[JURIST] A top Republican legislator Friday called for an investigation [press release] into whether CIA agents leaked classified information to Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty [personal website] about secret prisons for detaining suspected terrorists. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) [official website], ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, requested the probe in a letter [PDF text] to Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell [official profile]. In the letter, Hoekstra said that

every intelligence official swears an oath to protect the people and national secrets of this great land. To willingly discuss the details of any classified government program with an agent of a foreign power without authorization is absolutely unconscionable. This would represent an egregious violation of the public's trust.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council [official website] Friday abandoned a resolution on a UN-supervised independence plan for Kosovo [JURIST news archive] out of concern that Russia would veto the proposal. Previous proposals have been rejected [JURIST report] by Russia and Serbia, which oppose independence. Further negotiations will instead be held by the Contact Group on Kosovo.

Kosovar Prime Minister Agim Ceku [official website] has urged the international community to quickly adopt a UN-supervised independence plan for Kosovo, saying that the Kosovar people's desire for an identity should not be held "hostage" to the opposition. In April, Kosovo's parliament voted 100-1 to support a UN plan [JURIST reports] to establish an independent Kosovar state under UN supervision. Ceku said Friday that the UN negotiations had hit a dead-end and that the Kosovar parliament should adopt a resolution setting November 28 as a possible date for declaring the province's independence. AP has more.

[JURIST] A military jury sitting at Camp Pendleton, California, sentenced US Marine Cpl. Trent Thomas [advocacy website] Friday to a bad-conduct discharge [press release] and reduced his rank to private for his role in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. On Wednesday, the jury found Thomas guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy [JURIST report], but acquitted him of premeditated murder, making a false official statement and housebreaking. Defense lawyers, who asserted that "Marines in combat don't challenge orders," had argued that Thomas followed the orders of his superior, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III. Hutchins also faces several charges [JURIST report], including murder. Thomas previously pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to unpremeditated murder but subsequently withdrew his guilty plea [JURIST report]. Thomas could have been sentenced to a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Five defendants have pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile], who was removed from his residence and killed, then arranged with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device. Uniform Code of Military Justice Section 809 Art. 90(2), Art. 91(2), and Art. 92(1, 2) [texts] imposes upon US military personnel an obligation and duty to obey only lawful orders. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Serbian state prosecutor Rade Terzic was arrested Friday for allegedly assisting members of a criminal gang connected with the murders of various Serbian officials escape prosecution while in Terzic was in office. Terzic is believed to have belonged to Belgrade's "Zemun clan," which acted as a hit squad for former Serbian President Slobadan Milosevic [JURIST news archive]. Working in Belgrade between 2001 and 2003, Terzic is alleged to have assisted releasing other clan members from jail.

Several clan members were eventually convicted of crimes that included the 2000 murder of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic [Guardian obituary] and the 2003 murder of former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic [BBC obituary; memorial website]. One member, Milorad Ulemek, was among 12 convicted [JURIST report] in May for assassinating Djindjic. He was separately convicted [JURIST report] in 2005 for murdering Stambolic. His 40 year sentence for that conviction was upheld [JURIST report] earlier this month. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Nigerian government Friday withdrew and then filed an updated $7 billion lawsuit [BBC backgrounder] against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer [corporate website], adding a new charge of fraud stemming from a drug experiment conducted in the 1990s that allegedly killed or disabled children. A Nigerian government lawyer told AP that the fraud charge was added after recently uncovered evidence suggested that Pfizer bypassed company rules requiring family consent before the application of experimental treatments. The government withdrew its original lesser charge of "fraudulent representation," filing a new one, alleging fraud, hours later.

Last month the court rejected a request by Pfizer [JURIST report] to dismiss the lawsuit on technical grounds. Government lawyers delayed filing the case in Nigeria because they wished to see the outcome of a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website]. That lawsuit was dismissed [order, PDF], with the judge ruling that the case should be heard in Nigeria. Several other lawsuits, both civil and criminal, are ongoing. The cases stem from a study performed during a meningitis outbreak in Kano in 1996. It is alleged that Pfizer treated 100 affected children with an experimental antibiotic called Trovan, while another 100 children were given lower than recommended doses of an approved antibiotic, Ceftriaxone [Wikipedia backgrounders]. As many as 11 children in the study died, while more now suffer from brain damage, paralysis, and other ailments. Pfizer claims that the drugs used saved lives. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

[JURIST] US President George W. Bush Friday signed [press release] an executive order [text] prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment during the interrogation terror suspects detained by the CIA. The White House did not reveal what specific interrogation techniques were now disallowed, but the order prohibits "acts intended to denigrate the religion, religious practices, or religious objects of the individual", and "torture" as defined in 18 USC 2340 [text]. The order also forbids:

Willful or outrageous acts of personal abuse done to humiliate or degrade someone in a way so serious that any reasonable person would "deem the acts to be beyond the bounds of human decency, such as sexual or sexually indecent acts undertaken for the purpose of humiliation, forcing the individual to perform sexual acts or to pose sexually, threatening the individual with sexual mutilation.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] unanimously ruled Friday that federal appeals courts reviewing "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive] designations of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees must review all evidence regarding that detainee [opinion, PDF]. The Bush administration argued that the Pentagon should be able to select which evidence is presented to the court and may choose to leave out evidence that could prove a detainee's innocence. The circuit court, which gained jurisdiction to hear challenges of CSRT designations through the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA) [text], held that

the court cannot, as the DTA charges us, consider whether a preponderance of the evidence supports the Tribunal's status determination without seeing all the evidence, any more than one can tell whether a fraction is more or less than one half by looking only at the numerator and not at the denominator.

[JURIST] The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) [official website] said Friday that no charges would be filed [explanatory document] against associates of former Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile; JURIST news archive], some of whom had been arrested [JURIST report] during an investigation into whether political honors were exchanged for monetary contributions [BBC News Q&A] to Blair's Labour Party [party website]. CPS Special Crime Division chief Carmen Dowd said that there was insufficient evidence for prosecution [press release], and that there was "substantial and reliable evidence that there were proper reasons for the inclusion of all those whose names appeared on the 2005 working peers list" for elevation to the House of Lords [official website]. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates refused to comment on the CPS refusal to press charges, but defended the decision to investigate the case [press release], saying that due to the seriousness of the allegations the investigation had to be extremely thorough.

The investigation began after revelations surfaced that some people recommended for peerages had made secret loans to the Labour Party and other major political parties [JURIST report]. Trading cash for honors may violate the 1925 Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act [BBC backgrounder]. Although Blair resigned in June after 10 years in office, it was expected that he would have resigned earlier [JURIST report] had charges been brought against any of his senior aides. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive] said Friday that it will conduct a joint trial of Bosnian Serb cousins Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic [indictment; case backgrounder, PDF]. This revokes the planned referral [press release] of Sredoje's case to the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina [JURIST news archive]. The court justified the decision on the grounds that the two cases are factually related and that a joint trial would reduce the possible trauma to witnesses, who will now testify only once. Milan and Sredoje Lukic are accused of murdering approximately 140 Bosnian Muslims and abusing civilians in detention.

Milan Lukic was sentenced in absentia [JURIST report] last year to 20 years in prison by a Serbian court. He was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and extradited to The Hague [JURIST report] for ICTY proceedings. The Bosnian War Crimes Chamber was established [JURIST report] in March 2005 to ease the backlog of the ICTY, which is currently trying to complete all its work by 2010. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers representing Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Ahmed Khadr [TrialWatch profile; JURIST news archive] filed a motion Thursday to suspend the proceedings of the Court of Military Commission Review [DOD materials], arguing that the appellate court's three military judges were illegally appointed. The motion alleges that Defense Secretary Robert Gates [official profile] did not personally appoint the judges as required under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text], instead delegating the appointments to a deputy. Military prosecutors, who are appealing a decision to dismiss charges against Khadr [JURIST reports], are expected to respond to the defense motion before the end of July.

In June, the Court of Military Commissions Review was hastily established [JURIST report] only days after the unexpected dismissal of charges against Khadr and Yemeni detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST report]. The judges in both cases found that the detainees could not be tried as "unlawful enemy combatants" under the MCA because both had been simply designated as "enemy combatants" by Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD materials] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The Globe and Mail has more.

[JURIST] Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi [BBC profile] announced pardons Friday for 38 opposition members and journalists sentenced to prison for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations [JURIST report]. The pardons were issued after the government received letters of apology from the defendants. The opposition members, most of whom belong to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) [party website], offered no defense throughout their trial and have maintained that the charges against them were politically motivated. CUD opposition leader Hailu Shawel, who was among the released, dismissed the sincerity of his letter of apology, saying he was forced to sign the document.

On Monday, six opposition members were sentenced [JURIST report] to terms ranging from 15 to 18 years, while two journalists were given terms ranging from one to three years. The Ethiopian court also sentenced 35 opposition members, five in absentia, to life in prison. The five defendants have not been pardoned. The defendants were convicted of treason and inciting violence [JURIST reports] during anti-government protests that followed Ethiopia's contested 2005 elections [JURIST news archive], which were marred by allegations of fraud [JURIST report]. Last October, an Ethiopian inquiry team charged with investigating the demonstrations said that approximately 193 civilians were killed by Ethiopian security forces [JURIST report] during the violence, an estimate nearly three times the official number initially reported by the government. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] heard oral arguments on the legal status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on Friday, pursuant to a petition to renew precautionary measures [text] initially granted in March 2002. Representatives from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Center for Justice and International Law [advocacy websites] argued that the continued detention of 350 individuals without charge violates the United States' obligations under the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man [text] and other international human rights and humanitarian legal norms. Lawyers from the US Department of State [official website] responded that the petitioners had not exhausted domestic remedies in US courts and questioned the authority of the IACHR to issue precautionary measures with respect to countries that are not parties to the American Convention on Human Rights [text]. IACHR President Florentin Melendez announced that the body was in the process of seeking permission from the United States to conduct a visit to the Guantanamo Bay facility later this year.

The hearing marked the fourth in which the IACHR addressed the legal status of the detainees at Guantanamo since 2002. At that time, it urged the United States to take the measures necessary to have the legal status of the detainees determined by a competent tribunal. In July 2006, the IACHR issued a resolution [text] urging the United States to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, to ensure the detainees their rights under international human rights and humanitarian law, and to investigate and prosecute any acts of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that occurred at Guantanamo.

In its 128th period of sessions [press release], the IACHR is also conducting hearings on subjects including the situation of human rights in Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, and press freedom in Venezuela and Mexico [JURIST news archives]. For a recording of the hearings, click here.

[JURIST] Israel released 255 Palestinian prisoners [release list, XLS] Friday who belong to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement [BBC backgrounder] and other minor factions. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] said that the prisoners were not directly involved [press release] in the killing or wounding of Israelis, and that all released prisoners were required to sign a pledge not to participate in violence against Israel.

The prisoners were released as a gesture of goodwill in an effort to strengthen the moderate Fatah against the more-hardline Hamas [BBC backgrounder], which violently took over the Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder] in June. Palestinian infighting between the Islamist-Hamas and the secular-Fatah has established two parallel Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas, which was elected as the ruling party [JURIST report] of the Palestinian Authority in early 2006, has refused to distance itself from terrorism or recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation-state, resulting in increased ostracism by the United States, the European Union, and Israel. AP has more.

[JURIST] A senior White House official said Thursday that the administration will not allow the Department of Justice to pursue any contempt of Congress charges [backgrounder; 2 USC Sec. 192] brought against White House officials in the congressional probe of the US Attorneys firing scandal [JURIST news archive]. The official said that Congress has no independent authority to force the US Attorney for the District of Columbia to refer charges to a grand jury once the executive has invoked executive privilege [JURIST report]. The comments, made under the condition of anonymity, came as House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) warned that White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten [official profile] could be cited for contempt of Congress [AP report] if Bolten did not immediately comply with subpoenas [JURIST report] in the ongoing investigation.

Last Thursday, a panel of the House Judiciary Committee voted to proceed with contempt proceedings [JURIST report] against former White House counsel Harriet Miers [official profile] after she ignored a subpoena ordering her to appear and testify before the committee. Friday's Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) [official website] must pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans afflicted by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) [NCI backgrounder], rejecting the VA's contention that it is not required to re-adjudicate or provide benefits to veterans afflicted with the disease before 2003 because the Agent Orange Act of 1991 [text], which established a presumption that Vietnam veterans' defoliant exposure contributed to dioxin-linked diseases afflicting the veterans, had expired in 2002. In 2003, the VA issued a regulation finding that CLL was associated with exposure to dioxin [NIH backgrounder; WHO backgrounder, PDF]. Rejecting the VA's claims, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote:

The answer to the legal question on this appeal is quite apparent. The Department of Veterans Affairs is obligated by law to pay disability benefits to the veterans who are suffering from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange, a noxious chemical widely used by our government in the course of the Vietnam war. Three different Congresses in three different decades have enacted legislation signed by three different presidents, designed to ensure the payment of such benefits to veterans afflicted with Agent Orange-related ailments. What is difficult for us to comprehend is why the Department of Veterans Affairs, having entered into a settlement agreement and agreed to a consent order some 16 years ago, continues to resist its implementation so vigorously, as well as to resist equally vigorously the payment of desperately needed benefits to Vietnam war veterans who fought for their country and suffered grievous injury as a result of our government's own conduct. Whether the Vietnam war was just or not, whether one favored or opposed it, one thing is clear. Those young Americans who risked their lives in their country's service and are even today suffering greatly as a result are deserving of better treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs than they are currently receiving. We would hope that this litigation will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations it undertook in the Consent Decree some 16 years ago, that obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled.

[JURIST] Nuon Chea [BBC profile], former deputy general of the Cambodian Communist Party and the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge [MIPT backgrounder; JURIST news archive] regime, indicated Thursday that he expects to appear before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive]. In an interview with AP, Nuon Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, denied any responsibility for the death of over 1.7 million people during the Cambodian genocide, claiming that he was not involved in the operation of the government.

Nuon Chea is likely to be among the five suspects ECCC co-prosecutors are seeking to indict [JURIST report]. Prosecutors submitted their first factual allegations [press release, PDF] to investigating judges Wednesday. The allegations cover 25 instances of murder, torture, unlawful detention, forced labor, as well as religious, political and ethnic persecution. The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try those responsible for the Cambodian genocide that occurred between 1975-1979. The genocide resulted in the deaths of approximately one-third of the Cambodian population. To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Thursday approved the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act [S 1780 text, PDF], which, if enacted, will give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broader authority to sanction television and radio broadcasters for a single word or image [press release] that the FCC considers indecent. The proposed legislation seeks to undo a federal appellate court's invalidation of the "fleeting expletives" standard [JURIST report].

In June, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the FCC's "fleeting expletives" standard represented a "significant departure" from its previous regulatory standards, and vacated [opinion, PDF] a determination [FCC order] by the FCC that Fox Television broadcasts violated the FCC's indecency and profanity prohibitions because the FCC failed to articulate a reasoned basis for its change in policy pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act [text]. The FCC did not regulate fleeting expletives prior to 2004. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] ruled 10-3 Friday to reinstate suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry [official website; JURIST news archive] to the top court, holding that President Pervez Musharraf's March 9 suspension order [JURIST report] was illegal. The court dismissed all charges of misconduct [JURIST report] against Chaudhry.

Many Pakistani lawyers and opposition leaders have alleged that Chaudhry's suspension was an indirect bid by Musharraf to forestall any legal challenges if Musharraf seeks to extend his eight-year rule by another five years later this year. BBC News has more.

8:31 AM ET - The Court's ruling [text] is now available. The court wrote:

The appointments in question of the Hon'ble Acting Chief Justices of Pakistan vide notification dated 9.3.2007 and the notification dated 22.3.2007 are, unanimously, declared to have been made without lawful authority. However, this in-validity shall not affect the ordinary working of the Supreme Court or the discharge of any other Constitutional and/or legal obligations by the Hon'ble Acting Chief Justices of Pakistan during the period in question and this declaration is so made by applying the de-facto doctrine....

By majority of 10 to 3 (Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, J., M. Javed Buttar, J. and Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, J. dissenting), this Constitution Original Petition No.21 of 2007 filed by Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, is allowed as a result whereof the above-mentioned direction (the Reference) of the President dated March 9, 2007 is set aside. As a further consequence thereof, the petitioner CJP shall be deemed to be holding the said office and shall always be deemed to have been so holding the same.

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