[JURIST] Polish prosecutors said Tuesday that they are preparing charges against General Wojciech Jaruzelski [BBC profile], the last Communist leader of Poland, in connection with his December 13, 1981 declaration of martial law [Polish government backgrounder] in the country. Prosecutors associated with the National Institute of Remembrance [official website] argue that the declaration was unconstitutonal, and say that charges related to harassment, internment, and the deaths of over 100 people as a result of ther declaration could be laid early in the new year. Jaruzelski, now 82, has long argued that his declaration clamping down on opposition and dissent after agitation by the Solidarity movement [official website] and other anti-government groups pre-empted an invasion by Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces [Radio Prague backgrounder] such as occured in Czechoslovakia after the "Prague Spring" of 1968. In 2001 Jaruzelski was put on trial for ordering trrops to fire on striking shipyard workers [BBC report] in 1970 when he was defense minister, but the proceeding stalled and he faces a second trial at an unspecified date. Radio Polonia, the Polish external service, offers local coverage of the martial law anniversary [MP3 audio]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pope Benedict XVI [official profile] on Tuesday said that countries have a duty to respect international humanitarian law [ICRC materials] "even in the midst of war." In the Pope's peace message [text], released in advance of the Catholic church's World Day of Peace, he also called for international humanitarian standards to be considered universally binding and suggested that standards should be brought up to date with current armed conflicts:

The truth of peace must also let its beneficial light shine even amid the tragedy of war. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, pointed out that "not everything automatically becomes permissible between hostile parties once war has regrettably commenced".(7) As a means of limiting the devastating consequences of war as much as possible, especially for civilians, the international community has created an international humanitarian law. In a variety of situations and in different settings, the Holy See has expressed its support for this humanitarian law, and has called for it to be respected and promptly implemented, out of the conviction that the truth of peace exists even in the midst of war. International humanitarian law ought to be considered as one of the finest and most effective expressions of the intrinsic demands of the truth of peace. Precisely for this reason, respect for that law must be considered binding on all peoples. Its value must be appreciated and its correct application ensured; it must also be brought up to date by precise norms applicable to the changing scenarios of today's armed conflicts and the use of ever newer and more sophisticated weapons.

[JURIST] Swiss senator Dick Marty submitted a report to the Council of Europe (CoE) [official website] Tuesday, concluding that allegations [JURIST report] that the CIA operated secret prisons in Europe and abducted and illegally transported terror suspects across Europe are credible. The CoE report comes after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to Europe to smooth relations following the allegations; Rice defended [JURIST report] the CIA's rendition practices, and assured officials that the US policies on the treatment of terror detainees fall within the bounds of international law [JURIST report]. According to Marty's statement [text]:

the information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries.

Legal proceedings in progress in certain countries seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for any legal standards.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Rendition | Op-ed: Exporting Torture: US Rendition and European Outrage

[JURIST] Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] said Tuesday that they will not sever proceedings in the Slobodan Milosevic trial [JURIST news archive; ICTY case backgrounder]. The court had been considering [JURIST report] whether it should deal separately with Milosevic's indictment [text] on charges stemming from the 1999 Kosovo conflict so that it could conclude that part of the trial first. Milosevic has also been charged on separate indictments for wars in Croatia and Bosnia [indictment texts], but the cases were merged when the trial began in 2002. The ICTY also denied Milosevic's application for more time to present his case. The tribunal noted that Milosevic has used over 75 percent of time allotted for his defense and has focused almost exclusively on charges in the Kosovo indictment, in what the court called an attempt "to provide a foundation for a request for additional time." According to the judges' decision [text; press release], Milosevic is not taking "a reasonable approach to the presentation of his case" and stressed that they will not allow additional time for Milosevic's defense. In light of this, the court decided there was not appropriate to sever the Kosovo indictment. The ICTY did, however, grant Milosevic's request for a six-week rest period [JURIST report]. Proceedings will resume on January 23. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge James Robertson [official profile] said Monday that he will consider allowing two Chinese Uighur Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees to appear in federal court to challenge their ongoing confinement. The two men have been determined not to be enemy combatants, but have not yet been released from US custody because US officials are unwilling to return the men to China where they could face torture, and authorities have been unsuccessful in finding a country willing to provide refuge to the men. The Muslim Uighur minority is trying to establish a separate homeland in the Xinjiang province of China and Chinese authorities have renewed their crackdown on against Uighur separatists. Robertson is considering a motion [PDF text] to grant the men a provisional parole that would allow them to live in the US while their fate is being decided. During Monday's hearing, Robertson expressed frustration with the government's ability to move forward in the case and said that he is considering three options: ordering the men to appear before him in a hearing on their immediate release, ordering the government to release the men, or denying the motion allowing the case to go before a federal appeals court. If Robertson were to order the detainees to appear in court, it would mark the first time a Guantanamo detainee would travel to the US to appear before a federal judge. US lawyers expressed concern at the idea, saying that this would allow the detainees to apply for asylum as soon as they arrive on US soil. The Center for Constitutional Rights has background on the case. The Washington Post has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Judge questions continued detention of Gitmo Uighurs cleared for release
• Rights group claims US holds two Uighurs at Gitmo after clearance

[JURIST] An Italian court has ordered the freezing of an Iranian government account at a Rome bank at the instance of US plaintiffs claiming compensation for terrorist acts supposedly supported by Iran. Steven Flatow, a New Jersey lawyer whose daughter Alisa [memorial page] was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber on a bus in Gaza in 1995, said that the plaintiffs brought their case to show Iran that it should stop supporting terrorist groups. The other two US families involved in the litigation sought compensation for Sara Duker and Matthew Eisenfeld, an engaged couple killed together by a Hamas suicide bomber on a Jerusalem bus in 1996. The three families were the first to take advantage of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) [text, PDF], which authorizes Americans to file suit for damages against those who the US deems to be sponsors of international terrorism. US courts have already ruled in favor of Flatow, and permitted compensation to be awarded to the families, though the award was limited on appeal [US DC Circuit opinion, text]. Legal experts said the Rome court had adopted the rulings of the US courts and that the decision paves the way for similar cases against Iran in other European and possibly Asian courts. The ruling may also encourage a slew of similar civil cases against Islamic and other regimes that are accused by the US of sponsoring terror. The court was not persuaded by diplomatic protests from Tehran which argued that Iran's official accounts were protected by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations [text]. A further hearing is expected to determine how to award the frozen funds. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] The trial of Milan Martic [BBC profile], former leader of the erstwhile Serb republic in Croatia [Wikipedia backgrounder] who has been charged with exterminating hundreds of Croat, Muslim and other non-Serb civilians between 1991 and 1995, began [ICTY press release] Tuesday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website]. Martic is also charged with persecution, imprisonment, torture, inhumane acts, cruel treatment, deportation, forcible transfer, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction and unlawful attacks on civilians allegedly committed in "ethnic cleansing" during the same period. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A federal grand jury on Monday indicted former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy [defense website] Richard Scrushy and Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman [official profile] on fresh charges of corporate corruption, the latest in a series of allegations against the men. The new indictment accuses Scrushy of paying off Siegelman for a seat on a state health regulatory board and accuses both men of wielding improper influence over board members. Last month, fraud claims against Scrushy were dismissed [JURIST report] and in October, Siegelman pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] after he and Scrushy were indicted for racketeering [JURIST report]. Previous Medicaid fraud charges against Siegelman have been dismissed. In June, Scrushy was acquitted [JURIST report] on charges of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [summary]. Scrushy was the first CEO to be charged with violating the Act. The fresh indictment claims Scrushy made covert payments of $500,000 to Siegelman in exchange for an appointment to Alabama's Certificate of Need Review Board, which makes hospital expansion decisions. The indictment also accuses the pair of ensuring that Scrushy was replaced by another HealthSouth employee when he left the board. The indictment also alleges that payments of $3,000 and $8,000 were made to board members to advance HealthSouth's interests. AP has more.

[JURIST] US District Court Judge Larry Burns [US DOJ profile] ruled Monday that US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff [official profile; JURIST news archive] had authority to waive all laws and legal challenges to the building of the final 3.5 mile section of a border fence [JURIST report] running through coastal wetlands to the Pacific Ocean designed to thwart illegal immigrants [JURIST report] in the southwestern US. Congress approved the project in 1996 and Chertoff authorized expedited completion [DHS press release] of the final leg in September, invoking national security and immigration powers granted under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the REAL ID Act of 2005 [JURIST report]. A group of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club [advocacy website] had challenged the move, warning of environmental damage and arguing that Chertoff lacked authority for his actions, but Burns disagreed, ruling that Congress had delegated the authority to Chertoff in June. The border fence project has been repeatedly stalled by litigation. In a 2004 lawsuit, the Sierra Club said the project threatened the Tijuana River estuary, home to more than 370 migratory and native birds, six of them endangered. AP has more.

[JURIST] Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile; BBC profile], prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] at The Hague, is expected to tell the UN Security Council Tuesday that the ICC's investigation [JURIST report] in Darfur has revealed large numbers of killings, mass rapes, and other "grave" crimes [JURIST report] and has identified several alleged criminal incidents for full investigation. Moreno-Ocampo's report to the UN will also show, however, that his investigative team has been unable to interview witnesses in Sudan and instead has relied on potential witnesses who have been "screened" outside of Sudan. Moreno-Ocampo hopes to travel to Sudan in early 2006 to visit with Sudan's domestic Darfur tribunal [JURIST report] and other judicial bodies that are investigating crimes in Darfur [JURIST news archive]. Under the Rome Statute [PDF text; backgrounder], which established the ICC, the prosecutor may only try suspected war criminals when national courts are unable or unwilling to investigate. According to Moreno-Ocampo, the Sudanese special tribunal has convicted 13 of 160 suspects, though a new Human Rights Watch report [text] says that no mid- or high-level government official, military commander or militia leader has been suspended, prosecuted or investigated in Sudan. Reuters has more.

12:04 PM ET - Sudan's justice minister said Tuesday that ICC investigators will not be allowed to travel to Darfur to complete the investigation into suspected war crimes. Mohammed Ali al-Mardi said that the Sudanese judicial system is capable of prosecuting any Darfur war criminals and that ICC officials have no jurisdiction inside Sudan. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UK High Court on Tuesday ruled that David Hicks [advocacy website; JURIST news archive], the Australian detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] for over three years, should be registered as a British citizen. Hicks, whose mother was born in Britain, has petitioned for UK citizenship in the hopes that the UK will negotiate his release from Guantanamo, as it did for other British citizens [JURIST report]. Britain's Home Office has indicated that it wanted to refuse Hicks' application [JURIST report] due to "public policy considerations", but a judge has ruled that Home Secretary Charles Clarke has "no power in law" to deprive Hicks of UK citizenship and that Hicks "must be registered." The judge will allow the ruling to be appealed, but refused to suspend the decision pending appeal. Hicks was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan and is awaiting trial by a US military commission on charges [charge sheet] of attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy. His trial has been postponed [JURIST report] until the US Supreme Court [official website] rules on the legality of such commissions [JURIST report]. BBC News has more; AAP has local coverage.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Australian terror suspect to sue for British citizenship
• Australian Gitmo detainee threatens legal action over UK citizenship application
• Australian detainee seeks British citizenship to secure release from Gitmo

[JURIST] Former Deputy National Security Adviser Robert Blackwill [official profile], who served during President Bush's first term, said Monday that while torture should not be widespread in Iraq, there may be instances where it might be appropriate. Answering questions at the Council on Foreign Relations, Blackwill cited a hypothetical where torturing a terror detainee could be justified if the detainee's organization has threatened to detonate a nuclear weapon and investigators have reason to suspect that the detainee knows the location of the weapon. The US Congress and White House are currently at odds over the proposed McCain amendment [JURIST document], which would ban torture and inhumane treatment of detainees. The amendment passed the Senate with a 90-9 majority [JURIST report] and was later unanimously reaffirmed by the Senate [JURIST report]. The White House has expressed opposition to the amendment, saying it would hinder the war on terrorism. The amendment has been added to the 2006 military spending bill and Bush has threatened to veto the budget [policy statement, PDF] if the amendment remains on the final version. Congress has not yet reached a compromise on the spending bill, but there have been predictions a deal is close on the anti-torture provision [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Members of the Parliament of New South Wales [official website] have been recalled and will convene Thursday to consider new laws granting police extra powers to react to the ongoing Sydney race riots [ABC Australia report]. NSW Premier Morris Iemma [official profile] said Tuesday that lawmakers in the Australian state, of which Sydney is the capital, will triple the jail sentence for riot offences to 15 years, give police power to confiscate vehicles driven by those participating in the riots, and establish "lockdown zones" allowing police to take command of an area. Opposition lawmakers have said they will support the legislation. The racial violence, perpetrated largely by white men and youths against individuals of apparent Middle Eastern descent, began Sunday and so far has led to more than 25 arrests. Australia's federal police commissioner said Monday that the violence could undermine [JURIST report] Australia's strict new anti-terror law [JURIST report], though Prime Minister John Howard earlier denied [JURIST report] that the country's anti-terror policies were to blame for the riots. Last month, France experienced three weeks of rioting [JURIST report] in immigrant Muslim communities across the country, prompting the country's parliament to approve emergency powers [JURIST report] in order to control the violence. AP has more.

[JURIST] Crips gang co-founder and convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams [advocacy website] died at 12:35 AM Tuesday morning after being executed by lethal injection at California's San Quentin State Prison. The execution occurred a day after California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant Williams clemency [statement of decision, PDF; JURIST report], finding that Williams had shown no remorse for the killings for which he was convicted. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) [advocacy website] had urged [JURIST report] Schwarzenegger to grant clemency after the California Supreme Court had denied a stay [JURIST report] of Williams' execution. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the US Supreme Court also denied last-minute requests to stay the execution Monday. Williams was executed for killing four people in two separate 1979 robberies. Williams, who was convicted in 1981, spent two decades on death row where he wrote children's books about the dangers of gang life. About 1,000 death penalty opponents and a few death penalty supporters communed outside the prison to await the execution. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Schwarzenegger denies clemency for Crips co-founder
• California Supreme Court denies gang founder execution stay
• NAACP head urges clemency for gang founder Williams
• California high court refuses clemency request by gang founder

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's international brief, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [official profile] admitted for the first time Tuesday that the recent month-long process of national voting for parliament seats and the Presidential office was flawed and should serve as a lesson to all of Egypt on what needs to be improved for the next national election. Mubarak denied that his election to a fifth term with 88 per cent of the vote was due to these flaws and said that despite them, the elections marked a key step forward for Egyptian democracy. Independent observers and Egypt's own judges criticized the election process [JURIST report] as suffering from bribery, coercion, violence, and forgery. Mubarak changed constitutional and legal limits on the Egyptian presidency to allow himself to run for a fifth six-year presidential term. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Egypt [JURIST news archive]. The Gulf Times has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• The South African National Assembly [government website] debates the Childrens Bill [official PDF text] this week which, among other reforms, is set to create a legal ban on the centuries-old Zulu cultural practice of performing virginity checks on young girls. The legislation, originally approved in June, has been sent back and forth between the two houses of parliament for several rounds of amendments. The South African Commission on Gender Equality has recommended the complete abolition of the practice of virginity testing as "an invasion of bodily and physical integrity, and an invasion of privacy". The bill has already been amended to impose the ban on only girls under the age of 16 and to require consent for 16 to 18 year olds. Zulu leaders have protested the ban however, saying that the practice represents important cultural values in the Zulu tribe and that it is also a part of sex education in the community, helping teach girls about HIV/Aids and detect signs of sex abuse. If approved by parliament, the legislation must still be signed into law by South African President Thabo Mbeki [official profile]. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of South Africa [JURIST news archive]. South Africa's Mail and Guardian Online has local coverage.
  
  
• The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference [official website], which opened Tuesday, has already run into a severe disagreement between the US and the EU concerning the use of food aid as part of the proposed treaty on economic equality between developed and developing nations. The treaty proposes a series of methods, most spelled out in the WTO Doha Declaration [WTO backgrounder], that are aimed at elminating poverty and hunger among the world's poorest countries. The current dispute, which also caused the collapse of the previous treaty talks in Cancun in 2003, centers on farming and agricultural subsidies, which developing nations allege prevent them from competing with developed countries' food markets. The EU has alleged that the US practice of sending grain and food to developing countries in need instead of cash, a move the US claims ensures that aid is given where it is needed, is simply a means for allowing subsidies of US agricultural not expressly prohibited by the Doha Declaration. The EU contains the nations with the highest level of agricultural subsidies on the planet. Reuters has more.
  
  
• The UN probe into the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minster Rafic Hariri [advocacy website] presented a report Tuesday that alleges that at least 5 senior Syrian government official were involved at some level in the plot to kill the anti-Syrian official. Fourteen other individuals were also included on the list of suspects, whose names have not been made public, as having played a part in the assassination. Probe chairman Detlev Mehlis, due to report to the UN Security Council [official website] on Tuesday, has met with significant resistance from Syrian officials and has repeatedly alleged that the Syrian government is putting obstacles in the way of the investigation. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of the Hariri Assassination Probe [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] Retired chief justice for England and Wales Lord Woolf [BBC profile] has criticized large-scale litigation by companies that often spend in excess of 100 million pounds on lawyers' fees. Woolf, a longtime proponent of mediation and alternative dispute resolution while on the bench, told the Financial Times that he viewed cases that cost millions of pounds and requried thousands of documents with "sadness" and encouraged companies to look into other options before choosing litigation. Woolf went on to say that the tactic of lawyers running up huge fees to their clients and then recommending abandoning litigation was a discredit to the UK legal profession. Woolf is currently studying to become an official mediator [Legal Week report] and said he looks forward to practicing what he recommended from the bench [CEDR report]. The Financial Times 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] UK-based human rights group Liberty [advocacy website] has said that remarks by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw [official profile] that the US had not requested clearance for any flights relating to rendition [JURIST news archive] only served to demonstrate that the British government was turning a 'blind eye' to the practice. Straw said Monday that no requests by the US [JURIST report] had been submitted to UK authorities for rendition flights since September 11, although he admitted agreeing to two rendition flights during the Clinton administration. Liberty contends that Straw's remarks failed to answer any questions about whether UK airports and/or airspace had actually been used for the transfer of prisoners to or from the United States. Liberty has given UK police chiefs until Wednesday to open criminal investigations into those alleged to have been complicit in the use of UK territory to aid rendition before seeking to implement legal action against the government under judicial review. Read Liberty's press release on Straw's remarks. The UK's Independent Online 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.