[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] Tuesday approved a proposal for an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. In a letter from the 15-person body to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Security Council accepted the terms of the tribunal [UN report] as agreed upon by Annan and the Lebanese government. The proposal now must be formally approved by the Lebanese parliament and ratified by Lebanon's president. The tribunal will proceed once enough funds are secured to cover its formation and one year of operation, with pledges to cover two further years of operation; 51 percent of the expenses will be covered by contributions from UN member states and the remainder will be paid by the Lebanese government. AFP has more.

The approval of the tribunal came in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's assassination [BBC report] of anti-Syrian Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, which prompted US UN Ambassador John Bolton and others to urge quick agreement on the tribunal [JURIST report]. Annan submitted his proposal [JURIST report] for the Hariri tribunal to the UN Security Council [official website] last week despite Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's rejection of his cabinet's approval [JURIST reports] of the draft. Previous reports by the UN's Hariri investigatory commission [UN materials] implicated Syrian officials [JURIST report] in the assassination. Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive explosion on the Beirut waterfront. The UN's authority to help Lebanon establish the tribunal stems from UN Security Council Resolution 1644 [text].

[JURIST] US Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. was sentenced to a maximum 21-month confinement Tuesday after pleading guilty [press release] at court-martial to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the alleged murder and kidnapping of an unarmed Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive] on April 26. More serious murder and kidnapping charges [DOC text] were dropped in exchange for the plea, avoiding a potential eight-year sentence. Shumate may also face a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay, but will not be dishonorably discharged. AP has more.

Shumate is the third Marine and fourth serviceman to plead guilty in the case, in which seven Marines and one Navy corpsman were originally charged [JURIST report]. The military personnel allegedly shot and killed Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] and left his body by the side of the road with a shovel and AK-47, making him look like an insurgent. US Marine Pfc. John J. Jodka, US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos [JURIST reports] and US Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson [advocacy website; JURIST report] have also pleaded guilty in exchange for their testimony in the case. All have named US Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III [JURIST report] as the mastermind of the plan. Last week Jodka was sentenced to 18 months and Jackson to 21 months [JURIST reports] in military custody. Hutchins faces court-martial [JURIST report] for murder, kidnapping and other charges.

[JURIST] Audio recordings of proceedings from several US Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) [DOD materials] hearings conducted at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] in 2004 were made public for the first time Tuesday by National Public Radio after being released to lawyers for two Guantanamo detainees acting under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The detainees, Hadj Boudella and Mustafa Ait Idir, are Bosnians who were taken into custody by US officials and sent to Guantanamo after being acquitted in Bosnia in connection with a plot to bomb the US and British embassies in Sarajevo. The Pentagon has already provided written transcripts of CSRT hearings [DOD materials], but the recordings provide the general first opportunity to hear the voices of detainees and assess the dynamic of their interactions with Tribunal members. Presiding officers can be heard giving routine directions, warnings, asking questions, and even expressing concern for the comfort of the detainees [recorded audio]. The detainees themselves try to tell their stories, complain about their treatment, question the unclassified evidence presented against them, and even express optimism that truth will come out of their attempts to defend themselves [recorded audio]. NPR has more.

A report [text, PDF] released last week by lawyers at Seton Hall Law School concluded [JURIST report] on the basis of now-publicly-available records that CSRTs do not offer detainees at Guantanamo Bay an adequate opportunity to contest the accusations against them or to object to their status as enemy combatants. Detainees failed to present any evidence of their guilt or innocence in 91 percent of the hearings, leading the report to conclude: "No American would ever consider this a hearing... This is a show trial." The US government says that the Combatant Status Reviews afford detainees adequate opportunity to contest their detention and has opposed detainees' access to civilian courts.

[JURIST] US UN Ambassador John Bolton [official profile] has urged quick agreement [press release] on the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] in the aftermath of Tuesday's assassination [BBC report] of anti-Syrian Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, who was gunned down in his car in Beirut. The murder of Gemayel, a Maronite Christian leader, was immediately condemned by world leaders. Bolton remarked that Gemayel's assassination "shows why we need the tribunal established as soon as possible, why it was correct to expand the mandate of the Brammertz investigatory commission, and why the tribunal needs the flexibility to try the perpetrators of the other political assassinations in Lebanon." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] declared [press release] that "such acts of terrorism undermine Lebanon's stability, are unacceptable and have no place in a democratic and open society. The perpetrators and instigators of today's attack must be brought to justice to ensure an end to impunity."

Annan submitted [JURIST report] his proposal [JURIST report] for the Hariri tribunal to the UN Security Council [official website] last week despite Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's rejection [JURIST report] of his cabinet's approval [JURIST reports] of the draft. Although the UN's plan has not been made public, the tribunal is expected to be based outside Lebanon and will use a combination of Lebanese and international judges. Previous reports by the UN's Hariri investigatory commission [UN materials] implicated Syrian officials [JURIST report] in the assassination. Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive explosion on the Beirut waterfront. The UN's authority to help Lebanon establish the tribunal stems from UN Security Council Resolution 1644 [text]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed [recorded video via eKantipur] a peace agreement [text in Nepali] Tuesday formally ending the decade-long Maoist guerilla insurgency against the government that left over 13,000 people dead. The deal clears the way for Maoists to serve in the country's interim parliament and in the new interim government by December 1. The government-Maoist rapproachement follows the re-establishment of civilian control over the government after a period of unpopular direct rule by King Gyanendra, who dismissed the previous civilian government [JURIST report] in February 2005 out of impatience with its anti-Maoist strategy but who was forced to restore civilian authority in April 2006 after mass protests [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

The accord was concluded one day after Nepal's High Level Probe Commission submitted its final report to the Nepalese government, concluding that Gyanendra and some 200 members of his administration were responsible for the violent police response [JURIST report] to the democracy protests that left 22 dead and more than 5,000 wounded. Disagreements between government politicians and the Maoists continue over exactly what role, if any, the King should play in the new Nepalese constitutional structure. eKantipur has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo [JURIST news archive] in Kinhasa was set on fire Tuesday by protestors supporting Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba [campaign website, in French; Wikipedia profile], who on Saturday filed a challenge [JURIST report] to the results of last month's presidential run-off election [JURIST report], which he officially lost to incumbent Joseph Kabila [BBC profile; PPRD party website, in French] by 16 percentage points. Bemba's supporters [MLC party website], who have alleged voting fraud [JURIST report], clashed with police and UN peacekeepers attached to MONUC [official website], the UN Mission to DR Congo, who used tear gas and fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd. The fire was eventually brought under control [MONUC press release]. The rioting led the Court to suspend a scheduled hearing on Bemba's challenge, which alleges seven different violations [JURIST report], including ballot-box stuffing, irregularities in voter turnout and the barring of election officials from some polling places.

Voting fraud has been an issue [JURIST report] since the first round of the election in July. More than 30 people have died [NYT report] so far in election-related violence. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A Fiji High Court judge Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case against former Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka [Wikipedia profile], charged with inciting a military mutiny [JURIST report]. Although High Court Justice Gerard Winter did not disclose his reason for declaring a mistrial, local media speculated that the prosecution had failed to fully disclose evidence.

The military mutiny charges stem from an incident in November 2000, when rebel Counter Revolutionary Warfare [Wikipedia backgrounder] soldiers allegedly led or organized by Rabuka attempted to remove military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama [Wikipedia profile], leading to a gun battle that resulted in the deaths of eight servicemen. Bainimarama had taken control of Fiji [government website; BBC timeline; JURIST news archive] and declared an interim military government in late May 2000 in response to what he considered an ineffectual response by the country's president to an attempted coup [JURIST report]. The coup was led by Fijian nationalist George Speight [BBC profile] against the government of Fiji's first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry [BBC profile], who had been elected head of the tiny Pacific island nation in 1999. Bainimarama handed control of the government to a new civilian president in July 2000 but continued to exercise influence afterwards, leading to the alleged effort to remove him. Rabuka initially came to power in 1987 after he led a successful military coup [BBC timeline] by walking into the Parliament building and seizing control. Rabuka served as prime minister from 1992 until 1999. The new trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 27. AP has more.

[JURIST] The tax fraud trial of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and British lawyer David Mills [Guardian profile] was adjourned Tuesday after the defense applied to have one of the judges taken off the case. Judge Edoardo d'Avossa was involved in other Berlusconi trials, including the "Medusa" case, which resulted in the former prime minister's acquittal on false accounting charges. Proceedings will get underway again Monday.

In July, an Italian judge ruled [JURIST report] that Berlusconi should stand trial on charges of embezzlement, false accounting, tax fraud and money laundering in connection with a TV rights deal involving Berlusconi's company, Mediaset [corporate website]. In October, an Italian court ordered [JURIST report] Berlusconi and Mills to face an additional trial to begin in March 2007. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A judge in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court [official website] on Monday urged prosecutors to either charge hospital workers accused of killing four patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] or drop the case. Judge Calvin Johnson said he is concerned that no formal indictment has been brought against the workers and said that the case must "go forward or end."

Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Cheri Landry and Lori Budo were arrested [JURIST report] in July in connection with patient deaths at the Memorial Medical Center [hospital website] in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti [official website] launched an investigation into the deaths [JURIST report] of at least 140 patients at six Louisiana hospitals and 13 nursing homes. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Israel [official website, in Hebrew] ruled 6-1 Tuesday that same-sex marriages [JURIST report] ordained abroad must be recognized by the state [ACRI press release]. The ruling does not allow for same-sex civil marriages to occur in Israel but mandates that the government recognize the unions if performed in other nations. While gay rights activists are encouraged by the decision, one lawmaker from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community are labeled it "the destruction of the family unit in the state of Israel."

Several couples, represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), last year petitioned the Israeli court to review the issue [ACRI press release; JURIST report], arguing that the failure of the Ministry of Interior's Population Registrar to register the marriages constituted "unlawful discrimination" and breached the couples' basic rights. AP has more. Haaretz has local coverage.

[JURIST] The California Supreme Court [official website] ruled Monday that the 1996 Communications Decency Act [PDF text - see Title V] protects online users, including bloggers, who republish defamatory statements written by others from liability. Citing First Amendment concerns, the court said in its opinion [PDF text] that plaintiffs claiming defamation can bring suit only against the "original source of the statement." The court said holding bloggers liable for republished material "would provide a natural incentive to simply remove messages upon notification, chilling the freedom of Internet speech."

The lawsuit was filed in 2000 by two doctors against Ilena Rosenthal for allegedly distributing defamatory materials online. CNET News has more.

[JURIST] Israel's use of force during its 33-day standoff [JURIST news archive] with Hezbollah in Lebanon was "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate" in "flagrant violation" of international law, according to a report issued Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Council [official website]. The report [PDF text] is the product of a commission of inquiry sent to the Middle East to investigate the consequences of the conflict between the Israel Defense Forces [official website] and Hezbollah [BBC backgrounder] that occurred during July and August. According to the report, Israeli forces did not give adequate warnings to civilians prior to attacks, and over a thousand deaths and four thousand injuries resulted from the conflict. Reuters has more.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] also released a report [text] Tuesday accusing both sides of committing war crimes in violation of international law and urging the UN to establish an independent inquiry [press release] to investigate the allegations. The AI report documents Israel's use of cluster bombs and destruction of a UN observation as well as Hezbollah's use of rockets against civilian targets. Human rights groups have criticized the use of bombs by both Israel and Hezbollah [JURIST reports] during the conflict. AP has more.

[JURIST] A draft UN General Assembly [official website] resolution condemning human rights violations in Uzbekistan [JURIST news archive] has been blocked [press release] in the General Assembly's Third Committee [official website] by a group of mainly developing nations that claim such resolutions are politically motivated. The resolution would have expressed "grave concern" at Uzbekistan's use of force to quell a May 2005 uprising in Andijan, at its closure of 200 non-governmental organizations [JURIST report], and at the detention of journalists and human rights activists within the country. The motion to take no action on the resolution, introduced by Uzbekistan itself, was approved in a 74-69 vote with 24 countries abstaining. In voting to block the resolution, representatives of both Uzbekistan and Cuba referred to an agreement of the Non-Aligned Movement of Heads of State and Government [BBC backgrounder] to prohibit "the exploitation of human rights for political purposes." China also supported the stalling of the measure, saying that the draft was confrontational and insisting that Uzbekistan had made recent progress on rights issues. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official website], representatives from the EU and Amnesty International [advocacy website] all criticized the UN panel for missing an opportunity to push for improvements.

Last Thursday the same committee approved a draft resolution [text, PDF] directly calling for an end to politically motivated condemnations [JURIST report] of countries for human rights violations. The resolution, sponsored by Belarus and Uzbekistan and now headed for the General Assembly, says that human rights protection should be "guided by the principles of universality, non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity and should be not used for political purposes". Last month, the UN Human Rights Council [official website] closed its investigation [JURIST report] into the Andijan uprising, prompting criticism from human rights organizations. In May 2005, Uzbek government troops killed as many as 500 people who stormed a prison and released inmates [JURIST reports] in protest of trials of 23 businessmen who were charged with religious extremism. AP has more.

[JURIST] Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, one of several US Marines facing court-martial in connection with the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive], told a military court Monday that agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service [official website] told him not to ask for a defense lawyer and threatened him with the death penalty during interviews after the April incident. During a motion hearing, Pennington testified that NCIS agents told him that asking for a lawyer would be "the worst mistake" he could make, but two NCIS agents took the stand and denied the allegations. Pennington is seeking to prevent the prosecution from using his statements during his court-martial and a ruling on his motion is expected Tuesday.

Pennington is charged [DOC text] with murder, kidnapping, housebreaking, larceny and conspiracy for his role in the Hamdania incident, where military personnel allegedly left Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] by the side of the road with a shovel and AK-47 after they shot him, making Awad look like an insurgent. Of the eight serviceman originally charged [JURIST report] in the case, three additional Marines still face courts-martial [JURIST report], including squad leader Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III [JURIST report], Cpl. Trent D. Thomas and Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda. Two Marines and a Navy corpsman have pleaded guilty, and a fourth guilty plea is expected from Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. later Tuesday. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled [PDF text] Monday that the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] can withhold documents and information relating to its Terrorist Surveillance Program [JURIST news archive; US DOJ fact sheet, PDF] requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text]. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the People for the American Way [advocacy website], which sought information about the program's review process and lists of individuals and organizations that the NSA had subjected to electronic surveillance without first obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [official website]. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle held that the NSA's refusal was justified under FOIA exception (b)(1), when an issue is "in the interest of national defense," and under exception (b)(2), when "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute." In the latter case, the court concluded that the National Security Agency Act of 1959 [text] and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 [text] satisfied the statutory exemption provision. AP has more.

The ruling comes a few days after US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales attacked critics [JURIST report] of the program. The administration is currently appealing a ruling by US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that the initiative is unconstitutional. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the program could continue [JURIST report] pending the appeal process.

[JURIST] A US judge sentenced Bosnian immigrant Marko Boskic to 63 months in prison Monday for failing to reveal his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [PBS backgrounder; JURIST news archive] while trying to enter the US as a refugee. Boskic was charged [JURIST report] in August 2004 with five counts of making false declarations on US immigration applications and in an interview with federal agents. He pleaded not guilty [JURIST report], claiming he had been held in a Serbian prison camp and threatened with a gun to his head if he did not take part in the killings, but was convicted [JURIST report] in July on two counts of concealing his military record.

Boskic's lawyer had urged a lighter sentence, but US District Judge Douglas Woodlock said he considered Boskic's role in the Srebrenica massacre when determining the sentence. Under federal sentencing guidelines [USSC materials], judges may factor in a defendant's prior criminal history. Boskic will likely be deported to Bosnia-Herzegovina [JURIST news archive] after he serves his sentence, where he could be tried for war crimes. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former US Attorney General Janet Reno [WP profile] joined seven other former US Justice Department officials Monday in opposing an interpretation of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text; JURIST news archive] that would deny suspected terrorists held in the US access to the civilian court system. The former prosecutors filed an amicus brief [text, PDF] with the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in an appeal [brief, PDF] brought by Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri [Wikipedia profile], a Qatari citizen detained while studying in the US, who is disputing the government's plan to try him before a military commission [JURIST news archive].

Last week, the Justice Department filed [JURIST report] a motion to dismiss [text, PDF] Al-Marri's case, arguing that immigrants labeled as enemy combatants [JURIST news archive] under an expansive definition [WP report] of the term in the MCA can be indefinitely detained and should be denied access to civilian courts even if they were arrested and held inside the country. The former prosecutors said construing the new law in this way would set a "dangerous precedent" and that

the existing criminal justice system is more than up to the task of prosecuting and bringing to justice those who plan or attempt terrorist acts within the United States — without sacrificing any of the rights and protections that have been the hallmarks of the American legal system for more than 200 years. The federal government is eminently capable of both protecting our nation’s security and safeguarding our proud traditions of civil liberties. We would do well to remember Benjamin Franklin’s admonition that “[t]hose who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

[JURIST] French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere [BBC profile] has recommended that Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website; BBC profile] stand trial for the 1994 killing of former president Juvenal Habyarimana [Wikipedia profile], which sparked the country's genocide [HRW backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] in which some 800,000 people died. Kagame has denied any involvement in shooting down the plane that carried Habyarimana, leading to the former president's death. Rwanda's justice minister rejected Bruguiere's recommendation [BBC report] Tuesday, saying that the judge was acting on "unfounded" gossip. French prosecutors are investigating the case because the plane's crew was French. Last month, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] denied a request to hear testimony from Bruguiere who was expected to implicate Kagame for ordering the attack on Habyarimana. The tribunal has also refused to give a 1997 UN report to Bruguiere which allegedly discusses Kagame's involvement in the former president's murder. The London Telegraph has more. Le Monde has local coverage.

Meanwhile French prosecutors have authorized arrest warrant for nine senior Rwandan officials who Bruguiere claims were involved in Habyarimana's death. The list includes Rwandan Armed Forces [Wikipedia backgrounder] chief James Kabarebe, army chief of staff Charles Kayonga, and other officials with close contact to Kagame, according to French court officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Kagame is immune from arrest as a head of state. AP has more.

[JURIST] Losing leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile] held a ceremony Monday to establish himself as the "moral" president of Mexico in his latest attempt to develop a parallel government [JURIST report] for the country. The defeated candidate is hoping to maintain the support of Mexico's poor by proposing tax reforms for the rich and fighting against business monopolies. Complete with its own cabinet, the parallel government plans to set up committees throughout the nation and solicit donations to carry out Lopez Obrador's proposed reforms since collecting taxes from Mexican citizens is not a legal option. One of the first tasks for the parallel government is attempting to stop the December 1 inauguration of presidential victor Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile].

Leftist supporters object to the official results of Mexico's July 2 presidential election [JURIST news archive] which gave Calderon victory by a margin of 0.6 percent. Lopez Obrador argued before the Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] in late July that the election was marred by fraud [JURIST report], but the court rejected most of his challenges [JURIST report] on the grounds that there was no evidence of systematic fraud. It is uncertain how long Lopez Obrador will be able to maintain momentum since members of his Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) [party website, in Spanish] have begun to disagree with his stance that their seats in Congress should be used to protest proposals by the legal government rather than try to negotiate for changes. AP has more.