[JURIST] A European Parliament delegation [official website] met with Romanian lawmaker Norica Nicolai [official profile, in Romanian] on Tuesday as part of its ongoing investigation [JURIST news archive] into allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] held terror suspects in secret prisons [COE materials] throughout eastern Europe as part of its rendition program [JURIST news archive]. Nicolai, who led Romania's investigation into CIA flights in the country, repeated denials [JURIST report] that Romania hosted detention centers or allowed detainee dropoffs, but she was unable to deny the possibility that detainees were transported through Romania on refueling stopovers. She reported that a review of European air traffic control documents indicated that while the planes were on Romania soil, no passengers left the planes and no foreigners entered them. Previously, Nicolai had stated that the committee had investigated every flight through Romania's five airports between 2001 and 2006 and found no irregularities or suspicious flights.

The visiting EU lawmakers are on a three-day fact-finding trip, meeting with Romanian intelligence heads, lawmakers, aviations authorities, journalists, and representatives of NGOs. Romania has become an epicenter for CIA abuse investigations since it and Poland [JURIST reports] were singled out as hosts to CIA prisons by a Council of Europe [official website] draft report [PDF text; JURIST report] in June. AP has more.

[JURIST] An independent United Nations [official website] commission released a report [PDF, official press release] on Tuesday calling for criminal investigations into the former prime minister of East Timor [JURIST news archive], Mari Alkatiri [BBC profile] and four other former government officials in relation to armed confrontations between the government and military that left 37 dead earlier this year. The report claims to have found no support for allegations that Alkari armed local militia groups [JURIST report] to kill his political opponents, but it recommended he be investigated for weapons offenses and for illegally using armed forces to control protests in April. The report also implicated the former head of military police Alfredo Reinado, former interior minister Rogerio Lobato, former defense minister Roque Rodrigues, and head of defense Taur Matan Ruak. In addition to potential individual wrongdoing, the report cited "institutional weaknesses and divisions within and between institutions" as a cause of the violence.

Alkatiri resigned in June after his dismissal of hundreds of striking members of the armed forces led to rioting [BBC report] in April and continued violence throughout May [JURIST report]. The UN commission, formed at the request of Secretary General Kofi Annan [official website] in June, released its report to the Timorese Parliament in Dili. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The nephew of assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat [CNN profile] began a sit-in in front of Egypt's parliament on Tuesday to protest his upcoming military trial [JURIST report] for implicating the Egyptian army in his uncle's assassination 25 years ago [BBC archive]. Talat al-Sadat declared his intent to boycott his trial on Wednesday, claiming his right to a defense team has been violated and that he refused to be tried by a military court. He stressed his innocence and affirmed his respect for the army.

Al-Sadat, a politician from the small Al-Ahrar [Wikipedia backgrounder] opposition party, has recently stepped up his attacks on the government of President Hosni Mubarak [official profile]. In several interviews marking the 25th anniversary of his uncle's death, al-Sadat insinuated [Aljazeera report] that Mubarak, the then-vice-president who has governed Egypt [JURIST news archive] since the assassination, was involved in the murder and that senior army officials and his uncle's bodyguards were party to it. Egyptian rights groups have also decried al-Sadat's military trial [AFP report], contending his only crime was exercising freedom of speech. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Dr. Lester M. Crawford [official profile], former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website], pleaded guilty to charges [criminal information, PDF] of conflict of interest and false writing [US Code text] at his arraignment hearing Tuesday afternoon in front of US Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson. Both crimes are misdemeanors and carry a combined maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $200,000 fine. Crawford's lawyers said earlier in the week that he would plead guilty to the charges [JURIST report].

According to a press release [text] from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the false writings charge stemmed from Crawford's failure to disclose his and/or his wife's ownership of stock in several "significantly regulated organizations." That list included such companies as such as Embrex, Sysco, Teleflex and PepsiCo [corporate websites]. The charge of conflict of interest involved FDA proceedings that Crawford oversaw that directly concerned PepsiCo and Sysco while he owned stock in both companies. Sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2007. AP has more.

[JURIST] European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso [official profile] has suggested in a speech delivered in the UK that a different name be used to enact the institutional reforms set out in the failed European Constitution [JURIST news archive], echoing a similar notion advanced earlier this year by German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website in German, BBC profile] and EU foreign ministers [JURIST report]. Acknowledging the constitution's failure to gain support in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports], Barroso ventured in remarks Monday that "[p]erhaps the grand finality of the word 'constitution' set it up as a hostage to fortune, both to inter-governmentalists who felt it went too far, and to federalists, who felt it did not go far enough." Instead, Barroso suggested, "A new institutional settlement for the EU should be seen within the same intellectual framework as the continued reform of existing EU policies."

The speech was aimed at rousing greater support for the European Union [official website] in Britain, and Barroso insisted to so-called Eurosceptics [Times report] that the EU was not "created by foreigners for the sole purpose of eroding the sovereignty of the United Kingdom," but was instead a "uniquely effective instrument" for developing solutions to "new cross-border challenges." Climate change, global poverty and increasing security were cited as among those challenges, and Barroso championed stronger institutions as a path to meeting them, because "the current set-up is less than optimal." Nevertheless, he conceded that "the nation state is, and will, I think, remain the principle source of political power, because it is to the nation state that most Europeans feel greatest allegiance." He went on to admonish the British for their reticence toward the Constitution and greater integration:

The UK's role in developing Europe is a vital role and the UK can take pride in its contribution. And yet it sometimes seems reluctant to do so. This may be because of your native modesty. But it will never work as a means of convincing the British public of the need for Europe. You will never persuade people to support an organisation which you pretend does not exist.

[JURIST] China [JURIST news archive] is building a large barbed wire and concrete fence along parts of its border with North Korea [JURIST news archive], according to farmers and visitors in the area. A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment or release information on border security. But experts and an official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press the project was approved in 2003 and is being spearheaded by the military. While North Korea and China have long enjoyed amicable relations, the border has become a growing security concern over the past decade as thousands of refugees from North Korea [JURIST news archive] took advantage of the lightly guarded border to enter China illegally. China [JURIST news archive] also may be trying to mark its border with North Korea along the Tumen and Yalu Rivers, Professor Kim Woo-jun of the Institute of East and West Studies in Seoul told AP. He said China and North Korea drew their border in a secret treaty that was never reported to the United Nations [official website]. AP has more.

Once largely identified with the notorious and now-demolished Berlin Wall [Wikipedia backgrounder], so-called "security fences" are increasingly used by nations worried that their borders may be compromised. In September the US Congress passed [JURIST report] the Secure Fence Act of 2006 [HR 6061 text, PDF], authorizing construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border [JURIST news archive] to curb illegal immigration into the United States; the US Department of Homeland Security also plans to put up an electronic "virtual fence" [JURIST report] along the 49th parallel [Wikipedia backgrounder] line facing Canada, traditionally hailed as the world's longest "undefended border." Israel has built a security fence [official website; JURIST news archive] to prevent unauthorized movement of people from the Gaza Strip across the line established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Recently, Saudi Arabia announced plans to build a 900-kilometer fence [Aljazeera report] along its border with Iraq to improve security.

[JURIST] A federal judge in Houston on Tuesday vacated the conviction [PDF text] and dismissed the indictment of Enron founder Ken Lay [defense website; Houston Chronicle profile]. Lay was convicted [JURIST report] in May on fraud and conspiracy charges [indictment, PDF] for providing investors with false and misleading financial information from 1999 up until Enron [JURIST news archive] filed bankruptcy in late 2001. He died suddenly [JURIST report] of a heart attack in July prompting his lawyers to ask that Lay's conviction be vacated [JURIST report] and the indictment dismissed. Lay died before his sentencing date and therefore was not afforded an opportunity to exhaust the appeals process, and no final judgment was issued in the case. Under the "doctrine of abatement," federal courts may vacate convictions of criminal defendants that die pending appeal.

The US Justice Department had asked US District Judge Simeon T. Lake III to defer a ruling [JURIST report] in the matter to allow Congress time to consider a bill drafted by DOJ lawyers that would remove the doctrine of abatement from the criminal code, but Lay's lawyers pressed for speedy ruling [JURIST report] last week, on the grounds that Congress adjourned in September with neither introduction nor passage of any such bill. With the vacated conviction, the federal government now has no means of seizing property controlled by the Lay estate to compensate victims of the Enron collapse. Instead, victims will have to pursue civil remedies against Lay [JURIST report] in order to recover money lost when Enron declared bankruptcy. The Houston Chronicle has more.

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont [official website; BBC profile] said Tuesday that Thailand [JURIST news archive] will remain under martial law but will ease restrictions on political gatherings. Martial law currently prohibits gatherings of more than five people. The interim government, formally installed [BBC report] October 9 after receiving the approval of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, will allow meetings in venues such as universities and auditoriums. Surayud said the easing of restrictions will take place after consultation with the military and approval of the newly appointed National Legislative Assembly.

Human rights groups and the US government [JURIST reports] have urged Thailand [JURIST news archive] to revoke the martial law imposed [JURIST report] on the country by military leaders who seized power from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] in a bloodless coup [JURIST report] September 19. Shinawatra, currently in London, has been warned not to return [JURIST report] to Thailand until martial law is lifted. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge Monday rejected Missouri's lethal injection protocols as unconstitutional [JURIST report] for the second time. Last month, US District Judge Fernando Gaitan [official profile] ordered [PDF] Missouri [JURIST news archive] to submit new protocols [JURIST report] by October 27 for carrying out the state death penalty [JURIST news archive]. The decision is in response to a lawsuit [case materials] filed by convicted murderer Michael Taylor [NCADP backgrounder], who claims Missouri's execution procedures are "constitutionally cruel" because the drug mixture could lead to severe pain for the inmate. In Monday's ruling, Gaitan again expressed concern about subjecting inmates to unreasonable risk of cruel and unusual punishment. In July, the judge had also ordered [JURIST report] the Missouri Department of Corrections [official website] to have a board-certified anesthesiologist assist in executions. Earlier this month, the state's attorneys submitted the same protocols Missouri has been using and asked Gaitan to reconsider his September decision. AP has more.

Like other states that authorize lethal injection [DPIC backgrounder], Missouri uses a three-drug regime. The first drug acts as a painkiller while the second paralyzes and the third drug causes a fatal heart attack. A 2005 study [registration required] published in the medical journal Lancet [journal website] suggested that the painkiller may wear off before the inmate dies.

[JURIST] The music industry filed lawsuits Tuesday against 8,000 defendants in 17 countries for allegedly participating in illegal file-sharing. The industry, represented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) [official website], reported that its latest wave of lawsuits targets people who upload copyrighted songs to file-sharing networks. Many of those being sued are parents of children who are accused of illegally sharing music files on the Internet.

Many countries have enacted tougher file-sharing laws to combat illegal downloading. Russia's new copyright protection law [JURIST report], implemented in September, is the most recent. IFPI's last wave of lawsuits [JURIST report] was a year ago against what was at the time its largest group of defendants - 2,100 allegedly illegal uploaders in 16 nations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [advocacy website] has said that the organization will monitor polling places [press release] during the upcoming mid-term elections on November 7 in ten states chosen in part because of a history of problems in those locations. NAACP President Bruce Gordon [official profile] stated Monday that the organization "will take steps to counter obstacles to voter participation," and the NAACP reported that it will partner with other organizations to handle complaints of irregularities and other voter problems at polling stations. Any problems will be reported the US Justice Department [official website].

The states to be monitored are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. AP has more.

[JURIST] The chief judge presiding over Saddam Hussein's genocide trial [JURIST news archive; BBC timeline] agreed Tuesday to allow two lawyers representing one of Hussein's co-defendants to return to court. The lawyers had been participating in a boycott of the trial [JURIST report], but Sultan Hashim Al-Tai, Hussein's defense minister, requested that Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa give the lawyers leave to return to court. Khalifa agreed, but when bailiffs summoned the lawyers, they failed to appear. Khalid al-Dulaimi [JURIST news archive], Hussein's lead defense lawyer, denied Tuesday that his colleagues would return to court and instead said that the boycott will continue.

Last week, al-Dulaimi stated that defense lawyers will continue their boycott [JURIST report], which began in September shortly after Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri was replaced [JURIST report] by Khalifa to preside over the genocide trial. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] President George W. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; S 3930 summary] Tuesday. The US Congress approved the bill [JURIST report] late last month after leaders of the House of Representatives decided to forego the process of reconciling slightly-divergent House and Senate versions, with the House instead adopting the Senate version of the legislation.

The military commissions bill [JURIST news archive] became necessary after the US Supreme Court ruled in June that the commissions, as initially constituted, lacked proper legal authorization [JURIST report]. The law provides statutory authorization for military commission trials for Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and the Bush administration has promised to immediately take steps toward beginning prosecution [briefing transcript; AP report]. A senior state department official said last week that as many as 80 detainees could face trial by military commission [JURIST report].

Under the Military Commissions Act [CRS summary], the president is authorized to establish military commissions to try unlawful enemy combatants. The commissions are authorized to sentence defendants to death, and defendants are prevented from invoking the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials] as a source of rights during commission proceedings. The law contains a highly-controversial provision stripping detainees of the right to file habeas corpus petitions in federal court and also allows hearsay evidence to be admitted during proceedings, so long as the presiding officer determines it to be reliable. The law addresses permissible interrogation methods, making US interrogators subject to only a limited range of "grave breaches" purporting to reflect the requirements of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and clarifies [JURIST report] what actions would subject interrogators to liability under the existing federal War Crimes Act [text; JURIST report].

A legal challenge to the law [JURIST report] has already been filed by a group of Afghan detainees who argue that Congress, by passing the bill, endangered the rights [CCR press release] of detainees. The habeas stripping provisions of the new law apply retroactively, and in order for the detainees to be successful, a judge will have to strike down the portion of the new law that precludes the challenges.

10:26 AM ET - Signing the Military Commissions Act, Bush called the law "one of the most important pieces of legislation in the War on Terror." In remarks [text] before signing the bill, Bush said:

The bill I'm about to sign also provides a way to deliver justice to the terrorists we have captured. In the months after 9/11, I authorized a system of military commissions to try foreign terrorists accused of war crimes. These commissions were similar to those used for trying enemy combatants in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and World War II. Yet the legality of the system I established was challenged in the court, and the Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions needed to be explicitly authorized by the United States Congress.

And so I asked Congress for that authority, and they have provided it. With the Military Commission Act, the legislative and executive branches have agreed on a system that meets our national security needs. These military commissions will provide a fair trial, in which the accused are presumed innocent, have access to an attorney, and can hear all the evidence against them. These military commissions are lawful, they are fair, and they are necessary.

When I sign this bill into law, we will use these commissions to bring justice to the men believed to have planned the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. We'll also seek to prosecute those believed responsible for the attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors six years ago last week. We will seek to prosecute an operative believed to have been involved in the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 innocent people and wounded 5,000 more. With our actions, we will send a clear message to those who kill Americans: We will find you and we will bring you to justice.

[JURIST] A lawyer for former Guantanamo Bay detainee Murat Kurnaz [AI case sheet; chronology, PDF], a Turkish citizen who is also a legal resident of Germany, said Tuesday that Germany is investigating allegations of abuse by German soldiers. Kurnaz, who spent almost five years at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] before being returned to Germany [JURIST report] in August, has alleged that German soldiers slammed his head into the ground and pulled him by the hair in front of US soldiers in Afghanistan. Kurnaz has also claimed [JURIST report] that he had been subjected to torture, physical abuse and sexual humiliation by US interrogators while at Guantanamo. Kurnaz's lawyer said investigations into the alleged German abuse are being conducted by state prosecutors in the city of Potsdam and by the German Defense Ministry [official website, English version]. Kurnaz has also agreed to cooperate with a parliamentary inquiry that is investigating the possible cooperation between German officials and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website].

If the allegations by Kurnaz are proven to be true, Germany may face further embarrassment after accusations that the government was involved in US rendition flights [JURIST news archive] through Europe. Khaled el-Masri [JURIST news archive], a German citizen born in Kuwait, has already testified [JURIST report] about his alleged rendition to Afghanistan by US intelligence agents. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The trial of six suspected Islamic militants accused of planning an attack against Dutch politicians began Monday in the Netherlands. The defendants include twenty-year-old Samir Azzouz [Wikipedia profile], whose previous acquittal sparked intense criticism of Dutch anti-terrorism laws. Azzouz has been arrested three times in the Netherlands [JURIST news archive] and was acquitted last year of participating in a terrorist conspiracy [JURIST report]. A search of his home uncovered bomb-making materials, a nuclear reactor, and maps of the Dutch Parliament [official website], but the court ruled that although he had a "terrorist intent," his activities were not in the stages of posing a real threat. After his acquittal and a public outcry, Dutch legislators adopted more stringent anti-terror measures [JURIST report] prohibiting membership in terrorist organizations and recruiting for such groups.

In October 2005, Azzouz was rearrested after increased surveillance by Dutch security officials who suspected Azzouz and his co-defendants of plotting a new attack on the headquarters of the AIVD Dutch security forces [official website]. Prosecutors outlined new evidence against Azzouz before the court Monday, including a suicide-bomber video that he recorded, possession of automatic weapons and ammunition, and jihad training materials. Police also uncovered a list of home addresses for Dutch politicians [AP report], including Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende [official website]. A verdict against the six men is expected next month. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The number of hate crimes committed in the US in 2005 fell 6 percent when compared to 2004 numbers, but the percentage of race-based incidents increased slightly, according to figures in a new report [website; press release] from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website]. In 2005, police forces across the country reported 7,163 hate crimes based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and disabilities, while 7,649 incidents were reported in 2004. The number of crimes based on race made up 54.7 percent of all reported hate crimes last year, which is higher than the 52.9 percent reported in 2004. Crimes based on religious beliefs made up 17 percent of the total and sexual orientation crimes made up just over 14 percent.

The FBI report indicates that in half of the hate crimes, the victims were assaulted including six murders and three rapes, while the other half of the crimes were reports of intimidation. Of the known perpetrators, 60 percent were white and 20 percent were black. The report was based on information gathered from police agencies across the US, including state, city, county, tribal, and federal law enforcement bodies. In 2004, the FBI reported an increase in racially motivated hate crimes [JURIST report] over those committed in 2003. AP has more.

[JURIST] Two terror suspects whose movement had been restricted under control orders [UK backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] in the UK were reported as missing Monday. One of the individuals is an Iraqi who appears to have been missing for several months, while the other suspect, a British man of Pakistani origin, escaped through the window of a mental health facility earlier this month. UK Home Office Minister Tony McNulty [official profile] said that he does not believe British citizens are at risk and responded to criticism that the public should have been informed sooner [Liberty press release] by saying everyone who had a need to know was told. The police have begun an intensive search for the two men and airports and ports have also been put on notice.

Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 [text], Britain allows control orders [JURIST report] when individuals are suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, but there is insufficient evidence to support prosecution. The orders can mandate that the suspects be confined to their homes and not have any communication with others. Earlier this year, a British court ruled [JURIST report] that control orders breach a suspect's human rights, but did not go as far to say that it is illegal for the Home Office to authorize the orders. BBC News has more.