[JURIST] As some 700,000 secularist Turks took to the streets of Istanbul [AP report] Sunday demanding the resignation of Turkey's government, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul [official website; Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive], a member of the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish; Wikipedia backgrounder] and the country's sole presidential candidate, said he would not withdraw from the country's presidential election in the face of a statement released by the secularist Turkish army on Friday threatening to intervene if Gul is elected [Times report]. Gul fell 10 votes short of a requisite majority in the first round of balloting in parliament on Friday.

The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) [Wikipedia backgrounder] boycotted Friday's vote, as they feel Turkey's president should be entirely secular, and immediately challenged [AFP report] the results in Turkey's Constitutional Court [official website], arguing that the constitutional provision required a quorum for Friday's vote to be official and lead to a second round. General elections will be held on November 4 to elect a president if the constitutional court annuls the results of Friday's vote and voting is not allowed to move to the second round in parliament. AFP has more.

[JURIST] German lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck [profile] says that he will refile a war crimes complaint [CCR press release] against former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Spain with the help of Spanish counterparts after the German Federal Prosecutor's office Friday rejected a bid to prosecute the suit in Germany under that country's universal jurisdiction law [text], according to a report published Saturday in Der Spiegel. Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said [CCR press release] that the case did not have a sufficient connection to Germany to warrant exercise of her legal discretion, noting that the alleged crimes were committed outside of Germany, the defendants do not reside in Germany, they are not currently located in Germany, and it is not anticipated they will soon enter German territory. Spain passed a universal jurisdiction law [text] of its own in 1985, invoking it most famously in the case of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pincohet [PDF backgrounder].

The German complaint [introduction in English, PDF; full complaint text in German, part one and part two, PDF] against Rumsfeld and other top US officials and advisors [CCR list] on behalf of eleven former Abu Ghraib detainees and one Guantanamo detainees alleged that they were responsible for the torture of the 12 plaintiffs and authorized the commission of other war crimes in the US "war on terror." Reuters has more.

[JURIST] China's government continued its campaign against corrupt public officials [JURIST news archive] Sunday by unveiling a set of new rules aimed at ensuring the integrity of public servants. The proposed 55-article regulation will take effect on June 1. The articles authorize reprimanding, demoting, and firing public officials who commit a variety of offenses, including failing to perform the duties of the position in a timely or effective manner; causing funds to be embezzled or stolen; and using political influence to obtain jobs for mistresses. The regulations also authorize punishment for personal conduct such as failing to support elderly family members, engaging in the sex trade, and using drugs. Xinhua has more.

In March, Chinese Chief Justice Xiao Yang told the latest annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, that nine high-ranking Chinese officials were convicted by courts in 2006 [JURIST report] as a result of China's ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

[JURIST] North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer [official profile; BBC profile] said Saturday that NATO will investigate allegations of human rights violations committed by Afghan prison officials. Scheffer's comments follow allegations made by Canadian human rights groups that Canada, a NATO member and prime contributor to ISAF [official website], NATO's security assistance force in Afghanistan, is violating international human rights law [Geneva Convention text] and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text] in allowing detainees initially held in Canadian custody to be turned over to Afghan forces, where they suffer abuse. The groups have filed suit against the Canadian government alleging that the current Canada-Afghanistan Detainee Agreement [text] does not do enough to ensure detainees will not be tortured by Afghan forces [BCCLA press release, PDF; JURIST report].

Scheffer said that NATO countries have the responsibility to defend international human rights, and that NATO has an obligation to prevent Afghanistan from torturing prisoners in its facilities. CTV News has more.