[JURIST] Canadian officials are considering whether to deport an American sex offender who reached a plea agreement [JURIST report] with a US judge allowing him to serve probation in Canada [JURIST news archive]. Malcolm Watson, a former teacher at a private school in Buffalo, was released on bail Friday a day after he was arrested at the US-Canada border on suspicion of violating the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [text]. A Canadian immigration official presiding at Watson's detention hearing said that he posed no immediate threat to society, but ordered him to report to a full admissibility hearing to be held in the next few weeks. Earlier this week, a New York State judge sentenced Watson to three years' probation [Buffalo News report] for endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree sexual abuse, ordering him to return to the US only to meet with a probation officer. Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day [official profile] said the government would file an application to block Watson's entry so that Canada does not become "a haven for pedophiles or anyone else committing a serious crime...We don't want U.S. courts getting the notion that we just take people here that they would have put in jail"

Watson's lawyer says that his client merely kissed and touched a single 15-year-old girl - conduct that is not a crime in Canada, where the age of consent is 14 [legislative backgrounder]. Watson has lived in Ontario with his wife and children for four years. CTV News has more. Canadian Press has additional coverage. The Buffalo News has local US coverage.

[JURIST] The British judge presiding over the trial of 13 men arrested [JURIST report] and charged [JURIST news archive] in connection with the alleged terror plot [JURIST report] to blow up US-bound jetliners over the Atlantic [JURIST news archive] urged prosecutors and defense lawyers Friday to avoid any further delays in the case, which is already not expected to begin before 2008 [JURIST report]. Justice David Calvert-Smith [Wikipedia profile] asked prosecutors specifically to be quick in organizing their evidence, a charge that prosecutors claim is difficult because of the "size, scale, and nature" of the case. Meanwhile, defense lawyers claim to have received only a fraction of the evidence from prosecutors, who say the trial date could still be pushed back further.

Eleven of the suspects face charges of conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism [JURIST report], while two others are charged with preparing terrorism. Some of the charges fall under the Terrorism Act 2006 [text, PDF; official backgrounder], which was enacted in March and permits British law enforcement officials to detain and question suspected terrorists for up to 28 days before the suspects must be charged with a crime or released. AP has more.

[JURIST] A UN human rights investigator expressed concern Friday that the US Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [text; JURIST news archive] would lead to lower worldwide standards regarding interrogation techniques and trial procedures for noncitizen detainees. Martin Scheinin [academic profile; CV], special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said in a statement [text] that:

[a] number of provisions of the MCA appear to contradict the universal and fundamental principles of fair trial standards and due process enshrined in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. One of the most serious aspects of this legislation is the power of the President to declare anyone, including US citizens, without charge as an "unlawful enemy combatant" - a term unknown in international humanitarian law - resulting in these detainees being subject to the jurisdiction of a military commission composed of commissioned military officers. At the same time, the material scope of crimes to be tried by military commissions is much broader than war crimes in the meaning of the Geneva Conventions.

[JURIST] Chilean federal judge Alejandro Solis ordered the arrest of former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] Friday on charges in connection with 36 cases of kidnapping, 23 cases of torture and a single case of homicide at the Villa Grimaldi prison [Wikipedia backgrounder], an infamous political detention center allegedly operated by Pinochet's secret police between 1974 and 1977 in Chile [JURIST news archive]. Pinochet will reportedly be placed under house arrest, according to court sources. Pinochet previously denied knowledge of the Villa Grimaldi crimes [JURIST report] during his initial meeting with Solis October 18.

Pinochet was stripped of his sovereign immunity by the Supreme Court of Chile [official website, in Spanish] in September, upholding a January 2006 decision [JURIST report] of a Chilean appeals court that paved the way for the Villa Grimaldi charges. Pinochet was also stripped of his immunity [JURIST report] October 13 in another case involving the 1976 assassination of Pinochet's rival, Orlando Letelier [Wikipedia profile]. The 90-year old Pinochet also faces charges of tax evasion [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A new domestic violence law took effect in India [JURIST news archive] Friday, with some women's rights advocates welcoming it and others warning that the landmark legislation would not be adequately enforced. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 [text, PDF] prohibits marital rape and allows women to obtain protection and maintenance orders against husbands and partners who are emotionally, physically or economically abusive. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development [official website], men who violate the act may be imprisoned for up to a year and fined up to 20,000 rupees (about US $440).

India's National Commission for Women and the All Indian Democratic Women's Association [advocacy websites] praised the law [Hindu report] and urged the government to implement it fully. Women's rights group Vimochana nonetheless expressed concern that officials aren't prepared to handle the cases that will result. Vimochana's founder criticized government plans to hire protection officers in the coming months as lacking, predicting a "huge backlog" of complaints. AFP has more. London's Independent has additional coverage. The Times of India has local coverage.

[JURIST] Four Chinese judges are facing trials for accepting bribes to fix the outcomes of cases in the province of Anhui [official backgrounder]. The charges coincide with statements [People's Daily report] by Chinese President Hu Jintao [People's Daily profile] - himself a native of Anhui - at an anti-corruption conference in which he claimed that fighting bribery and other scandals is a top priority in China [JURIST news archive]. Last month, China's ruling Communist Party announced the dismissal of a top party official [JURIST report] in Shanghai for involvement in a pension plan scandal, and such scandals have been cited for undermining public confidence in the Communist regime. One prosecutor reported that 17,500 officials have already been punished this year for corruption, and investigations have even reached into the ranks of the Beijing local party leadership [NYT report].

One of the judges facing bribery charges is the former President of the Fuyang city Intermediate People's Court [Wikipedia backgrounder], Zhang Zimin, who is accused of taking $162,000. Reuters has more. Xinhua has local coverage.

[JURIST] A UN General Assembly committee voted Thursday to begin work on a new treaty aiming to set uniform standards for global arms trade despite vocal opposition from the United States. The treaty would be directed at securing international cooperation in preventing arms deals that fuel wars or lead to human rights abuses. The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) [official website] adopted the resolution by a vote of 139 to 1 with 26 abstentions just two days after a group of 15 Nobel Peace Prize laureates urged it to take up the issue [JURIST report]. The United States registered the lone vote against the measure, with China, Russia, Pakistan, and India among the nations abstaining. The next step is a vote by the full UN General Assembly [official website], where passage is expected because all 192 members sit on the Disarmament Committee. If the resolution is approved by the General Assembly, the UN secretary-general will have a year to seek the views of member states on the scope and content of a treaty regulating conventional arms deals.

Other committee activities on Thursday included approvals of drafts on the implementation of the Landmines Convention, the illicit trade of small arms, and a resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty [texts]. Read the UN press release. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The government of Ethiopia [JURIST news archive] has confirmed a report [JURIST report] made last week that its security forces killed 193 people during election protests in May and in November [JURIST reports] last year. Mekonnen Disasa, a member of the inquiry board charged with investigating the government's response, told reporters Thursday that government forces used reasonable force to deal with the protesters. According to the report, the security responses to the protests "were legal and essential on the basis of defending the new system of government, as well protecting the country from endless violence." Nevertheless, the report acknowledged that some human rights violations occurred and that 30,000 people were arrested during the unrest.

In the original report released in July, the majority of the inquiry board concluded that the government had used excessive force during the May and November protests. Vice-chairman Judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha maintained this position before reporters on Thursday, stating that security forces shot unarmed protesters and beat them to death. Meshesha left Ethiopia after the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi [BBC profile] pressured the board to change its findings. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Israel [official website] Thursday rejected an appeal by Palestinian villagers who claim that a 6-kilometer stretch of the border wall [Security Fence official website; JURIST news archive] currently being built will separate them from their crops. The court cited security concerns in its ruling, noting that the three Jewish settlements in the area, Emanuel, Maale Shomron and Karnei Shomrom, have experienced harsh terror attacks in the past. The court nonetheless held that the Israeli military must grant the Palestinians access to their crops; if this proves unsuccessful, the villagers may bring another appeal.

Shortly after construction of the 670-kilometer barrier began in the West Bank in 2002, the International Court of Justice [official website] held that it violated international law. In a non-binding advisory opinion [text], the court held that its construction violated UN Security Council [official website] resolutions and Israel's obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention [ICRC document] to respect the territorial borders of the Palestinian territory, deeming the wall "tantamount to a de facto annexation". Aljazeera has more. Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] is keeping 4 acquitted genocide suspects in custody because no other countries were willing to accept them, the court announced Friday. The suspects acquitted by the court cannot return to Rwanda [JURIST news archive] or stay in Tanzania, which hosts the tribunal, so must find an alternative place to settle. The ICTR has convicted 26 and acquitted five people since its creation in 1997.

Everard O'Donnell, the court's acting deputy registrar, told Reuters, "When we acquit people we don't seem to find the same enthusiastic assistance from the international community...Somehow, the fact that they have been indicted haunts them for the rest of their existence. You can't get more innocent than seven or eight judges telling the world that they are innocent." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website] Thursday criticized the Secure Fence Act of 2006 [text, PDF; HR 6061 summary] signed [JURIST report] earlier in the day by President Bush. Fox called the legislation to build a 700-mile fence [JURIST new archive] along part of the US-Mexican border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration "an embarrassment for the United States. It is proof, perhaps, that the United States does not see immigration as a subject that corresponds to both countries." Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who takes office on December 1, echoed Fox's complaints, saying "Humanity committed a grave error by constructing the Berlin wall and I am sure that today the United States is committing a grave error in constructing a wall along our northern border."

On Wednesday the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] took Mexico's concerns to the Organization of American States [official website], where 28 other Latin American nations joined it in a declaration [text] in which they

Declared their deep concern regarding the decision adopted by the United States of America to build and extend a wall on its border with Mexico, considering it to be a unilateral measure that goes against the spirit of understanding that should characterize how shared problems between neighboring countries are handled and that affects cooperation in the hemisphere.

...stressed that the building of walls does not encourage adequate attention to the migratory issue and

...confirmed that the measure does not acknowledge the historic contribution of migrant workers to the United States’ own economic development [; and]

...agreed that the documentation of migrant workers is a solution that does not put up physical barriers.

[JURIST] US District Judge Algenon Marbley [official profile] granted a temporary restraining order [PDF] Thursday blocking enforcement of Ohio's voter ID law [Ohio SOS backgrounder] as it applies to absentee ballots [Ohio SOS backgrounder] because Ohio's 88 counties are applying it inconsistently. The order was issued following a suit [complaint, PDF] by the Service Employees International Union Local 1199 [union website] and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless [organization website], which claimed counties have differing requirements for accepting military IDs, drivers licenses and social security cards. Under the law, absentee voters must provide a driver's license number, the last four digits of their Social Security number or a copy of a current photo ID, military identification, utility bill or bank statement.

Although absentee balloting is underway in Ohio, votes will not be counted until election day so no ballots have to be discarded. The ruling is in effect until Wednesday, when arguments will be heard on the general question of whether voter identification should be required at the polls. The Ohio Attorney General's Office [official website] has said it will appeal restraining order, but the Ohio Secretary of State [official website] has declined to join. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Chilean office of the HSBC [corporate website] bank said Thursday that it has no accounts in the name of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive] and that bank documents detailing Pinochet's alleged $160 million gold fortune supposedly held in its Hong Kong branch are forgeries. HSBC released the information following an order by the Santiago Court of Appeals [Chilean Judiciary website, in Spanish] and promises by the Chilean government [JURIST report] to send investigators to Hong Kong. Pinochet has been under investigation regarding his financial dealings since a US Senate committee found that he had millions of dollars in Riggs Bank in Washington, DC. He has been charged with tax evasion [JURIST report] related to $27 million he accumulated while in power and hid in foreign bank accounts.

Pinochet's lawyers and family have steadfastly denied that he has any holdings in gold. Pinochet also faces human rights charges stemming from his 1973-1979 rule after his immunity was lifted [JURIST report] in several cases. AP has more.