[JURIST] The US House of Representatives has passed the revised conference report version of an intelligence reform bill based on recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.

7:57 PM ET - S. 2845, variously called the National Intelligence Reform Act or (according to the conference report) the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, passed 336-75. AFP now has more. The legislation goes to the Senate again on Wednesday.

[JURIST] Documents released Tuesday by the ACLU pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act proceeding say that Defense Intelligence Agency personnel in Iraq who witnessed abuses of prisoners by a US Special Forces team were threatened to prevent them reporting those abuses, had their car keys taken and e-mails monitored, and were warned not to leave their base. See a scanned copy of DIA chief Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby's June 25, 2004 memo to the Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence here [PDF]. Other documents show what the ACLU claims was a "rift" between the FBI and military authorities about appropriate and effective methods of interrogating prisoners. The ACLU revelations come a day after AP obtained a letter from a senior FBI counterterror expert complaining of "highly aggressive" military interrogations of prisoners at Guantanamo as early as 2002, previously reported in JURIST's Paper Chase. The ACLU press release on the documents released Tuesday is here. The documents themselves, and other torture-related materials obtained through ACLU FOIA reveals, are collected here.

[JURIST] A long-awaited reported to Congress by the US Defense Department Inspector General has concluded that "leadership failures" by multiple Air Force secretaries, military chiefs of staff, legal officers and superintendents of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs resulted in a decade of sexual abuse and harassment of female cadets at the elite facilty. Inspector General Joseph Schmitz wrote: "We consider the root cause of the sexual assault problems at the Air Force Academy to be the failure of successive chains of command over the last 10 years to acknowledge the severity of the problem." The report did not, however, recommend specific disciplinary action. Reuters has more. The full text of the report is not yet available online.

[JURIST] The US military's Combatant Status Review Tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has decided to retain custody of 33 more detainees as properly-designated "enemy combatants", according to a military spokesman speaking Tuesday. Thusfar panels of the Tribunal have considered at least 466 review hearings and have handed down 194 decisions. Only in one instance has a detainee been reclassified and released: that was a Pakistani man who the tribunal ruled had been held improperly for two years. AP has more. The US Defense Department provides background information on the operation of Combatant Status Review Tribunals.

[JURIST] A Chilean appeals court judge said Tuesday he would consider a criminal complaint against former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet alleging that some 27,255 people were tortured during the period of his rule as part of the government's repression of the opposition. Santiago Appeals Court Judge Joaquin Billard has asked the Investigative Police, a civilian agency, to gather intelligence on the structure of the military dictatorship's security apparatus. Two other Chilean judges are considering other complaints against Pinochet stemming from disappearances during "Operation Condor" in the 1970s and Pinochet's use of funds from a mult-million dollar bank account at US-based Riggs Bank. EFE has more. From Santiago, El Mercurio has local coverage in Spanish.

[JURIST] Two court-appointed defense lawyers for former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, on trial at The Hague for war crimes, have been told they cannot withdraw from his case. In a ruling Tuesday, the trials chamber of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia held that although Milosevic has been allowed to resume the conduct of his own defense, counsel were still needed to act in the best interests of the accused. UK barristers Stephen Kay and Gillian Higgins had argued that they could not defend Milosevic because he was not co-operating with them and because they had inadequate instructions on how to conduct his defense. The ICTY has issued a press release on the ruling here. The full text of the decision is here. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Army said Tuesday that it will convene a court-martial for US Captain Rogelio Maynulet, accused of murdering an Iraqi driver who had been injured by US soldiers during a militia sweep in May. Lawyers for Maynulet said that the driver was shot out of mercy because of the victim's severe injuries. They also contend that the driver would not have survived anyway according to expert testimony. Reuters has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background.

[JURIST] Syria released 112 political detainees, the country's official news agency reported Tuesday. President Bashar al-Asad pardoned the prisoners, many of whom are thought to be Kurdish minorities arrested during a riot last March. This year 160 political prisoners have been released so far. Human rights activists speculate that there may still be hundreds of political prisoners in Syria despite the newly-elected president's granting of a measure of political freedom. Aljazeera has more.

Completing a 30-day sentence, former US Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins was released from the US military base at Camp Zama Japan Tuesday, and allowed to travel to the Japanese city of Sado, where he plans to settle down again with his Japanese wife and daughters. He defected from the US military 39-years ago while serving in Korea intending to return to the United States. Instead, he was detained in North Korea and ordered to teach English to Korean troops. Voice of America has more. Mainichi Daily News has local coverage in English. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on Jenkins' guilty plea to desertion.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday concerning state regulation of interstate wine sales. The controversy centers on the New York and Michigan state laws that allow direct in-state, but not out-of-state, shipments of wine. The Constitution implicitly prohibits states from passing laws that discriminate against businesses of another state. However, the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition in 1933, gives states the power to control liquor sales. Proponents of the state restrictions claim that interstate wine sales would create complications in policing the distribution of alcohol, a product that receives special Constitutional treatment. The Supreme Court's ruling would directly affect internet and phone sales of vineyards to customers across the country. Several justices in this morning's arguments appeared concerned over inconsistent state regulation, but seemed hesitant to overturn them. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Ukrainian parliament adjourned again Tuesday without passing a revised electoral reform package previously agreed to in principle by the leaders of the major political factions in the country's ongoing electoral dispute. The parliament had failed to adopt an earlier version of the reform package Saturday, but a second failure loomed large even before the Tuesday session got under way after Monday's putative accord collapsed after several further hours of negotiations between Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and party leaders. Government supporters in the parliament stalled the new package by insisting that it be accompanied by constitutional reforms to curtail the presidency's powers. The parliament's failure to act only seems to deepen Ukraine's political crisis, now in its third week, and complicates the process of conducting a new election, as mandated by the December 3 ruling of Ukraine's Supreme Court. AP has more.

1:49 PM ET - In a related but more positive development, hundreds of pro-opposition marchers brought flowers to the Ukrainian Supreme Court Tuesday in a show of appreciation for the court's December 3 ruling, which mny observers said demonstrated its independence in the face of severe political and social pressure. Reuters has more in this video report.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Kansas is not entitled to seek further damages from Colorado for diverting water from the Arkansas River into Colorado farm lands. The Court had ruled in 2001 that Colorado was liable for millions of dollars in damages and interest, but Kansas had sought to recover an additional $24 million beyond a figure of $29 million recommended by the special master appointed to handle the dispute. From Wichita, KAKE-TV has more. Read the full text of the Suprem Court's latest opinion in Kansas v. Colorado here [PDF; by Justice Breyer, with Justice Stevens dissenting in part].

[JURIST] According to a Russian human rights lawyer, the Russian Constitutional Court has cleared the way for lower court reconsideration and possible exoneration of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, the "White Russian" leader of anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia who was recognized by his supporters as the Supreme Ruler of Russia until he was captured by the Red Army and executed at the orders of Vladimir Lenin in 1920. Sergei Zuyev, who for some time has been campaigning on behalf of prominent Russians victimized by Soviet-era repression, told reporters that "Admiral Kolchak is an outstanding figure in the history of Russia. He was a legitimate ruler, an admiral and was murdered by the Bolsheviks without trial or an investigation." In 1999 a military court found no ground for exonerating Kolchak, and cited evidence of his complicity in "mass repressions of the peaceful population and Red Army soldiers"; that decision was upheld in 2003. The Cionstitutional Court, however, cited a 2000 ruling that said that the RSFSR penal code provison allowing courts with supervisory authority to examine a case "without notifying the defendant or his defense lawyers about the time and place of the court hearings" and "without ensuring the defendant’s right to clarify his position to the court" was unconstitional. Said Zuyev, "The case must now be reexamined in the presence of defense lawyers. We have sent to the Prosecutor-General’s Office a letter with a request to appeal against the Military court decision." From Russia, ITAR-TASS has more.

[JURIST] Crusading New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced Tuesday that he will run for Governor of New York in 2006. Spitzer, a Democrat, has been New York attorney general since 1999 and appears to have his party's nomination within easy reach absent any competition from other prominent Democrats and with the support of former governor Mario Cuomo. His opponent in 2006 is expected to be incumbent Republican George Pataki. AP has more. In a statement on the weblog of his new campaign website. Spitzer said

One of the keys to solving the problems of New York is to make state government more responsive and accountable. Right now, New York government is all about partisanship and gridlock. We're not doing the things we need to do to generate good paying jobs, safe neighborhoods and excellent schools. The system is broken. The state is facing a crisis.

[JURIST] Hamid Karzai was officially sworn in Tuesday as President of Afghanistan in an invitation-only ceremony in Kabul. Karzai won the October 9 presidential election with 55.4% of the vote (certified results here). BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The leaseholder of the World Trade Center, destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, won a major legal victory Monday when a Manhattan jury agreed that the attack on the Twin Towers constituted two events for insurance purposes, not just one. If let stand, the verdict would allow Larry Silverstein to get twice as much money from his policies with the nine insurance companies involved, which could then be used to finance new construction on the WTC site. One of the defendants, Allianz AG, has already said that it may appeal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] AP has obtained a letter written by an FBI counterterrorism expert working at Guantanamo Bay that complains of abusive military interrogations of prisoners as early as 2002. The letter, written by Thomas Harrington to Maj. Gen. Donald J. Ryder, the Army's chief law enforcement officer, described "highly aggressive interrogation techniques being used against detainees in Guantanamo" which he was refering to Ryder for "appropriate action." According to AP:

...in late 2002 an FBI agent observed an interrogation where Sgt. Lacey whispered in the ear of a handcuffed and shackled detainee, caressed him and applied lotion to his arms. This occurred during Ramadan, Islam's holy month when contact with females is considered particularly offensive to a Muslim man.

Later, the detainee appeared to grimace in pain, and the FBI agent asked a Marine who was present why. ``The Marine said (the interrogator) had grabbed the detainee's thumbs and bent them backward and indicated that she also grabbed his genitals.''

In September or October of 2002, FBI agents saw a dog used ``in an aggressive manner to intimidate a detainee,'' the letter said.

About a month later, agents saw the same detainee ``after he had been subjected to intense isolation for over three months ... totally isolated in a cell that was always flooded with light. By late November, the detainee was evidencing behavior consistent with extreme psychological trauma ...,'' the letter said.

In October 2002, another FBI agent saw a detainee ``gagged with duct tape that covered much of his head'' because he would not stop chanting from the Quran.

[JURIST] English comedian Rowan Atkinson, famed for his starring role in Blackadder and other UK comedy series, lashed out Monday evening against a proposed UK law to ban the incitement of religious hatred. Speaking at a meeting in Westminster Hall convened by writers, MPs and groups opposed to the legislation, Atkinson warned that such a law was an inappropriate response to a problem and would unduly stifle free speech:

To criticise a person for their race is a manifestly irrational and ridiculous. But to criticise their religion - that is a right. That is a freedom. And a law that attempts to say you can criticise or ridicule ideas, as long as they are not religious ideas, is a very peculiar law indeed. It all points to the promotion of the idea there should be a right not to be offended... In my view, the right to offend is far more important than any right not to be offended.

[JURIST] Dutch authorities announced Monday that they have arrested a man on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list (see this listing from 2000) for supplying lethal chemicals to Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1980s. Frans van Anraat, now 62, is said to have supplied Iraq with the main ingredient of mustard gas used in the Iran-Iraq war. His involvement in the chemical trade with Iraq was documented by the UNSCOM UN weapons inspection group. Van Anraat lived in Iraq for some years to avoid arrest but fled to Europe shortly before it was invaded by the US in 2003; he was detained by Italian authorities earlier this year, but was released. Radio Netherlands has more.

[JURIST] A trial began Monday in Rabat of five Moroccans formerly held by the US at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, charged with belonging to or assisting a criminal group that was preparing to commit terrorist acts. The five, turned over to Moroccan authorities in August, are all alleged to be Al Qaeda members and are said to include a former bodyguard for Osama Bin Laden. Their case represents the first time that ex-Guantanamo detainees have been tried in a Arab country. Further proceedings have been postponed until December 20 to allow the defense more time to prepare. From Rabat, Moroccan news agency MAP provides local coverage in English. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington, confirmed Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming a lack of funds to cover claims arising from multiple lawsuits against it alleging child sexual abuse by multiple clergy. The diocese already faces at least 19 suits by 58 plaintiffs for some $77 million, and diocesan leaders say that bankruptcy procedure is the best way to ensure that whatever funds the diocese has available are distributed fairly. Critics of the move say the filing is simply a maneuver to avoid imminent embarrassing trials. A letter from Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad on the bankruptcy filing is here. The Seattle Times provides local coverage.