[JURIST] Lawyers for Saddam Hussein said Sunday they are willing to attend the next trial hearing sxheduled for November 28 if proper protection is provided for the entire defense team. Khalil Dulaimi, head of the defense, stated "[w]e are prepared to attend the trial if our demands to secure proper protection are me... We are ready to attend any moment they tell us and despite our reservations.” Earlier this month Dulaimi suspended all contacts [JURIST report] with the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] after two lawyers from the defense team acting for two of Hussein's co-defendants were killed. Saddam's trial [JURIST news archive] for crimes against humanity began October 19 but was adjourned after a single day. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US senators and the White House [official website] are discussing a possible ban on torture of suspected terrorists in US custody, but are struggling to find a consensus, according to US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking Sunday on ABC's This Week. The Senate's plan under the so-called McCain Amendment [JURIST document; advocacy website] would restrict techniques used to interrogate detainees by banning cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as well as require US troops to follow procedures set by the forthcoming edition of the Army Field Manual [JURIST report]. The White House has already threatened a veto [policy statement] on the sections restricting interrogation techniques, claiming that President Bush [official profile; JURIST news archive] has required humane treatment from the beginning and that existing US anti-torture policy [Global Security backgrounder] is sufficient. The White House also argues the Senate proposal will restrict President Bush in the war on terror. Vice President Dick Cheney [official website; JURIST news archive] is advocating that the CIA [official website; JURIST news archive] be exempt from any proposed torture ban. AP has more.

[JURIST] By a two-vote margin, the US House of Representatives Friday passed a spending bill that would alter the General Mining Law of 1872 [text; Seattle PI report] by allowing individuals or companies to file and expand mining claims on federal public land, including areas stripped of minerals with no potential for profit. The spending bill will primarily benefit real estate developers by allowing them to use mining claims to assemble large land parcels for housing projects or commercial developments such as ski resorts. John D. Leshy, former Interior Department senior lawyer under President Clinton, says the new mining claims will allow real-estate transfer for economic development because mining claims can be located where there are virtually no minerals. Representative Jim Gibbons ([official website], a Nevada Republican who supports the legislation, argues that the bill will be an economic boon for rural communities dependant upon mining. The existing 133-year-old mining law allows for the extraction of hard-rock metals like gold and silver by simply claiming the minerals under the land. Congress barred claims from passing to full legal ownership in 1994, but the new spending bill would end that moratorium. Environmental groups such as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) [press release] used a database of mining claims to determine that private owners could gain title to 5.7 million [EWG database] acres of federal forests, rocky promontories and grasslands. Land experts say, however, that there is no way to predict the volume of transfers that may occur. The spending bill has sparked concern in western tourist cities such as Aspen because they are surrounded by mining claims. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Nearly 400 Iraqi protesters marched in western Baghdad Sunday demanding an end to detainee torture and the release of detainees while calling on the international community to pressure the US and Iraq to prevent further abuse. The mostly-Sunni protest came as Iraqi officials met in Egypt for a reconciliation conference organized by the Arab League [official website]. Iraqis have become increasingly angry about detainee abuse since US troops found 173 malnourished and tortured detainees [JURIST report] in an Interior Ministry prison in Baghdad last weekend. Although the US says it tries to ensure humane treatment for detainees in Iraqi custody, minority Sunnis believe that the abuses by Shiite-led Interior Ministry jailers could not have occurred without US knowledge. US officials hope that intense pressure on the Shiite-led government to punish any Iraqis guilty of torture will help the US gain Sunni support and lead to a strong Sunni turnout in the December 15 national elections. AP has more on Sunday's protest, with additional coverage of Sunni skepticism of US efforts.

[JURIST] On a state visit to China during a six-day Asia tour [White House backgrounder], President Bush Sunday pressed Chinese President Hu Jintao [official profile; Wikipedia profile] to expand religious, political and social freedoms in the country and later suggested to reporters [White House text] that if more religious rights were granted other liberties would follow. The President’s remarks during his third official trip to China come in the wake of a US Department of State report [text] on International Religious Freedom released earlier this month that cited China [JURIST report] as a primary violator. AP has more.

[JURIST] More than 200 people were arrested and one person was killed Sunday in clashes between government supporters and supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood [Wikipedia profile] during the second round of Egypt's parliamentary elections. The Brotherhood has been outlawed for more than 50 years but did very well in the first round of voting earlier this month, with group members running as independents doubling their parliamentary seats to 34. The ruling National Democratic Party [official website, English version] of President Hosni Mubarak [official profile; Wikipedia profile] has won the vast majority of seats so far, but is said to be disturbed by the strength of the Brotherhood's support. The third and final round of parliamentary elections is scheduled for Dec. 1. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Iran's parliament voted Sunday to require the government to block International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website] inspectors from its nuclear facilities if Iran is referred to the UN Security Council [website] for regulatory violations. This is the second time Iranian deputies have attempted to force the government into a position concerning the nuclear inspectors; in September, parliamentarians endorsed a similarly-worded draft bill [JURIST report] in response to an IAEA resolution [JURIST report; text, PDF] stating that Iran was in non-compliance with the Non-proliferation Treaty [text]. The IAEA Board is slated to meet later this week to consider the sanctions option. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Romanian defense minister Ioan Mihai Pascu has acknowledged that US planes carrying detainees may have refueled in the country, but has denied the existence of a secret CIA-run prison there.  His comments, published Saturday in Evenimentul Zileli [media website, English version] are the first by a senior Romanian official with access to military information that appear to confirm press reports [JURIST report] and subsequent contentions [HRW press release] by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] about secret CIA flights and the existence of possible "black" detention centers in Poland and Romania. They come just days after European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs [official website] Franco Frattini [official profile] said the EU will sanction any member country found to house such prisons [JURIST report]. AP has more.

Meanwhile, British members of parliament will begin hearing testimony Monday about CIA flights through UK airports. UN officials and human rights lawyers have warned that the failure to intercept such flights could breach the UN Convention against Torture [text]. The Independent has more. Spain is already conducting a similar investigation [JURIST report].