[JURIST] US Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) announced Friday that an anticipated floor debate on a resolution expressing the Senate's lack of confidence [JURIST reports] in beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [JURIST news archive] will take place Monday. The no-confidence resolution, which is non-binding, will require the support of 60 senators to limit debate and further amendments to come to a vote. Schumer, a senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], said that "if all senators who have actually lost confidence... [in Gonzales] voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous."

In May, Schumer said that at least 26 Democratic senators were planning to join him in co-sponsoring the no-confidence resolution, and mentioned the possibility of recruiting Republicans to co-sponsor the resolution. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official profile], the top Republican member on the Judiciary Committee, has said that he believes a "sizable number" of Republican members of Congress will join Democrats [JURIST report] in a vote of no-confidence in Gonzales, who has lately been plagued by controversy surrounding the allegedly-political firings of eight US Attorneys, as well as questions about his conduct as White House counsel [JURIST report] in the NSA domestic surveillance program. Specter has said he had a "sense" that Gonzales may step down before the vote. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The US-led Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) said [press release] Saturday that six civilian detainees had been killed and at least 50 injured as the result of an "indirect fire" attack on the US-operated Camp Bucca [Wikipedia backgrounder; JURIST news archive] detention facility. In April, the Washington Post reported that the there are approximately 18,000 detainees [JURIST news archive] held at Camp Bucca and another large US-run Iraq prison called Camp Cropper [Wikipedia backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. In May, the Washington Post reported that security plans [AFPS report] implemented since February by the MNF-I have contributed to overcrowding in Iraq prisons [JURIST report].

Allegations of detainee abuse [JURIST news archive] have increased as officials struggle to deal with the influx of detainees. The security plans, formally known as "Operation Law and Order" and commonly referred to in the US as the "troop surge," are intended to increase security and stability in Baghdad and Al Anbar province; they were instituted shortly after Gen. David H. Petraeus [official profile] assumed command of the MNF-I. AP has more.

[JURIST] The United Nations (UN) responded Friday to a class action lawsuit filed against the UN and the Netherlands [JURIST report] earlier in the week by thousands of survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], insisting [press briefing transcript] it was immune under Article 2 Section 2 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations [PDF text], which says that the UN's property and assets "shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except it has expressly waived its immunity." Marie Okabe, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that "survivors of the Srebrenica massacres are absolutely right to demand justice... [and] the fact that the United Nations [has immunity]... in no way diminishes the United Nations' commitment to assist" the victims. The class action suit against the UN and the Netherlands alleges that both are liable for their failure to protect civilians, many of whom were refugees that were relocated to the Srebrenica enclave declared [Security Council Resolution 819, PDF] to be a "safe area" by the UN Security Council in 1993. Victims and critics have faulted the UN and the Netherlands for not taking responsibility for the 450 Dutch peacekeepers who did not intervene to protect Bosnian Muslims, who were largely defenseless after being disarmed by UN forces as a condition to enter the Srebrenica enclave. Peacekeepers reportedly even assisted as Bosnian Serb forces rounded up Bosnian Muslims, many of whom were bussed away and later massacred.

Tom Karremans, the commander of the peacekeepers, testified [JURIST report] in 2005 that Dutch troops could not intervene to protect the refugees because early phases of the massacre had initially been represented as an "evacuation." An independent report [text] by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation [official website] found that Bosnian Muslims had been mistakenly advised by Dutch troops to depart from the Srebrenica enclave, although it absolved the Dutch troops of blame because the peacekeepers were outnumbered, lightly armed, insufficiently supplied, denied air support, and under rules of engagement that permitted only self-defense. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that the it will seek a reconsideration of rulings by two US military judges earlier this week dismissing all charges against Canadian detainee Omar Khadr and Yemeni detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST reports]. Both judges found that the detainees could not be tried as "unlawful enemy combatants" under the Military Commission Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text] because both were simply designated "enemy combatants" by Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD materials] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Military prosecutors will only appeal the dismissals to the Court of Military Commissions Review, just established this week after the surprise Monday dismissals, if they fail to persuade the judges in the original case that there is no material difference between the two designations. The legal distinction between "enemy combatant" and "unlawful enemy combatant" is arguably material because lawful enemy combatants are afforded prisoner-of-war status under Third Geneva Convention [text].

DOD has so far filed revised charges against only 3 of the approximately 385 detainees held at Guantanamo. In March, Australian David Hicks [JURIST news archive], the first detainee to be charged under the MCA, pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to a one count of supporting terrorism. AP has more.