[JURIST] Army prosecutors Wednesday dropped charges [JURIST report] against a US soldier accused of abusing a mentally retarded detainee in Afghanistan [JURIST news archive]. Spec. Nathan A. Jones was accused of kneeing or kicking the detainee in the thigh at the Bagram detention center in 2002 and then lying about it. Officials at Fort Bliss [official website] said, however, that although Jones will not face court-martial he will likely receive a letter of reprimand for dereliction of duty. The sole government witness, Spec. Jeremy Callaway, insisted at one hearing that he never saw Jones strike any detainees, but then recanted and said the opposite during a hearing a few days later. Callaway was also the key witness against Sergeant Duane Grubb who was acquitted of abuse [JURIST report] earlier this month after about a half-hour deliberation by the jury. Jones and Grubb are two of the 14 soldiers implicated in the detainee abuse [JURIST news archive] investigations stemming from the deaths of two Afghans at Bagram in 2002. AP has more.

[JURIST] A law requiring women seeking an abortion in Indiana to undergo counseling about medical risks and abortion-alternatives and wait at least 18 hours after the session before obtaining an abortion has been upheld against facial challenges by the Indiana Supreme Court [official website]. The court ruled Wednesday that because the Indiana statute [text] does not "impose a material burden on any right to privacy or abortion" it must be upheld against any facial challenge. The court also noted that the counseling requirements are waived when there is a medical emergency and insisted that it was not ruling on whether the state constitution included a right to privacy or abortion. Federal courts have upheld the 1995 law, which didn't go into effect until 2003 because of court challenges. According to the Guttmacher Institute [advocacy website], a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues, Indiana is one of 31 states that requires women to attend counseling sessions prior to having an abortion. Read the Supreme Court's ruling [PDF text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] An unassuming law office outside of Memphis, Tennessee has been implicated in a Spanish investigation [JURIST report] into whether the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] has secretly flown terror suspects to other countries for intense questioning and perhaps torture. The law office of Douglas R. Beaty is listed in Tennessee state records [text] as having the same business address as Stevens Express Leasing Inc., which investigators working for Spain's Interior Ministry [official website in Spanish] say leased planes to the CIA that may have been used for flying terror suspects to other countries, stopping over on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Beaty is also listed as a registered agent and assistant secretary for Stevens Express Leasing. When asked about his business, Beaty denied being involved in the CIA's alleged use of "extraordinary rendition," - the practice of moving suspects to third countries - asserting that "All I do is real estate." AP has more.

[JURIST] English Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has told British newspapers that ran a story on a leaked UK government document purportedly describing conversations in April 2004 between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Bush over the Iraq war that they could be subject to prosecution under Section 5 [text] of the UK Official Secrets Act [text] if they reveal details of the material. UK press reports say this is the first time the Blair government has threatened editors with this kind of sanction; previously, the government had merely obtained court injunctions to block publication of leaked material. On Tuesday, London's Daily Mirror reported that the document, allegedly leaked last May to a researcher for a backbench Labour Party MP by a Foreign Service official in the UK Cabinet Office, both of whom are now facing charges [JURIST report], described a disagreement between Blair and Bush over the advisability of bombing the facilities of Arabic satellite television station al-Jazeera, based in Qatar. US forces were then engaged in fierce fighting against Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah. The Guardian has more. The Daily Mirror offers its own story on the warning under the headline "Law Chief Gags The Mirror On Bush Leak". The National Union of Journalists, the UK journalists association, has condemned [press release] the gag as a "double attack on the freedom of the press and freedom of information", saying it "does the government of what is supposed to be a democracy no credit whatsoever." Aljazerra has issued a statement on the original Daily Mirror report.

[JURIST] Michael Rigas, the former executive vice president of Adelphia Communications Corp. [corporate website] and son of founder John Rigas pleaded guilty in Manhattan Wednesday to falsifying a financial record. His plea negates the need for retrial on other charges [JURIST report] of securities and bank fraud. Rigas entered into a plea agreement under which he will receive between six months to a year in prison, with sentencing scheduled for March 3, 2006. The charge normally carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount lost or gained from the crime. In June John Rigas, aged 80, and another son Timothy were sentenced to 15 years and 20 years respectively [JURIST report] after admitting to defrauding the company and hiding more than $2 billion in company debt. The two are currently free pending an appeal on the issue of whether or not the government should have been mandated to call an expert witness on accounting principles. Adelphia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, the Nepal Supreme Court [government website] issued a ruling Wednesday suspending the new Code of Conduct law that governs the behavior of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Nepal. Justice Parmananda Jha issued the stay in light of a petition filed Monday by nine Nepalese NGOs. The NGOs, as well as other international NGOs [JURIST report], allege that the Code is nothing more than a covert method of government suppression of NGO activities, activities which often result in reports or statements critical of the government's actions. The stay is effective until next Tuesday, when the Supreme Court will have decided whether to allow the petition to continue. JURIST Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Kantipur Online has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• Zimbabwe High Court Judge Tendai Bunhu, along with a prominent Zimbabwean businessman, arrived at a one of the most productive dairy farms in Zimbabwe Tuesday, armed with police, district officials, and a government notice of eviction for the current white owner and claimed the land as their own. The farm relocation measure was one of the most controversial new powers granted to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] under recent constitutional reforms [JURIST report]. Zimbabwean Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has argued that members of the judiciary are entitled to land redisbursement just like all other black Zimbabweans, but political opposition groups and judicial-independence NGOs have alleged that the inclusion of top judicial officials amounts to a government bribe to ensure favorable court rulings. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's News 24 has local coverage.
  
  
• The African Union Peace and Security Council [official website] threatened the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) [BBC profile], the leading rebel group in the war-torn Darfur region [JURIST news archive] of Sudan, with sanctions if it continues to hamper peace talks with the Sudanese Government [official website]. The most recent peace talks had been delayed reportedly because of in-fighting between leaders in the SLM. The Peace and Security Council is tasked with overseeing the peaceful resolution of the 33 month-long rebellion by Darfur inhabitants, a conflict which has resulted in millions of internally-displaced-persons, hundreds of thousands of reports of rapes, and allegations of genocide. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

[JURIST] Canada's federal government announced Wednesday that it is offering more than $2 billion in compensation to more than 80,000 surviving former First Nations students who may have suffered abuse in native residential schools where they were displaced from their tribes and families and educated by religious orders for assimilation into white society. Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan [official website], speaking at an Ottawa news conference with other cabinet ministers and abuse survivors, including Grand Chief Phil Fontaine [official profile] of Canada's Assembly of First Nations [official website] said that "[b]ringing closure to this chapter of our history lies at the very heart of reconciliation" noting that the package was designed to cover "decades in time, innumerable events and countless injuries to First Nations individuals and communities." Justice Minister Irwin Cotler [official profile] called the physical and sexual abuse suffered at the residential schools was the "single most disgraceful, racist and harmful act in our history."

The agreement in principle was approved by the Canadian federal cabinet and signed on Sunday but still must be approved by the courts. Each eligible former student who applies will be entitled to the sum of $10,000 plus $3,000 for each year spent in the schools. Students over 65 are eligible for an advance payment of $8,000. The package does not include a national apology, but is intended to release the government and the churches who ran the schools from further legal liability, with the exception of cases of sexual abuse or what is deemed to be serious physical abuse. The Assembly of First Nations has sought an official apology, a truth and reconciliation forum, new healing programs and improvements to the process of out-of-court settlements. New Democratic Party (NDP) aboriginal affairs critic MP Pat Martin [official biography] accused the government's offer has having the "stink of desperation" prior to an expected federal election.

Schooling abuse has been an issue for aboriginal children removed from their families in Australia [Wikipedia backgrounder on the "Stolen Generations"] and the US [Amnesty International report] after Native children suffered abuse at the residential boarding schools [Twofrog backgrounder] where they were forcibly sent in the nineteeth and twentieth centuries. Compensation is those jurisdictions has not ben forthcoming. Read the AFN press release on the announced Canadian compensation package. CTV has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Russian Duma [official website], the lower house of parliament, has approved a bill that would greatly increase state control over non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by requiring them to register with a state commission. The law, passed Wednesday by 370 deputies, demands that all informal and foreign groups must register as independent Russian legal entities. NGOs must also provide officials with financial and other documents and allow representatives to attend any event held by the organization. With 300,000 NGOs currently operating in Russia, many fear these conditions will be difficult to meet and will severely hinder NGO activity. Foreign groups like Amnesty International [advocacy website] and Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] say the bill would force them to close their Russian offices. Proponents of the bill say it is necessary to prevent money laundering and improve financial oversight. Others, however, feel is it the Russian government's attempt to thwart the influence of NGOs who receive foreign funding and might try to promote an Ukraine-style "Orange Revolution" in Russia. Earlier this year, President Putin [official website] said he would not tolerate foreign money being used to fund political activities. The NGO bill must still undergo several additional readings, approval by the upper house of parliament, and signature by the President before it becomes law. BBC News has more. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] The National Assembly [official website], the lower house of the French parliament, began debate Wednesday on a new anti-terror law [draft text, in French] said to have been partly prompted by the July 7 London bombings and the apparent spread of Islamist terrorism to Western Europe. The new law, introduced [JURIST report] last month by Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy and approved by the French cabinet [French government press release], will extend the reach of public video surveillance along the lines of the UK model (the United Kingdom has some 4 million CCTV cameras, as opposed to 60,000 in France), will increase the number of days a terror suspect can be held without charge from 4 to 6 (still much shorter than the current 14 day period in the UK, soon likely to become 28), will lengthen the duration of prison sentences for terrorism, and will require transport companies and Internet cafes to hand over or store previously confidential or unknown customer data.

Although French anti-terrorism law is already considered among the toughest in Europe due to a broad existing offense for "criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise", French officials have recently urged additional steps, stressing the seriousness of the terrorist threat. Prime Minister Dominque de Villepin said last week that that threat had never been higher [French government press release], and Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, head of the French DST (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire) [backgrounder in French] internal security agency said Wednesday that there were "networks already in place...working on terrorist projects hostile to our country." The French National Assembly provides additional materials and background on the legislation [in French]. AFP has more. Ireland Online has more on de Florian's comments.

[JURIST] Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli [official profile] has cast doubt on the motivations behind a Milan prosecutor's request for the extradition of 22 CIA agents accused of participating in the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003 [JURIST report]. Castelli suggested Tuesday that prosecutor Armando Spataro was a leftist animated by "anti-Americanism". Castelli is conducting an investigation into the request to determine if the accusations are well-grounded. The 22 CIA agents are accused of kidnapping cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr [Wikipedia profile], a suspected member of an Islamic terror group, in Milan and then flying him to Egypt to be tortured. The kidnapping is allegedly part of a CIA extraordinary rendition [Wikipedia backgrounder] program where terror suspects are kidnapped and taken to other countries without court approval. Prosecutors claim the kidnapping was a violation of Italy's sovereignty and obstructed ongoing Italian terrorism investigations. Milan's chief prosecutor has released a statement supporting Spataro. AP has more.

[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive] has been indicted on tax evasion and corruption charges, and has been put under house arrest pending trial.

9:59 AM ET - The charges stem from an investigation into secret offshore back accounts under false names set up by Pinochet that were found to hold some $27 million. The accounts came to light in 2004 after a US Senate money laundering investigation [Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing video, testimony] of Pinochet's dealings with Riggs Bank. Pinochet, who turns 90 later this week, has been indicted twice previously on human right-related charges, but both those cases were thrown out after he was found unfit to stand trial. Last month Chile's Supreme Court stripped Pinochet of state immunity [JURIST report] for tax evasion, allowing the present case against him to proceed. Pinochet's lawyers say that the former leader has already paid back taxes [JURIST report] on the accounts and is innocent of any wrongdoing. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) [advocacy website] reported Wednesday that Roma minorities, also known as Gypsies, are the ethnic group most susceptible to racism in the European Union [JURIST news archive]. As the EU expands into Central Europe, the Roma population in new member states face discrimination in employment, housing, and education as well as continuing racial violence. Large Roma communities are mostly located in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. As a condition for admission into the EU, the executive European Commission [official website] has urged new member states to improve the legal rights and treatment of the Roma. The European Roma Rights Center [advocacy website] offers additional information on the social and legal circumstances of Roma across the EU.

Wednesday's EUMC report also included statistical information on anti-Muslim violence in Europe as a result of the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid [JURIST news archive] and the murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh [JURIST report]. The Center nonetheless regretted that the lack of data and statistics on race, ethnicity, and religion from several EU member states, including most notably France, saying that such information was vital to the development of anti-discrimination policies. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the state of Missouri, alleging that contrary to federal law it had failed to take steps to remove the names of deceased and otherwise ineligible voters from its electoral rolls. The DOJ suit claims the biggest problem is in Reynolds County, a small county with the Ozarks foothills where the list of eligible voters was 151 percent of the 2004 census count for its voting age population. Some 29 counties in total are identified as having more registrants than voting age individuals. Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan [official website], a Democrat who took office in January 2005, says the problem was inherited from the previous Republican state administration, and that the state technically has no power to correct the rolls, which are under the jurisdiction of local counties. Insisting that the suit was "unnecessary, unjustified and unwise", she has nonetheless sent a letter to the Department outlining a plan to train local officials to better maintain their rolls [Carnahan statement] and will start tracking how well they do so. AP has more.