[JURIST] An Argentinean federal judge Wednesday declared amnesties granted to two members of Argentina's previous military dictatorship to be unconstitutional, saying the two men must serve out their life sentences in prison. Former military President Jorge Videla and former Navy chief Eduardo Massera [TrialWatch profiles] were convicted in 1985 of crimes against humanity committed during Argentina's 1976-1983 "Dirty War" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive], but were granted amnesties five years later by President Carlos Menem. Wednesday's decision will likely be appealed. AP has more.

After a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that struck down amnesty laws adopted in the 1980s, the Argentinean government has reopened hundreds of human rights cases. In March, an Argentinean judge ruled [JURIST report] that former president Reynaldo Bignone will face criminal charges for his alleged role in "Dirty War" disappearances and human rights abuses. In February, Argentina requested that Spain extradite [JURIST report] former Argentinean President Isabel Peron in connection to an investigation into Peron's alleged involvement in the disappearance of political opponent Hector Aldo Fagetti Gallego at the outset of the abuses in 1976.

[JURIST] Israel's state comptroller Wednesday recommended holding a criminal investigation into allegations that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert [official website; BBC profile] improperly favored his supporters in distributing business grants when he was trade minister in 2001. A number of Israeli politicians, including several from Olmert's own ruling coalition, responded to the recommendation by calling for Olmert to resign as prime minister. The state attorney general will ultimately make the decision on whether to pursue a criminal investigation.

This is not the first time Olmert has been investigated for questionable deals. A number of scandals have emerged surrounding the Israeli prime minister in recent years, including accusations that he promoted the interests of two business associates during the 2005 state sale of Bank Leumi [corporate website], but Olmert has maintained that he has done nothing wrong. In January, the Israeli Ministry of Justice announced plans to launch an investigation [JURIST report] into allegations surrounding Olmert's involvement with the sale of Bank Leumi. AP has more.

[JURIST] A British court Wednesday ordered that a Moroccan man accused of being a UK contact for the September 11, 2001 hijackers and an associate of a suspected Spanish al Qaeda leader be released. The court said that the detention of Farid Hilali [GlobalSecurity profile] had become "arbitrary and unjustified" after the Spanish Supreme Court last year threw out the conviction of Imad Yarkas [BBC profile], the alleged founder of a Spanish al Qaeda cell with whom Hilali was suspected of associating, for conspiracy to murder in connection with the September 11 attacks [JURIST news archive]. Hilali has been held in British prisons since he was arrested in June 2004 on a European warrant [EU backgrounder]. He still remains in British custody, pending a possible appeal to Britain's highest court, the House of Lords.

Spanish authorities had sought to extradite Hilali to Spain. In June 2005, a London judge approved an extradition [JURIST report], deciding that he would not face religious or racial prejudice if sent there for trial. In 2006, Hilali accused the UK security service of arranging his torture [JURIST report] in several Arab countries. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments Wednesday in the consolidated case [transcript, PDF; Duke Law backgrounder] of Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life [merit briefs], 06-969, and McCain v. Wisconsin Right to Life [merit briefs], 06-970, in which the Court must decide whether the restrictions on pre-election issue ads imposed by the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law [text] unfairly restrict freedom of speech. Under the law, interest groups cannot run corporate-sponsored radio or TV advertisements that mention a candidate's name within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. In 2004, anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life [advocacy website] was prevented from running ads urging people to ask state Senator Russ Feingold [official website] not to filibuster President Bush's judicial nominees, because Feingold was up for re-election that year. Wisconsin Right to Life argues it was not trying to influence an election, but was merely trying to rally support on an unrelated issue. The Federal Election Commission [official website] and a group of lawmakers led by Senator John McCain [official website] argued in favor of the law, saying that such issue ads can still influence voters. Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito appeared skeptical of the law, noting that many interest groups have said that the restrictions are impractical. The court is expected to rule this summer. AP has more.

The Court also heard arguments [transcript, PDF] Wednesday in the case of Watson v. Philip Morris [merit briefs], 05-1284, in which the Court must decide whether a private corporation can claim the benefit of the federal officer removal statute [text] and have a case against it moved to federal court simply on the basis of the fact that it is complying with federal regulations.

[JURIST] Several hundred Thai monks rallied outside the parliament building in Bangkok Wednesday to demand that the new Thai constitution declare Buddhism the national religion. The ruling Council for National Security [official website; Wikipedia backgrounder], headed by the Muslim General Sonthi Boonyaratglin [BBC profile], appears to be open to the suggestion. Although conservative Buddhists have long sought to have their religion designated as the official state faith, liberal Buddhists and Thailand's Muslim minority have opposed the idea for fear it would lead to government-enforced discrimination. The current draft constitution [JURIST report], completed earlier this month, does not specify a state religion.

Thailand is presently governed by an interim constitution [JURIST report] imposed by the military leaders who seized power from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [JURIST news archive] in a coup [JURIST report] last year. The Constitutional Drafting Council was established [JURIST report] in January and given a six-month deadline to prepare the new constitution. Military leaders have said that if this new draft constitution is not approved by the public, they will impose their own constitution. ABC Australia has more.

[JURIST] The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) [official website] has opened an investigation into whether executive branch employees have improperly engaged in political activity in violation of the Hatch Act [OSC materials], an OSC spokesperson said Tuesday. The Hatch Act prohibits the use of government resources for political purposes, and the OSC has expanded current investigations into a broader probe of "illegal political activities across the executive branch." The new, expanded probe builds on two current investigations: whether politics played an improper role in the 2006 firing of a US Attorney, and whether a presentation [PDF slides] by an aide to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove on strategies to aid 2008 Republican candidates given to political appointees at the General Services Administration [official website] in January was improper.

GSA Administrator Lurita Doan [official website] allegedly asked those present at the briefing to consider how the GSA could help Republican candidates in the next round of elections. The OSC will examine whether similar presentations were given at other federal agencies [WashPost report]. The White House has also been criticized in the context of the US Attorney firings [JURIST news archive] after disclosing that at least 21 White House staffers used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts while at work to avoid liability under the Hatch Act. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House Judiciary Committee voted 32-6 Wednesday to grant Monica M. Goodling [JURIST news archive], former special counsel to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, immunity from prosecution [press release] in exchange for her testimony on the firings of eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive]. The committee also voted to authorize a subpoena for Goodling's testimony, but committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) must still choose whether to issue the subpoena. Conyers has said previously that Goodling's testimony is pivotal in clearing up "the many inconsistencies and gaps surrounding this matter."

Goodling told the committee last month that she would not speak to the committee about her role in the firings [JURIST report], and stated through her lawyer, John Dowd, that she would seek protection under her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if the committee issued her a subpoena. She resigned [JURIST report] from her position at the Justice Department earlier this month. AP has more.

[JURIST] Judges in Pakistan have postponed two separate proceedings in the case of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry [official website; JURIST news archive] as criticism of President Pervez Musharraf's effective sacking of the country's chief magistrate [JURIST report] continues. On Wednesday the Pakistan Supreme Court announced a week adjournment of its hearing on the alleged manhandling of the Chief Justice prior to a Supreme Judicial Council disciplinary hearing one day after Supreme Court Justice Sardar Raza Khan refused to hear Chaudhry's constitutional petition [PDF] against his suspension, passing the matter up to the the court's Acting Chief Justice [JURIST report] for consideration before a larger bench or the full court. Khan said that he could not hear the matter as he has signed the original order authorizing Chaudhry's March 9 removal. The Daily Times has local coverage; Geo has more.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, overthrown by Musharraf in a military coup in 1999 and now in exile in London, was quoted in Pakistan media reports Wednesday as saying that Musharraf was pushing the country towards anarchy and civil war and that the struggle for judicial independence had become a national movement and a defining moment for the future of the country. PTI has more.

[JURIST] US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. [official profile] said Tuesday that the Defense Department's controversial Threat and Local Observation Notice system, or TALON database [Wired report; JURIST news archive] would be discontinued. Documents released by the Defense Department showed that the Pentagon labeled anti-war activities as "potential terrorist activity" [JURIST report] and monitored students, Quakers and other anti-war groups while collecting information for the domestic terror threats database. According to a DOD statement, Clapper "does not believe [the results of the TALON program] merit continuing the program as currently constituted, particularly in light of its image in Congress and the media."

An NBC News report in December 2005 revealed that the military maintained the database of "suspicious incidents," including peaceful anti-war protests and groups. Vietnam war era regulations [PDF text] limit what information the military can collect about people and activities taking place inside the US, and the Pentagon launched an investigation [DOD press release; JURIST report] into possible misuse of the program. According to DOD officials, the investigation revealed that 261 entries were improper and subject to removal [JURIST report]. Military officials have also acknowledged that some records were kept longer than the DOD's internal 90-day policy even though the groups had been deemed not to be a threat. US Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) welcomed the decision [press release] Wednesday, saying that " Talon was another costly, controversial and poorly focused venture that did not make us any safer, while taking a hefty toll in Americans' privacy and Americans' tax dollars. Without clear rules and close oversight, databases like this can easily be abused to violate the public’s constitutional and privacy rights." The Washington Post has more.

4/26/07 - AP is reporting that Clapper has made a recommendation to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the TALON database be shut down, but that a final decision on whether to continue the program has not yet been made. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Italian government adopted a draft law Tuesday that would criminalize a wide range of environmentally-unsound activities, including damage to environmental resources, polluting, illegal dumping, and causing environmental catastrophes. Proposed sentencing guidelines authorize up to 10 years in jail for the most serious crime, causing environmental catastrophes, and authorize fines ranging from 4,000 to 20,000 Euros for polluting to 30,000 to 250,000 Euros for causing environmental catastrophes. The draft bill, which still must be approved by the full Italian parliament, would bring Italy in line with other European Union countries that have already criminalized environmental crimes, such as Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Denmark.

The European Commission [official website] in February proposed that all EU member nations criminalize serious environmental offenses [JURIST report] and impose minimum sanctions for violations to prevent environmental criminals from exploiting discrepancies between member states' criminal law systems. The directive would have all EU members treat offenses that seriously harm humans or the environment as so-called green crimes [Commission materials] if committed intentionally or with gross negligence. Listed offenses include illegal shipment of waste and trade in endangered species or ozone-depleting materials, punishable by at least 5 years in prison and corporate fines of up to 750,000 euros (US $975,000). AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down opinions in two cases Wednesday, including Smith v. Texas [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court held that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals incorrectly required Smith to show "egregious harm" before correcting the constitutional violation found by the Supreme Court in an earlier decision in the same case. LaRoyce Lathair Smith was sentenced to death when the trial judge refused to issue a special jury instruction allowing the jury to consider evidence of Smith's low IQ and special education class attendance to mitigate his sentence. In 2004, the Supreme Court reversed Smith's death sentence [JURIST report; Duke Law backgrounder] and remanded the case in a 2004 per curiam opinion [PDF text] holding that the jury should have received the instruction. On remand, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held [decision text] that the trial judge's failure to issue the special jury instruction was harmless error not affecting the constitutionality of Smith's conviction. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that "the requirement that Smith show egregious harm was predicated ... on a misunderstanding of the federal right Smith asserts." Read the Court's 5-4 opinion [text] per Justice Kennedy, along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Souter, and a dissent [text] from Justice Alito.

In the consolidated cases of Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman and Brewer v. Quarterman [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report] the Court held that Texas' "special issue" jury instructions in death penalty cases, no longer in use, prevented Abdul-Kabir and Brewer's juries from "giving meaningful consideration and effect to constitutionally relevant mitigating evidence." Read the Court's 5-4 opinion in Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman [text] per Justice Stevens, the Court's 5-4 opinion in Brewer v. Quarterman [text] per Justice Stevens, along with a dissent [text] from Chief Justice Roberts and a dissent [text] from Justice Scalia. The dissents are consolidated for both Abdul-Kabir and Brewer. AP has more.

[JURIST] Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine [official website] said during a Tuesday radio interview that he may be able to issue an executive order to close the loophole [JURIST report] that allowed Virgina Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho to purchase a firearm despite having been ordered [text] to receive psychiatric treatment by a Virginia court in 2005. A federal law [18 USC 922 (g)(4), text] prohibits persons "who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution" from possessing or receiving "any firearm or ammunition," but the Virginia reporting law only requires submission of records of persons who have been "involuntarily committed" or ruled mentally "incapacitated."

Legislation seeking to improve enforcement [HR 297 backgrounder] of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) [FBI backgrounder] has been introduced in the House of Representatives in the past three terms, but never became law. AP has more.

[JURIST] The constitutional crisis in Ecuador deepened Tuesday as the country's Congress [official website, in Spanish] struck back at high court judges who on Monday had ordered the reinstatement of 50 lawmakers [JURIST report] opposed to President Rafael Correa [official website, in Spanish; personal website] and sought to have those legislators arrested, prompting some to flee the country. Earlier Tuesday Correa deployed a police cordon around the Congress building in Quito to prevent the dissident lawmakers from reentering to take their seats, warning that if any tried "it will be necessary to send them to prison." Congress, dominated by Correa supporters since the opposition lawmakers were dismissed [JURIST report] in February by the country's electoral tribunal and replaced by Correa supporters, afterwards voted to dismiss the Constitutional Tribunal [official website] judges, insisting that their terms had in fact ended in January.

Correa is now left in the position of controlling all three branches of Ecuador's government and has popular momentum in the wake of a referendum earlier this month that overwhelmingly supported [JURIST report] his call for convening a constitutional assembly to rewrite the country's charter, a move opposed by the dissident lawmakers. Ecuador's electoral tribunal announced Monday that candidates for the constitutional assembly could begin campaigning in mid-August for election September 30. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Convicted civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart [defense website] was disbarred from the New York Bar after her request to voluntarily resign from practicing law was rejected. Stewart was convicted [JURIST report; JURIST video] in 2005 of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists [18 USC 2339A text] for helping imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman [Wikipedia profile] communicate with his terrorist followers. Stewart was also convicted of defrauding the government for violating rules that had been put in place to prevent Abdel-Rahman from communicating with the outside world following his 1995 conviction of seditious conspiracy for plotting to blow up several New York city landmarks. She was sentenced to 28 months in prison [JURIST report] in October 2006.

Stewart has insisted that she "is not a traitor" [letter, PDF] and has said that she was only advocating for her client. She remains free pending appeal of her conviction. AP has more.

[JURIST] Authorities in Iraq are failing to guarantee due process and other basic human rights of some 3,000 detainees arrested after a new security plan was instituted in Baghdad in mid-February, according to a new report [PDF text; press release] released Wednesday by the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) [official website]. The report, the tenth in a series issued by the office, also repeated UNAMI's ongoing concerns over "rampant violations of human rights standards by insurgency and various armed groups, and recognizes that these crimes have targeted civilians, law enforcement personnel and government employees."

On the Iraqi government's own conduct, UNAMI noted:

While in his public statements Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged that the government would respect human rights and ensure due process within a reasonable time for those under arrest, there were no references to any mechanisms for monitoring the conduct of arresting and detaining officials. The new emergency procedures announced on 13 February contained no explicit measures guaranteeing minimum due process rights. Rather, they authorized arrests without warrants and the interrogation of suspects without placing a time limit on how long they could be held in pre-trial detention. The use of torture and other inhumane treatment in detention centers under the authority of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense continues to be of utmost concern. UNAMI re-emphasizes the urgent need to establish an effective tracking mechanism to account for the location and treatment of all detainees from the point of arrest.

77. UNAMI remains concerned about procedures followed by the [Central Criminal Court of Iraq] and other criminal courts in Iraq, which consistently failed to meet minimum fair trial standards. Such trials are increasingly leading to the imposition of the death penalty. The CCCI, which hears cases referred both by the MNF and the Iraqi authorities, was set up by the CPA in July 2003 to hear serious criminal offences, including terrorism, abduction, money laundering, drug trafficking and acts of sabotage. It also hears cases involving suspects arrested by the Iraqi authorities under the 2004 emergency regulations and the 2005 anti-terror law....

78. Serious pre-trial irregularities, which prejudice the chances of subsequently receiving a fair hearing, include the failure to bring defendants before an investigative judge within a reasonable period of time, and failure to promptly apprise detainees of the reason for their arrest and of the details of the charges and evidence against them. At the investigative stage, there is a lack of adequate access to court-appointed counsel prior to the initial investigative hearing and subsequently. The vast majority of defendants are represented by counsel appointed by the court, whom they have never met and who have little or no knowledge of the substance of the charges or evidence against their clients. With regard to those held in MNF custody, according to current practice, suspects are denied access to legal counsel during the first 60 days of internment. The lack of continuity in legal representation available to defendants is of equal concern. In the vast majority of cases, defendants are not represented by the same counsel at the investigative or trial stage, eroding further their chances of securing an effective defense. This includes the ability of counsel to present and prepare defense witnesses, to prepare effective cross-examination of prosecution witnesses and to submit any other relevant evidence in the case. Proceedings at trial are typically brief in nature, with sessions lasting on average some fifteen to thirty minutes, during which the entire trial is concluded. Deliberations also typically do not last more than several minutes for each trial, including in complex cases involving serious felonies resulting in sentences of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Defendants are also frequently unaware of their rights under the law, including the right of appeal against their conviction and sentencing. Under Iraqi law, appeals must be lodged to the Court of Cassation within thirty days of the pronouncement of the verdict. Denial of prompt and adequate access to counsel, and lack of continuity in legal representation, mean that in many cases those convicted lose the opportunity to appeal their sentences as they become aware of their rights only after the deadline for submissions has passed. Even in death penalty cases, which under Iraqi law are automatically referred to the Court of Cassation, defendants facing capital punishment lose the opportunity to submit information for consideration at the appeal stage.