[JURIST] A group of UN human rights experts on Thursday voiced grave concern [statement] "at the escalating wave of violence surrounding the pro-democracy demonstrations throughout Nepal in recent days," noting in particular several incidents where Nepalese police have fired on protesters [JURIST report] during ongoing demonstrations against the rule of King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile]. The experts, including the special rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and torture, said:

We call upon the Government to exercise restraint in policing demonstrations and to guarantee fundamental human rights for all, including the right to life, to physical and psychological integrity, to not be arbitrarily deprived of one's liberty, and to freedom of opinion, expression, association, and assembly.

[JURIST] During the final day of defense arguments in the sentencing trial [case docket] of Zacarias Moussaoui [JURIST news archive], Moussaoui's defense lawyers submitted to the jury a government-approved statement that the government had no evidence that "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid [BBC profile] worked with Moussaoui as a potential 9/11 hijacker. Moussaoui testified [JURIST report] in March that he and Reid were selected by al Qaeda to fly a fifth plane into the White House as part of the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive]. The government statement Thursday, a stipulation read to the jury, referred to evidence that Reid had appointed Moussaoui as the beneficiary of his will during the summer of 2001, indicating that the two did not expect to complete a suicide bombing mission together.

Following the summation of the defense case, prosecutors called a psychiatrist who examined Moussaoui to rebut defense testimony [JURIST report] that Moussaoui suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is unable to prepare an adequate defense. Moussaoui pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to six conspiracy charges [indictment] last year. The jury has already determined that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty and now must decide whether he should be executed. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday, after which the jury will begin deliberations. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's environmental law news, Louisville, Kentucky Mayor Jerry Abramson directed [press release] an advisory group to review and recommend changes to the area's air pollution program. The Strategic Toxic Air Reduction [official website] program was enacted in 2005 after a US Environmental Protection Agency study concluded that local residents face the highest risks from toxic air pollution in the Southeast. Critics of the program claim it is too vague and burdensome, as it requires some 220 industrial sites to determine whether their air emissions are posing health risks beyond their properties. The Courier-Journal has more.

In other environmental law news...

• Rockland County, New York [government website] became one of the first communities in the state to regulate wood furnaces Wednesday. The regulation bans wood furnaces that have a firebox volume of 5 cubic feet or more, which applies to almost all commercially available furnaces. The Board of Health [official website] approved the measure, citing air pollution concerns. Proponents of the furnaces argue that with the rising cost of heating oil, wood furnaces are more economical. The Journal News has more.
  
  
• The Houston Texas City Council [official website] voted Wednesday to reject a request from Houston mayor Bill White to sue Valero Energy [corporate website] for air pollution. Valero operates an oil refinery which allegedly violated its emissions permits at least six times last year. The City Council said that it is working toward an agreement with the company that would cover both the violations and its continuing operations, and that the state Commission on Environmental Quality [official website] was conducting its own investigation into the violations which could lead to charges by the state attorney general. The Houston Chronicle has more.
  
  
• The state of Victoria, Australia [government website] will begin to fine people that waste water under a plan announced Thursday by acting Premier John Thwaites. The plan will establish stricter water regulations and calls for voluntary reductions in water use by individuals of 15 percent by 2010, and by 30 percent by 2020. There is concern that Melbourne could run out of water by 2020 if no action is taken. The government has already placed a number of programs [official] into effect. AAP has more.

[JURIST] US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts [OYEZ profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday selected [press release, PDF] James Duff [firm profile], a former aide to Chief Justice Rehnquist, as the next director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts [official website], where he will represent the federal courts before Congress during budget and salary negotiations. Duff will face the task of ironing out frictions between the federal judiciary and Congress stemming from controversial judicial outcomes and from Congressional attempts to curb perceived "judicial activism."

Roberts indicated in his first year-end report [JURIST report] last January that Congress should address courtroom security issues, and that low judicial pay has driven top judges to the private sector, threatening the "independence of the judiciary." AP has more.

[JURIST] Spanish lawmakers have drafted legislation that will provide financial compensation to the victims of terrorist attacks on Spanish soil, as well as funding for programs to assist victims with finding new jobs and homes. The bill is expected to be submitted to the parliament this summer, when the Spanish government may engage in peace talks with the Basque separatist group ETA [ICT backgrounder].

The bill was announced to the press a week after a Spanish judge charged 29 individuals [JURIST report] for their involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive], during which 191 people were killed and almost 2000 were wounded. Expatica has more.

[JURIST] A lawsuit filed by the Russian Justice Ministry's Federal Registration Service [official website, in Russian] against the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees [advocacy website], a local NGO representing the rights of soldiers, was dropped Wednesday after the group publicized the fact that they had received a summons to appear in court. The lawsuit was initially filed based on allegations that for the past seven years the committee had failed to comply with a law requiring organizations to notify authorities of its existence. Officials admitted that the NGO had provided reports for five of the seven years, and announced they were willing to overlook the two years for which reports had not been filed.

Earlier this week, a controversial law restricting NGO activity took effect [JURIST report]. Under the new law, NGO officials must file detailed reports of their expenses and activities. Rules are strict for local NGOs and even more stringent for foreign NGOs. Authorities have denied that the lawsuit against Soldiers' Mothers was related to the new law. The group made headlines earlier this year by bringing attention to the problem of conscript abuse in the Russian military [JURIST report]. UPI has more. The Moscow Times has local coverage [subscription required].

[JURIST] Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, and Ohio have joined California and New Jersey [JURIST report] in suing tobacco companies for money they say is owed under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) [text]. The Illinois attorney general says the state is owed almost $40 million [press release] and is suing to recover that money and to ensure that the state doesn't lose out on future money as well. The dispute arises from a provision of the settlement that allowed tobacco companies to reduce payments in response to lost business. Breakdowns in negotiations have led to the suits [AP report].

Maine filed suit [press release] seeking approximately $5.5 million for the same dispute [AP report]. Ohio is seeking $38 million [press release]. More states are also expected to file claims, including New York and Connecticut.

[JURIST] China responded Thursday to criticism [press release, DOC] from the British Transplantation Society [organization website], which accused the country of harvesting and selling the organs of executed Chinese prisoners, by saying that similar practices had been used on patients in Great Britain a few years ago. The British group said Wednesday that an increasing amount of evidence has been uncovered which indicates that the organs of executed Chinese prisoners were being removed and sold without the consent of the prisoners or their families.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry [official website] spokesman acknowledged earlier this week that the use of organs without consent did occur, but said it was rarely done and illegal. Last month, the Chinese Ministry of Health [official website, in Chinese] addressed the issue by announcing a ban on the sale of human organs [JURIST report] in an effort to stifle the black market trade for prisoners' organs. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The National Security Archive [official website], a research institute at George Washington University, won partial summary judgment on Wednesday in its lawsuit [case documents] against the US Air Force, as the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] ruled [PDF text; press release] that the Air Force had engaged in a pattern or practice of violating the Freedom of Information Act [text; summary]. The National Security Archive filed the lawsuit in 2005 seeking Air Force compliance with over 80 FOIA requests, some of which have been pending for 18 years.

The court agreed that the Air Force had a "dismal record" of compliance but stopped short of ordering the Air Force to fulfill the 82 pending requests in question. Instead, a hearing was scheduled for May 22 to determine what documents should be released. AP has more.

[JURIST] Afghanistan's peace and reconciliation commission Thursday praised the release [JURIST report] of a list of detainees [text, PDF] held at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], which was made available as the result of a Freedom of Information Act [text; summary] lawsuit [JURIST report] filed in March by the Associated Press [media website]. A senior official for the Afghan commission [JURIST report] which has been working to free their citizens at Guantanamo said they plan to send a delegation to Cuba to check on the 125 Afghan prisoners. An official for the Pakistan Interior Ministry [official website], however, was not as pleased with the contents of the list, saying that the number of Pakistan detainees was much larger than expected since the country had believed only seven of its citizens were being held at Guantanamo. AP has more.

Meanwhile Thursday, China called on the US to repatriate any of the 22 Chinese prisoners being held at the US prison base who are Uighurs [Wikipedia profile]. A China Foreign Ministry [official website] official said the country believes that some of the Uighurs are part of a militant separatist group currently fighting for an independent state. The US said that it cannot release the prisoners back to China, even though they have been determined not to be enemy combatants, for fear that they will face torture or execution. Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear the Uighur detainees' expedited appeal [JURIST report] of a decision [PDF text] allowing their continued detention, saying that it would not take the case before an appeals court could consider it. Aljazeera has more.

[JURIST] A panel from the US House Committee on International Relations [official website] sharply criticized China's human rights record on Wednesday, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's Thursday visit to the White House [arrival ceremony transcript; CNN report]. At a Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations [official website] hearing [official website, press release], subcommittee chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) said:

This week's visit of President Hu Jintao of China to the United States provides the U.S. Congress and people an opportunity to bring to the attention of U.S. policy makers and the world community the terrible human rights situation as it exists in China today. It will also help provide the vital context for any relationship we should have with China. And it will, I hope convey our unshakeable resolve and commitment to press Beijing for serious, measurable and durable reform. The people of China deserve no less. It is our moral duty to stand with the oppressed, not with the oppressor.

State Department human rights reports and the consistent reporting from very reputable NGOs indicate that Chinese government repression of its citizens continues. In fact, the current Chinese regime is one of the very worst violators of human rights in the world, and continues to commit every single day egregious crimes against its own citizens. At a rough count, the most recent State Department Human Rights Report for China ran to about 45,000 words. Before it even gets down to details, the report lists 22 major rights problems. Few if any nations can even begin to match this unseemly record, from the systematic denial of political freedom and use of torture to interference in the most private matters of family and conscience.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Philippines [official website] Thursday ruled [opinion text] unconstitutional a 2005 executive order [text] from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [official website; JURIST news archive] which prevented government officials from being questioned in investigations against her regarding vote-rigging and election fraud [JURIST report] in 2004. Arroyo escaped attempts to impeach her [JURIST report] last September and implemented the order when two military officers answered questions in an investigation of the alleged fraud conducted by the country's Senate. The 15-panel high court unanimously ruled that Arroyo's order was unconstitutional due to a specific list of officials whom she would not allow to testify before Congress.

A spokesman for Arroyo said her government accepted the court's decision, but expressed the hope that opposition leaders would not use it to excessively promote an agenda against the president. The Philippines Supreme Court is expected to rule next week on another of Arroyo's orders - the week-long state of emergency [Proclamation 1017 text; JURIST report] that she implemented in February after the military said they uncovered an alleged coup plot against her. Reuters has more. The Manila Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps [advocacy website], a private organization of volunteers who patrol US borders, said Thursday that they would begin building a security fence [press release] on land owned by supporters along the US-Mexico border if President Bush doesn't direct the government to do so. The debate on immigration reform [JURIST news archive] is expected to be an important issue [JURIST report] when Congress reconvenes on April 25. Disagreements over the scope of new immigration legislation stalled measures [JURIST report] in the Senate before the break. In December, the House of Representative passed [JURIST report] its version of the border security bill [HR 4437], which includes plans to build a security fence across 621 miles of the US-Mexico border.

Six landowners in Arizona have offered to support the venture, and others in California, Texas, and New Mexico are also on board. The federal government owns most of the land directly on the border, however, so the group's construction can't be a complete solution. The group instead hopes to show the government that a fence is effective and economical. AP has more.

[JURIST] A travel ban on Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu [BBC profile] has been extended for another year, Vanunu's lawyer said Thursday. Israel's Ministry of Justice [official website] has rejected Vanunu's appeal, saying that he could reveal more military secrets. Vanunu has said he had no more secrets to tell and that he wanted to start a new life abroad. He has not yet decided whether to launch another appeal during the year-long restriction.

Vanunu was released from prison [JURIST report] in April 2004 after serving an 18-year sentence for telling nuclear secrets to the UK Sunday Times. He has been barred from leaving Israel [JURIST report] since leaving prison and was indicted in March 2005 for violating the strict terms [JURIST report] of his release. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Svetlana Bakhmina [advocacy website], a lawyer for the Russian oil company Yukos [corporate website; JURIST news archive], was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and embezzlement for her part in a scheme to strip assets worth over $300 million from a Yukos subsidiary. Bakhmina was sentenced to seven years at a high-security penal colony. Bakhmina pleaded not guilty and argued that she acted on orders from her superiors at the company. Bakhmina's lawyers may ask that she be released under an amnesty program that applies to women with small children who are sentenced to terms of less than 10 years in prison. She has been in custody since her arrest in December 2004 despite calls for her release [JURIST report]. An appeal of the ruling is also planned.

This is the latest in a string of convictions against Yukos executives. Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive; defense website] last year was sentenced to eight years [JURIST report] for tax fraud and evasion. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage.

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's international brief, at least three protestors were killed in Kathmandu as hundreds violated a day-long curfew in the capital city ordered by the Nepalese government aimed at breaking the continued pro-democracy protests [JURIST news archive] staged against the rule of King Gyanendra [official profile, BBC profile]. The three individuals were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital and doctors are currently working on nearly fifty other protestors injured when Nepalese police and security forces fired rubber bullets, live ammunition, and tear gas into the crowd. Local human rights agency INSEC [advocacy website] had to take the wounded to the hospital, as the ambulance services have been suspended. Protests continued Thursday, despite Gyanendra's release of two top political prisoners [Times report] Wednesday and security forces have received shoot-on-sight orders [Aljazeera report] in order to enforce the curfew. Nepalese officials have also refused to issue passes to diplomats, UN personnel, and other NGO monitoring teams, a move the UN called a clear violation [UN News report] of the UNHCHR's agreement with the government of Nepal. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

In other international legal news ...

• British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] called Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] a "disgrace" during a question and answer session in the British Parliament on Wednesday. Blair told reporters that while Britain was limited in what effect it could have on the political landscape in Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive], the UK would continue to use all possible diplomatic pressure to force change in the country, but acknowledged that there was a limit to what could be accomplished. Blair also called for an increased effort in the international community, including the UN, to force change in the current status quo. Zimbabwe's Inkundla.net has local coverage.
  
  
• A UN military assessment team that was designed to begin planning for the scheduled take-over of peacekeeping duties in the Darfur region [JURIST news archive] of Sudan was denied entry visas by the Sudanese government [official website] on Wednesday. UN officials called the denial a "bump in the road" and said that contingency planning for the upcoming take-over would continue. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton called the decision a mistake "that undercuts our ability to do contingency planning." JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.
  
  
• Kenyan Auditor-General E.N. Mwai has called on the Kenyan government to take legal steps to have nearly 18 contracts [audit report] with companies hired to perform security projects declared null and void. Mwai, who was conducting an investigation into the legitimacy of government contracts with private companies, discovered that seven of the companies contracted with the government were "ghosts" without any real offices or addresses. Mwai also called for the government to compel the heads of the ministries that signed to contracts to reveal all relevant information and warned that legal action for fraud and embezzlement could be taken if complicity were found among government officials. Kenya's East African Standard has local coverage.

[JURIST] According to figures compiled by Amnesty International [advocacy website], 2,148 people were executed around the world in 2005, with the most executions being performed in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the US. In its report [text] released Thursday, Amnesty noted that China executed 94 percent of the total number, while 94 people were executed in Iran, 86 in Saudi Arabia, and 60 in the US. The human rights group said the numbers were approximate and potentially much higher because of the secrecy that many countries give to the death penalty [JURIST news archive], noting especially that the numbers in China are most likely much higher [JURIST report]. A Chinese legal expert has estimated the real figure to be closer to 8,000 rather than the 1,770 executions actually reported by the country.

Amnesty also reports that almost 5,200 people were sentenced to death in 2005 and that over 20,000 people are currently on death row around the world. AI Secretary-General Irene Khan on Thursday called for an international ban of the death penalty [press release], saying "The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights, because it contravenes the essence of human values, It is often applied in a discriminatory manner, follows unfair trials or is applied for political reasons." Liberia and Mexico have recently abolished capital punishment and 86 countries around the world have now outlawed the death penalty. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A Bosnian immigrant admitted in a US district court Wednesday that he lied to US immigration officers [JURIST report] about his participation in ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War when he allegedly participated in the 1995 killings of 1,200 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica. Marko Boskic currently lives in the Boston area and has not been formally charged with war crimes related to the Srebrenica massacre [PBS backgrounder; JURIST news archive], but has been charged with five counts of lying [JURIST report] to US immigration officials. Boskic told the court that he was threatened by Serb separatists that if he did not participate in the killings, he would be executed.

Boskic pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charges and has petitioned the court to suppress his self-incriminating statements, which he made during an August 2004 meeting with federal officials. The immigrant said he admitted his involvement in the massacre, the worst single massacre in Europe since World World II, because he thought the US investigators were conducting a probe into high-ranking Serbian military officials. Final arguments will be heard on Boskic's motion to suppress on May 1. AP has more.

[JURIST] Efforts to identify a country willing to take in former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] after his war crimes trial at The Hague are now focused on Denmark, according to diplomats speaking on the condition of anonymity. A request has been made informally by US officials leading the search for a country, but Denmark said it would not entertain the request until it was formally made. The Netherlands has said it would hold Taylor's trial at The Hague [JURIST report], but only on the condition that another country accept him immediately after, which Austria and Sweden [JURIST report] have already refused to do because they are concerned that Taylor may still have political control from inside prison.

Taylor has been charged with 11 counts of war crimes [amended indictment, PDF; summary] related to the civil war in Sierra Leone and is currently being held there. He has petitioned the court [JURIST report] to keep his trial in Sierra Leone, and the court said it will consider his request when they return from recess on April 24. AP has more.