[JURIST] US Senator Joseph Biden [official website] said Sunday on ABC-TV's This Week that the US should begin efforts to close down the military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. Biden, head Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website], also suggested that an independent commission should review the prison and make recommendations, saying prisoners the US does not need to keep should be released. He called Guantanamo "the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world." Biden's comments come in the wake of a Pentagon report released Friday [JURIST report] detailing how US guards desecrated the Koran and an Amnesty International report last month [JURIST report] calling the prison camp the "gulag of our time." Senator Arlen Specter [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], will hold hearings later this month [JURIST report] to discuss the ongoing reports of prisoner abuse. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two women have been appointed for the first time to Kuwait's municipal council, according to an official source on Sunday. Kuwait news agency Kuna [official website in Arabic] reports that one of the women is a member of the ruling family - Shaikha Fatima al-Sabah, an architect and an assistant undersecretary at the office of Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah [profile]. The other appointed woman is Fawziya al-Bahar, an engineer. The historic move came less than one month after Kuwaiti women were granted the right to vote [JURIST report] in the 2007 parliament elections and 2009 municipal polls. Aljazeera has local coverage.

[JURIST] In a landmark ruling, the US Ninth Circuit Cout of Appeals held Friday that a family unit can be "a protected social group" under federal asylum law. The court supported the refugee claim of a South African family [opinion, PDF] persecuted for a relative's racist and abusive treatment against recommendations by the US Justice Department [official website]. Michele and David Thomas and their children fled to the US in 1998 after being attacked for the actions of David's father, "Boss Ronnie", who physically and verbally abused his black employees. An immigration judge previously denied the family's request for asylum [US Citizenship and Immigration Services backgrounder] since they did not meet any of the original five grounds set out under US law for refugee status - being persecuted because of "race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion." The Los Angeles Times has more.

[JURIST] Gay couples in Switzerland can register their partnerships after 58% of Swiss voters Sunday said "yes" in a referendum [JA campaign website in German, French and Italian], bringing to fruition a victory predicted by a Friday opinion poll [JURIST report]. The partnership law was up for popular approval at the same time as a proposal to become part of the EU passport union, which also passed [JURIST report]. Gay couples in Switzerland will now receive the same rights as married couples in the areas of taxes, pensions, and inheritance, but will not be able to actually marry, adopt children or use fertility treatments. The Swiss Parliament [official website] had expressed its acceptance of the law [Swiss Justice Ministry backgrounder in German], but the referendum was forced by a small religious party, the Federal Democratic Union [official website in German; NEIN campaign website in German], which collected enough signatures of those in opposition to force a referendum. Twelve other countries in Europe allow same-sex marriage or registration, although this is the first time a law of this type has been voted on at the national level in Europe. Swissinfo has local coverage.

[JURIST] In response to ongoing reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and Abu Ghraib prisons [JURIST news archive], the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] will hold hearings on the matter next month. Committee sources say that witnesses from the Justice and Defense Departments are expected to be called to testify on conditions at the facilities, and on recent reports from the Pentagon [JURIST report] and Amnesty International [JURIST report] of improper treatment of enemy combatants. Spector is also said to be drafting a bill to establish procedures for the treatment of detainees and give the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [Federal Judicial Center backgrounder], created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [text], jurisdiction over all matters related to the prisoners. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi government announced Sunday that former dictator Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will face 12 charges at trial. Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kuba told reporters in a press conference that Hussein could have faced nearly 500 charges, but prosecuting him on all charges would be a “waste of time”. Hussein's trial in front of the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] is expected to start in the next two months. During a 2004 court appearance, Hussein was informed of seven preliminary charges [BBC backgrounder] against him related to the 'ethnic cleansing' campaign against Kurds in 1998 and the mass murder of Kurdish and Shia rebellions after the 1991 Gulf War. AP has more.

[JURIST] French President Jacques Chirac [Wikipedia profile] and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [BBC profile] agreed Saturday that ratification votes on the EU Constitution [official website] must go on, despite last week's devastating rejections of the charter in France [JURIST report] and the Netherlands [JURIST report]. Many political analysts question whether the ratification process for the constitution can move forward, however, and believe the recent "no" votes are a sign that some Europeans leaders are out of touch with their constituents. The proposed EU constitution requires that all 25 member states approve the draft in order for it to take effect. Schroeder has announced that during the upcoming EU summit [official website] he will call for a “pause for reflection” in an effort to regroup and get the ratification back on track. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Switzerland voters approved a referendum Sunday [JURIST report] that will make the nation part of the EU passport-free zone established under the 1985 Schengen Treaty [German Foreign Ministry backgrounder].

[JURIST] A UN spokesman has condemned the Zimbabwe government's mass evictions and arrests [JURIST report] of nearly 200,000 citizens living and trading in street dwellings as "gross human rights violations" and urged an end to the actions. In a statement [text], UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing Miloon Kothari cited the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [text], which Zimbabwe ratified in 1991, declaring that "forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant”. Zimbabwe officials say the evictions are designed to clean city streets of illegal traders and structures built by the homeless. The evictions have met opposition from some Zimbabwae officials, including Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, mayor of hard-hit Bulawayo [profile], who has called the actions a “war against the poor”. Late last week, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe [Wikipedia profile] ordered the evictions and arrests halted pending police review [JURIST report]. Reuters has more. The Independent has local coverage.