[JURIST] Senior UN officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official websites] Monday urged [press release] countries to cooperate in the capture of numerous fugitives who remain at large. Carla Del Ponte, top prosecutor for the ICTY, said that many senior leaders responsible for the most serious crimes committed during the Balkan wars in 1991 have been prosecuted, but others still remain at large [speech transcript; press release], including Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder; JURIST news archive] and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounder; BBC profile]. Hassan Jallow, prosecutor for the ICTR, also stepped up the pressure to bring to justice war crimes fugitive Felicien Kabuga [Trial Watch profile], who is thought to be in Kenya. Jallow called for the Kenyan government to arrest Kabuga and hand him over to the tribunal.

Officials from both tribunals have put pressure on countries in the past [JURIST report] to assist in the arrest and transfer of war crimes fugitives. Serbia [JURIST news archive] especially has come under increased international pressure from the European Union and the United States to prosecute war criminals and arrest war crimes fugitives. Last month, Serbian President Boris Tadic [official website] announced the creation of the National Security Council, a special body headed by the president that will coordinate police and military security resources to hunt for suspected war criminals. Monday's requests come as the UN Security Council discusses winding down the two tribunals. The ICTR is expected to finish its work by 2009, and the ICTY by 2010. The UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] said Monday it has approved a request [letter, PDF] by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora [BBC profile] to aid his country in the investigation of the murder of anti-Syrian legislator Walid Eido [BBC report] last week. Eido, who was a member of the Lebanese Parliament, was killed last Wednesday when his car exploded at a beach in Beirut, also killing his son and at least six other people. Siniora had asked [letter, PDF] Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for "technical assistance" from the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) [UN materials], who submitted the request to the Council. This month's Council president, Belgium UN Ambassador Johan Verbeke [official profile], approved the request, asking the Commission to "extend appropriate technical assistance to the Lebanese authorities," and adding that the Council is "determined to continue to assist the Government of Lebanon in the search for the truth and to bring to justice perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of that terrorist attack and of other terrorist attacks and assassinations committed in Lebanon since October 2004."

The IIIC was established unanimously in 2005 [UN press release] to assist the Lebanese government in its investigation into the terrorist bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] in February of that same year. The commission was established after the UN found that the Lebanese-run investigation was seriously flawed. Eido's murder is the latest in a series of killings of Lebanese political leaders, including those of Hariri and cabinet member Pierre Gemayel [BBC report] last year. Eido's death came two weeks after the Council narrowly approved a resolution [JURIST report] to establish an ad hoc international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination. The IIIC is currently conducting 16 investigations. Reuters has more. The UN News Service has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Former Enron [corporate website; JURIST news archive] broadband division chief Kenneth Rice was sentenced to 27 months in prison [DOJ press release] Monday and ordered to forfeit almost $15 million as part of a plea deal with prosecutors for his testimony against former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and company founder Kenneth Lay [Houston Chronicle profiles]. As CEO of Enron Broadband Services (EBS) [JURIST news archive], Rice made numerous false statements about technology developments designed to mislead investors and artificially inflate the company's stock price. Without the plea deal, Rice faced up to 10 years in prison for his actions.

Earlier this month, former EBS Chief Operating Officer Kevin Hannon was sentenced to two years in prison [JURIST report] and fined $125,000 for defrauding investors. Hannon also was sentenced subject to a plea deal, but was convicted of lesser crimes and was facing a maximum of 5 years in prison. AP has more. The Houston Chronicle has additional coverage.

[JURIST] EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini [official profile] Monday said that many EU member states have failed to implement EU legislation to combat corruption [press release] by making bribery through an intermediary a criminal offense and updating existing anti-corruption legislation to include non-profit organizations. The EU approved the framework decision on combating corruption in the private sector [backgrounder] in 2003, and in a report to be forwarded to the Council of the European Union, Frattini said that only Belgium and the United Kingdom have legislation in full compliance with the 2003 decision. EU members were given a July 22, 2005 deadline to implement legislation complying with the EU decision.

In March, Belgian police arrested three Italian nationals [JURIST report] - a European Commission official in charge of delegation infrastructure, a personal assistant to an Italian member of the European Parliament, and a businessman - on corruption charges stemming from European public tenders to lease space and provide security for delegation buildings in Albania and India. The EU officials were accused of accepting up to $10 million in bribes over the last decade. EUobserver has more.

[JURIST] Israeli human rights group B'Tselem [advocacy website] called Monday for Hamas leaders in Gaza to investigate and bring to trial anyone who may have committed war crimes [press release], citing reported incidents of violence against children and civilians during last week's fighting between Hamas [party website; ICT backgrounder] and Fatah [party website] in the Gaza Strip. In their plea, B'Tselem referred to the death of a 28-year-old Fatah affiliated Presidential Guard member who was captured by Hamas, bound, and thrown from the top of a high rise building. B'Tselem also cited the summary execution by gunshot of a member of Fatah leadership in northern Gaza, and the stabbing death of a Fatah military leader which was broadcast on Hamas television.

The fighting in Gaza prompted Palestinian President Mahmous Abbas [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to swear in a new government [BBC report] with emergency powers that excludes Hamas members. Abbas decreed that new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad [BBC profile] may rule without parliamentary approval, a move which former Prime Minister Ismail Haniya [BBC profile] said was illegal. As a result of the exclusion of Hamas from the government, the US and the European Union restored funding and diplomatic ties [BBC report] to the Palestinian government. Haaretz has more.

[JURIST] The US delegation [official website] to the Meetings of the Group of Governmental Experts [official website] for the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) [PDF text] said Monday that the United States will not support a ban on the use of cluster munitions [FAS backgrounder; JURIST news archive], but is open to negotiations to reduce the humanitarian impact by requiring the increased reliability, accuracy and visibility of unexploded munitions. The US has also rejected new treaties specifically aimed at cluster munitions, arguing that the CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War [PDF text] already covers concerns that unexploded cluster munitions may inflict post-conflict casualties on civilians.

In February, a State Department spokesperson said the US rejected an international call [JURIST reports] to ban cluster munitions, telling reporters at a daily press briefing [text; recorded video] that the United States "takes the position that [cluster] munitions do have a place and a use in military inventories." Also in February, 46 of 49 countries participating in the two-day Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions [conference materials] agreed to an action plan to develop a new international treaty [press release] to ban the use of cluster munitions by 2008. Romania, Poland and Japan refused to sign the Oslo Declaration [PDF text]. The United States, Russia, Israel, and China chose not to attend the conference. Cluster munitions are considered by many to be inaccurate weapons designed to spread damage indiscriminately and could therefore be considered illegal [CMC backgrounder] under multiple provisions of Protocol I [text] of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Thai Attorney General Phatchara Yutithamdamrong said Monday that he would seek a criminal trial against former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his wife regarding a 2003 land purchase by Pojamarn Shinawatra from the government-directed Financial Institutions Development Fund [official website]. Yutithamdamrong also recommended the seizure of the land, valued at approximately $23.7 million USD. The announcement came as the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) ordered the additional seizure of $245.7 million USD of Thaksin's family assets, saying that the funds had been shifted from accounts seized last week [JURIST report] shortly before the seizure was ordered. The previous seizure amounted to approximately $1.6 billion USD, held by Thaksin and members of his family. Thaksin made his fortune after founding what is now the Shin Corporation [corporate website; Wikipedia backgrounder] in 1983, and is estimated to be worth in excess of $2 billion.

The AEC recommended that charges be brought [JURIST report] against Pojamarn and other members of Thaksin's family in February for tax evasion in the sale of Shin Corporation stock. Investigators have been having difficulty linking Thaksin to corruption [JURIST report], which was the stated reason for last year's bloodless coup [JURIST report]. Thaksin has complained that the charges against him amount to a persecution, and has called the AEC findings "libelous, unfair, and unethical." AP has more.

[JURIST] Dutch interrogators accused of prisoner abuse in Iraq were cleared [NOS report with press conference video, in Dutch] Monday with the release of two government ordered reports [press release with report texts, in Dutch] that found no torture but did say that interrogation methods may have breached international conventions. The reports found that at least one of the prisoners was "pressured" through the use of sleep deprivation, excessive noise, and cold water. Although detainee treatment that included such pressure was found to not be illegal, it may have violated the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text] and the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War [text].

No evidence was found to support allegations that an electric cattle prod was used on at least one prisoner, but the leader of one of the investigations said the claim could not be ruled out. Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop [official profile] said that the reports would be forwarded to the public prosecutor's office so that, if necessary, criminal proceedings could be initiated. AP has more.

[JURIST] The judge presiding over the trial of 26 US CIA agents [JURIST news archive] and two former Italian intelligence officials in the 2003 abduction and rendition [JURIST news archive] of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr [JURIST news archive] suspended the trial Monday until October 24, agreeing with the defense that the trial should not proceed until the Constitutional Court of Italy [official website] rules on an petition [JURIST report] filed by the Italian government to dismiss all charges against the defendants. The government alleges that the charges should be dismissed because the prosecution improperly used state secrets and wiretapping to build its case. Prosecutor Armando Spataro has argued that the court proceedings should continue and has denied using any state secrets. AP has more.

On June 8, Judge Oscar Magi suspended the trial [JURIST report] until June 18 after hearing preliminary motions to postpone the trial until the high court's ruling. Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was seized on the streets of Milan by CIA agents with the help of Italy's Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) [Wikipedia backgrounder]. He was then allegedly transferred to Egypt and turned over to Egypt's State Security Intelligence (SSI) [Wikipedia backgrounder], where he said he was tortured before being released [JURIST reports] in February 2007.

[JURIST] Two generals pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that include torturing prisoners of war and destruction of their property during the Croatian War of Independence [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi [case information, PDF; trial documents] had originally been brought before the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], however their case was transferred [order text; JURIST report] to the court system of Croatia [JURIST news archive] in 2005, where observers hope it will serve as a successful test case for the Croatian judiciary. Reforms in the judicial system would help the country meet its goal of joining the European Union around the year 2010. This is the first case to be transferred from the UN tribunal to Croatian authorities.

Norac pleaded not guilty at the ICTY [JURIST report] after voluntarily surrendering to the tribunal following his indictment [JURIST report] in 2004. The indictments against him and Ademi were consolidated [indictment text] in 2004. Norac was viewed as a hero in Croatia for his role in the country's war to break away from Yugoslavia, but is currently serving a 12-year sentence over the 1991 deaths of 50 Serbian civilians. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Superior Court of Quebec [official website] has ruled that some 20,000 cattle breeders can proceed with their class action lawsuit [CTV report] against the federal government of Canada for its handling of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) [USDA backgrounder, PDF], otherwise known as "mad cow" disease [CBC backgrounder]. The suit, which could eventually include over 100,000 farmers, alleges that the Canadian government was negligent by allowing cattle infected with BSE to be imported from the UK, and subsequently failing to inform the public or the cattle industry. The lawsuit is the first class action against the government over mad cow disease, which first appeared in Canada in May 2003.

In 1997, the Canadian government implemented regulations prohibiting the feeding of cattle with feed made from cattle body parts. The regulations, however, were not heavily enforced and violators were not required to pay fines before July 2005. The outbreak of BSE, first identified in 1996 in the UK and linked to the deadly Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) [CDC backgrounder], has encouraged cattle-producing states in the European Union and large importers like Japan to institute strict regulations concerning the feeding, slaughter, and testing of cattle. In May, the US Agriculture Department (USDA) [official website] announced it will appeal a ruling by a federal judge that a meatpacking company must be allowed to test all its cattle [AP report], which the USDA opposes. The USDA currently tests less than 1 percent of all slaughtered cattle in the United States, and the White House has fought to prohibit the sale of BSE testing kits and the implementation of private comprehensive testing standards arguing that false positives can hurt the cattle industry. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A White House spokesperson Sunday disputed claims by retired US Army Major General Antonio Taguba [NPR profile] that President Bush "had to be aware" of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] before the photos [JURIST report] of US interrogators abusing prisoners surfaced in April 2004, insisting that Bush first learned about the abuse on television. In an interview with the New Yorker published Saturday, Taguba said that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] misled Congress [AFP report] during testimony in May 2004 regarding the scope of his knowledge of the abuse. Taguba said that Rumsfeld and other high-ranking military officials knew about the abuse and had access to the photographs no later than January 13, 2004.

Taguba, who investigated [report, PDF] the abuse in 2004 and retired January 2007 at the request of Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard A. Cody, said that "the photographs were available to [Rumsfeld] - if he wanted to see them" and that many high-officials, whom Taguba was not permitted to investigate, "are lying to protect themselves." In November 2006, former Abu Ghraib commander Janis Karpinski [JURIST news archive] repeated her claims that Rumsfeld personally ordered abuses [JURIST report] and maintained her innocence despite being the only high-ranking military officer to be punished in connection with the abuse scandal [JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Prominent human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith [Reprieve profile] said Sunday he expects detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] to be closed after US President George Bush leaves office next year, adding that the recent dismissal of military commission charges against detainees Omar Khadr and Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST reports] were "another nail in the coffin for Guantanamo." Smith also said that the approximately 385 detainees held at Guantanamo only represent a small number of detainees held by the US worldwide; an official total reported in the Congressional Record in April 2006 indicated that 14,000 detainees were held globally by the United States. Smith criticized Guantanamo and other secret detention facilities as eroding the legitimacy of the United States in promoting democracy and respect for fundamental human rights.

Last Tuesday, US Nuremberg trials prosecutor Henry King, Jr. criticized the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text; JURIST news archive], saying it went against the principles of fairness [JURIST report] established during the trials of Nazi leaders and were contrary to the spirit of the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials]. Last Sunday, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he favored the immediate closure [JURIST report] of detention facilities at Guantanamo and also criticized the MCA. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in three cases Monday, including Credit Suisse First Boston v. Billing [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court held that federal antitrust laws do not apply to a case where investors filed a class action lawsuit against underwriters and institutional investors for their alleged manipulation of initial public offerings. The Court held that there was a "plain repugnancy" between the plaintiffs' antitrust claims and federal securities law and ruled that "we must interpret the securities laws as implicitly precluding the application of the antitrust laws to the conduct alleged in this case." According to the Court, "The buyers claim that the underwriters unlawfully agreed with one another that they would not sell shares of a popular new issue to a buyer unless that buyer committed (1) to buy additional shares of that security later at escalating prices (a practice called 'laddering'), (2) to pay unusually high commissions on subsequent security purchases from the underwriters, or (3) to purchase from the underwriters other less desirable securities (a practice called 'tying')." The Second Circuit's decision [PDF text] in the case was reversed. Read the Court's opinion [text] per Justice Breyer, along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Stevens and a dissent [text] from Justice Thomas. Justice Kennedy did not take part in the consideration or decision of the case.

In Brendlin v. California [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court held that an automobile passenger, like a driver, can challenge the constitutionality of a traffic stop under the Fourth Amendment. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Souter.

Finally, in Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services [Duke Law case backgrounder] the Court held that the Ninth Circuit erred in reviewing a district court's decision to remand Reliant Energy's price-fixing lawsuit to state court. Reliant filed the lawsuit in state court and after several defendants filed cross claims for indemnity against additional companies, including Powerex, the cross-claimants sought to have the case removed to federal court. Powerex argued that because it was a wholly owned subsidiary of a crown corporation of the Canadian province of British Columbia, it is an instrumentality of a foreign nation under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 [text]. Reliant argued that Powerex should not be considered a foreign state and the district court remanded the case to state court. On appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that it could review substantive issues of law [decision, PDF] that preceded the district court's order to remand the case, but the Supreme Court ruled that the Ninth Circuit was barred from considering Powerex's claim that it is a foreign state under FSIA by 28 USC 1447(d) [text], the federal statute which states that "[a]n order remanding a case to the State court from which it was removed is not reviewable on appeal or otherwise." Read the Court's opinion [text] per Justice Scalia, along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Kennedy and a dissent [text] from Justice Breyer.

[JURIST] UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website; JURIST news archive] chair Luis Alfonso de Alba urged the 47-member body Sunday to approve a series of reforms designed to mandate periodic review of all UN member states. De Alba called for the internal rules to be adopted by the conclusion of the 5th session of the Human Rights Council [materials] on Monday, saying that time for negotiations were over. UNHRC members have disagreed over giving the rights body authority to appoint independent investigators to focus on states with questionable human rights records. China is seeking to amend the existing procedure for initiating a special investigation from a simple majority vote in the UNHRC to a two-thirds majority, while the European Union wants to maintain the current voting scheme.

In early June, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet [official website] urged the UNHRC to ensure that special investigators remain independent [press release, in Spanish; JURIST report] and allow NGOs to participate in regular reviews of human rights in various countries. Many countries have sought to impose a "code of conduct" upon the investigators, and others have also sought to elect members of fact-finding missions rather than have members appointed by the council's president. Both proposals face criticisms from human rights groups who say that such measures will infringe upon the independence of the investigators. The UN Human Rights Council was established to replace the UN Human Rights Commission, which was often criticized for allowing the membership of states that have committed serious human rights violations. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Japanese Supreme Court [official website] has rejected the appeals of Chinese nationals seeking compensation for being forced to work in Japan as slave laborers [JURIST news archive] during World War II, ruling that Japan's 20-year statute of limitations barred their claims. The 42 original plaintiffs, only half of whom are still alive, filed suit in 1997 seeking compensation from the Japanese government and 10 contractors and mining companies that used their labor. The high court's Friday ruling was the second last week where the court rejected former laborers' compensation claims on statute of limitations grounds. In an earlier ruling last week, the court also said that the current Japanese government was not responsible for the wrongdoing of former leaders operating under Japan's constitution at the time. Japan has since adopted a pacifist constitution [text].

The Japanese high court has also denied compensation claims filed by Chinese victims of Japan's use of biological weapons and the Nanjing Massacre [Wikipedia backgrounders] and comfort women [JURIST news archive] on the grounds that the 1972 Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China [text] renounced Chinese claims for war reparations from Japan. In May, the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) [official website] blasted Japan's statute of limitations [JURIST report] for acts "amounting to torture and ill treatment." AP has more.