JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, October 7, 2012

[JURIST] Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] appeared in a New York court for the first time on Saturday after being extradited from the UK. Hamza, who is charged with 11 offenses [press release] heard and confirmed the charges Saturday and will return for a plea hearing on Tuesday. The charges stem [BBC report] from a plan to establish a terrorism training camp within US borders, and will likely face imprisonment without parole at ADX Florence [BOP backgrounder], a super-maximum security prison in Colorado.

Al-Masri's extradition was approved by the High Court of England and Wales earlier this month after being temporarily delayed by the same court issuing an injunction [JURIST reports] late last month. The court's decision comes a week after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] gave its final approval of the extradition, which it had initially approved [JURIST reports] in April. The ECHR's decision in April marked a change in position for the court from its position two years ago, when it stayed the extradition [JURIST report] of four of the terrorism suspects to the US, holding that potential punishment could violate European Convention on Human Rights [text] provisions on the prohibition of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment. The UK High Court approved the extradition [JURIST report] of Aswat and Ahmad to the US in 2006.

[JURIST] The Nassau County Supreme Court [official website] ruled [text, PDF] on Friday that the North Shore Hospital may take paralyzed cancer patient Grace Lee, off life support according to her wishes. The ruling denied a motion filed by her parents seeking to continue the use of breathing tubes. At issue was the determination of whether she is capable of making decisions about her own care. After being paralyzed, Lee is only capable of communicating through blinking or mouthing words. The court's ruling determines that she is mentally capable of making decisions. While the original conflict began when Lee expressed her wish to be taken off life support, Lee recently decided to remain on the respirator [AP report].

The right to die [JURIST news archive] has been a contentious issue around the world. The only European countries that allow euthanasia are Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In August, A UK court ruled against a paralyzed man in a right to die case [JURIST report]. In 2011 the Supreme Court of India ruled passive euthanasia was permitted [JURIST report] under certain circumstances, but rejected a petition for a mercy killing. In 2010 a German court ruled that removing a patient from life support is not a criminal offense [JURIST report] if the patient had previously given consent. In 2009 the Italian president refused to sign an Italian government decree [JURIST report] that would stop the euthanasia of comatose women because it would violate the separation of power overturning a previous court ruling.

[JURIST] The World Bank [official website] announced [press release] Friday that former International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [JURIST news archive] will audit an investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh (ACC) [official website] into whether there are corrupt officials involved in the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project [official profile]. On June 29, the World Bank announced [press release] that, based partly on ACC findings, it had reason to believe there was a conspiracy among many of the leaders of the project, including Bangladeshi government officials. In response, it canceled the $1.2 billion line of credit for the project. However, on September 20, the World Bank decided to consider resuming the project [press release] in light of Bangladesh's agreement to fulfill certain requirements, which were announced Friday:

to place all public officials suspected of involvement in the corruption scheme on leave from government employment until an investigation is complete

to appoint a special inquiry and prosecution team within the ACC to handle the investigation

to grant access to all investigative information to an external panel of internationally recognized experts who will advise the Bank and co-financiers on the credibility of the government's investigations

and to accept an alternative project implementation arrangement which gave co-financiers greater oversight over procurement processes

The External Panel of International Experts the World Bank will review the ACC's findings and whether or not the project has complied with the above requirements. Also appointed to the panel was Timothy Tong, former commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Richard Alderman, former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office. If the World Bank receives a positive report from the panel, it will resume financing the project.

Moreno-Ocampo's nine-year term to the ICC recently ended, and in June, Gambian war crimes lawyer Fatou Bensouda [official profile] was sworn in [JURIST report] to succeed him. Also in June, Moreno-Ocampo called for economic or other aid to be refused to countries that assist Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir [ICC materials; JURIST news archive] in evading an arrest warrant that was issued against him in 2010. Moreno-Ocampo also predicted [JURIST report] in April that fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony [BBC backgrounder] would be arrested within the year.