[JURIST] French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy [official profile] said Sunday that the issuance of arrest warrants for nine senior Rwandan government officials relating to the 1994 plane crash of President Juvenal Habyariman [Wikipedia profile] was simply a judicial act by anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere [BBC profile] and was not a political act endorsed by the French government. In a radio interview Douste-Blazy also expressed regret [Xinhua report] over Rwanda's decision to completely sever diplomatic ties [JURIST report] with Paris over the warrants, and a recommendation that Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website] face trial [JURIST report] before a UN tribunal. On Friday the Rwandan government ordered the French ambassador to leave the country in 24 hours after previously recalling its own ambassador from Paris [Reuters report].

Bruguiere could not issue a warrant for Kagame as he is protected by diplomatic immunity under French law. Kagame has denied any involvement in the downing of his predecessor's plane and last week derided Bruguiere's tactics [JURIST report] as "bullying and arrogant." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial [JURIST news archive] said Sunday that audio tapes and documentation proving that Hussein personally ordered the 1988 gassing of Kurdish villagers will be submitted to the court hearing his case. Munqith al-Faroon told Reuters that he possesses tapes of meetings between Saddam and senior Baathist officials revealing that Hussein had sole authority over the use of the chemical weapons which were deployed in the "Anfal" campaigns that led to the deaths of 180,000 Kurds. Faroon also claimed to have documents signed by Hussein ordering the attacks. The court, which reconvenes Monday after a three-week adjournment [JURIST report], will review the material to determine if it is admissible as evidence. Reuters has more.

Hussein was sentenced to death [JURIST report] earlier this month in a separate trial for crimes against humanity [charging instrument, PDF] committed in the Iraqi town of Dujail after an unsuccessful attempt on his life there in 1982. An appeals panel is expected to rule [JURIST report] on its review of that case by mid-January 2007.

[JURIST] Israel's High Court [official website] ruled Sunday that a proposed portion of Israel's Security Fence [official website; JURIST news archive] running north of Jerusalem is legal despite its segregation of five villages and about 1,500 Palestinians from the rest of Israel. Many of the villagers hold Israeli identification cards. Chief Justice Aharon Barak [official profile] wrote:

[w]e accept the State's position that there is a need to build a separation wall to advance the security objectives of protecting Jerusalem, nearby communities and roads leading to it, from terror activities.

[JURIST] UN Independent Expert on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Liberia Charlotte Abaka, recently returned from an 11-day visit to that country, has called on the Liberian government to press ahead with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) [UN Mission in Liberia news release, PDF] and appoint members to its Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR). The TRC was publicly launched five months ago [JURIST report] to investigate and document human rights abuses occurring in Liberia from 1979 to 2003, but is not yet fully operational. The INCHR lacks a staff three years after its inclusion in the peace deal [BBC report] that ended Liberia's civil war. She said she was "very concerned" with the situation.

The TRC began its work in June after its inauguration [JURIST report] in February, but has already been criticized by human rights groups [JURIST report] who instead advocate a Liberian human rights court because the TRC cannot prosecute war crimes violations.

[JURIST] Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] publicly assumed "full political responsibility" for the actions of his 1973-90 military regime in a statement released Saturday. The statement was read aloud by his wife at the celebration of Pinochet's 91st birthday, and marked the first time Pinochet has taken responsibility for his regime's actions, which included human rights abuses that Pinochet has previously attributed to subordinates. Pinochet nonetheless justified the military coup against Socialist Salvador Allende that brought him to power as having being necessary to preserve Chile's integrity amid "the continuation and worsening of the worse political and economic crisis than one can remember." The former dictator also made reference to his trial, which he characterized as being "vexation, persecution and injustices affecting [Pinochet] and [his] family" which he "gladly [offers] for the sake of harmony and peace that must prevail amongst Chileans."

Pinochet, established as a lifetime senator under Article 45 of the 1980 Chilean Constitution [PDF text], has general immunity from prosecution, which requires a separate decision on whether to lift his immunity each time charges are brought against him. Pinochet has been stripped of immunity in a case involving the 1974 disappearance of Spanish priest Antonio Llido [JURIST report], and cases involving kidnapping, torture, and homicide [JURIST report], and tax evasion [JURIST report]. AP has more. El Mercurio has local coverage.

[JURIST] Nepal's House of Representatives Sunday passed a citizenship bill granting opportunity to apply for citizenship to an estimated four million people living in the Terai region along the country's southern border with India. The bill declares that individuals born before mid-April 1990 and who have been residing in Nepal [JURIST news archive] since that date, are eligible to acquire Nepali citizenship. The passing of the legislation fulfills a term of the peace agreement between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels" [JURIST report], which stipulated citizenship reforms before national elections slated for mid-June of next year.

Opposition political parties conducted three weeks of pro-democracy protests [JURIST news archive] in April, forcing King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] to reinstate parliament [JURIST report] and give up direct control of the government. A peace agreement last Tuesday formally ended a decade-long Maoist insurgency [JURIST report]. The agreement is expected to pave the way for Maoists to participate in an interim government by December 1, although a Sunday deadline to install a new interim parliament has now passed. AFP has more. eKantipur has local coverage.