[JURIST] The US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] ruled [PDF order] Tuesday that it has no jurisdiction to block the Iraqi death sentence for former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan [Trial Watch profile; JURIST news archive]. Ramadan was convicted [JURIST report; BBC verdict summary] by the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) [official website] in November and originally sentenced to life in prison. The IHT Appeals Chamber later deemed the sentence too lenient and ordered the death penalty [JURIST reports] for Ramadan.

Following the example of suspected Iraqi terrorist and US citizen Shawqi Omar [JURIST report], Ramadan brought a petition [JURIST comment] for a writ of habeas corpus before the federal court. Basing his claim on the fact that he is presently in US custody, Ramadan claimed that he would be subject to harm if turned over to Iraqi officials. Judge Paul Friedman ruled that regardless of whether Ramadan was in US custody, a US court lacks jurisdiction over an alien who is detained overseas and convicted by a foreign court. Friedman stated from the bench that granting the petition would constitute an improper collateral review of another court's decision. AP has more.

[JURIST] Authorities in the volatile Chechnya [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] region of Russia [JURIST news archive] commonly use electrical shocks, forced confessions, and other forms of torture, said Council of Europe [official website] Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg [official profile] Tuesday after visiting a prison in Chechnya's regional capital, Grozny. Hammarberg accused acting Chechnyan President Ramzan Kadyrov [Wikipedia profile], a former rebel leader who now serves as the region leader at the personal appointment of Russian President Valdmir Putin [official profile], of doing little to stop the problem.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, battles between Chechen independence fighters and the Russia government have decimated the region. According to a November report by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] the use of torture is widespread [JURIST report] in the region. The UN has urged Russia to investigate [JURIST report] these allegations. Kadyrov denies charges of unlawful arrests and torture, but has promised a full investigation. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A senate panel in Nigeria [JURIST news archive] Tuesday indicted Vice President Atiku Abubakar [official profile] on corruption charges [JURIST report] stemming from the alleged diversion of $145 million dollars of public money to private interests, as well as allegations of receiving more than $4.6 million dollars in bribes. Abubakar has left the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) [BBC backgrounder] and is now the presidential candidate for the opposition Action Congress (AC) [Independent National Electoral Commission backgrounder]. If convicted, he will be precluded from running for the Nigerian presidency. Last week, a Nigerian appeals court ruled [JURIST report] Abubakar could not legally be stripped of his office after his break with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [official profile]. AFP has more.

Earlier Tuesday, Nigerian officials announced the creation of an election tribunal [JURIST report] to preside over disputes and complaints arising from the nation's upcoming general elections [BBC report] to be held in April.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] Tuesday called on US President George W. Bush in a public letter [text, PDF] to account for so-called "ghost prisoners" whose whereabouts and identities have been kept secret since September when Bush acknowledged [JURIST report] the existence of secret prisons operated by the the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] outside the US where high-value terror suspects [DNI backgrounder, PDF] were detained. Fourteen high-profile suspects [DNI profiles, PDF], including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile] were transferred to the Defense Department's military prison at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], but HRW says the whereabouts of 38 other suspects who are believed to be held in CIA prisons are currently unknown.

HRW also released a supporting report [text; press release] Tuesday in which a former CIA detainee, Marwan Jabour, recounted his experiences in a secret CIA prison. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Canada's House of Commons [official website] Tuesday voted against extending two provisions of the country's Anti-Terrorism Act [text; CBC backgrounder] that are set to expire [JURIST report] March 1. The controversial provisions include a preventive arrest clause that allows police to arrest suspects without warrant for 72 hours and an investigative hearing clause that allows judges to force individuals to testify in terror cases. Canada's opposition Liberal Party [political party website] prevailed in defeating the proposed extension Tuesday by a vote of 159-124, supported by MPs from the New Democratic Party [political party website] and Bloc Quebecois [political party website, in French]. Canada's ruling Conservative Party [political party website] government originally presented the motion to extend, sparking heated debate [statements, text] before its defeat. CTV News has more.

In October, two Canadian court decisions [JURIST report] struck down as unconstitutional portions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The act was passed in Canada [JURIST news archive] three months after the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive] on the United States.

[JURIST] Charges have been brought against former interim president of Liberia [JURIST news archive] Gyude Bryant [BBC profile] for embezzling $1.3 million during his tenure from October 2003 until January 2006, according to a Liberia government statement Tuesday. The indictment was based on an audit conducted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [official website], which monitored the interim government after former President Charles Taylor [JURIST news archive] stepped down in August 2003. Taylor is currently awaiting trial [JURIST report] at The Hague before judges of the Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] on crimes against humanity charges.

On Monday, current Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf [BBC profile] announced the government's plans to prosecute all present and former government officials involved in corruption. In December, two former finance ministers and a former minister of commerce were charged with corruption; however, the men were subsequently freed. Bryant has denied the charges against him and is expected to face trial in an intermediate court in Monrovia. AFP has more. AllAfrica.com has additional coverage.

[JURIST] US District Judge Robert G. Doumar of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss filed by the government of Sudan in a lawsuit brought by families of sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole [JURIST news archive; US DOD inquiry report]. Doumar said the Death on the High Seas Act [text] is likely to apply as it is an "exclusive remedy," and if so, the maximum damages the families could receive would be limited to $35 million. Sudan [JURIST news archive] filed the motion alleging that the complaint does not directly connect any Sudanese official to al Qaeda, the terrorist network largely held responsible for the attack, and also does not directly connect al Qaeda to the bombing. AP has more.

Earlier this month, Doumar said he was unlikely to grant [JURIST report] the Sudanese government's motion to dismiss, having ruled in 2005 that there was sufficient evidence [JURIST report] for the families to pursue the lawsuit. The families allege that Sudan helped finance the attack and allowed an al Qaeda operative to ship explosives to Yemen. Sudan cannot claim sovereign immunity [Cornell Law School backgrounder] in the suit under the general terms of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [text] because it is subject to an amendment contained in the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 [text] exposing US-defined state sponsors of terrorism [US State Department list] to potential liability.

[JURIST] US District Court for the District of Columbia Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson [official profile] Tuesday sentenced former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [official website] commissioner Dr. Lester M. Crawford [official profile; JURIST news archive] to three years supervised probation and imposed about $90,000 in fines. Crawford had pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to misdemeanor charges [criminal information] of conflict of interest and false writing [US Code text] in October 2006. The sentence handed down by Robinson is harsher than the deal reached by Crawford's lawyer and representatives from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia [official website] in which Crawford was to receive probation and a fine of $50,000. Robinson decided to delay Crawford's sentencing [JURIST report] in January because the two sides had not explained to the court why they did not follow federal sentencing guidelines in agreeing upon a punishment. While acknowledging that the fine exceeds the parties' agreement, Robinson noted that both crimes carry a combined maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $200,000 fine, making her fine well below the statutory maximum.

The charges against Crawford stemmed from a grand jury investigation [JURIST report] begun after the New York Times reported [text] in October 2005 that Crawford and/or his wife had failed to disclose their ownership and sale of stock in FDA-regulated companies, such as Embrex, Sysco, Teleflex and PepsiCo [corporate websites]. Crawford resigned [JURIST report] after serving only two months as FDA commissioner in September 2005. AP has more.

[JURIST] Germany's Federal Constitutional Court [official website] ruled Tuesday that authorities violated the freedom of the press [press release, in German] when they raided the offices of the monthly political magazine Cicero [official website]. In September 2005, investigators searched the offices of Cicero in an attempt to find the source of a leak of confidential papers from Germany's Federal Crime Office [official website] in connection to the financing of Islamic extremists. The court held in a 7-1 vote that the raid was an "unjustified intrusion on the press freedom of the plaintiff" and that there might be ways other than an intentional leak that journalists could learn about state secrets.

Last year, a Potsdam court threw out charges against two Cicero journalists put on trial as accessories to divulging secrets, citing lack of sufficient evidence. AP has more. Cicero had additional coverage, in German.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Tuesday in Winkelman v. Parma City School District [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], 05-983 [docket], where the court must decide whether parents of an autistic child can represent their child in federal court in suits arising under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) [text, 20 USC §1400]. The Winkelmans argue that the act permits parents to represent their children without lawyers because of the tightly interwoven rights of the parent and child, and that without pro se representation, those who cannot afford lawyers cannot bring suit against school districts that refuse to accomodate their disabled children.

The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [decision, PDF] against the Winkelmans, holding that while parties are permitted to represent themselves in court, non-lawyers are not permitted to represent other parties pro se. The Sixth Circuit also held that parents are permitted to represent their disabled children in administrative proceedings, but that the IDEA does not extend that right to judicial proceedings. AP has more.

[JURIST] A grand jury in Mississippi Tuesday refused to indict Carolyn Bryant on charges of manslaughter for the 1955 kidnap and murder of Emmett Till [JURIST news archive] due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Carolyn is the wife of Rob Bryant, who, along with his half brother J.W. Milam, was acquitted in 1955 by an all-white jury on all charges related to the murder. Rob Bryant later confessed [Look interview] to the killing. A friend of Till called the grand jury's decision racist, telling AP "we had overwhelming evidence, and they came back with the same decision. Some people haven't changed from 50 years ago."

The Till case leads a series of attempts by federal law enforcement authorities to settle unfinished civil rights cases. Following a probe of investigative errors, the US Justice Department re-opened the case [JURIST report] in 2004. Last year, the FBI reported that no federal civil rights charges would be filed [JURIST report] in the Emmett Till case, and subsequently turned over to the local Mississippi district attorney. AP has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] was accused Tuesday of yielding to far-right groups who want a "white Australia" after the Australian Senate [official website] passed the Australian Citizenship Bill of 2006 [text] on Monday. Seen as the biggest revision of immigration laws in nearly 60 years, the Citizenship Bill will make it harder to become an Australian citizen [government backgrounder] by increasing the number of years immigrants must spend in Australia [JURIST news archive] from two to four before being eligible for citizenship. The bill also requires a test to evaluate an immigrant's knowledge of English and "Australian values" such as democracy, the rule of law and the equality of men and women. Amendments [text] to the bill passed by the Senate will now be referred back to the House of Representatives [official website] for consideration.

Australian Democrats [party website] parliamentary leader Sen. Lyn Allison [official profile] said the new legislation is a way for the prime minister to demonize immigrants and that many potential citizens will be put off by the tests for language and values. While some changes are in response to concerns over "home-grown" terrorism after the London train and bus bombings [JURIST news archive] in July 2005 carried out by British Muslims, Howard has denied that the citizenship tests target Muslims. He has also, however, expressed fears that Muslims who are not integrated into Australian society could launch terror attacks in the country. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Nigerian officials announced Tuesday the creation of an election tribunal to preside over disputes and complaints arising from the nation's general elections to be held in April 2007 [BBC report]. As Idris Kutigi, chief justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court [official website] swore in judges to serve on the tribunal, he warned them against taking bribes from politicians to influence their rulings. Governorship and state assembly elections in Nigeria [JURIST news archive] will be held on April 14; the presidential and national assembly elections will be held a week later on April 21. AFP has more.

In early February, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [official website] of Nigeria released an advisory list [press release] of 135 Nigerian politicians considered to be too corrupt to hold office [JURIST report], including Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar [official website], who has left the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) [BBC backgrounder] to run for the presidential ticket. Abubakar, however, is now being investigated on corruption charges [JURIST report]. If convicted, he would be precluded from running for the Nigerian presidency. A failed attempt [JURIST report] by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [official profile] to amend the constitution to run for a third term could mean a smooth election and a peaceful, democratic handover of power for the first time in Nigeria since independence in 1960.

[JURIST] Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile], chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court [official website] asked a panel of ICC judges Tuesday to issue summonses for two top suspects accused of committing war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan. The call was the first action taken against individuals in the ICC's ongoing investigation [JURIST news archive] of the Darfur situation. In his application [PDF text; annexes; summary, PDF], Moreno-Ocampo accused former Sudanese Interior Minister Ahmad Muhammad Harun and militia leader Ali Kushayb of "jointly committed crimes against the civilian population in Darfur." Haroun currently serves as the Sudanese state humanitarian affairs minister, which is not a full ministerial position. According to an ICC press release:

Based on evidence collected during the last 20 months, the Prosecution has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, (also known as Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman) bear criminal responsibility in relation to 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. The evidence shows they acted together, and with others, with the common purpose of carrying out attacks against the civilian populations.

As an alternative to seeking a warrant of arrest, the Prosecutor may submit an application requesting that the Pre-Trial Chamber issue a summons for the person to appear. If the Pre-Trial Chamber is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person committed the crime alleged and that a summons is sufficient to ensure the person's appearance, it shall issue the summons, with or without conditions restricting liberty (other than detention) if provided for by national law, for the person to appear.

The Government of the Sudan informed the Prosecution that Ali KUSHAYB is under criminal investigation and was arrested on the 28th of November 2006.

Our case is about Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb joining each other to attack the civilian population in Darfur. There is no such investigation in the Sudan.

On this basis, the Prosecution has concluded that the case is admissible. To be clear, the admissibility assessment is not a judgement on the Sudanese justice system as a whole. We are just assessing if the Sudanese authorities are carrying out the same case.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Darfur | Op-ed: Instrument of Justice: The ICC Prosecutor Reflects [Luis Moreno-Ocampo]

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Japan [official website; Japan JURIST news archive] ruled Tuesday that schools can order teachers to play the country's national anthem [fact sheet]. In 1999, a Japanese music teacher refused to play the anthem at a school ceremony. She filed a lawsuit after the school tried to force her to play the anthem, arguing that protections for freedom of thought and conscience in Japan's constitution [text] prevent the school from doing so. A lower court rejected the lawsuit [JURIST report] in 2004 and that ruling was upheld by the country's high court Tuesday.

Some critics contend the anthem, "Kimigayo" or "His Majesty's Reign," which praises the emperor, applauds Japan's World War II militarism. In December 2006, Japan's upper house of parliament passed a bill [JURIST report] mandating that Japanese classrooms "cultivate an attitude that respects tradition and culture, that loves the nation and home country." AFP has more.

[JURIST] Malawi Vice President Cassim Chilumpha [official profile] pleaded not guilty to treason and conspiring to murder the president as his trial on the charges began Monday. In May 2006, Chilumpha was placed under house arrest [JURIST report] three weeks after police arrested [JURIST report] him in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika [official profile; BBC profile]. Chilumpha says he angered the government by refusing to join the Democratic Progressive Party [Wikipedia backgrounder], established by Mutharika in the wake of his renunciation of the United Democratic Front Party [Wikipedia backgrounder].

Mutharika sent a letter [text] to Chilumpha in February 2006 asking for his resignation, but a court intervened [BBC report], saying the president has no constitutional authority to fire the vice president. Mutharika faces impeachment charges [JURIST report] for allegedly misusing funds and violating the constitution. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Nepalese government [official website] has created a panel to assemble a list of assets held by King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] and seize property he obtained after ascending to the throne, a cabinet spokesman said Monday. Dilendra Prasad Badu said the three-member panel is tasked with detailing the king's assets and recommending a plan to nationalize the property and assets to a charity trust within one month. The king will only be able to retain those assets he acquired prior to taking the throne. King Gyanendra assumed the role as head of the monarchy in 2001 after his brother, King Birendra [CNN profile], Queen Aishwarya [BBC profile], and eight other members of his family were killed. Badu said the assets of King Birendra and his queen will also be nationalized.

Last year, Nepal's High Level Probe Commission [JURIST report] concluded [JURIST report] that King Gyanendra and some 200 members of his administration were responsible for the violent response to democracy protests [JURIST news archive] in April 2006 that left 22 dead and more than 5,000 wounded. The protests effectively ended King Gyanendra's rule of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A California state appeals court ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that the state's stem cell research [JURIST news archive] program "suffers from no constitutional or other legal infirmity," leading the way for approximately $3 billion in grant money to be awarded to researchers. The Court of Appeal of the State of California First District upheld last year's lower court decision [JURIST report] upholding the constitutionality of the program, operated by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) [official website]. The lower court determined that the stem cell program was being administered with sufficient state control and did not violate ballot initiative or conflicts of interest rules.

The research program, known as Proposition 71 [CA AG summary, PDF], was approved [JURIST report] in a 2004 state referendum by a 59 percent margin. In its ruling, the appeals court noted the delay in research that the litigation had caused:

The objective of the proposition is to find, "as speedily as possible," therapies for the treatment and cure of major diseases and injuries, an aim the legitimacy of which no one disputes. The very pendency of this litigation, however, has interfered with implementation for more than two years.

[JURIST] A federal judge Monday refused [PDF text] to apply a 1851 maritime law [text] that would have limited the possible damages for victims of the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash [Wikipedia backgrounder] to $14.4 million. The city of New York argued that the law, which was written to encourage investments in shipbuilding, should be applied to limit the ship owner's liability to the boat's value after subtracting repair costs. US District Judge Edward Korman [official profile] disagreed, however, saying the law should not apply if the city was negligent in the accident. Korman ruled the city was negligent in failing to follow a city rule requiring two captains to be in the ferry's pilot station when the boat is moving.

The assistant captain operating the boat at the time had blacked out, causing the ferry to crash into the Staten Island pier, killing 11 passengers and injuring dozens more. Richard Smith pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter in 2004 and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Patrick Ryan, the city's former ferry operations director, also pleaded guilty to seaman's manslaughter in 2005 and admitted he had not enforced the two-pilot rule. He received a 366-day prison sentence. The ruling opens New York City up to to tens of millions of dollars in potential payouts to victims and their families. Only two-thirds of the 186 claims [JURIST report] have so far been settled at a total of $27.6 million. The city said it will consider appealing the court's ruling. Tuesday's New York Times has more.

NEW ON JURIST  Op-ed: Why Boumediene Was Wrongly Decided