[JURIST] US District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema Friday set January 9, 2006, as the date for jury selection in the penalty phase of Zacarias Moussaoui's trial on charges relating to the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. Opening statements will begin approximately a month later, on February 6. The order came one day after the government and Moussaoui's defense lawyers parties filed a joint proposal [JURIST report] requesting that timetable. Moussaoui, who has already pleaded guilty [JURIST report], faces the death penalty. Read the order [PDF].

[JURIST] The Real ID Act [PDF], which would set guidelines for state identification cards must follow and would require the presentation of four forms of ID to obtain a driver's license, awaits a vote in the Senate after passing the US House of Representatives [official website] Thursday as part of a $82 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill. The Act [CNET FAQ] is intended to discourage illegal immigration by asking driver's license applicants to present a photo ID, a birth certificate, proof of their Social Security number and a document showing their full name and address, all documents which would then be cross-checked in a federal database. If the bill passes the Senate, states would have three years to comply with its provisions, although many are already preparing for the worst, fearing it may require DMVs to obtain more computers and employees, already limited resources. The ACLU [advocacy website] contends that the legislation rolls back asylum laws, attacks immigrants and sets the stage for a national ID," which it believes will enable others to easily gain access to personal information [press release]. Read House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner's press release on the Real ID Act, which he sponsored. USA Today has more.

[JURIST] Efforts by delegates from 188 countries attending the UN's 2005 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference [official website] to agree on a final agenda were foiled Friday by Egypt's last-minute call for the meeting to include a review of how well nuclear powers have met commitments set in 2000 to move towards the treaty aim of achieving nuclear disarmament. The conference, which began Monday [JURIST report], began shakily as tensions mounted between the US and Iran over agenda issues [JURIST report]. Egyptians delegates Friday expressed concern that the US had not taken disarmament steps, as demonstrated by its rejection of the nuclear test-ban treaty [PDF text], a concern echoed by other non-nuclear states. AP has more.

[JURIST] Japan threatened Friday to leave the International Whaling Commission [official website] to form a pro-whaling commission by 2006 if the 20-year moratorium on commercial whaling is not lifted and the IWC fails to establish a new whaling management system that would set quotas for whaling countries. Commercial whaling has been banned world-wide since 1986 and has been strongly condemned by the US [SR 121, 2001], but research whaling has been allowed and is widely practiced by Japan [press release]. Yoshimasa Hayashi, member of the Japanese House of Councillors [official website] and chair of a special committee on foreign affairs and defense, said he has delivered Japan's ultimatum to the US State Department and expressed Japan's growing impatience with the matter. Japan, where whale meat is part of the culinary culture, is the head of a growing pro-whaling faction of the IWC, joined by Ireland and Norway. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Robert Parton, who resigned last month [JURIST report] as senior investigative counsel for the Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] into the defunct UN Oil-for-Food Program [official website], has handed over potentially incriminating documents to a US congressional committee. The handover, made public Thursday, triggered outrage from inquiry head and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Paul Volcker [Wikipedia profile] who believes the investigation has been damaged by lack of secrecy. It is speculated that the documents show that Volcker was misled by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; the UN has denied any wrongdoing [UN Oil for Food Inquiry webpage]. Representative Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee [Committee website, Hyde statement], which has been investigating the now-defunct $67 billion humanitarian program, said Parton had been subpoenaed to turn over the papers and he hoped he would not be punished. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that FCC regulations prohibiting the manufacture of video and computer hardware without broadcast flag [MPAA FAQ] anti-piracy technology are invalid. The court said:

The broadcast flag regulations exceed the agency's delegated authority under the statute. The FCC has no authority to regulate consumer electronic devices that can be used for receipt of wire or radio communication when those devices are not engaged in the process of radio or wire transmission.

[JURIST] A Spanish judge has charged 11 additional suspects with participating in the Madrid commuter train bombings that in March 2004 killed 191 and injured 1,900, bringing the total charged up to 101 people. Included in Thursday's indictment is Driss Chebli, a Moroccan citizen currently being tried in Spain for 2,500 terrorist murders in connection with the September 11th attacks in the United States. Chebli and co-defendant Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, who is believed to be the leader of al Qaeda in Spain, are accused of assisting [BBC report] those who carried out the US strikes. Nine of the 11 latest suspects in the train bombing are charged with collaboration with a terrorist group. In addition to Chebli, they include Sanel Sjekirica [AP report], a Bosnian with suspected links to Islamic terrorism, Mohamed El Ouazzani, Daniel Fernandez Fernandez, Mohamed Mohamed Ali, Mouad Benkhalafa, Said Tlidni, Jose Angel Moran Suarez, and Manuel Javier Gonzalez Garcia. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A poll [IRI Powerpoint presentation] of 2700 Iraqis released Friday reports that three out of four citizens believe that Islam should be a primary source of Iraqi law and legislation, with only two percent of respondents believing that religion should have no role in government. The poll was conducted by the US International Republican Institute (IRI) [nonprofit website] chaired by GOP Senator John McCain and will be used to help draft the new Iraqi constitution, supposed to be completed by August [JURIST report]. The poll also indicated that 68 percent of Iraqis believe that the constitution should contain protection for human rights. The survey also found that Iraqis have confidence in the interim government and 67 percent have confidence in the direction the country is headed, the most optimistic response recorded by an IRI poll to date [press release]. Read the IRI press release on the poll. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Despite a low 61% turnout [Liverpool Daily Post report] and an undisputed third-term victory [latest BBC results] for Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Labour Party [party website] in Thursday's UK election, officials from the UK Electoral Commission [official website] Friday warned of voting irregularities and called for implementing reforms [Electoral Commission postal voting report, April 2005] to prevent future postal voting fraud. About 4 million people requested postal ballots [Royal Mail postal voting guide] for Thursday's vote and some voters, including BBC Radio hosts John Humphrys [Press Association report] and Mariella Frostrup [BBC report] were turned away at the polls because postal ballots had improperly been requested in their names. Currently, election officials are not permitted to request identification at the polls, which officials believe encourages fraud. Liberal Democrat [party website] candidate Ayoub Kahn, who lost his race for a Birmingham seat by 6,801 votes. has already made allegations of ballot rigging [Guardian report] and is considering filing charges with the High Court. Postal voting was controversial in the run-up to the election; a Birmingham city leader launched a High Court challenge in an unsuccessful effort to force changes before the May 5 poll. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] President Bush and visiting Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [official website] discussed how indicted ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor might be brought to trial during a meeting Thursday at the White House. Taylor, now in exile in Nigeria, has been charged by the Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] with 17 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of humanitarian law commited during his 15 year reign in Liberia. Earlier this week outgoing SCSL chief prosecutor David Crane called for President Bush to take action [press release] to bring Taylor to justice [JURIST report] after the US House of Representatives passed a resolution [PDF] encouraging Nigeria to hand Taylor over to the Special Court. Obasanjo has previously stated that he would not hand Taylor over until Liberia's government requested he do so, but after the meeting he indicated that he will work with the US to ensure "that whoever has done wrong...be brought to justice." Bush has been criticized in the past for failing to make efforts to bring Taylor to trial. AP has more.

[JURIST] Nepalese political leaders and rights activists Friday condemned the bringing of corruption charges [JURIST report] against former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, with the head of Nepal's Informal Sector Service Center [advocacy website] calling the royal anti-graft commission a "kangaroo court." The commission, whose members are appointed by the current monarch, has the power to arrest, investigate charges, and rule on cases. Deuba was arrested nine days ago [JURIST report] just as King Gyanendra [BBC profile] put an end to the declared state of emergency in the country. Deuba has refused to testify in front of the commission, accusing it of attempting to prosecute all those opposed to King Gyanendra's February governmental takeover [JURIST report], and has denied all wrongdoing. AFP has more.

[JURIST] UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official profile] said in a report [PDF text] released Thursday that an increase in allegations of sexual abuse against UN peacekeepers and related staff is "deeply troubling," but may be related to "the newly implemented measures to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse." In 2003, only 53 allegations of sexual abuse were reported to the UN, but in 2004, the number jumped to 121, a sharp increase that could be related to the new UN measures [PDF text] encouraging sexual abuse victims to report such crimes. Annan also indicated, however, that abuse could be even more prevalent than current figures suggest since some victims may still be hesitant to come forward with allegations. Allegations received thusfar range from purported sex with minors and prostitutes to cases of rape and sexual assault. Some allegations involve the exchange of sex for food or small sums of money. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Army has announced [press release] that President Bush Thursday approved the demotion of Brigadier General Janis Karpinski [Wikipedia profile] to colonel, effectively ending her military career. Karpinski, the former commanding officer at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, had been previously suspended [JURIST report] and then relieved of command [JURIST report]. The Army said she was being demoted for dereliction of duty and also for shoplifting in connection with a 2002 arrest for taking a $22 bottle of perfume at Florida's MacDill Air Force Base, an incident she failed to disclose in a later background check for promotion. Late last month an Army investigating panel cleared three male senior military officers in Iraq of any wrongdoing, which makes Karpinski the only general officer to be disciplined so far for the maltreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, although Congress has criticized the military for not holding higher ranking officials accountable. Karpinski herself has gone on record [JURIST report] as saying that other senior figures were to blame for maltreatment of detainees, and that she is a scapegoat. The Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] has announced that it will hold hearings to determine whether any senior Defense Department civilian and military leaders should also be called to account. The Army also announced Thursday that 5 colonels and lieutenant-colonels had received administrative punishments or letters of reprimand in connection with abuses of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that more than a doxen other junior officers had been court-martialed, discharged, or reprimanded. AP has more.

[JURIST] Members of the family of Emmett Till [Wikipedia profile], a 14-year-old black youngster killed after whistling at a white woman in 1955, are vehemently opposing the FBI's plan to exhume the boy's body [JURIST report]. Two suspects in the murder, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were acquitted by an all-white jury but later confessed [PBS report] to Look magazine, and new evidence presented in a documentary film [official website] has shown that they may have had two additional accomplices, prompting the latest FBI investigation [press release]. Bertha Thomas, president of the Emmett Till Foundation [backgrounder], spoke for the family when she stated that they would rather see the re-opened investigation end than witness the exhumation of Till's body 50 years after the crime. Family members say the FBI is simply grandstanding. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pfc. Lynndie England's lead civilian lawyer has resigned [Washington Post report]. Speaking Thursday, Richard Hernandez of Denver cited the heavy financial burden of working on the high-profile case without compensation over such a long time. Following a military's judge's dismissal of England's guilty plea [JURIST report] to seven charges on Wednesday. Fort Hood Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz [official profile] is expected to undertake a new investigation [JURIST report] from scratch into her actions in Iraq that could lead to a new Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder] and probably a new trial. Hernandez' co-counsel and England's military lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp, stated that it is too early to surmise what England's plea may be after new charges are filed. The New York Times has more.