[JURIST] A Iraqi government committee Monday lodged an official request to strip former defense minister Hazem Shaalan [Wikipedia backgrounder] of immunity so that he can face charges of corruption and working for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service. The request was made by the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification, set up to oust members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party [Wikipedia backgrounder] from power. Shaalan briefly held the Defense portfolio in January 2004 and is now said to be living in Jordan. Commission executive director Ali al-Lami said that if immunity is taken away, Shaalan will be issued an arrest warrant and handed over to Iraqi authorities. Also pressing the case against Shaalan is Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, who has led recent anti-Baathification drives extending even into the ranks of the Iraqi Special Tribunal [JURIST report] set up to try Hussein and his lieutenants. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lord Ousley, former head of Britain's Commission for Racial Equality [commission website] and author of a well-known 2001 report documenting race riots in Bradford [PDF], suggested Monday that racial segregation in the UK was a serious problem and could be getting worse [BBC Radio 4 recorded audio]. Ousley urged current CRE chairman Trevor Phillips [CRE profile] to help develop preventative measures. On Thursday, Phillips intends to tell the Manchester Council for Community Relations [official website] that US-style ghettos similar to those in New Orleans, brought to the forefront by Hurricane Katrina, could evolve in the UK. UK Minister for Constitutional Affairs Harriet Harman [official website] has agreed that some of Britain's black and poor communities resemble those in the US, highlighting how, just like in the US, many Londoners who are poor and black are not registering to vote. Phillips, who is on record as saying that the government has failed in its integration efforts, has already called for predominantey white schools to increase their intake of minority students. The Guardian has local coverage.

[JURIST] US Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website], Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], told the Senate Monday that he will vote for Judge John Roberts [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive], nominated by President Bush as Chief Justice of the United States. Specter nonetheless acknowledged that Roberts had dodged some questions asked of him during the confirmation hearings and admitted, "Notwithstanding his answers and my efforts to glean some hint or realistic expectation from his words and body language, candidly it is not possible to predict or have a solid expectation of what Judge Roberts would do." If confirmed to succeed the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist [JURIST news archive], Roberts at the age of 50 will be the youngest Chief Justice named to the bench in two centuries. Even though Democrats have been frustrated with Roberts' refused to answer specific questions related to gender inequality, abortion [JURIST report] and other contentious issues, Specter said that he felt Judge Roberts "went about as far as he could" on those and properly stressed the importance of legal precedent. The Judiciary Committee will vote on its recommendation for the nomination Thursday, with the full Senate voting on whether or not to confirm Roberts during the week of September 26. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Federal Election Commission [official website] Monday sued [complaint, PDF; FEC press release] pro-Republican political group Club for Growth [advocacy website] in US District Court in the District of Columbia to get the group to comply with campaign finance limits after it spent at least $21 million during the 2004 general election campaign. The suit is the first to arise from controversial fundraising carried out during the past election and alleges that the Club spent enough money in federal races dating back to 2000 to warrant it to file with the commission. The group's president, Pat Toomey [Club for Growth profile] said the Club had legal advice throughout the campaign and that it followed all appropriate campaign finance [JURIST news archive] laws. FEC Vice Chairman Michael Toner [official website] said the case will determine whether the Club can continue to spend millions in federal elections. The FEC was prompted to investigate Club for Growth's fundraising activities after a complaint from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee [political party website] about a Club ad opposing then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, (D-SD) [Wikipedia backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pfc. Lynndie England [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] goes before a military court again in Fort Hood [official website] Texas Tuesday planning to fight seven charges of abusing prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive]. Her first trial last May ended prematurely after the presiding judge threw out her guilty plea [JURIST report], saying that statements by England about her understanding of the purpose of her activities with the Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib could not be reconciled with testimony from Army Spc. Charles Graner [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive]. The charges against England include conspiracy, maltreatment of prisoners, and indecent acts, and follow the 2004 disclosure of graphic photos of England taken inside the prison [JURIST report]. England's trial is the last of a group of soldiers charged with Abu Ghraib abuses. Two other soldiers have been convicted while six others have entered into plea agreements. England's lawyer said her case will focus on a history of mental health problems that can be traced from England's childhood and the force that Graner, convicted for his own role in the abuse scandal [JURIST report] had exerted over her. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) [official website] has released a report urging the Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] (SEC) to improve its oversight of the mutual funds industry. The report [abstract, text] found that though the SEC commits substantial resources to regulating mutual funds, it does not effectively monitor the individual funds. It specifically said that the SEC focuses too much on perceived "high-risk" funds, has not improved on coordinating its investigations since 1991, does not adequately record examinations, and does not perform uniform, written examinations. The report also warned that the SEC does not have enough examiners devoted to mutual funds and that those examiners are likely to be strained further by the growing hedge fund industry. The report was presented by congressmen Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who urged that the SEC adopt the reports recommendations. MarketWatch has more.

In other corporations and securities law news...

• Another employment practice trial for Wal-Mart [corporate website] has begun in California. The lawsuit alleges that over 100,000 Wal-Mart employees were forced to miss their lunch breaks or were not paid overtime for working through their breaks, in violation of California labor laws. A jury in Oregon returned a verdict of $2000 for each of 87 defendants in a similar trial last year. The plaintiffs' attorney began the trial by saying in his opening statement that "Wal-Mart is a huge company with staggering profits earned on the backs of the working class." Wal-Mart's attorney did not present an opening statement. The jury in the trial will consider the lunchtime claims and the judge will rule separately on overtime claims. Wal-Mart has dozens of similar lawsuits pending around the country. Bloomberg has more.
  
  
• As reported earlier in JURIST's Paper Chase, SEC chairman Christopher Cox [Wikipedia profile] has said that the agency plans to increase its scrutiny of hedge funds. In an interview [subscription required] with the Wall Street Journal, Cox said that the SEC will implement a controversial rule [text] compelling hedge fund managers to register with the SEC by February 2006. The quickly growing hedge fund industry has come under greater scrutiny recently after the high-profile collapse of Bayou Management [JURIST coverage]. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Also as reported earlier in JURIST's Paper Chase, two ex-Tyco International executives have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their roles in fleecing Tyco of hundreds of millions of dollars. Former CEO Dennis Kozlowski [Wikipedia profile], 58, and former CFO Mark Schwartz, 45, were each sentenced to 8 1/2 to 25 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $134.3 million to Tyco. Kozlowski was also ordered to pay a $70 million fine and Schwartz a $35 million fine. The judge also denied the men's request to be free until their appeal. The men were convicted of over twenty felonies [JURIST report] earlier this year after a judge initially declared a mistrial in 2004. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] Leading Monday's states brief, the Rhode Island Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion [PDF text] today saying that a proposal to build a gambling casino in West Warwick does not meet the state constitutional requirement that all lotteries be state run. Supporters of the casino, proposed by the Narragansett Indian tribe [tribe website] and the Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment, said the proposal was constitutional [JURIST report] because it gave the state lottery division control over all operations at the casino, but the court found the proposal would not give the state control over key aspects of the casino's operations. This is the second proposal for the casino that has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

• The South Carolina Supreme Court [official website] will hear oral arguments Tuesday on whether the State Ports Authority [official website] has the exclusive power to develop ports within the state or if counties may develop plans for terminals under the state's home rule law. Jackson County contends that its plans to develop a $500 million privately financed steamboat terminal is a legitimate exercise of the government's power under home rule law, but the State Ports Authority says it has the exclusive power to "promote, develop, construct, equip, maintain and operate a harbor or harbors with the state." Last April Governor Mark Sanford [official website] along with six other governors wrote a letter saying the citizens of the state "will be best served by maintaining public seaport facilities under the guidance of South Carolina State Ports Authority." The Authority has announced its own plans to build a steamboat terminal at the site. AP has more.
  
  
• New Mexico Treasurer Robert Vigil [official website] and former state Treasurer Michael Montoya have been charged with racketeering for allegedly receiving kickbacks from financial advisors who received commissions for helping invest public funds. The alleged kickbacks received by Vigil include cash, tickets to political fundraisers, and charitable donations. In announcing the charges, US Attorney David Iglesias said, "Public funds should never be used like private ATM machines." Vigil said that he plans to continue serving as Treasurer and he has pleaded not guilty. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Canadian judge has ruled that advertising executive Paul Coffin will not serve jail time for his part in the federal sponsorship scandal [CBC backgrounder]. Coffin was given a conditional sentence of two years to be served in the community, and must obey a 9 PM curfew, the Canadian equivalent of provisional house arrest. In May, Coffin pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud [JURIST report], and admitted numerous improprieties, including sending millions worth of falsified advertising invoices to the Canadian federal government. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] Dutch prosecutors Monday began to present their case against two former leaders of the Afghanistan secret police, charging Hesamuddin Hesam and Habibullah Jalalzoy [Afghan Justice Project backgrounder] with a litany of war crimes. Both men were officers in the Khad [Wikipedia backgrounder], a group established and monitored by the KGB when the nation was under the control of a Soviet-backed regime [Human Rights Watch backgrounder] in the 1980s, and have been living in the Netherlands for years on rejected asylum applications. Prosecutors contend that Jalalzoy and Hesam tortured political opponents during their tenure with the Khad; the case was brought under a Dutch universal jurisdiction [Wikipedia backgrounder] law that enables Dutch judges to try asylum seekers for war crimes and crimes and against humanity committed in their home countries. The trial is expected to end later this month. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [official website] reported Monday that pre-trial detention conditions in South Africa "fall short of international guarantees." The report comes after a two-week trip [press release] in which group members interviewed detainees in several detention centers in the cities of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Polokwane, Musina, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. Among the group's concerns were evidence that despite overcrowding in pre-trial detention facilities, bail is usually either denied or so high that it is not an option. The working group also denounced the policy of forcing alleged juvenile offenders to await trial in the same cells as adults and often in maximum-security jails. The group did acknowledge that the government of South Africa had been cooperative, and commended work being done in the area of human rights. A final report with recommendations will be presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] next year. SAPA has more.

[JURIST] Members of the European Parliament [official website] are busy trying to correct the problems faced by the now rejected European constitution [text]. A core group of MEPs have been charged with preparing a proposal to address and recommend corrections to the obstacles that lead to the constitution's rejection [JURIST news archive], and suggest action in the meantime. Current plans include the presentation of a treaty early next year on issues that met little opposition, including institution structure and decision-making processes. EU leaders have agreed to a period of reflection to analyze what went wrong during the ratification process, and initiate change. The EUobserver has more.

[JURIST] The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Christopher Cox [Wikipedia profile], chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website], plans to put into operation a rule that would allow the government to take a stronger role as watchdog over the massive US hedge-fund industry. In his first major interview since being sworn in as chairman [JURIST report] last month, Cox said that a slew of new rules would not be forthcoming and also stated that the SEC would reassess some existing regulations. The former California congressman and ex-securities lawyer also said the group will also push for companies to do a better job disclosing executive compensation to investors and the public. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Trials commenced Monday at the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [official website; JURIST news archive] for four former Rwandan officials, including two government ministers suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide [PBS report] that killed 800,000 people. Ex-interior minister Edouard Karemera, ex-industry and mines minister Joseph Nzirorera and ex-director general for foreign affairs Mathieu Ngirumpatse [ICTR case materials] were all accused of giving orders to the brutal Interahamwe militia [Wikipedia profile] that slaughtered thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the conflict. Jean Mpambara [ICTR case materials], former mayor of Rukara commune, was being tried separately. He is alleged to have offered refuge to thousands of fleeing Tutsis before ordering rebels to kill them. All four men have denied the accusations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Authorities in Los Angeles said Monday that two people have been charged with fraud in the first federal case involving alleged fraudulent donation solicitations related to Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] relief. Tino Lee, 44, of Burbank and Gina Liz Nicholas, 19, of Glendale California, were charged Friday with posing as American Red Cross volunteers [DOJ press release] and collecting more than $2,000 outside an electronics store in Burbank, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. The case comes after US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales earlier this month outlined priorities for a new Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force [JURIST report; DOJ press release] set up in the Justice Department to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes like charity and insurance fraud, identity theft, and government benefit fraud. AP has more.

[JURIST] A hearing in the appeal of imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive; defense website] over his tax fraud conviction was delayed Monday due to confusion over who would lead his defense. The court hearing the appeal announced a postponement on Wednesday after Khodorkovsky's attorney, Genrikh Padva, failed to appear due to health reasons. Khodorkovsky has refused to allow three lawyers appointed by the court to represent him, citing their inadequate grasp of the case in the limited time they were given to prepare. Khodorkovsky also said a quarantine placed on him [Mosnews report] by prison authorities after a sick prisoner was put in his cell has prevented him from meeting with his attorneys. One of Khodorkovsky's attorneys said the court's handling of his appeal was aimed at stopping the former Yukos CEO's parliamentary bid that he announced last month. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Khodorkovsky appeal begins in Moscow court
• Khodorkovsky moves forward in bid for parliament seat
• Khodorkovsky announces bid for Russian parliament seat
• Khodorkovsky ends prison hunger strike

[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that two former Tyco [JURIST news archive] executives have been sentenced to between 8 1/3 and 25 years in prison after having been found guilty of securities fraud, grand larceny and conspiracy [JURIST report] earlier this year. Former Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski and former CFO Mark Schwartz were convicted of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the corporation by giving themselves some $150 million in illegal bonuses, forgiving huge loans to themselves, and manipulating Tyco's stock price.

[JURIST] The Iraqi government on Monday announced that a nephew of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] has been sentenced to life in prison for providing funding to the insurgency in the country. The verdict was the first against a member of the toppled leader's family. Ayman Sabawi is the son of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan [JURIST report], a half brother of Saddam, and he was arrested in May by security forces on a raid in Tikrit. A second man arrested with Sabawi, Tareq Khalaf Mizal, was given a six-year sentence after being convicted for building roadside bombs. The Iraqi Central Criminal Court also announced that Sabawi would be tried on additional charges beginning Nov. 1 for crimes that he reportedly confessed to during interrogations. The US Treasury froze the assets [news release] of Sabawi and other Saddam nephews in July. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Israeli Justice Ministry [official website] has decided not to charge police for shootings that killed 13 Israeli Arabs during violent protests in October 2000. In closing all investigations stemming from the incident, the Police Investigations Unit on Monday said there was not enough evidence to charge the officers involved. The officers under investigation killed 13 men when they shot into a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators that had gathered several days after the start of the most recent intifada. Relatives of those killed called the ruling "unjust" and vowed to fight it, while an Israeli Arab politician said he expected that the commission would fail to prosecute the security forces. Members of the Israeli Arab Monitoring Committee are considering whether to support a general strike [Haaretz report] in the northern region of the country to protest the decision. In addition to citing a lack of evidence, the investigating commission also suggested that some of the shootings may have been justified. A 2003 government report recommended reprimanding but not charging the security forces involved. Israeli Arabs are descended from Palestinians who chose to remain in Israel following its 1948 creation, and they make up a 20 percent minority of Israel's population. Haaretz has local coverage of the announcement. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The private Commission on Federal Election Reform [commission website], a 21-member bipartisan panel headed by former US President Jimmy Carter [Wikipedia profile] and former Secretary of State James Baker [Wikipedia profile], recommended Monday that widespread changes be made to the federal electoral process to ensure fairness and accuracy. The Commission, which spent five months studying the most pressing problems with the nation's electoral system, issued 87 recommendations [PDF summary; full text, PDF] and urged Congress to enact the changes if political parties don't change the system by 2008. The Commission's recommendations include requiring a paper trail for electronic voting machines, requiring photo ID at the polls, a reorganization of the presidential primary system, unrestricted access for all "legitimate domestic and international election observers" and prohibiting senior election officials from serving political campaigns in a partisan way. According to Commission Executive Director Robert Pastor, "Many of the recommendations build on the Help America Vote Act, while correcting its vagueness and limitations." The Help America Vote Act [text] was passed by Congress in 2002 with the intention of helping states update voting systems, streamline voter registration and provide voter and poll worker education. The Los Angeles Times has more. American University's Center for Democracy & Election Management has additional resources.

[JURIST] Four protestors [protestor profiles] who threw blood on the walls of an army recruitment office in 2003 will face trial in a federal court in Monday on charges of damaging government property and conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States, after a New York jury deadlocked when considering charges of felony criminal mischief. The trial marks the first time the federal government has pressed conspiracy charges against civilian Iraq war protesters and is also the first federal conspiracy trial of anti-war protestors since Vietnam [St. Patrick's Four press release]. The Irish-Catholic protestors, who call themselves the St. Patrick's Four [support website] because the protest took place on St. Patrick's Day, poured vials of their blood onto the walls, windows and American flag in an army recruiting office in suburban Ithaca, to encourage new recruits to think about the Iraqi people and American soldiers who shed blood. If convicted in federal court, they could face six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The New York Times has more. The Ithaca Journal has local coverage. Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin has a statement from the protestors.

[JURIST] North Korea agreed Monday to abandon its nuclear weapons programs and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [PDF text; IAEA backgrounder] as the latest round of six-party talks [US State Dept. briefing] between North Korea, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the US concluded in Beijing. According to a joint statement [text] released Monday, North Korea "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA safeguards." International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] head Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the agreement [IAEA press release], saying the IAEA would conduct "the necessary inspections to assure ourselves that the nuclear weapons programme in the DPRK has been abandoned and that all nuclear activity in the DPRK is subjected to safeguards and dedicated for peaceful purposes." As part of the negotiations, the US affirmed that it has no nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula and pledged to respect North Korea's sovereignty and to take steps to normalize relations with the country. The IAEA has background on North Korea's nuclear activities. AP has more.

[JURIST] Israeli officials announced Sunday that they will urge Britain to restrict laws which allow private war crimes suits to be filed against foreign citizens. The request was prompted by an incident last week where Doron Almog, former commander of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, refused to disembark a plane [JURIST report] landing in London after being warned that a British magistrate had issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the Israeli army's 2002 demolition of Palestinian homes [Guardian report] in a Gaza refugee camp. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni [official profile] will ask Britain to amend the magistrate's authority to issue arrest warrants for alleged war crimes, instead proposing that the attorney-general be required to approve such suits. Another proposal would establish a list of countries exempted from war crimes suits filed privately. Livni said, "It is unconscionable that an Israeli who served as a soldier must fear to set foot in a friendly nation." British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw [official profile; Wikipedia profile] said the matter was best left for the courts to decide. Reuters has more.

11:49 AM ET - A British court has withdrawn Almog's arrest warrant because Almog is no longer in the jurisdiction. Kate Maynard, part of the legal team who brought the charges against Almog, said Monday that her law firm is calling for an investigation into the criminal liability of any embassy staff that helped Almog evade jurisdiction. Maynard also questioned why British police did not board Almog's plane to arrest him. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Nepal [official website] ordered Sunday that the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, under the control of King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile], explain the detention of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba [Wikipedia profile] within seven days. Deuba and cabinet colleague Prakash Man Singh were convicted on charges of corruption [JURIST report] in July concerning a government water contract and were sentenced to two years in prison and fined $1.26 million. Lawyers for the men have appealed to the Supreme Court arguing the commission violates the Nepalese constitution [text] and that the convictions should be thrown out. The court is expected to rule on the matter next week. AFP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Nepal detains 250 democracy marchers as high court hears anti-corruption challenge
• Former Nepalese PM taking corruption control commission to high court
• Nepal ministers arrested on corruption charges

[JURIST] Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Vatican's health department, said Sunday that Italian proposals to give legal status to unmarried couples are a threat to traditional families. A "traditional" family is held by the Vatican to be a marital union between a man and a woman. Discussion on this issue began last week when Romano Prodi [Wikipedia backgrounder], the former Italian prime minister and head of the European Commission who is expected to challenge current Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile; BBC profile] in the 2006 general elections, said he favored conferring legal status on unmarried couples. Barragan expressed concern that such legislation could erode or compromise the vision of the family unit, arguing that the "traditional" family is good for society, and that ad-hoc laws could confuse people. Although Prodi said he favored legal rights for de-facto couples and made his comments to Italian gay rights association Arcigay [advocacy website], he did not specify whether he approved of legalizing same-sex unions [JURIST news archive]. Francesco Rutelli [CNN profile] of the Margherita party, proposed a contract between partners in a de-facto union that would be private but also part of Italy's civil code, specifically ruling out gay marriage in his proposal. Italian newspaper La Repubblica published a poll Saturday that found 64 percent of Italians are for granting legal rights to unmarried couples with 30 percent opposed. Of these, 31 percent favored extending these rights to homosexuals and 29 percent approved of same-sex marriage. AP has more. La Repubblica has local coverage.

[JURIST] UN leaders at the 60th General Assembly session now underway in New York in the aftermath of the 2005 World Summit [official website] are pressing for agreement on a definition of terrorism and are calling for a broad international convention to serve as a co-ordinating framework for governmental anti-terror efforts. Progress towards a convention has been made, with the adoption last week of a summit outcome document [PDF text; UN summary, JURIST report] detailing an international commitment to fight terrorism, human rights abuses and poverty. The report condemned terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purpose" but did not include a definition of terrorism which rules out acts on civilians, as had been recommended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. A draft anti-terror treaty has been stuck in the UN's legal committee for some nine years. Negotiations got under way again [JURIST report] in July. Annan Saturday called on the Assembly [JURIST news report] to "build on that simple statement to complete a comprehensive convention against terrorism in the year ahead and forge a global counterterrorism strategy that weakens terrorists. " AP has more.

[JURIST] Approximately 900 detainees held in Australian Department of Immigration [official website] detention camps have caused themselves injury [JURIST news report] during the past three years, according to documents obtained by Macquarie University academic Denise Leith under Australia's Freedom of Information Act. According to the report, there have been 506 incidents of self-harm carried out by 878 detainees in the past three years. The acts detailed include self-mutilation and self-starvation. Recent reforms [JURIST report] to Australia's immigration policy have been deemed insufficient since they do not function to free the detainees. Australian detention camps, which have been attacked by international human rights groups [JURIST report] such as Amnesty International Australia [AI report], have been riddled with hunger strikes, protests, escapes and suicide bids, as many detained asylum seekers wait years for hearings. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone responded to the allegations by talking about a planned upgrade to one of the detention centers, a move that has been slammed as inadequate by Dr Jon Jureidini, an Australian psychiatrist who treats detainees. Australia's ABC News has local coverage. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande told the UN General Assembly Sunday that Rwanda [JURIST news archive] is dissatisfied with United Nations reforms pushed through at the 2005 World Summit [official website; JURIST news archive] last week. The agreement [PDF text; UN summary, PDF] includes the statement that the international community must intervene in genocide cases, a response to international failure to respond to genocides in Rwanda [Wikipedia backgrounder], Srebrenica [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] and Kosovo [JURIST news archive]. Murigande told the UN General Assembly [PDF statement; UN press release] Sunday that Rwanda was probably the only member state where the UN had "consistently neglected to learn from its mistakes, resulting in massive loss of life and untold misery." Calling for actions, not words, Murigande said:

What is clear to us is that no nation or people should have to face the horrors that we faced 11 years ago. Where a State is unable or unwilling to protect its people, as was the case in Rwanda in 1994, then the responsibility to provide such protection should, indeed must, shift immediately to the international community. Such action should be taken, by the UN Security Council, in a timely and decisive manner in order to save the lives of populations under threat. Our pledge of 'never again' to genocide should not ring hollow the next time we are confronted with such crimes.

A collective international response to genocide includes a responsibility for all States to combat impunity and bring to justice any persons accused of having committed such crimes. We find it inexplicable that while some States profess commitment to the Charter, human rights and international law, they allow known suspects of the Rwanda genocide to live in their countries and take no action to apprehend them and transfer them to the ICTR or Rwanda for prosecution. Those States must be challenged, if necessary by the Security Council, to fulfill their international obligations to apprehend and transfer these fugitives for prosecution.