[JURIST] London police arrested two more men Monday in connection with the July 21 London bombing attempts [JURIST news archive] following raids in South London's Stockwell and Clapham areas. The men were taken into custody and detained on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, a charge created by the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2002 [text]. A total of 23 people have so far been arrested in connection with the bombing attempt, including a suspect detained in Rome [JURIST report] by Italian authorities. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday that the White House has no plans to respond to a request from Senate Democrats for documents produced by US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Late Friday, Senate Judiciary Committee member Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) told reporters [JURIST report] that Democrats would make a request for documents from about 20 cases Roberts worked as deputy solicitor general in George H.W. Bush's administration, reportedly in an effort to get clarification on Roberts' stance on issues such as the death penalty, civil rights and abortion. Gonzales further commented that the administration would stand by the customary procedure of only responding to formal document requests made by the full Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], and pointed to a 2004 letter [text] signed by seven former solicitors general to support the administration's position that the release of Roberts' work product "would be detrimental to the operation of the office of the solicitor general." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A Pennsylvania man jailed for 19 years was released from prison in Pittsburgh Monday after DNA evidence cleared him of rape charges. Thomas Doswell [Innocence Project case profile], an African-American, was convicted of raping a hospital worker in 1986, and sentenced to 13 to 26 years in prison. Law students at the Innocence Project [project website] at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law took on Doswell's case in 2004, and later won a motion to gain access to evidence for DNA testing, clearing him of all charges. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has local coverage.

[JURIST] A US Department of Defense spokesperson Monday dismissed allegations [JURIST report] made by two former military prosecutors that the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay are "rigged" and often deprive defendants of evidence that could help prove their innocence. Defense Department spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told reporters that the DOD Inspector General [official website] conducted a full investigation into the allegations made to the office in March 2004, and found no basis for further investigation. Di Rita did state that his department is considering "refinements" to the military commissions [Human Rights Watch backgrounder]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's states brief, the California Supreme Court ruled [PDF text] today that a private country club must offer spousal discounts to same-sex domestic partners. The court found that the country club's policy of allowing members' spouses to golf for free while charging members' domestic partners was "impermissible marital status discrimination." In the majority opinion, Justice Carlos Moreno wrote that the court interpreted the language of California's Domestic Partner Act [PDF text] "to mean there shall be no discrimination in the treatment of registered domestic partners and spouses." The decision reversed the rulings of two lower courts. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The US Environmental Protection Agencytold 28 states [EPA news release] Monday that if they fail to submit state plans for reducing power plant pollutants that form smog and soot and drift downwind, the EPA will write the reduction plans for the state. In March the agency announced the Clean Air Interstate Rule [JURIST report] which requires states in the East, South, and Midwest and the District of Columbia to reduce such pollutants. North Carolina petitioned the agency in 2004 to set emission controls for major emissions sources in upwind states, saying that the state can not meet federal air quality standards if upwind states do not reduce their pollutants. Read moree on the EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule. AP has more.
  
  
• Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [official website] has vetoed three firearms-related bills, saying they would weaken current law that aims to keep firearms out of criminal hands. The bills would have required police to purge background check data 90 days after the check is performed, eliminated a waiting period for gun owners trading one firearm for another and overridden local laws regulating the transportation of firearms. The governor signed legislation last week [press release] requiring all handguns that are sold by federally licensed firearms dealers in the state to include a safety lock and signed a law [text] requiring gun sellers, who are not federally licensed firearms dealers, to request a background check from state police before selling guns at gun shows. The Chicago Sun-Times has local coverage.
  
  
• The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled [text] that the state's law banning sex offenders and others who have been convicted of crimes against children from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day-care center is constitutional. The court found that while an offender's right to choose where to live is an important interest, the Legislature acted with an important public interest in mind when creating the law [PDF text]. The law has also been upheld [PDF text] by the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but an order preventing the law from taking effect has not been lifted in federal court. Iowa's Quad-City Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] British officials are seeking the return of Hamdi Isaac, the suspected fourth bomber in the July 21 London bombing attempts [JURIST report]. Isaac, an Ethiopian who was living in the UK under the name Osman Hussain and claimed to be of Somali origin, was arrested in Rome on Friday [JURIST report], a move which led the British government to consider tightening border controls. He was arrested under a European Union arrest warrant [EU backgrounder] after authorities traced his cell phone calls. The EU warrant is a new provision designed to speed the return of suspects to countries where they are wanted. A decision on his extradition could take up to two months. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Uzbekistan Monday angrily denounced a UN airlift to Romania of Uzbek refugees [JURIST report] who fled to Kyrgyzstan after a violent uprising [JURIST report] in May 2005 in the Uzbek city of Andijan. The refugees were moved amidst fears that Kyrgyzstan would forcibly return the refugees to Uzbekistan, where they might be tortured or face execution. Uzbekistan called the move "outrageous interference by foreign forces" [RFE report]. Uzbek President Islam Karimov also announced an end to the death penalty in the country in 2008, after saying earlier in the year that it would be eliminated within two years. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The trial of Chicago resident Osyp Firishchak, 86, was set to begin Monday on charges that he was part of a Ukrainian police unit that worked for the Nazis by transporting thousands of Jews to concentration camps. The government is also looking to strip him of US citizenship [US DOJ press release] and eventually have him deported. The Office of Special Investigations [official website], the US government agency in charge of investigating former Nazi war criminals, has seen a surge of prosecutions in recent years, largely because of new access to records from Eastern European countries. Neighbors of Firishchak have complained that the effort is a waste of time and resources, and some attorneys have criticized the law that allows for deportation even without proof that a war crime was committed. AP has more.

[JURIST] Iran announced on Monday that it would resume uranium enrichment, effectively ending recent negotiations with the European Union [JURIST report]. The International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] had urged Iran to continue with the negotiation process [press release], but Iran's only concession was a two-day delay [AP report] in restarting the program to allow inspectors to observe the dismantling of UN seals at the country's nuclear facility. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for energy and not weapons. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Committee [official website] has criticized Yemen [JURIST news archive] for not incorporating many of its 2002 recommendations [UN press release] for civil and political rights in the country. Some major concerns of the Committee were judicial independence, inequality for women, domestic violence, 'honor killings', the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) [Wikipedia backgrounder], and alleged serious rights violations used to combat terrorism. The committee, which monitors adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text], acknowledged the creation of a Ministry of Human Rights in Yemen in May 2003, but said Yemen should work towards creating a national human rights organization and strive towards equality between men and women by reexamining certain laws, among other possible reforms. IRIN has more.

[JURIST] A new report released today by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website; report press release] is adding to international concerns that a Colombian law intended to encourage paramilitary groups to disarm [JURIST report] is too soft and would not allow Colombia to punish the paramilitary groups that had attacked leftist opposition rebels clashing with the government. The UN had asked Colombian President Alvaro Uribe not to ratify the law [JURIST report], but he signed it late last month [LA Times report]. The US is also concerned that the law would impede efforts to stop drug trafficking, and President Bush is expected to discuss it with Uribe when they meet at the President's ranch on Thursday. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Former rebel leader John Garang [Wikipedia profile], who eventually made peace and joined the Sudanese government as a vice-president, died over the weekend in a helicopter crash, sparking riots and threatening to destabilize the region. Officials in Sudan said Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement [party website] leader Garang and 13 others died after the presidential helicopter he was traveling in crashed. Garang was the highest ranking official in the Sudanese government to ever came from the southern province or claim to be Christian and news of his death has reportedly prompted anti-Arab attacks. Earlier this year Garang played a large role as Sudanese officials ratified the January Peace Accords [JURIST report] between the now-autonomous South and the Khartoum government [official website] of the north. Sudan has declared a 12-hour curfew [Aljazeera report] beginning this evening in Khartoum as a result of the riots. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] An FBI memo obtained by Newsweek to be reported in its August 8 print edition warned three years ago that government officials could be prosecuted for planning transfers of terrorism suspects to countries that allow torture, a process called extraordinary rendition [Wikipedia backgrounder]. A senior FBI official said the memo was only advisory and not an official legal conclusion. Rights groups have sharply criticized rendition [JURIST report] and accused Egypt of being a host nation [JURIST report], though both President Bush and Egypt have denied accusations of torture [JURIST report]. US government officials have confirmed that 65 suspects were transferred from Guantanamo for detention or prosecution in other nations. Newsweek has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] Monday took up a government challenge to a controversial morals law passed by its North-West Frontier Province [JURIST report] on the border with Afghanistan that provides for Taliban-style enforcement of Islamic law. President General Pervez Musharraf [Wikipedia profile] asked the court earlier this month to rule on the constitutionality of the law [JURIST report] that calls for monitoring of peoples' compliance with Islamic principles. Federal government lawyers say the bill is unconstitutional, saying that it created vague and open-ended powers that would lead to abuse and undermine the independence of the judiciary. Legal arguments are expected to continue tomorrow. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Indonesia Monday announced the membership of a 10-member Truth and Friendship Commission formed to investigate the 1999 violence in East Timor [Wikipedia backgrounder] that left around 1,400 dead. Half will hail from Indonesia with the other half coming from East Timor. The two nations announced the panel [JURIST report] earlier month while Indonesia rejected calls for international oversight [JURIST report]. The panel will not have the power to bring prosecutions, and the UN has called the current plan "manifestly inadequate" [JURIST report] while urging an international tribunal [JURIST report]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The lawyer representing the family of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi [CBC backgrounder], who died in Iranian custody in July 2003 amidst allegations of torture and abuse [JURIST report], was arrested over the weekend on charges of spying. Abdolfattah Soltani was leading an effort to reopen an investigation [JURIST report] into Kazemi's death. Iranian courts have so far refused the request, and he is now charged with using his position as a lawyer to obtain and release classified information about Iran's nuclear efforts [Iran Focus report]. The raid on his home was ordered by Tehran Public Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, who has himself been implicated in Kazemi's death [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two former military prosecutors characterized the military tribunals at Guantanamo [JURIST news archive] as "a fraud" and rigged" in e-mails written last year and just obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Major Robert Preston wrote to his superviser:

I consider the insistence on pressing ahead with cases that would be marginal even if properly prepared to be a severe threat to the reputation of the military justice system and even a fraud on the American people." Preston also detailed personal moral and ethical problems with working on the cases, and was later transferred out.

When I volunteered to assist with this process and was assigned to this office, I expected there would at least be a minimal effort to establish a fair process and diligently prepare cases against significant accused. Instead, I find a half-hearted and disorganised effort by a skeleton group of relatively inexperienced attorneys to prosecute fairly low-level accused in a process that appears to be rigged.

[JURIST] New York Governor George Pataki [official website] said late Sunday that he will veto legislation that would permit women to purchase the "morning-after" pill [Wikipedia backgrounder] without a prescription, a decision criticized by pro-choice groups as simply an effort to build conservative support for a 2008 presidential run. A similar bill was vetoed last week [JURIST report] by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney [officil website], who is also thought to be contemplating a presidential bid. Though Pataki's announcement last week that he would not seek a fourth term as governor [press release] was widely seen as a first step towards running for a national office, Republican strategists have said that his past support for abortion, gay rights, and strict gun-control laws will make it difficult for him to attract conservatives. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice released its first report on prison rape [full text] on Sunday in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 [Wikipedia backgrounder; DOJ backgrounder], but admitted that most incidents were probably never reported and their numbers ould not reliably be estimated. The report says [official press release] that authorities verified almost 2,100 cases of sexual violence out of more than 8,000 reported cases. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that a Bush administration official says President Bush on Monday will make a recess appointment to install controversial nominee John Bolton to be US ambassador to the UN without need for Senate confirmation, a day after Senate Democrats said Bolton "lacks credibility" [JURIST report] under the circumstances. AP has more.

10:15 AM ET - In a Roosevelt Room ceremony just concluded at the White House, President Bush has formally announced his recess appointment of Bolton as US ambassador to the UN, saying, "This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about UN reform." Read the full text of the President's remarks [White House transcript]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday that he expects the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] before the Iraqi Special Tribunal [JURIST news archive, official website] to take place prior to the scheduled October 15 vote on a new Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive]. Al-Rubaie said Saddam would be prohibited from giving "rhetoric" and "nonsense" but also promised a fair trial. He also said the trial would be broadcast on live television in Iraq and other Arab nations. AP has more.

[JURIST] After US officials applied itense pressure over the weekend, Humam Hammoudi, the head of the Iraq's constitutional drafting committee [official website] agreed Monday to adhere to the original August 15 deadline to complete the draft after the committee announced Sunday [JURIST report] that it would submit a request to the National Assembly to extend its own internal draft due date by 30 days beyond August 1. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met with President of Iraq Jalal Talabani [Wikipedia profile] late Sunday, urging the commission to stick to the deadline as a way to ensure political momentum, counter the insurgency and expedite troop withdrawal by coalition forces. Hammoudi said that if political leaders meet this week to resolve continuing differences over the role of Islam, federalism and national wealth distribution [JURIST report] among others, he was confident they would be able to "conclude the constitution" in time. AP has more.

[JURIST] Stem cell bill sponsor Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) [official website] gave his position a "a big boost" after changing his stance and supporting Specter's plan to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research [Frist statement] and provide it with more federal dollars for research. Though Specter acknowledged there is still not enough Senate support to trump a veto by President Bush, the architect of most stem cell restrictions, there may be the 67 senators needed to beat a veto when the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 [text] is voted on, possibly in September 2005. The bill passed the House in May but by less than the two-thirds margin needed to defeat a veto but Spector also believes Frist's support could induce enough House members to vote to override a Bush veto. AP has more.