[JURIST] Lawyers representing Awad Hamed al-Bandar [Wikipedia profile], former chief judge of Iraq's Saddam Hussein-era Revolutionary Court, and former Iraqi intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al Tikriti [GlobalSecurity profile] Wednesday mounted last-minute legal challenges to prevent their clients' executions, currently expected [JURIST report] to take place Thursday before dawn. Both men were convicted and sentenced to death [JURIST report; BBC verdict summary] in November alongside Hussein for crimes committed in the village of Dujail in 1982.

In a statement provided to JURIST Wednesday, Curtis Doebbler, an American lawyer representing al-Bandar, said:

The US controlled Iraqi government is planning a second and third summary, arbitrary and extrajudicial execution today in the next few hours. One of the persons who will be executed is Judge Awad Bandar, the judge that presided over the Dujail Trial. He will be killed for being a judge and presiding over a trial, nothing more, because nothing more was proven. In fact, throughout the Dujail Trial Judge Bandar repeatedly asked for the court papers relating to the 1982-1984 proceedings over which he presided to prove that the proceedings were fair. The court and the prosecution said they had these papers, indeed the prosecution introduced 4 pages into evidence, but they both refused to provide the defendant access to the full record. I do not know if the 1982 trial was fair, and we may never know, certainly not before Judge Bandar is executed. And this was only one of dozens of violations of the right to fair trial that would have undoubtedly led to a mistrial anywhere else in the world and which had led the UN's expert on Fair trial to conclude that fair trial can not take place in front of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. If the execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was aggressor's injustice on the first day of the holy Eid for Sunni Muslims, the execution of Judge Bandar will be a direct affront to the most basic principles of justice in Islam. This is the legacy that the United States is leaving the Iraqi people. It is a very sad one.

Equally as troubling is the suspect manner in which several courts and human rights bodies have treated our applications to save Judge Bandar's life that were made in the last few days. Last week, US District Judge Walton dismissed an action for a temporary order restraining the United States from turning Judge Bandar over to person who will execute him after an unfair trial. Judge Walton reasoned, that although the six US attorneys had conceded that Judge Bandar was under exclusive US custody, the Petitioner was really under international coalition custody. More recently, the Executive Secretary Mr. Santiago Canton claimed that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had refused a Request for Urgent Precautionary Measures without providing reasons for this decision or a written decision from the Commission. Such strained legal reasoning is surprisingly weak in such a grave case and extremely troubling for the rule of law in the American hemisphere.

We are not asking the court to stay an execution but for a TRO in injuncting [sic] the US military in handing Mr. Barzan Al Takriti to the actual custody of the Iraqi Government. ...

Barzan Al Takriti was the Head of the Iraqi Intelligence Services in July 1982 during the Dujail matter subject to the indictment. However, he resigned office in March 1983 and until 1988 was virtually under house arrest in Baghdad. He was made Ambassador to Switzerland in 1988 and remained so until 1999. He is not indicted for the Anfal allegations because he was not in office in 1988 during the relevant period. Since my client resigned office and had no function whatsoever it is in effect an alibi positioon to any allegations that occured first in 1984 when the executions took place and 1987 when the last execution occured in the Dujail matter. I am informed today by my client in an interview that when the US military arrested him the US military took his archive with over 100 letters including his resignation letter. He has not been permitted these documents and has had no opportunity at a proper defence especially alibi...

Until such time as the US District Court rules on our application the US military is requested not to circumvent our application by handing him over from US de facto custody.

[JURIST] Richard Causey [Houston Chronicle profile; JURIST news archive], former Enron chief accounting officer, has reported to the Bastrop Federal Correction Institution [official website], a low-security facility in Texas, to begin serving his prison sentence for his role in the Enron accounting scandal [JURIST news archive]. Causey was sentenced to 66 months [JURIST report] last November after accepting [JURIST report] a plea deal [PDF text] and was required to turn himself in to begin serving his sentence by Tuesday. In addition to the prison sentence, he will forfeit $1.25 million to the US government and a claim to deferred compensation, which amounts to almost $250,000.

Causey's plea deal came just days before the scheduled trial [JURIST report] of fellow ex-Enron executives Kenneth Lay [Houston Chronicle profile; JURIST news archive] and Jeffrey Skilling [Houston Chronicle profile; JURIST news archive], who were both later convicted of conspiracy and fraud [JURIST report]. Lay's conviction was vacated [JURIST report] after he died before sentencing and Skilling began serving [JURIST report] his 24-year sentence last month. Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow [Houston Chronicle profile] was sentenced [JURIST report] to six years in prison in September 2006 for his role in the accounting fraud. The Houston Business Journal has more. The Houston Chronicle has additional coverage.

[JURIST] US ambassador-at-large for war crimes Clint Williamson [official profile] told a Sarajevo newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that the United States would consider it "absolutely unacceptable" for fugitive Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY backgrounder; BBC profile] and his military commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY backgrounder; JURIST news archive] to be tried in a Serbian court in Belgrade if they are caught after the mandate of the current International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] expires in 2010. The tribunal has already started to delegate some of its pending war crimes cases to local war crimes tribunals in other states of the former Yugoslavia, including Serbia [JURIST report]. Instead, Williamson suggested that there "needs to be found a body in the international system that will try them," according to a Reuters translation. The statement would seem to contemplate some special international tribunal, as the United States has been largely opposed to extending the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court [official website; JURIST news archive], which in any event would lack jurisdiction as the crimes for which Karadzic and Mladic would be tried predate the ICC's statutory horizon of July 1, 2002.

Karadzic and Mladic are wanted by the ICTY for alleged crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, including organizing the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US forces left security during Saddam Hussein's execution [JURIST report] to Iraqi authorities Saturday but would have handled the hanging "differently", US Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said during a press conference [recorded video; transcript] in Baghdad Wednesday. Caldwell said that US-led coalition forces transported Saddam to the execution site, left him in the care of Iraqi authorities, and then withdrew from the premises, and had no part in the searching of witnesses for unauthorized media equipment, including mobile phones and video devices: “We were not involved in any search of any people, we had nobody present, we did not dictate any requirements that had to be followed. … The multinational force had absolutely no direct involvement with that whatsoever.” The release of an unofficial video [WARNING: graphic images] of the hanging, allegedly taken by a witness with a camera phone, has prompted protests [JURIST report] from Sunnis, outrage outside of Iraq [BBC report], and an investigation [JURIST report] by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] into its taping and distribution. The video shows that Saddam was taunted by his guards before the hanging took place.

Responding to questions from reporters Wednesday, White House press secretary Tony Snow acknowledged [transcript] that senior US officials had doubts about the execution process beforehand, as first reported [JURIST report] in the New York Times over the weekend:

[Saddam] was handed over to the Iraqi government. There were some -- the [US] embassy expressed some concerns; the Iraqis listened to those concerns, they've carried it forward.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of written decisions, reaching a low of 59 decisions in 2006 compared to 144 in 1990, according to statistics gathered by the Toronto Globe and Mail. The court has steadily decreased the number of written rulings, but still averaged 89 to 90 rulings throughout the last decade, marking a drastic decrease in 2006 alone. Some observers says the numbers indicate that judges on the court are less productive, while others praise the decrease in rulings, arguing that the decline allows judges to focus more on important cases. Other theories advanced to explain the drop include the hypothesis that Canadian trial judges have produced a greater number of accurate decisions, effectively reducing the number appeals and that judges on the bench have worked harder to reach a consensus and reduced the number of dissenting opinions. Some scholars also believe that the retirement of two judges known for their high number of written opinions - Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dube and Justice Frank Iacobucci [official profiles]- has contributed to the decline in rulings. The Globe and Mail has more.

The decrease in Canadian high court opinions parallels analogous decreases in both the US Supreme Court and the UK House of Lords [official website] in recent years. Last month, the New York Times reported that the US Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in 40 percent fewer cases than in preceding years [JURIST report], asserting that a lower number of appeals and a sharp ideological divide on the court have contributed to the decline.

[JURIST] Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama [BBC profile], the Fijian military commander who led a military coup [JURIST report] against former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase [Wikipedia profile] early last month, has suspended the activities of Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki and Chief Magistrate Naomi Lomaiviti pending investigations into possible corruption in the judiciary. Bainimarama said that the suspensions were necessary in order to determine the nature and extent of "questionable activities," which Bainimarama has said have been prevalent in the Fijian judiciary since the 2000 coup [BBC report]. According to Bainimarama, the judiciary will function independently until power can be restored to a civilian interim government, after full inquiries into mishandlings of the current one. AFP has more.

The Fiji coup was carried out after Qarase refused to stop proposed legislation that would have given coastal land ownership to the indigenous population of Fiji, rather than use it as a region for tourism, and also would have given pardons to individuals who plotted a coup against the government in 2000. Qarase has accused Bainimarama of "raping" the country's constitution [text]. December's coup is the fourth coup [BBC backgrounder] in the nation during the past 14 years.

[JURIST] Two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants also sentenced to death [JURIST report; BBC verdict summary] in the Dujail trial [JURIST news archive] will be executed Thursday, according to an Iraqi government official. Former Iraqi intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court Awad Hamed al-Bandar were scheduled to be executed at the same time Hussein was hanged [JURIST report] on Saturday, but officials chose to delay their executions until after the Muslim Eid holiday ends Wednesday. Rizgar Mohammed Amin [JURIST news archive], the Iraqi Kurdish judge who presided over the Dujail trial before resigning [JURIST report] in early 2006 over criticisms of his handling of the case, said this week that Hussein's execution violated Iraqi law [JURIST report] banning executions during the Muslim Eid holiday, but Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie defended the timing of the execution, saying it took place before daylight on Saturday, and therefore before Eid began.

Sunnis have protested in the streets of Iraq to demonstrate their opposition to Hussein's execution, while Shiites celebrated in the streets Saturday after Hussein's death. An official who supervised Hussein's execution was arrested Wednesday in connection to the taping of a camera phone video [WARNING: graphic images; JURIST report] showing Hussein's death and the unruly process surrounding the execution. AP has more.

[JURIST] US FBI agents reported numerous instances of military personnel and contractors using harsh interrogation practices at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], including wrapping a detainee's head in duct tape and a female guard wiping menstrual blood on detainees' faces, according to new information [report, PDF; ACLU press release] released by the FBI Tuesday. The FBI documents were released in response to a public records request [ACLU materials] by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website]. The documents indicate that military officials and contractors working at Guantanamo Bay believed Rumsfeld personally authorized unusual interrogation methods. A 2004 FBI survey of 493 Guantanamo employees received 26 responses indicating that employees had witnessed aggressive behavior inconsistent with FBI policies [summary], forming the basis of the FBI documents released Tuesday. The FBI reports, however, do not indicate that any of the behavior rises to the level of abuse comparable to the abuse in the Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] detention center in Iraq. AP has more.

In a related development, US Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website], incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said he plans to call US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to testify before the committee on the Justice Department's refusal to turn over documents related to the administration's interrogation policies. In a statement [text] Tuesday, Leahy said "The Administration's refusal to provide any of this information other than forwarding a couple of public documents suggests that the President's offer to work with us may have been only political lip service." Leahy has requested [letter; DOJ response, PDF] documents relating to CIA interrogation methods. The Washington Times has more.

3:17 PM ET - A Defense Department spokesman said Wednesday that no action is planned in response to the allegations in the report, noting that the allegations have already been "thoroughly investigated and where allegations have been substantiated, disciplinary action has been taken." AP has more.

[JURIST] An official who supervised the execution [JURIST report] of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] was arrested Wednesday in connection to the taping of a camera phone video [WARNING: graphic images; JURIST report] showing Hussein's death and the unruly process surrounding the execution, according to an advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The identity of the person arrested has not yet been made public, but the advisor said that the person is the subject of an investigation [JURIST report] launched by the government into who made the video and how it was distributed.

The video, apparently shot with a cell phone camera by a witness to the hanging, shows witnesses heckling Hussein before he was hanged and depicts Hussein's body dropping through the trap door of the gallows. A separate, authorized video released by the government did not include any audio recording and did not show Hussein's actual death. AP has more.

[JURIST] Government officials in Mexico have approved a plan to issue Mexicans crossing the US border illegally satellite tracking devices [Sunday Telegraph report] to ensure their safe arrival in the United States. Even with a knowledgeable guide — called a "coyote" — paid to lead the way, it is believed that hundreds of migrants die during the arduous four-day trek across the desert. The tracking device will alert border patrol forces on both sides of the frontier of those who get lost or fall behind. Approximately, 200,000 devices are expected to be assigned this year. Australia's ABC News has more.

Two volunteers for the US-based No More Deaths [advocacy website] faced prosecution last year for aiding illegal immigrants they found in need of emergency medical attention in the Arizona desert, though the charges were dismissed [JURIST report] in September. The advocacy group works to reduce the number of migrant deaths in the desert and the two workers were arrested while attempting to transport sick migrants to a medical clinic; the workers said they were following a protocol approved by the US Border Patrol [official website] when they were arrested which involved checking with a lawyer and a doctor before transporting migrants to medical facilities.

Mexico's decision to arm immigrants with tools to ensure their successful flight to America is the latest development in a strained US-Mexico relationship. Mexico's attempts to address the needs of "undocumented workers" often directly conflict with US government efforts to discourage immigrants attempting to enter the US illegally. In October, US President George W. Bush signed legislation authorizing a 700-mile fence [JURIST news archive], dubbed by critics the "Great Wall of Mexico" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], along the border. Tighter border control efforts by the US have led to a higher rate of migrants hiring smugglers [AP report], or "polloros," to spirit them into the country. Critics have condemned both countries' immigration policies, claiming that they led to an increase in violence along the border as drug gangs battle over lucrative smuggling routes [AP report].

[JURIST] Spokesmen for European governments Tuesday publicly deplored the way the execution of Saddam Hussein [JURIST report] was conducted, adding criticism of the process revealed by an unofficial video [WARNING: graphic images] - and the making of the video itself with a camera phone [JURIST report] - to their previous criticism [JURIST report] of the application of the death penalty in the case. The official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano [media website] said that "making a spectacle" of the hanging had turned it into "an expression of political hubris" and that the media attention to the execution was "another example of the violation of the most basic rights of man," according to an AP translation. AP has more.

Meanwhile UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott also condemned the handling of Saddam's execution in a BBC interview [audio] Tuesday. Prescott said:

I think the manner [of the execution] was quite deplorable really. Frankly, to get this kind of recorded messages coming out is totally unacceptable and I think whoever is involved and responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves.

[JURIST] A New Jersey state commission recommended Tuesday that the state abolish the death penalty, replacing it with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. A report [text, PDF] endorsed by 12 of the 13 members of the New Jersey Death Penalty Commission [official website] concluded that there was "no compelling evidence that the New Jersey death penalty rationally serves a legitimate penological intent," although there was "increasing evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, welcomed the report [statement] and said he would work with the legislature to implement it.

The US Supreme Court effectively halted capital punishment in 1972 by ruling in Furman v. Georgia [opinion text] that existing federal and state death penalty laws were "arbitrary and capricious" and contrary to the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, but 38 states subsequently changed their laws to allow the death penalty to continue in their jurisdictions. If the commission's report makes its way into law New Jersey will become the first US jurisdiction to ban capital punishment in over 35 years. The New York Times has more.