[JURIST] Three Canadian citizens supported by Amnesty International Canada [advocacy website] demanded an official inquiry into their cases Thursday along the lines of that undertaken for Maher Arar [JURIST news archive] to determine what role Canadian security forces played in their arrest and alleged torture in Syria between 2001 and 2004. Kuwaiti-born Ahmad El Maati, Syrian-born Abdullah Almalki and Iraqi-born Muayyed Nureddin each claim they were detained and tortured by Syrian military intelligence during trips abroad, with the complicit cooperation [Amnesty backgrounder, PDF] of Canadian officials. Almalki says he was kept in underground solitary confinement for 482 consecutive days and was whipped and beaten with electrical cable. He considers it interrogation and torture by proxy [CBC report] at the behest of the Canadian government.

The three and Amnesty International Canada say that besides clearing their names, a formal review of their cases is additionally necessary to restore confidence in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service [official website] and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [official website]. They say a probe should follow the model of the Arar Commission [official website], which published its final report [JURIST report] last month. Maher Arar, a Canadian software engineer, was detained by US authorities on a 2002 stopover at JFK airport in New York while returning to Canada from a family vacation in Tunisia. He was subsequently sent to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. The Arar Commission found that the US decision to arrest and deport Arar was "very likely" based on faulty, unfair and overstated information passed on by the RCMP. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Sixteen Afghan men were reunited with their families Thursday after being released [DOD press release] by the US military from four years of detention in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The men denied links to Islamic terror groups and alleged abuse at the hands of their captors as they spoke at the offices of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission [UN backgrounder] in Kabul. Habibul Rehman, arrested four years ago when he was only 16, admitted that he had been carrying light weapons like many other Afghanis but that he never fought with the Taliban. He claimed that the men were subjected to practices such as mental torture and sleep deprivation. To date the White House has rejected all allegations of torture [JURIST report] at Guantanamo, and says that the camp respects humanitarian law.

Sayed Mohammad Ali Shah, another ex-detainee who's a medical doctor, told journalists that many in the group still suffer from mental anguish. He claimed that many of the current Guantanamo Bay prisoners are being held due to false reports, based on tribal, ethnic, religious, and political reasons, and that the American military is not investigating these reports before making arrests. Shah met with the commission chief, former Afghan president Sibghatullah Mujaddedi [official profile], and said he was pleased to have the opportunity to talk about his experiences at Guantanamo. There are still approximately 70 Afghan citizens being held there, and Afghanistan is working to repatriate all of them, allocating a section of Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] prison for Afghan terror suspects who must continue to be detained. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Sixteen states have in recent years made it easier for convicted felons to vote, according to new report [official report, PDF] by The Sentencing Project [advocacy website]. Lifetime voting bans in Iowa [JURIST report], Nebraska, and New Mexico have been lifted, and nine additional states have made voting easier for freed prisoners and those merely on probation. An exception to this trend is Mississippi, where the list of crimes for which offenders can be disenfranchised was expanded in 2004. The Mississippi ban, however, is being challenged by the ACLU [JURIST] as was a restriction on parolee voting in Colorado [JURIST report]. The issue of felon voting rights also stands to complicate state government efforts to prevent electoral fraud [JURIST report], as it did in Florida's infamous felon voting list [USA Today article], recently dropped by the Sunshine State.

An underlying reason for the new suffrage drive may be the effective restriction on minority voting rights as a result of the demographically disproportionate number of black inmates. As the Sentencing Project's report notes, "An estimated 1 in 12 African Americans is disenfranchised [by felon voting laws], a rate nearly five times the rate of non-African Americans."

As with so many other procedures, federal law dictates that states determine their own voting rules. Consequently, the spectrum ranges from no voting restrictions on felons in states like Maine and Vermont, all the way to lifetime disenfranchisement for all felons in Kentucky, Florida, and Virginia. Most states, however, simply preclude criminals from voting while incarcerated or on parole. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] Moroccan-born Mounir al-Motassadeq [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who was convicted by a German court [JURIST report] last year for his involvement with the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive], could face a third trial, a judge in Germany's highest court of appeals said Thursday. Though Motassadeq was convicted last year, both the prosecution and defendant filed appeals, and Motassadeq was released on bail [JURIST] report] while appeals of the conviction [JURIST report] are pending. German Federal Constitutional Court [official website, in German] Judge Klaus Tolksdorf said Thursday that "a preliminary assessment seems to point to the prosecutor's appeal being successful," and that he believes Motassadeq knew his acquaintances were planning the attacks. Prosecutors hope to prove that Motassadeq should also be convicted as an accessory to murder since he knew and accepted that people would die.

In his first trial in 2003, Motassadeq was convicted on 3,000 charges of aiding and abetting murder and sentenced to 15-years in prison, but the decision was overturned and a new trial was ordered [JURIST report]. In a retrial, the Hamburg Supreme Court convicted [JURIST report] Motassadeq in August of belonging to a terrorist organization and sentenced him to seven years in prison, but cleared him of his direct involvement in the attacks. A ruling on the appeals is expected on November 16. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] As many as 80 Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees could face trial before military commissions, a US State Department legal adviser said Thursday. John Bellinger [official profile] also said President Bush will sign Congress' recently-passed [JURIST report] military commissions bill [JURIST news archive], on Tuesday, allowing military commission trials "finally to go forward." AP has more.

In a related development, US military officials said Thursday that representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross [official website] have visited with the 14 high-value terror suspects [DNI profiles, PDF] who were transferred from secret CIA prisons to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report] in September. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US Attorney Patrick Meehan [official profile] filed an indictment [PDF text, press release] Thursday against stockbrokers Anthony Postiglione, Jr. and William Lennon, co-founders of Foutainhead Fund LP, alleging that they defrauded investors out of almost $2 million. Both men are charged with eighteen counts of mail fraud and one court of securities fraud, and Postiglione is also charged with one count of obstruction of justice. Postiglione and Lennon worked as stockbrokers and financial consultants and operated a hedge fund out of Wayne, Pennsylvania beginning in 2001 that included 17 investors and raised $5.2 million. While the hedge fund operated at a loss every quarter except one, Postiglione and Lennon withdrew weekly cash payouts and charged excessive personal expenses to the fund's assets, costing investors about $2 million. If convicted, Postiglione faces a maximum sentence of 385 years in prison and a $4,760,000 fine while Lennon faces 365 years and a $4,510,000 fine.


The Securities and Exchange Commission [official website; JURIST news archive] filed a complaint [PDF text] against Postiglione, Lennon and Fountainhead in 2004 which prompted a federal judge to freeze the hedge fund's assets [JURIST report]. Postiglione and Lennon reached a settlement with the SEC, and while neither admitted wrongdoing, Postiglione was banned from associating with any investment advisor and Lennon agreed to a five year ban from the industry. Dow Jones has more.

[JURIST] Dhiren Barot, a British man accused of planning a series of bombs on US and British targets, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to murder for his role in the Gas Limos Project bombing scheme [Washington Post report] and a separate plan to explode dirty bombs. Prosecutors alleged that Barot planned to use a radioactive "dirty bomb" in one of the attacks, which was part of a larger plan for synchronized attacks throughout England, and also planned to blow up three limousines filled with explosives in underground parking garages. In addition to attacks planned throughout England, prosecutors alleged that Barot planned to attack the International Monetary Fund and World Bank [official websites] buildings in Washington DC, the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York City and the Prudential [corporate websites] buildings in Newark, New Jersey. Barot was indicted [text; JURIST report] in New York for the US-related bomb plans last April, along with two other men allegedly involved in the bombing plot.

Barot also faced several other lesser charges, including conspiracy to commit public nuisance, and recording and possessing information for terrorist purposes, but the judge ordered those charges to remain in the files while Baron awaits sentencing for the conspiracy to murder guilty plea. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett [official profile] on Thursday called [press release] the "continuing detention without a fair trial" at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] "unacceptable in terms of human rights" and "ineffective in terms of counterterrorism." In announcing the release of Britain's 2006 Report on Human Rights [TOC; full report, PDF], Beckett reiterated calls for the US to close Guantanamo [JURIST report]. She said the "existence of the camp is as much a radicalising and discrediting influence as it is a safeguard to security."

Beckett's remarks came on the same day that the UK Court of Appeal [official website] upheld the refusal of the Foreign Office [official website] to lobby for the release of nine former UK residents [JURIST report] who are still being held at Guantanamo. AP has more.

[JURIST] The UK Court of Appeal [official website] Thursday upheld an earlier High Court ruling [text] and denied a bid [JURIST report] by the families of three Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees who were UK residents prior to their detention to require the British government to lobby the US for their release. The High Court ruled [JURIST report] in May that the three detainees – Jordanian national Jamil el-Banna, Libyan national Omar Deghayes and Iraqi national Bisher al-Rawi – could not demand that the UK Foreign Office [official website] act on their behalf because the three detainees are not British citizens. The detainees' relatives appealed, arguing discrimination, breach of human rights, legal errors and irrationality. The Court of Appeal’s decision has already been met with disappointment [press release] by Amnesty International [advocacy website], which said Thursday that “the Court of Appeal has missed an opportunity to send a clear message to the UK government that it must fulfill its responsibilities towards all Guantánamo detainees, regardless of whether they are UK citizens or residents.”

Al-Rawi and el-Banna were arrested in 2002 in Gambia during a business trip because of alleged links to terrorism. Deghayes was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan on suspicion of committing terrorist acts against the United States. Al-Rawi and el-Banna insist that British authorities assisted the US [JURIST report] in their alleged extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] from Gambia to Guantanamo. So far, the UK has agreed to allow al-Rawi [JURIST report; Wikipedia profile] to return, but has balked at a US bid to tranfer nine other British residents [JURIST report], saying that US requirements for continued surveillance of the prisoners after their release is unnecessary and unworkable [JURIST report]. Reuters has more. BBC News has local coverage.

[JURIST] The French lower house of parliament, the National Assembly [official website], approved an internationally-controversial bill [legislative materials] Thursday that imposes monetary penalties and jail time on anyone who denies that there was an Armenian genocide [ANI backgrounder] early in the twentieth century. The bill, which passed 106-19, sets a one year prison term and 45,000 euro ($56,570) fine for those gainsaying the death of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. While France’s approximately 500,000 citizens of Armenian origin are pushing for the bill, it could still take time to become law, as both the Senate and the French president have yet to ratify it. Turkey [CIA factbook; JURIST news archive] denies the allegation of genocide [JURIST comment], vehemently opposes the legislation, and has warned that its ratification could strain ties with France. It has urged [JURIST report] the European Union [official website] to oppose the bill and has said it will consider trade sanctions [JURIST report]. Ahead of the National Assembly action Thursday, Turkish papers speculated [AFP report] on whether the bill was designed to delay or even stymie Turkey’s membership negotiations [JURIST report] with the European Union.

On Wednesday, Turkish lawmakers in that country's parliament [official website] debated a retaliatory bill [JURIST report] that would label the mass killing of Algerians by France during the colonial period as genocide [JURIST report] and would make it illegal to deny that the French were responsible. The parliament's Justice Committee nonetheless concluded that there was little support for the measure and deferred it to a subcommittee for further review. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Turkey's most prominent writer, Orhan Pamuk [JURIST news archive], won the Nobel Prize in Literature [recorded audio; press release] Thursday for his work examining the role of Islam in society. Pamuk, a visiting professor at Columbia University, said he was honored to win the prize. His critics claimed Pamuk was awarded the prize "because of his Armenian genocide claims," rather than his novels. Royal Swedish Academy [official website, English version] head Horace Engdahl disputed Pamuk's critics, saying Pamuk won the prize because he "enlarged the roots of the contemporary novel" by linking Western and Eastern culture.

Pamuk made headlines earlier this year when an Istanbul court dropped a state slander case [JURIST report] against him. Pamuk was charged with "public denigration of the Turkish identity" in connection with comments attributed to Pamuk in a Swiss magazine article about Turkey's stance on the mass killing of Armenians during World War II. In July, another Turkish court dismissed a lawsuit against Pamuk [JURIST report] brought by six nationalists claiming Pamuk made the remarks in the article about them. The lawsuit had demanded 6,000 Turkish Lira (US $4,500) from Pamuk for "making false accusations." AP has more.

[JURIST] Five US states permit the use of dogs in prisons to control inmates, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy group] said in a report [text] released Wednesday. Prison systems in Iowa, Connecticut, South Dakota, Utah and Delaware have policies that allow the use of dogs to control inmates in prisons [press release] and remove uncooperative prisoners from their cells. The procedures permit use of unmuzzled dogs and allow guards to order dogs to bite prisoners.

The HRW report says the US is the only known country that authorizes the use of dogs against inmates who refuse to leave their cells. There were 63 cases of dog use in prisons in Iowa during March 2005 to March 2006 and 20 cases in Connecticut during 2005, according to the report. Dogs were rarely used inside prisons in South Dakota, Utah and Delaware. The use of unmuzzled dogs [JURIST report] in questioning detainees at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] in Iraq prompted two military dog handlers to be convicted [JURIST report] on abuse charges. AP has more.

[JURIST] A prominent South Asian rights group has urged [press release] India [JURIST news archive] and Pakistan [JURIST news archive] to abolish the death penalty since it is a "violation of the right to life." South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) [advocacy website], headed by former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral [Wikipedia profile], criticized the possibility of irreversible death penalty punishments and observed that South Asian countries which have abolished the death penalty, like Bhutan and Nepal, have been able to uphold both the rule of law and human rights without them. SAHR also pointed out that the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text] advocates for the abolition of the death penalty and requires that the "sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime."

The death penalty has lately figured prominently in Indian debate especially in the wake of recent high-profile terror attacks [JURIST report] and a public inclination towards mercy taken by Indian President Abdul Kalam [official website]. On Wednesday, however, the Supreme Court of India [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the power of the president under Article 72 of the Indian Constitution [text] to pardon a person sentenced to death is subject to judicial review in the face of "extraneous consideration[s]" such as caste or religious or political affiliation. That ruling stemmed from the case of Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim who received the death penalty for participating in the 2001 attack on India's parliament [BBC report]. Kalam has been pushing for a more liberal and compassionate approach [Indian Express report] to his office's pardon power. In October, he called for a comprehensive debate [Hindu report] in India's parliament on the country's death penalty policy. ANI has more.

[JURIST] Germany intends to set up a "road map" for the ratification of the EU constitution [official website, text; JURIST news archive] when it assumes the rotating EU presidency on January 1, 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website; BBC profile] said Wednesday. Merkel acknowledged that the document would not be approved during Germany's six-month presidency, but called for the treaty to be in place before the next European Parliamentary elections in 2009. Earlier Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [BBC profile] made similar comments, saying that Germany hopes to establish a workable timetable for treaty ratification [AP report] before relinquishing the presidency to Portugal in July 2007.

The constitution is now in limbo after voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] voted against it. All 25 EU member states must ratify the charter before it can come into force. In July, when Finland assumed the EU presidency, the prime minister of Finland promised not to push for ratification [JURIST report] without building consensus among all member nations. EUObserver.com has more.

[JURIST] Portions of an article on torture in Chechnya [BBC backgrounder] written by murdered reporter Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary] before her death were published Thursday by the Novaya Gazeta [media website, in Russian]. The report detailed allegations of torture, including one man who said he was hung from a ceiling and beaten by security officials during questioning about a murder. The article also included four photos that appear to show a man with a bloody face.

Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov [Wikipedia profile] has denied involvement in Politkovskaya's murder. Her death is a suspected contract killing because it occurred shortly after she said in a radio interview that she was working on a story about torture by Chechen forces with ties to Moscow. Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika [official website, in Russian] has taken over the investigation [JURIST report] of her murder. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to bring Politkovskaya's killers to justice, a promise which has been met with skepticism [AFP report] by journalists. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge Karen Caldwell [official profile] has ruled [PDF text] that a Kentucky ban preventing judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign funds is a violation of the First Amendment. The state argued that the ban was in place to promote judicial impartiality, but Caldwell ruled that ethics rules and criminal laws in Kentucky [JURIST news archive] prevent judges from promising to rule in a contributor's favor in exchange for campaign money and noted that, under current law, campaign committees are permitted to ask for contributions on behalf of judges.

The lawsuit, filed by Kentucky Supreme Court candidate Marcus Carey, is one of many similar cases filed since the US Supreme Court [official website] decided Republican Party of Minnesota v. White [opinion text]. In the 2002 decision, the high court ruled that judicial candidates should not be prevented from publicly sharing their views on legal or political issues. Caldwell similarly struck down an ethics rule that prohibited candidates from announcing their political affiliations during campaigns. Thursday's New York Times has more.

[JURIST] State Farm Insurance [corporate website] on Wednesday filed a motion seeking a change in venue for lawsuits filed in southern Mississippi by individuals who claim insurance carriers failed to pay insured losses to those affected by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. The damages requested in the lawsuits [JURIST report] total about $20 billion and State Farm is petitioning the court to remove the cases to northern Mississippi where the opinion of insurance companies is more favorable. State Farm included survey results with its motion, which show that 49 percent of people in southern Mississippi believe that insurance executives are on the same level as child molesters. Additionally, the survey revealed that 88 percent of homes were damaged in southern Mississippi while just 12 percent of northern Mississippi homes were harmed. State Farm is the largest provider of homeowners' insurance in the state.

In the first Katrina-related Insurance lawsuit to go to trial, a federal judge in Mississippi ruled that Nationwide Insurance was not obligated to cover a policyholder's claims [JURIST report] for water damage caused by the hurricane. Reuters has more.