JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, October 31, 2010

[JURIST] The Somali parliament on Sunday voted 297-92 to approve [press release] new Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, after several delays due to a constitutional dispute over the confirmation procedure. Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Mahmud [official profile] had argued that due to the silence of the Somali Transitional Federal Charter [text, PDF] on confirmation procedures, Somalia's 1960 Constitution [text, PDF] must control, which states that all confirmations must be expressed by open vote. Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden [BBC profile] disputed this, pushing for a secret ballot. Supporters of Abdullahi say he may have a better chance [AP report] than predecessors of controlling Islamist insurgents and pirates [JURIST news archive] the come from the country.

Last week, Transparency International (TI) [advocacy website] ranked Somalia [JURIST report] as the most corrupt country in the world in its 2010 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) [text, PDF]. In April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] critized the violent and repressive conditions [JURIST report] in southern Somalia that have been implemented by the Islamist group al-Shabaab [CFR backgrounder]. Though the report found that portions of the country under al-Shabaab rule are more stable when compared to those under the control of Ahmend's Transitional Federal Government, that stability comes at a steep price including harsh punishments and executions without due process.

[JURIST] Bahrain released election results [official results, in Arabic] Sunday in its second round of parliamentary elections, revealing that pro-government Sunni parties had maintained a majority, preventing opposition groups from beginning a corruption investigation [LAT report] of the ruling family. Opposition Shi'ite parties represent the majority of Bahrain's population and claim they experience discrimination in government jobs and housing and have said that they were prevented from casting their votes in the first round of elections held last week [Guardian report]. Despite this, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated the Bahraini government [statement] on a successful and peaceful election and voiced support for democratic development in the region.

With this election, its third by universal suffrage since 2002, Bahrain has demonstrated that multi-ethnic, multi-confessional societes can address their challenges through peaceful reform and representative institutions. The United States is committed to supporting this important democratic development in the region. The Kingdom of Bahrain is a valued and strategic ally with a common interest in strengthening participatory democracy.

The trial of the 25 Shi'ite Muslim opposition activitists, charged with plotting to overthrow the government and supporting terror cells, began on Thursday in Bahrain [JURIST report]. Shi'ite frustration with the current Sunni controlled government came to a head in August when the government cracked down on Shi'ite opposition leaders, leading to street protests. The activitists pleaded not guilty and said that they were working for an unnamed foreign government [JURIST report]. Rights groups have criticized these charges, many against at least 10 promininet Shi'ite opposition figures, as signs of repression. The Bahraini government has faced repeated criticism over its human rights record, including a report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] in February that claimed the government had reverted to using torture [JURIST report] to gain confessions from detainees after a decade of reform banning such practices. The US State Department and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Practices [advocacy website] have also voiced concerns [JURIST report] over the country's human rights practices.

[JURIST] Niger held a referendum Sunday on whether to adopt a new constitution following February's coup [JURIST report], in which a military government replaced that of then-president Mamadou Tandja [BBC profile]. If approved, the constitution would limit the powers of the president, confining officeholders to two terms and require presidential candidates to be between the ages of 35 and 70. The constitution would also formalize the separation of religion and government, grant immunity to the coup leaders and bar members of the military from running for office. Assuming passage, presidential and parliamentary elections have been scheduled for January 31 [AFP report] in order to transfer power to a civilian government by April 6 as mandated by the constitution. The constitution has faced little opposition and has not been opposed [Bloomberg report] by any of Niger's 56 political parties. The results are expected later in the week. If passed, the constitution will be the seventh since Niger's independence from France in 1960.

In February, on the same day as the coup, Niger's military leaders, called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD), suspended the country's former constitution [JURIST report] and dissolved all state institutions. The coup, which left at least three Nigerien soldiers dead, came six months after a referendum was passed abolishing presidential term limits [JURIST report] and allowing Tandja to remain in office for three more years and to run in any subsequent elections. Nigerien opposition parties denounced the referendum, claiming that Tandja inflated poll numbers to support the new constitution's adoption.

[JURIST] Apple [corporate website] filed two lawsuits [first complaint, PDF; second complaint, PDF] Friday against rival smartphone maker Motorola [corporate website] alleging that several of Motorola's products infringe six patents owned by Apple. The lawsuits, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin [official website] claim that the products violate federal law [35 USC § 271] because they utilize touch-screen technologies that have been patented by Apple. Apple is demanding the case be tried by a jury [FRCP 38(b)], is seeking a permanent injunction against Motorola's use of the patents and wants royalties for their past and future use. It is also seeking a judgment declaring Motorola's actions "willful and deliberate," entitling Apple to treble damages [35 USC § 284] and a finding that the case is "exceptional," entitling Apple to attorney fees [35 USC § 285].

Smartphone makers have pursued several lawsuits and other legal remedies against one another in recent months alleging patent infringement. Last week, digital security company Gemalto [corporate website] filed suit against HTC [JURIST report], Samsung Electronics, Motorola and Google based on the use and sale of the Android operating system and the Dalvik Virtual Machine, which Gemalto claims infringe on a patent held by the company. In June, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) [official website] launched an investigation [JURIST report] into allegations of patent infringement in Apple's portable electronic devices. In March, Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit against HTC [JURIST report] alleging that the rival smartphone maker infringed on 10 of its patents related to touch-screen interfaces.