[JURIST] The government of Burundi [JURIST news archive] and the United Nations (UN) [official website] agreed Wednesday to establish a tribunal to try those accused of war crimes during the nation's 12-year civil war [Wikipedia backgrounder], according to the UN. Burundi has also agreed to create a truth and reconciliation commission. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile] said the government has agreed not to give amnesty for serious violations, including genocide and crimes against humanity. The tribunal and commission will be created based on the recommendations of a nine-member panel, which will include three members each from the Burundian government, civil rights groups and the UN.

The internal clash between the Hutu majority and the dominant Tutsi minority began in 1993 and claimed more than 300,000 victims. Former allies of current Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza [Wikipedia profile], an ex-Hutu rebel leader, may be implicated during the reconciliation process. Nkurunziza was elected in 2005 after the implementation of a UN-created peace plan, but his presidency has been marred by accusations of assassinations and torture [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Ukraine [official website; JURIST news archive] limited the president's power to appoint and dismiss members of local judiciaries on Wednesday. The ruling affirmed that of the country's High Justice Council [official website]. In Ukraine, local judges and their deputies are first appointed by the Ukrainian Supreme Court. The president then has the power to approve or dismiss the appointee. In recent months, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko [official website] has been criticized for using this power to only appoint officials in his favor to the court system.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court continues to hear arguments [JURIST report] debating the validity of Yushchenko's call to break up parliament last month despite attempt by Yushchencko to replace three of its judges. Yushchenko has said the April 2 decree was necessary to prevent his political rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, from threatening the power of the presidency. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives narrowly passed the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act [HR 1252 summary; JURIST report] Wednesday, approving heavy criminal penalties for oil companies and individuals who take "unfair advantage" or charge "unconscionably excessive" prices for fuel. House leaders used an expedited legislative process, so the bill required a two-thirds majority and passed by 284-141 [roll call]. The Bush administration and opponents of the bill called it a vague form of price control. The White House said Wednesday that Bush's advisors would recommend he veto the bill [policy statement, PDF] if the Senate equivalent [S 1263 summary] passes as well.

Last May, the House passed a similar bill [JURIST report], the Federal Energy Price Protection Act [PDF text], that would have required the FTC to define price gouging within six months of the bill's final passage. That bill failed in the Senate. AP has more.

[JURIST] Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi of the European Court of Justice [official website] upheld the rights of trade unions in two opinions Wednesday. In Laval v. Partneri (C-341/05) [opinion; press release, PDF in French], Mengozzi advised the court to allow trade unions to force companies from foreign EU member states to pay their workers the same that domestic workers would otherwise receive. Latvian construction company Laval was hired to build a school in Sweden, but Sweden's construction trade union Byggnads [union website, in Swedish] sought to force Laval to pay its workers more. In the second case, International Transport Workers' Federation v. Viking Line ABP (C-438/05) [opinion; press release, PDF], Mengozzi said trade unions should be able to act to dissuade a company from moving to another EU member state for the purposes of lowering wages.

Advocate General opinions are not binding, although generally the final opinions of the court, which will not be released for several months, follow them. By advocating more power for trade unions, Mengozzi seems to be granting greater weight to a country's internal autonomy, over the rules of the EU single market. EUobserver.com has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Milorad Ulemek, paramilitary commander under Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], was convicted with 11 others on Wednesday for the assassination of former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic [BBC obituary; memorial website]. The Special Court in Belgrade sentenced Ulemek to 40 years imprisonment, the maximum sentence allowed under Serbian law, finding that he organized the assassination. Zvezdan Jovanovic, was convicted of firing the shot that killed Djindjic and was also sentenced to 40 years. Jovanovic claimed [JURIST report] in 2006 that he was impermissibly forced to sign a confession to Djindjic's murder.

The other defendants received sentences ranging from 8 to 35 years. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former US Department of Justice aide Monica Goodling [JURIST news archive] testified before the House Judiciary Committee [official website] Wednesday about the fired US Attorneys scandal [JURIST news archive], saying she did not play a key role in the firings [prepared statement, PDF] but believed that previous Senate Judiciary Committee testimony [JURIST report] by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty was "incomplete or inaccurate in a number of respects." Goodling, who was granted immunity for her testimony, admitted to considering applicants based on their politics, a violation of federal law. In addition, Goodling testified that at least one US Attorney was fired to open a spot for a protege of Karl Rove, but she believed Rove's role in the firings was minimal.

Goodling resigned [JURIST report] from her position as White House liaison at the DOJ in April. The Justice Department has been investigating [JURIST report] whether she considered the political affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor positions, which she admitted today. On Tuesday, she refused to comply [JURIST report] with a document subpoena without Justice Department approval. AP has more.

[JURIST] Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan condemned [press release] the United States and other "Western democratic states" Wednesday for what she characterized as attempts "to roll back some fundamental principles of human rights" in their efforts to fight terrorism. Khan's remarks came with the release of the Amnesty International Report 2007 [text; Amnesty materials], which condemned the US for maintaining a "dual discourse on human rights as it pursued its 'war on terror'." The report specifically criticized the US and its allies for secret detention, extraordinary rendition, prolonged detention without access to due process, and torture or degrading treatment of detainees [JURIST news archives]. The report noted a sharp contrast between generally positive developments in Latin America and what it characterized as a "continued failure to hold senior US government officials accountable for torture and ill-treatment of 'war on terror' detainees." Latin American countries, such as Argentina and Chile, were praised for revoking amnesties for crimes against humanity and investigating former dictator Augusto Pinochet's alleged role [JURIST reports] in the murder of political rivals.

The 2007 report echoes the conclusions in Amnesty's 2006 report on human rights [JURIST report], which denounced the "double standards" espoused by the world's post powerful countries such as the United States, which Amnesty said had substantially weakened America's creditability as a human rights champion. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Court of Appeals for England and Wales ruled [judgment text] Wednesday that provisions of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 [text] are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text], and upheld a 2005 lower court decision [JURIST report] striking them down. The Act, designed to combat "sham marriages" [Telegraph report] entered into for immigration purposes required people born outside the European Union temporarily permitted in the UK to seek special permission from the Home Office [official website] to marry. The only exception to this rule was if the couple planned to marry in the Church of England [church website]. The court ruled that the requirement was discriminatory, and a breach of a person's fundamental right to marry.

The British government says there were at least 10,000 sham marriages a year before the new legislation, but now reports of sham marriages have dropped from nearly 4,000 in 2004 to less than ten percent of that number. Several criminal networks arranging sham marriages have been broken since 2004, with police and immigration officials conducting raids [BBC report] as recently as last month. Reuters has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The Paris Court of Appeal [official website, in French] Tuesday raised the sentences of nine Islamic militants convicted of "criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise" from nine years to the maximum of 10 years in prison. The nine were among 25 defendants convicted [JURIST report] in June 2006 of plotting a terrorist attack foiled in December 2002 after investigators raided a Paris apartment and located chemicals, fuses, gas cans and protective suits [BBC report]. In the first trial, a defendant who was a chemical expert received the maximum 10-year prison sentence. The Tuesday appeal court ruling issued sentences ranging from two to seven years in prison for the other convicted defendants.

In December 2005, the French parliament approved toughened anti-terror legislation [JURIST report; text, in French] increasing funding for video surveillance of public areas, permitting government access to private phone and Internet records, and lengthening detention periods for terrorism suspects before they are formally charged. The anti-terrorism law was introduced by then-Interior Minister and current French President Nicolas Sarkozy [BBC profile], who acknowledged that the bill was in large part a response to the 2005 London subway bombings [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UK Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld [judgment text] a 2006 lower court ruling that a group of Indian Ocean islanders known as the Chagossians [advoacy website; Wikipedia backgrounder] must be allowed to return [JURIST report] to the group of islands comprising their homeland. In dismissing the British government's appeal, the court said that the government had negated "one of the most fundamental liberties known to human beings, the freedom to return to one's homeland." Although this is the third time the government has lost in court, an appeal may still be filed with the House of Lords [official website].

Approximately 2000 Chagossians were exiled in the 1960s to make way for the Diego Garcia naval base [official website]. The islanders will be allowed to resettle 65 islands in the Chagos Archipelago, but not Diego Garcia itself, which under lease to the US government has been developed into a strategic staging area for bombing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The UK Press Association has more. Reuters has additional coverage. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Ali Ahmed Kurd, a senior lawyer on the defense team for suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [official website; JURIST news archive], accused Pakistani government lawyers Tuesday of "wasting the time of [the Supreme Court of Pakistan] and the entire nation" by stalling judicial proceedings in his case. Kurd made the statement before the Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] after government lawyers spent a third straight day trying to deny the court's jurisdiction [JURIST report] in the Chaudhry investigation by citing precedents. Government lawyers denied the accusations, and presiding Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday said he will not dictate how arguments will be presented on either side. Kurd suggested that the government is hoping to weaken opposition to President Pervez Musharraf and distract public attention from the case, which has culminated in violent confrontations [JURIST report] between government and opposition supporters.

Government lawyers are seeking to end the Supreme Court's suspension [JURIST report] of the Supreme Judicial Council's (SJC) inquiry into the alleged misconduct by Chaudhry as well as the legality of Chaudhry's March 9 suspension [JURIST report] from office. On Monday, Ramday refuted arguments made by government lawyers that the court should not "interfere with SJC proceedings or assume jurisdiction" of the inquiry, saying that if the SJC was a fully independent court it would render Pakistan's constitutional provisions [text] governing the SJC superfluous. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi [official profile] said Tuesday that the European Union should avoid any radical changes to the draft European Constitution [JURIST news archive], telling European Parliament members that a compromise on the treaty is not an adequate solution for Europe. Prodi told MEPs that Italy will likely not agree to any compromises, and instead proposed the idea of a "two-speed" Europe [AFP report], in which some nations would not have to proceed with reforms as rapidly as others. Prodi said [EP press release] that:

We do not necessarily have to proceed all together at the same speed. Already now, some significant European projects, such as the euro and Schengen, have been implemented by only some Member States. Not "against" anybody and not to "exclude" anyone, but always keeping the door open.

[JURIST] US federal agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General [official websites] conducted a joint raid [ICE press release] on a poultry processing plant owned by George's Processing Inc. in Butterfield, Missouri Tuesday, arresting more than 100 employees for immigration violations. Pete Baird, the agent in charge of the Kansas City, Missouri ICE office, said that "these worksite enforcement actions help reduce the job magnet that encourages aliens to enter the country illegally" and added that the raid was conducted as a part of an identity theft and false document investigation. ICE spokesperson Tim Counts said that no charges have been filed against George's Processing, and did not say whether the poultry processing plant was aware that it was hiring undocumented workers. According to the US Census Bureau figures for 2005, Butterfield is home to approximately 416 residents [CB materials].

The raid is a part of a recent effort by ICE officials to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, and comes amid debate in the US Senate concerning a controversial immigration reform proposal [JURIST report; JURIST news archive] that, if approved, would provide temporary work visas to up to 600,000 workers. In March, 360 people were arrested by ICE agents [JURIST report] in Massachusetts in a raid at Michael Bianco Inc., a leather factory that makes equipment for the US military. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales told a British parliamentary committee [prepared statement] Tuesday that top judges were very concerned with the establishment of the new Ministry of Justice (MOJ) [official website] after they and the government failed to reach any agreement on resolution of constitutional problems surrounding the ministry's recent split [JURIST report] from the Home Office [official website]. Lord Phillips described the two sides as "poles apart" [Financial Times report] on measures for the protection of judicial independence under the new arrangement and concerns that court resources will suffer in favor of jails and prisons, also included under the new ministry's jurisdiction. He slammed the split as a political device designed to let Home Secretary John Reid concentrate on terrorism and said that the Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer had been sidelined in the process and had been reduced to learning about the plan in the newspaper. Phillips insisted a "fundamental review" of the constitutional problems posed by the split was necessary in light of the creation of the MOJ.

Last week, a crisis meeting of top British judges called for constitutional protections for the judiciary [JURIST report] in the face of the new ministry. BBC News has more. The Guardian has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Former Department of Justice aide Monica Goodling [JURIST news archive] told the House Judiciary Committee [official website] in a letter Tuesday that she will not give up documents sought by the committee in compliance with a subpoena for e-mails and other papers relating to the firings of eight US attorneys [JURIST news archive]. Goodling's lawyer said that she will not turn over the documents without approval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website]. Goodling is scheduled to testify before the committee [hearing materials] on Wednesday.

A federal judge approved a grant of immunity [JURIST report] for Goodling earlier this month, clearing the way for her to testify before Congress on the matter. Goodling resigned [JURIST report] from her position as White House liaison at the DOJ in April and the DOJ has since opened an investigation [JURIST report] into whether she considered the political affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor positions in the DOJ, contrary to federal law and longstanding departmental practice. Bloomberg has more.

[JURIST] The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) [official website] has issued a report [DOC text] criticizing Japan's justice system on a wide range of issues at the conclusion of its 38th Session [official website]. The committee expressed concern that Japan [JURIST news archive] needed to "reinforce the independence of [its] judiciary," by ensuring the security of judges' tenure, which currently lacks safeguards from political interference. The report, released Monday also raised concerns that suspects were not afforded sufficient due process protections, and questioned the use of confessions made under possible compulsion, torture, or after prolonged arrest or detention. The committee criticized Japan's statute of limitations for acts "amounting to torture and ill treatment," citing in particular the committee's concerns that petitions filed by victims of military sexual slavery, the so-called comfort women [JURIST news archive], and slave laborers [JURIST report] were dismissed because Japan's 20-year deadline for filing compensation claims had expired. The committee recommended Japan immediately suspend its executions [JURIST news archive], citing Japan's noncompliance with minimal international standards, including the unusual practice of maintaining uncertain execution schedules and notifying inmates of their executions only hours before they are to take place.

The committee, which is composed by a body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [text], periodically reviews reports submitted by parties to the convention. Japan became a party to the convention on June 29, 1999. CAT's next session is scheduled to begin on November 5. The Financial Times has more.

[JURIST] Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), ranking member of the committee, have sent a letter [PDF text; press release] to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him again to respond to questions about the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program [JURIST news archive] and to disclose documents on the legal basis for it. In their letter Monday, the Senators wrote:

This Committee has made no fewer than eight formal requests over the past 18 months – to the White House, the Attorney General, or other Department of Justice officials – seeking documents and information related to this surveillance program. These requests have sought the Executive Branch legal analysis of this program and documents reflecting its authorization by the President. You have rebuffed all requests for documents and your answers to our questions have been wholly inadequate and, at times, misleading.

[JURIST] The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) [advocacy website] Wednesday urged [press release, DOC] the UN Security Council to refer Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] to the International Criminal Court [official website] for his role in Operation Murambatsvina [UN report, PDF; Wikipedia backgrounder], a coordinated effort to remove unlicensed sellers and non-zoned houses from the streets of Harare in 2005. COHRE claims that Mugabe's actions rise to the level of a crime against humanity and have published a legal opinion [PDF text] in conjunction with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights [advocacy website] detailing their allegations.

According to COHRE's press release:

The independent legal opinion on crimes against humanity concludes that there is sufficient evidence that the crimes of forced displacement, Article 7(1) (d) of the Rome Statute, were committed during Operation Murambatsvina. The victims were lawfully present in Zimbabwe and the evictions were a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population as part of a State policy, and were not justified on grounds permitted under international law. The opinion also finds that the evictions constitute an inhumane act under Article 7(1) (k) due to the immense physical and mental suffering meted out to the victims. The Security Council therefore has authority to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court under the Rome Statute.

[JURIST] Businessman Schabir Shaik, a former business associate of former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [ANC party profile], began his appeal hearing before the South African Constitutional Court [official website] Wednesday. Shaik's lawyers allege that Shaik's conviction for fraud and corruption [JURIST report] was the result of an inherently unfair trial caused by Zuma's absence and "irregularities in prosecutorial conduct." Shaik applied for leave to appeal [JURIST report] in December after the South African Supreme Court of Appeals [official website] upheld the conviction [JURIST report] in November, finding that enough evidence existed to support the case and the 15-year jail term handed down to Shaik. The Constitutional Court will decide whether Shaik may proceed with his appeal or if his sentence is final.

South African President Thabo Mbeki [BBC profile] fired Zuma [JURIST report] from his position in 2005 after Shaik was initially found guilty. Zuma has indicated repeatedly that he intends to run against Mbeki in the 2009 presidential election. In June, the African National Congress [party website] reinstated Zuma [JURIST report] to his deputy president position within the party after he was acquitted on rape charges [JURIST report]. In September, a high court judge tossed the corruption charges brought against Zuma himself [JURIST report], saying prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures, though the charges may be brought again in the future. SAPA has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate voted Tuesday to keep plans to establish a temporary guest worker program in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 [S 1348 summary; JURIST report]. An amendment [S Amdt 1153 materials] proposed by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) [official website] that sought to eliminate the temporary guest worker program failed 31-64 [roll call]. The proposed temporary worker visa program would provide between 400,000 to 600,000 guest worker visas per year, and has been criticized by lawmakers from both aisles as being too large. Supporters of the program argue that guest workers are necessary because employers cannot find Americans employees, while some critics of the program argue that employers would be able to fill job openings if they were willing to pay a decent wage. Other critics of the measure say that it threatens to create permanent underclass of low-income low-skill workers that are denied the opportunity to establish roots in the United States.

If approved, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act would give undocumented immigrants the opportunity to obtain a probationary card allowing them to live and work legally in the United States, but which would not place them on the road to permanent residency or citizenship. Senate leaders had initially hoped to hold a final vote on the immigration reform [JURIST news archive] legislation before Memorial Day, but decided Monday that the vote would be delayed until June due to opposition [JURIST report] from both sides in Congress. The New York Times has more.