Mendunjanin was indicted [NYT report] in January. His lawyer has accused authorities of holding and questioning his client without access to his family or legal counsel for 36 hours. Last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced charges [JURIST report; press release] against five members of al Qaeda in connection with the plot, broadening the scope of the case to include high-ranking members of the terrorist organization such as Adnan El Shukrijumah, a leader of al Qaeda's external operations program, who is charged with organizing the New York plot for Zazi and his alleged conspirators. Zazi is a native of Afghanistan who was arrested [BBC report] by FBI agents in Colorado. He was originally charged with making false statements to the FBI. In September, he was indicted [indictment PDF; JURIST report] and originally pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. In February, he changed his plea to guilty to three criminal charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the US and to commit murder in a foreign country, as well as providing material support to al Qaeda.

No enumerated power of Congress permits this assertion of top-down centralized economic power; nor can the Necessary and Proper Clause expand congressional power to support the mandate. Congress's commerce power extends to regulation of activities having a substantial relation to interstate commerce, but does not allow it to compel inactive individuals to enter a marketplace against their will. Likewise, Congress's power to tax does not authorize it to compel persons to buy specific insurance products. By exerting such sweeping authority over Americans' individual decisions, Congress has seized powers denied it under the Tenth Amendment, in violation of the Constitution's federalist structure and individual rights under the Fifth and Ninth Amendments.

The response cited Monday's decision refusing to dismiss another lawsuit [JURIST report] against the individual mandate filed by Virginia in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website]. The court found that Virginia had standing to bring the case because the federal health care law directly contradicted a state law [JURIST report] purporting to prevent the enforcement of a federal mandate, which the state has an interest in defending. The court also held that the lawsuit was "ripe for adjudication" because the effects of the law will be felt in the near future. The Obama administration urged for dismissal in both cases on similar grounds, arguing that even if the states had standing, the law is a constitutional exercise of the Commerce Clause [Cornell LII backgrounder].

[JURIST] Former Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder] official Kaing Guek Eav [case materials; JURIST news archive], also known as "Duch," has hired Cambodian lawyer Kang Ritheary to replace his previous lawyer, according to documents [text, PDF] released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] Friday. Kaing fired [press release; JURIST report] his international co-counsel, Maitre Roux, in early July after sending a letter to ECCC President Nil Nonn, saying that he had "lost confidence" in the French lawyer. Ritheary joins Kar Savuth, Kaing's original co-counsel, also a Cambodian. Last month, the ECCC convicted Kaing [JURIST report] of crimes against humanity and of violating the 1949 Geneva Conventions, sentencing him to 35 years in prison. He plans to appeal [JURIST report].

Kaing unexpectedly asked to be released [JURIST report] at the close of his trial in November. His request was a complete departure from his previous conduct, as he had cooperated with the trial and repeatedly apologized to his victims and their families, mitigating conduct that earned him a reduced sentence from the 40 years prosecutors originally sought. His lawyers took different approaches in their closing remarks, with one stating that his client was not guilty and the other asking for clemency. In March 2009, Kaing accepted responsibility and apologized [JURIST report] for his conduct at the detention facility. He is the first of eight ex-Khmer Rouge officials expected to be tried before the ECCC. In April, the pre-trial chamber of the ECCC dismissed appeals by three other former Khmer Rouge officials [JURIST report] to block the extension of their provision detention. The three prisoners, Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan, were arrested in November 2007 and face charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, torture and religious persecution.

In July, the Council of Europe's European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) [official website] reported that violence and rhetoric targeting Muslims has risen [JURIST report] in Europe during 2009, following the recent economic crisis. The ERCI specifically pointed to the recent trend in some parts of Europe toward banning the wearing of the burqa [JURIST news archive], noting that the legislation is targeted towards Muslims, and called on countries to encourage religious diversity and acceptance. In order to combat the rising incidents of racism, ERCI is urging the 29 Council of Europe members that have not yet ratified Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights [materials], which prohibits racial discrimination, to do so. They are also advising countries to enforce existing laws against racism and to enact new laws in order to "fill the legal gaps that still exist."

Also Friday, Warsaw-based human rights group Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) [advocacy website, in Polish] released documents [text, PDF; part 2, text, PDF] from the Polish Border Guard Office [official website, in Polish] detailing arrival, departure and passenger information for several flights by CIA front companies into and out of cities in Poland. HFHR reports [press release, PDF] that it secured records for seven flights in total spanning a period from December 2002 to September 2003, when the AP says the five-stop flight to Guantanamo Bay took place:

[B]etween 5 December 2002 and 22 September 2003 seven planes which are commonly associated with CIA front companies landed at Szymany airport. Five of them came to Poland with passengers, but at the time of departure only crew was present on board. The last plane noted flew to Szymany empty, and left Poland with five people on board

The US has come under fire for its use of CIA-operated secret detention facilities. In December, a Lithuanian parliamentary committee confirmed that the CIA had established two secret prisons for al Qaeda suspects, prompting a dispute that led to the resignation [JURIST reports] of the country's foreign minister. On his third day in office last year, US President Barack Obama ordered the closure [JURIST report] of all CIA secret prisons. The European Parliament voted [JURIST report] in February 2007 to approve a report that condemned member states for cooperating with the CIA in operating secret prisons. In January 2007, the UK admitted knowledge of the CIA prison network, and then-president George W. Bush publicly acknowledged [JURIST reports] in September 2006 that these types of facilities existed. In June 2006, the Council of Europe released [JURIST report] a report [text, PDF] that 14 European countries collaborated with the CIA by taking an active or passive role in a "global spider's web" of secret prisons and rendition flights. The existence of CIA prisons in Europe was first reported in November 2005.

In February, the USDA and Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced a $1.25 billion settlement [JURIST report] for African American farmers claiming they suffered racial discrimination in USDA loan programs. The settlement arises from the Pigford case, which was reopened to those who missed the filing deadline after the passage of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 [HR 6124 materials; JURIST report]. Under the terms of the new settlement, individual farmers may demonstrate their entitlement to relief through a non-judicial claims process. In 1997, black farmers alleged in the Pigford case that they were being denied USDA farm loans or forced to wait longer for loan approval than were non-minority farmers.

In December, Mexico City's legislative assembly [official website, in Spanish] approved the same-sex marriage law. The legislation allows for marriage, adoption, inheritance and other economic and social rights. The provisions also seeks to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. The state of Chihuahua is currently the only state in Mexico that recognizes same-sex civil unions [JURIST news archive]. Last month, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez [official website, in Spanish] signed a same-sex marriage bill into law after the bill was approved by the legislature [JURIST reports], making Argentina the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. On Wednesday, a US federal judge ruled that the California state ban on same-sex marriage violated the US Constitution [JURIST report]. Same-sex marriage is also recognized in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and South Africa [JURIST reports].

[T]hese arrests and charges should serve as an unmistakable warning to others considering joining or supporting terrorist groups like al-Shabaab: if you choose this route you can expect to find yourself in a U.S. jail cell or a casualty on the battlefield in Somalia. As demonstrated by the charges unsealed today, we are seeing an increasing number of individuals - including U.S. citizens - who have become captivated by extremist ideology and have taken steps to carry out terrorist objectives, either at home or abroad. It's a disturbing trend that we have been intensely investigating in recent years and will continue to investigate and root out. But we must also work to prevent this type of radicalization from ever taking hold.

Thursday's indictments highlight a growing concern of US citizens' involvement with extremist groups and homegrown terrorists. In June, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced five Americans [JURIST report] from the DC-area to 10 years in prison for plotting attacks on Pakistan. That same week, Pakistani-born US citizen Faisal Shahzad [BBC profile] pleaded guilty to 10 counts of terrorism and weapons charges [JURIST reports] relating to May's attempted car bombing in New York City's Times Square. In April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] criticized [JURIST report] the violent and repressive conditions in southern Somalia that have been implemented by al-Shabaab.