[JURIST] Top US military lawyers signed two letters [PDF text] sent to Congress earlier this week supporting President Bush's proposed legislation [PDF text] on military commissions [JURIST news archive] after being urged to do so by the Pentagon's politically-appointed top civilian counsel, the New York Times reported Saturday. Members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps [Wikipedia backgrounder] signed the letters Wednesday addressed to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) [official website] and Sen. John Warner (R-VA) [official website], the respective chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Department of Defense General Counsel William J. Haynes II [official profile], nominated to the post by Bush in early 2001, called the meeting of the military lawyers, who after what the Times calls "hours of negotiation" eventually agreed to endorse part, but not all, of the president's proposal. The specific parts of the bill the military lawyers said they had no objection to and even found "helpful" related to prisoners' rights under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] and the definition of crimes under the War Crimes Act [text]. The Bush administration circulated the letters from the Judge Advocates General Thursday morning.

The letter apparently did not sway members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who subsequently voted [JURIST report] 15-9 Thursday to send their own bill [PDF text] on military commissions, which differs from the administration's legislation, to the full Senate for approval. Some Republican Senators opposed to the Bush administration plan said the military lawyers may have been coerced into signing the letter, although Deputy Air Force JAG Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr. denied the allegation. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Voters in Portugal could go to the polls in January 2007 to vote in a referendum on the legalization of abortion [JURIST news archive] after the ruling Socialist Party [party website, in Portuguese] made the proposal [press release, in Portuguese] on Friday. A party spokesperson stated that current legislation that bans abortions [text, in Portuguese] is "socially unjust." The opposition Christian Democrats, however, plan to fight to keep abortion illegal "as a matter of principle."

The proposed referendum could legalize abortion during the first ten weeks of pregnancy. Portugal last voted on a similar referendum in 1998, when a small majority voted to keep abortion illegal. The Portuguese government attempted to hold another referendum in November 2005, but the country's constitutional court blocked [BBC report] that because President Jorge Sampaio had rejected the option earlier in that legislative session on grounds that not enough people were likely to vote. EuroNews has more.

[JURIST] A US Army spokesman said Friday that the Army has added a new specification to charges against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada [advocacy website; Wikipedia profile] based on a speech [text and video] he gave in August to Veterans for Peace [advocacy website] in which Watada advocated that "to stop an illegal and unjust war, soldiers can choose to stop fighting it." The Army says the speech is another instance of Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman. In August, US Army Lt. Col. Mark Keith, the investigating officer for Watada's case, recommended [JURIST report; Article 32 report, PDF; Watada legal team rebuttal, PDF] that Watada face court-martial on all charges against him.

The military charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] Watada in July in connection with his refusal to deploy to Iraq. Watada has resisted deployment because he believes the Iraq war is unlawful [JURIST report]. He is the first US commissioned officer to publicly refuse Iraq duty and faces over seven years in prison if convicted. AP has more.

[JURIST] UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland [official profile] told the UN Security Council on Friday that sexual abuse of women and girls by soldiers in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo [JURIST news archive] "has become a cancer in Congolese society that seems to be out of control", and said the country's leaders needed to condemn and prosecute it. Egeland acknowledged that some military prosecutions have happened, but insisted "far too little is being done." Current conditions stem from the 5 year civil war in Congo, which has killed nearly 4 million people.

Egeland said he met with Congo President Joseph Kabila [BBC profile] on a recent visit to Africa, stressing that Kabila needs to fire and demote those military and civilian authorities who commit crimes against civilians but that Kabila countered that difficulties during the current transitional government made it hard to prosecute cases. Reuters has more.

In the same report Friday Egeland insisted that the need to ensure there is no impunity for mass murder [JURIST report] outweighed concerns by some in Uganda that International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments against leaders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) [JURIST news archive] could jeopardize the peace process there. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] Leftist protestors objecting to the official results of Mexico's July 2 presidential election [JURIST news archive] took down their so-called "resistance camps" on Mexico City's Reforma Avenue Friday. Supporters of losing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile] stated that they will find alternate means to protest the election, while Obrador told supporters "I am not giving up nor giving in."

Lopez Obrador argued before the Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] in late July that the vote that gave Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile] victory by a margin of 0.6 percent was marred by fraud [JURIST report], but the court rejected most of his challenges [JURIST report] last month on the grounds that there was no evidence of systematic fraud. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two members of the Aryan Brotherhood [Wikipedia backgrounder] prison gang, previously found guilty [AP report] on charges of conspiracy, murder, and racketeering in July, will now serve terms of life in prison without parole after the death penalty [JURIST news archive] phase of their proceeding ended in a mistrial Friday. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of the District Court for the Central District of California [official website] said jurors could not come to a consensus after 4 and a half days of deliberation. Barry "The Baron" Mills and Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, whose trial began in March [JURIST report], will be formally sentenced November 13. The two other defendants on trial in this case will also serve life sentences.

The trial of the two defendants on charges [BBC backgrounder; 2002 indictment, PDF] under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) [text] was one of the largest capital cases in US history and initially involved 16 defendants initially eligible for the death penalty in connection with 32 murders and attempted murders over a 30-year period in jails across the US. AP has more.