to lead the group out of the area and would have banned rallies in 11 other areas. The court denied the request stating that the Internal Security Act [text, PDF], approved by the Thai Cabinet [JURIST report] in March, already gave the government eviction powers. The red shirts are supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who was removed from power [JURIST report] in 2006 following a coup. The group is demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament and call new elections. Last April, Abhisit declared a state of emergency [JURIST report] in Bangkok and several provinces following a similar outbreak of protests calling for his resignation.

[JURIST] A North Korean court sentenced a US citizen to eight years in prison on Wednesday for illegally entering the country. Aijalon Mahli Gomes was arrested in January for illegally crossing the border and was charged with illegal entry and unspecified hostile acts [Korea Times report]. Gomes's sentence includes eight years of hard labor and a fine equivalent to USD $700,000. The imprisonment of an American citizen is seen as a significant bargaining chip for North Korea, as the resumption of multilateral negotiations [ABC News report] involving the US over the status of North Korea's nuclear program [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] increases in likelihood. Gomes is the fourth American to be detained for illegal entry into North Korea in the past 13 months, but none of those past detentions continued for longer than five months.

North Korea's detention and treatment of prisoners has been the subject of criticism [JURIST news archive] from numerous world governments and activist groups. In February, US rights activist Robert Park was released [Guardian report] after a two-month detention for illegally entering North Korea [JURIST report] in December. In August, North Korea pardoned [JURIST report] two American journalists for their illegal entry, after negotiations with former US president Bill Clinton. The journalists had been detained in March [JURIST report] for allegedly crossing the North Korean border with China.