[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] Thursday defended contentious statements made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile; JURIST news archive] on US terrorist rendition practices [JURIST archive], saying through a spokesperson that she has his "full confidence" as a "highly respected jurist," and that "international civil servants should be allowed to speak freely" on their areas of expertise. Arbour Wednesday criticized US rendition practices [JURIST report] as having a "corrosive effect on the global ban on terror," before specifically condemning "the use of secret detention facilities and the seeking of diplomatic assurances to avoid what would otherwise be the total prohibition on rendering, surrendering, deporting, turning back people to countries where they may face the risk of torture." Arbour also took Washington to task for breaching the 1984 Convention Against Torture [text] it signed, which "prohibits recourse to torture, cruel degrading and other inhumane treatment at the instigation of agents of the state for the purpose of obtaining intelligence or other types of information." US ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official profile] immediately castigated Arbour after her remarks, saying it was "inappropriate and illegitimate for an international civil servant to second guess the conduct of what we are engaged in the war on terror with nothing more as evidence than what she reads in the newspapers." Watch recorded video of Bolton's remarks. Annan's spokesperson mentioned that Annan plans on discussing the issue with Bolton "at an early date." Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] Signatory nations to the Kyoto Protocol [text; JURIST news archive] meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference [conference website] in Montreal Thursday agreed to a final protocol provision governing the rules for ensuring compliance with emissions standards. A country that exceeds its set goal for emissions will now incur an additional 30 percent penalty and must balance out the difference in emissions during the next period. Countries that consistently miss their emissions goals may lose the right to trade emissions with other participating countries. A solution proposed by Saudi Arabia [JURIST news archive], where each country's legislature would determine the enforcement mechanism used by the country, was not considered by the assembly of participating nations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US House Judiciary Committee [official website] approved a complex bill aimed at preventing illegal immigration in a split party 23-15 vote Thursday, allowing a full House vote on the legislation next week. The bill [text; committee press release, PDF], sponsored by committee chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) [official website], adds border patrol agents and equipment, requests millitary assistance for border surveillance, and reimburses local police for assisting in combatting illegal entry. The bill also criminalizes illegal presence in the country, now a civil offense, and increases mandatory minimum sentences for smugglers and those convicted of re-entry after removal. Committee Democrats criticized the bill's failure to include a guest worker provision, a proposal suggested by President Bush that would exempt immigrants from removal if they are working a seasonal job such as fruit and vegetable harvesting. Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) [official website] said the tourism industry as well as the seasonal fruit and vegetable industries of several border states would suffer without the guest worker program. Sensenbrenner defended the current version of the bill, saying that the clear issue of border enforcement should be addressed before the more contensious issue of a guest worker program. AP has more.

[JURIST] Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell [official website], a Republican, has signed into law legislation [text] that bans campaign contributions from lobbyists and state contractors, limits political action committee (PAC) funding, closes a loophole allowing unrestricted corporate funding, and establishes a publicly-funded voluntary campaign contribution program. Read a transcript of Rell's remarks at the signing ceremony Wednesday. Critics of the bill pushed for additional measures aimed at eliminating special interests, but Rell and the Democratic leadership who guided the legislation through the state's General Assembly [JURIST report] say the bill should reassure the public that Connecticut is "putting elections...in the hands of the people." Maine and Arizona have previously established public campaign funding through ballot initiatives. Rell said the bill addresses the concerns of Connecticut citizens who lost faith in their state government following the corruption scandal of former Governor John Rowland [archived official site; JURIST news archive], who is currently serving a year sentence in prison for violating corruption laws [JURIST report]

[JURIST] In remarks [text] to the North Atlantic Council of NATO on Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] assured European leaders that the US government does not allow torture of suspected terrorists and that it respects the principles of the Geneva Conventions. Her comments in the final stage of a European trip came after days of constant questions about US interrogation and rendition policies and alleged secret CIA prisons in Europe [JURIST report]. European and US officials nonetheless continue to disagree over details of how the US is conducting its war on terror. While Rice acknowledged that there was no way to ensure that there will never be abuses violating US policy prohibiting the torture of detainees, she did say that any abuses would be investigated and those responsible punished. AP has more.

[JURIST] A group of 12 retired federal judges on Thursday urged [official press release] US lawmakers not to pass legislation that would strip federal courts of the power to hear habeas corpus claims brought by detainees held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. In a letter to Congress [PDF text], the judges, mostly retired from federal courts of appeals, voiced their concern that if the law is enacted, it would sharply limit the long-established authority of federal courts to review executive detentions, and would thus seriously harm the long tradition of federal courts ensuring the rule of law under the Constitution. They wrote:

We appreciate the goal of avoiding an influx of frivolous claims, but no judge has found any filing of a Guantánamo detainee to be frivolous. In any event, federal judges are well-experienced and well-equipped in the task of sifting out frivolous claims from meritorious ones. Moreover, even cursory examination of the Amendment suggests that it raises more questions than it settles, and will increase litigation rather than limiting it.

For example, in plain defiance of our long separation-of-powers tradition, the Amendment casts a cloud over ongoing cases, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which the Supreme Court of the United States accepted for review only weeks ago. Congress has not attempted to short-circuit Supreme Court review of a habeas case since 1867, and there is no evidence that it considered the consequences of such a momentous decision here.

[JURIST] The US State Department [official website] confirmed Thursday that the International Committee of the Red Cross [official website] does not have access to all US detainees, but said that ICRC had access to "absolutely everybody" held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. John Bellinger, top lawyer at the State Department, declined to give further details about detainees the ICRC has no access to, though he did dismiss allegations about secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe [JURIST report] as "ludicrous". In July 2004, the ICRC said it feared that the US was holding terror suspects secretly [JURIST report], outside of facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq, in violation of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials]. Last month, advocacy group Human Rights Watch released a list of 26 'ghost detainees' [text; JURIST report] that HRW says the US has not reported but is holding incommunicado and possibly torturing. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US House and Senate negotiators announced Thursday that a deal [JURIST report] has been reached on legislation [bill summary] that will reauthorize portions of the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive] set to expire on December 31. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] said the Senate will vote on the compromise next week. Under the agreement, provisions authorizing roving wiretaps and allowing FBI access to library and business records will be extended for four years, expiring at that time unless Congress acts again. Changes will also be made to the FBI's use of national security letters [PDF sample text; ACLU backgrounder] to gain access to records without a court order or grand jury subpoena. The reauthorization legislation will specify that NSLs can be reviewed by courts and that NSL recipients can inform their lawyers about them. Most other Patriot Act provisions will become permanent under the reauthorization legislation. AP has more.

[JURIST] Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin [official website] on Thursday proposed a sweeping national ban on handguns [press release] in an effort to combat escalating gun violence in Canadian cities. In Toronto, there have been 50 homicides from gunfire this year, a new record [CTV report] for the city and almost twice the number from 2004. Under Martin's proposed Canada Handgun Ban [backgrounder] set forth as part of the governing Liberal Party [political party website] campaign for the January 23 federal election [CBC backgrounder], federal legislation would be introduced to enable provinces and territories to prohibit handguns within their borders, tougher penalties would be introduced for gun crimes, and steps would be taken to eliminate the supply of illegal handguns. Under current law [Canadian Criminal Code section on firearms], a handgun license can only be obtained for a weapon that is part of a collection, used in target-shooting competitions or for target practice. Critics say Martin's expanded ban would have no effect on dealing with illegal guns and is just pandering to "law and order types." Others say that Martin's proposal to double the mandatory minimum sentence for serious gun crimes will also be ineffective at ending violence, saying that an increase would result in over-burdening the court system and putting more minority youth in jail. CTV.ca has more.

[JURIST] Retired Croatian general Ante Gotovina [BBC profile; ICTY case backgrounder] was arrested late Wednesday night in Spain. Gotovina was indicted on crimes against humanity charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] in 2001 and was considered to be the third most-wanted suspect from the 1990s Balkan wars. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Thursday that Gotovina will soon be transferred to The Hague and called for renewed efforts to arrest the men atop the ICTY most-wanted list, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounders]. The ICTY indictment [text] accuses Gotovina of failing to prevent the murder of 150 Serbs during a 1995 campaign against Serb forces in Croatia and also of coordinating looting campaigns in ethnic Serb regions. In October, a defense lawyer for Gotovina said that his client would surrender if he were allowed to face trial in Croatia [JURIST report], rather than at the ICTY. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Leaders in the US House and Senate are still working to reach a compromise on legislation [bill summary] that would reauthorize portions of the USA PATRIOT Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive] which are set to expire at the end of this year, though officials say they are moving closer to a deal. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has said that House members have agreed to a four-year sunset clause for provisions that allow FBI access to library and business records and that authorize roving wiretaps. Specter said the White House has been pressing for House members to compromise and that Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is supporting the latest proposal. Sensenbrenner's office, however, stressed that a final deal has not yet been reached. Thursday's Washington Post has more. Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee provide background materials and Rep. John Conyers, ranking Democrat on the committee, has additional resources on Patriot Act renewal.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Specter blocks deal to extend Patriot Act, calls for revisions
• Patriot Act legislation stalls as six senators threaten to block reauthorization
• Congress reaches compromise on Patriot Act renewal that curbs FBI power
• Patriot Act renewal deal would institute judicial review of powers

[JURIST] Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, an officer in Britain's Royal Air Force [official website], will face a court-martial next year on five counts of disobeying a lawful command and could be jailed for refusing to serve in Iraq. Earlier this year, Kendall-Smith refused to attend preliminary training and briefings in preparation for his posting to Basra because, after studying the UK government's legal case for the Iraq war [PDF text], he concluded that the war was illegal. His military trial will begin March 15, and Kendall-Smith is expected to argue that under an RAF manual, a serving officer is justified in refusing to obey a command if the command is illegal. Kendall-Smith, who was suspended in June and charged [JURIST report] in October, is the first British officer to face criminal charges after challenging the conflict's legality. Thursday's Telegraph has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram has dismissed several lawsuits that sought to block reparations for Austrian Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF decision] that the claims should be dismissed [NY Law Journal report] under the political question doctrine, because the compensation agreement had been specifically negotiated by the US government. The appeals court said that the negotiated arrangement is superior to litigation and advances important US foreign policy interests. Under the agreement [backgrounder], brokered during the last days of the Clinton administration, the Austrian government will pay $210 million to up to 19,000 victims or their heirs. Judge Kram dismissed the lawsuits Wednesday and initial payments could begin early next year. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) [advocacy website], representing Inuit indigenous peoples in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, has filed a petition [PDF text; summary, PDF] with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] accusing the US government of violating Inuit human rights by failing to adequately fight the thaw of Arctic ice. The ICC argues that climate change is undermining Inuit hunting culture and is tantamount to human rights abuse [ICC press release]. The ICC is hoping for a declaration that US climate policies breach the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and international laws and has asked the IACHR to recommend that the US adopt mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases. The ICC said in June that it planned to file the petition [JURIST report], but the actual filing coincides with the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference [official website; JURIST report], where 189 nations are discussing ways to fight global warming. The Kyoto Protocol [text] mandates that signatories curb their greenhouse gas emissions, but the US withdrew from the agreement in 2001. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote Jr. [official profile] has said that church-run and other private hospitals will be able to opt out from a new state law [text] requiring emergency room doctors to offer emergency contraception to rape victims. Cote's office expects to issue regulations next week that will allow private hospitals to opt out based on religious or moral grounds. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney vetoed the emergency contraception law [JURIST report] in July, but the veto was later overridden [JURIST report] by a vote in the state legislature. Cote defended the forthcoming regulations, saying the new law does not override an existing law which declares that private hospitals cannot be forced to provide contraception or abortions. State Attorney General Thomas Reilly [official website] has criticized Cote's proposal, saying that the new law is clear and applies to all hospitals. AP has more.

[JURIST] European officials have said they are satisfied with assurances by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] that US policies on the treatment of terror detainees fall within the bounds of international law. Rice is currently in Europe and on Wednesday met with foreign ministers from NATO and European Union countries. Officials emerged from the meeting expressing satisfaction with Rice's promises that international agreements are not interpreted differently in the US than in Europe. The US has recently come under fire for its rendition [JURIST news archive] practices and allegations that the CIA has operated secret prisons in Eastern Europe [JURIST report]. Earlier this week, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot called Rice's assurances "unsatisfactory" [JURIST report], but after the latest meeting said he was "very satisfied" with Rice's arguments that the US respects international law. On Wednesday, Rice announced a major shift in US policy [JURIST report] to ban inhumane treatment of detainees by all internationally-based US personnel, but rights group Human Rights Watch said the policy shift is inadequate [HRW press release] and called for Rice to specifically address the CIA prison allegations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer said Thursday that he was threatened by three men when boarding a flight from Baghdad to Jordan, and that the three individuals were escorted from the plane by security personnel. Khalil Dulaimi said he knows the men but will not reveal their names and did not indicate exactly how he was threatened. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark [Wikipedia profile], also on Hussein's defense team [JURIST report], said that other defense lawyers had received threats this week from the balcony of the courtroom where the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] is being held. During the sessions, the judge ordered the removal of one man from the balcony after he made gestures seen as threats toward the defense. Lawyers for Hussein and his co-defendants have repeatedly raised concerns about their safety and earlier this week, walked out of trial proceedings [JURIST report] until they were allowed to address the court on the issue. Two defense lawyers have been killed [JURIST report] since the trial first began in October, and a third has fled Iraq, seeking asylum in Qatar [JURIST report]. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Iraqi Special Tribunal | Op-ed: The Reckoning: Trying Saddam Hussein | Text: Saddam tribunal report [HRW]

[JURIST] The Chinese government said Thursday that it will make court proceedings on death penalty appeals open to the public to "improve human rights protection" following a notice [press release, in Chinese] from the Supreme Court of China [official website, in Chinese]. On January 1, the public will have access to death sentence cases involving "major controversy," and on July 1, the public will be allowed to attend all death sentence appeals. The new regulation is being implemented in an effort to prevent wrongful death sentences, which human rights groups have continually criticized in China [JURIST news archive]. The rights groups call China's use of the death penalty "arbitrary" and claim the country carried out 3,400 executions in 2004 alone, making up almost 90 percent of the world's total. Earlier this year, the Chinese high court removed the lower courts' authority to review death sentences [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] House and Senate negotiators are continuing talks to reconcile versions of a defense appropriation bill, with both sides largely agreeing to a torture ban [JURIST document] proposed by Sen. John McCain [official website], but with other provisions remaining in dispute. Negotiators hoped to reach a final bill by the end of this week, but additional provisions dealing with detainees held by the US have held up an agreement. Although initially opposed to a ban on torture and inhumane treatment of detainees in the Senate version, House negotiators have apparently accepted that provision, with Rep. Duncan Hunter [official website] saying the final version will likely contain the ban [JURIST report]. The White House has threatened a veto [policy statement] over the McCain amendment, although it has remained in negotiations with Senate and House members on the legislation. The McCain amendment was backed by a 90-9 vote [JURIST report] in the Senate. Comments made Wednesday by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled a shift in policy [JURIST report], however, with Rice saying the US would ban its interrogators from treating detainees inhumanely. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Congressional Black Caucus [official website] is expected to announce Thursday its opposition to the confirmation of US Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. [official profile; JURIST news archive]. The Caucus is made of 42 Democratic House members and Sen. Barack Obama [official website], who said he has not yet decided on whether he will vote for Alito. Caucus Chairman Rep. Mel Watt [official website] said its members were concerned with opinions by Alito, many of them dissenting, that had a disproportionate impact on blacks. Watt called Alito's judicial philosophy at odds with 20th century constitutional jurisprudence. The Caucus' opposition comes as Sen. Patrick Leahy [official website], the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter [text] to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, urging the Justice Department to release additional documents on Alito's career that were withheld under exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act. Committee Chairman Arlen Specter [official website] said the committee will subject Alito to tough questioning [Washington Post report], which will likely include more questions than were posed to Chief Justice John Roberts during his hearings in September. Confirmation hearings for Alito are scheduled to open Jan. 9. AP has more.

[JURIST] A former Rwandan mayor on Wednesday pleaded guilty to aiding the 1994 genocide as part of a plea deal with prosecutors for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive]. Under the plea deal, Paul Bisengimana, former mayor of Gikoro, pleaded guilty to murder and extermination as crimes against humanity, but three other charges of rape and genocide were dropped. According to the original indictment [PDF text], Bisengimana had ordered the rape of minority Tutsi women and also was involved in transporting soldiers, weapons and fuel during one attack at the Musha church during the 1994 genocide. Bisengimana attempted a guilty plea [JURIST report] in November, but the ICTR rejected the plea agreement due to discrepancies between it and the indictment. The ICTR is under pressure to complete its case load by 2008, although 17 more cases remain to be tried and nine suspects remain at large. The ICTR has a news release on the plea deal. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US House Rep. Tom DeLay [official website; JURIST news archive] has asked the judge in his case to split the remaining two charges against him and move forward with a trial on one of them. After the judge in the case, Pat Priest [profile], threw out one conspiracy charge [JURIST report; JURIST document] against DeLay on Monday, only charges of money laundering [JURIST report] and conspiracy to commit money laundering remain. DeLay requested that the money laundering charge be severed and moved to trial in early January in the hope that he can regain his post as House majority leader when the House opens its session in late January. Because Priest removed some language from the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website] may appeal the ruling, but the charge would be moot if DeLay were acquitted on the money laundering charge. DeLay has been accused of illegally using corporate donations to fund candidates for the Texas state legislature in a heated 2002 campaign, but DeLay has accused Earle of prosecutorial misconduct in the case. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House [official website] has voted to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 [PDF text], under which the federal government guarantees insurance coverage for catastrophic losses caused by terror attacks. The House approved H.R. 4314 [bill summary; JURIST report] on Wednesday by a 371-49 vote, moving the legislation to a conference with the Senate, which earlier approved S. 467 [bill summary], a different version of the renewal. The House bill extends the insurance guarantee for two more years, but requires private insurance companies to pay more of the initial costs. The original act was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks to help restore the insurance industry and confidence in the economy. The House bill increases the amount of insurance industry losses that would trigger federal aid from $5 million to $50 million in 2006 and $100 million in 2007. The Bush administration has opposed an extension of the act [JURIST report] that does not emphasize its temporary nature and increase the role of the insurance industry. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] The UK House of Lords [official website], the country's highest judicial body, ruled against the government Thursday in a case involving the use of evidence that may have been obtained through torture. The ruling prohibits the UK courts, and especially the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, from using evidence that may have been obtained through torture; it spells out the need for the government to indicate where its evidence against suspected terrorists has been obtained, and if it cannot reveal that source for national security reasons, requires it to produce other evidence sufficient to lead to a criminal conviction. The ruling will require Home Secretary Charles Clarke [official profile] to review all other cases where evidence used to convict terror suspects was obtained from sources kept secret. The case was brought on the behalf of eight men held by the UK government without charge while it tried to find other evidence it could use against them. The court's ruling will require that instead of merely demonstrating that the UK government had no active involvement in using torture to obtain the information, prosecutors must demonstrate that improper methods were not used in any step of the information procurement. Read the House of Lords judgment [official PDF text]. BBC News has local coverage.

4:56 PM ET - Reacting to the Law Lords' decision Thursday, Amnesty International UK [advocacy website] called the ruling "momentous" and praised the court [press release] for overturning "the tacit belief that torture can be condoned under certain circumstances". Echoing views articulated in October [JURIST report] by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak, Amnesty also called for the British government to drop Memoranda of Understanding [JURIST report] that have recently been entered into with countries known to torture. Under the agreements, the UK will deport terror suspects to those countries with assurances that the deportees will not be mistreated. Earlier this week, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists called on Council of Europe member states to reject any proposals [joint submission; press release] that would establish standards for the use of diplomatic assurances when transferring people to countries where there is a risk of torture. Government representatives are meeting in Strasbourg this week to consider whether to put forth minimum requirements for reliance on diplomatic assurances. Liberty UK [advocacy website] also welcomed Thursday's decision [press release], saying that "Confessions extracted through beatings, electric shocks and pulled fingernails have no place in the UK legal system." BBC News offers an analysis of the ruling and its international impact.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] The two largest political parties in the European Parliament [official website] have agreed to support a draft bill designed to require all European-based telecommunications companies to store records of phone and email users for up to 24 months to aid in criminal investigations by police officials into serious crimes like terrorism. The head of the Civil Liberties Committee [official website] in the EU Parliament nonetheless criticized the Data Retention Bill [EU Parliament status page], which differs significantly from the earlier draft approved by the committee, as an invasion of privacy and warned that many national consititutional courts were likely to hold that the bills provisions violate fundamental rights in EU member-states. The draft bill leaves it up to the domestic governments to determine who will bear the cost of maintaining the database, a cost telecommunication companies say is beyond their means to absorb. The bill is up for approval in Strasbourg next week and the combined strength of the conservative European People's Party and the Party of European Socialists [political party websites] is more than enough to gain a majority vote. The International Herald Tribune has more.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] A Russian bill designed to increase state control [JURIST report] over non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by requiring them to register with a governmental commission has draw sharp criticism from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] as troubling to the US government "at all levels." Rice, speaking in Ukraine Wednesday, warned that freely-operating NGOs were necessary to ensuring stable democracy in the modern world and were a vital part of seeing growth and development in Russia. The Russian bill has several more readings to undergo before it will be sent to the upper house of the Russian Parliament and then presented to President Vladimir Putin for signing into law. Putin has already called for some amendments to be made [JURIST report] to the bill. Read the official transcript of Rice's remarks. MosNews.com has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie [official profile] has stated that contrary to press reports, French airports were 'apparently not' used by CIA 'ghost flights' [JURIST report] allegedly moving US detainees around the world where they might have been tortured for information. She stressed the fact that the CIA primarily uses American bases in Europe for flight stops and there are none in France. French newspaper Le Figaro [media website in French] reported last week that two CIA flights stopped over in France [JURIST report] - in Brest and Paris [Le Figaro report] - in 2002 and 2005. Alliot-Marie did, however, allude to lingering doubts about two other civilian flights that went from Oslo to an unmentioned Eastern European country and said that the Defence Ministry is continuing its investigation Expatica has local coverage.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] French judges ruled Wednesday against the deportation of a 21-year old Mauritanian man accused of participating in the suburban riots [JURIST report] that broke out across France last month. The regional court in Pontoise [official website], a town of 30,000 just outside Paris, concluded that allegations against the alleged rioter of "grave acts of violence against a law enforcement officer" had not been established. The arrested Mauritanian, who had not been charged with any criminal offense, has been in France since he was three, had never been convicted of a crime, and had valid residency papers. The bid to have him deported followed a pledge by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy [official profile in French] to deport all non-French citizens involved in the riots [JURIST report]. The final deportation decision will be made by the local prefecture. Expatica has more.

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.