[JURIST] The US House of Representatives Monday approved a non-binding resolution [HR 121 materials; press release], asking Japan to formally apologize [JURIST report] for enslaving hundreds of thousands of women in East Asia and the Pacific to serve as "comfort women" [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive] for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The resolution was introduced in January by Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA) [official website] and over 160 lawmakers, but has received criticism from Japanese Ambassador to the US Ryozo Kato [official profile].

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [official website, in Japanese] has denied allegations of forced sexual slavery, saying instead that the US House resolution is "not based on objective facts" [JURIST reports] because the women were professional prostitutes paid for their services. He later issued a guarded apology [JURIST report], though he stopped short of explicitly acknowledging the role played by the Japanese military and government in facilitating the brothels. Earlier this month, a Japanese group consisting of 13 right-wing parliamentarians and more than 200 local politicians, nationalist intellectuals and historians called on the US [JURIST report] to retract the resolution, claiming that it is based upon "wrong information" and contradicts "historical fact." AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian prosecutors have brought fresh embezzlement charges against exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], a lawyer appointed to Berezovsky's case said Monday. The charges assert that in 1997 Berezovsky took part in a $13 million scheme to embezzle credit funds from SBS-Agro Bank [EBRD profile], which he then owned, to purchase real estate in southern France. The Moscow City Court ordered the seizure of Berezovsky's French manor after the new charges were brought. Prosecutors have asked police to issue a warrant for Berezovsky's arrest on the new charges.

These are the latest in a series of charges brought against the Russian billionaire and alleged coup plotter. Earlier this month, a Moscow court began trying Berezovsky in absentia [JURIST report] for allegedly embezzling millions from Russian national airline Aeroflot [corporate website]. Berezovsky left Russia in 2001 after falling out of favor with Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] for vocally opposing the war in Chechnya [Wikipedia backgrounder] and was granted asylum in Great Britain. Russian authorities have demanded that the UK extradite Berezovsky, who is also facing charges of allegedly plotting a coup [JURIST reports] against Putin. RIA Novosti has more.

[JURIST] Humanitarian and relief non-governmental organizations (NGO) are currently unable to effectively meet the needs of eight million Iraqi refugees as a result of Iraq's poor legal framework, according to a joint report [PDF text] issued Monday by Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq [advocacy websites]. At the moment, there is no permanent registration system for NGOs working in Iraq, making it difficult for humanitarian groups to prove their legitimacy and attract donors. Temporary registration rules lack legal underpinnings and are thus subject to frequent and arbitrary changes, making compliance difficult. The report also said that establishing a clear legal framework for NGOs was vital in the chaos of reconstruction Iraq, so that people could understand what distinguishes them from private contractors or government-affiliated organizations. The report said that:

All NGOs, but specifically Iraqi NGOs, face a further challenge to their ability to deliver a humanitarian response because of problems with legislation. Attempts by the Coalition Provisional Authority and the government of Iraq to establish a law governing civil-society organisations were considered too restrictive and were rejected by NGOs and the Iraqi Parliament. UNAMI and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPs) have been working on a series of drafts with the Civil Society Committee in the Iraqi Parliament. The latest draft, which is broadly accepted by NGOs, has been submitted but not yet considered by Parliament.

[JURIST] The court-martial of the last US Army serviceman charged in the March 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year old Iraqi girl [JURIST news archive] and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya") began Monday. Pfc. Jesse Spielman, who prosecutors say acted as a lookout during the attack, entered guilty pleas to the lessor charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse, and consuming alcohol. He still faces rape and murder charges. Spielman's defense lawyer Craig Carlson says Spielman's plea involved crimes he already confessed to military investigators and did not involve a deal with military prosecutors.

Three of the four soldiers [JURIST report] directly involved in the attack have pleaded guilty. Spc. James P. Barker and Sgt. Paul E. Cortez [JURIST reports] received prison sentences of 90 and 100 years respectively after pleading guilty to rape and murder. Pfc Bryan L Howard, who stayed at the soldiers' checkpoint but had prior knowledge of the plan, was sentenced to 27-months after pleading guilty [JURIST report] in March to conspiracy to commit rape and premeditated murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The alleged ringleader in the attack, former Pfc. Steven D. Green [JURIST news archive], is currently facing federal charges [docket; JURIST report] because he was discharged from military service before the charges arose. Green, who has entered a not guilty plea [JURIST report], is accused of raping the girl and shooting the entire family. He faces the death penalty if convicted. AFP has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts [OYEZ profile; JURIST news archive] was taken to the hospital Monday after suffering a fall. Supreme Court spokesperson Kathy Arberg said Monday that Roberts fell at his vacation home in Maine and that he went to the hospital as a precaution. Arberg did not provide further details about Roberts' condition.

Roberts, 52, was sworn in [JURIST report] in September 2005, becoming the 17th chief justice of the United States. AP has more.

7:03 PM ET - According to a statement [text] from the court, Roberts suffered a "benign idiopathic seizure" but is "fully recovered from the incident." The court said that a neurological evaluation "revealed no cause for concern" but that Roberts will be hospitalized overnight. SCOTUSblog has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi Council of Representatives [official website, in Arabic] entered its summer recess Monday despite failing to pass constitutional amendments or legislation seen as essential to the stabilization of Iraq. A representative said that the council, which is scheduled to reconvene September 4, decided to recess because the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] had not submitted any constitutional amendment or legislation proposals for the representatives to consider. A senior Iraqi government official indicated that the government is waiting for the results of a summit of Iraq's leading Sunni, Shi'a, and Kurdish leaders next week, adding that the parliament can be reconvened during the break.

The White House's Initial Benchmark Assessment Report [text; JURIST report] on political progress in Iraq, released earlier this month, said that the Iraqi government is not making satisfactory progress in passing laws in several areas, including the distribution of oil revenues and de-Baathificiation reform [JURIST news archive]. Efforts to pass legislation have been hampered by boycotts from Shi'a representatives loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] and the Iraqi Accord Front [BBC backgrounder; JURIST report], the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Five defendants convicted for their roles in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder] have filed appeals with the Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website], Iraqi prosecutors said Monday. The five defendants, two of whom received life sentences and three of whom received the death sentence [JURIST report], filed their appeals last week. The three defendants' death sentences were subject to an automatic review by the Appeals Chamber, and if the sentences are upheld, they will be executed within 30 days. Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile] is among the three defendants sentenced to death.

In late June, al-Majid received a total of five death sentences for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Al-Majid has repeatedly denied the allegations against him [JURIST report], saying that he does not know who used chemical weapons or "if they were ever used." Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh has said that al-Majid will be executed in the Kurdish town of Halabja [JURIST report], where a gas attack [US State Department backgrounder] killed over 5,000 people. DPA has more. Voices of Iraq has local coverage.

[JURIST] The last two remaining defendants in Ethiopia's criminal treason prosecution of individuals allegedly involved in mass anti-government demonstrations [JURIST report] in 2005 have denied association with the opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) [party website] and are seeking to be acquitted, defense lawyers said Monday. Daniel Bekele of ActionAid Ethiopia [organization website] and Netsanet Demissie, the Executive Director of the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia, have refused to plead guilty in exchange for pardons [JURIST report]. CUD leader Hailu Shawel, who was among the 38 opposition members and journalists pardoned [JURIST report] on July 20, has also testified that the two anti-poverty activists are not CUD members.

The opposition members, most of whom belong to to the CUD, offered no defense throughout their trial and have maintained that the charges against them were politically motivated. 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, which erupted following Ethiopia's contested 2005 elections [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Bangladeshi High Court [official backgrounder] suspended the extortion trial [JURIST report] of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed [party profile] Monday after receiving a motion from Hasina's lawyers challenging the legality of her detention under emergency laws [JURIST report]. Hasina's lawyers argued that she cannot be detained under emergency laws declared by the interim emergency government [JURIST report] because her alleged offenses originate from circumstances dating over eight years ago, before the government came to power in January. The emergency laws, which allow detention without warrants or specific charges, have prevented Hasina from posting bail. Judges have given the interim government two weeks to respond to the motion.

The emergency government, which has the backing of the military, has used its anti-corruption campaign [BBC Q&A; JURIST news archive] to justify the emergency laws, and has also filed tax evasion charges against Hasina's rival, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia [UN profile], who is scheduled to appear in court on August 26. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor [official website] Monday announced the indictment of former Yugoslavia Army Captain Vladimir Kovacevic [ICTY case backgrounder] for war crimes associated with the 1991 Siege of Dubrovnik [Wikipedia backgrounder]. In the siege, Kovacevic's artillery unit allegedly indiscriminately shelled [BBC backgrounder] the ancient Adriatic city, causing at least five civilian casualties and destroying culturally and historically significant architecture. Kovacevic, the first defendant from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive] to be transferred [ruling, PDF; JURIST report] to Serbia, is currently receiving psychiatric treatment at a military hospital in Belgrade after being declared mentally unfit to stand trial [JURIST report] by the ICTY last April. It is unclear if or when Kovacevic will be fit to stand trial, or when proceedings against Kovacevic will begin.

Kovacevic, nicknamed "Rambo" by his men, was arrested in October 2003 and charged with six counts of violating the rules of war, including murder, attacks on civilians, and devastation not justified by military necessity. The exact nature of his mental illness is unclear because portions of the decision related to his diagnosis were redacted to protect his privacy. Former Yugoslav Army General Pavle Strugar was sentenced to eight years in prison [JURIST report] in 2005 for his role in the Dubrovnik attack. AP has more.

[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official profile] refused to apologize for the Australian government's handling of Dr. Mohammad Haneef [JURIST news archive] Monday, saying that it had not "victimized" Haneef despite holding him as a terrorist suspect for 25 days. Haneef was detained while trying to leave the country for allegedly providing reckless material support [JURIST report] to suspected terrorists in the attempted UK car bomb attacks [JURIST report] in June. Haneef, who has not been implicated by UK authorities in the attacks, was released from "immigration detention" [JURIST report] last Friday after prosecutors dropped the terror charge [JURIST report] against Haneef. Also Monday, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews [official website] indicated that he is seeking legal clearance to release secret information [Herald Sun report] provided to him by the Australian Federal Police [official website], which Andrews says influenced his much-criticized decision to revoke Haneef's work visa following a judge's decision to grant Haneef bail.

On Friday, Howard appeared to deflect criticism toward the Australian Federal Police and prosecutors [BBC report], saying that detention was conducted by the Australian Federal Police and that the case was prepared by the Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg [official profile]. He also indicated that "the right thing now is for those two men to explain the process and explain the reasons." On Sunday, Andrews again defended his revocation of Haneef's work visa [transcript], saying that Haneef's attempt to leave Australia was "highly suspicious" and accused Haneef of using the "pretext that he has to rush home in India to visit his newborn despite the fact that that child had been born for a month at that stage" after learning of the attempted UK bombings. During an interview with Sunrise [media website], Andrews appeared to misstate facts about Haneef's case; the newborn was only a week-old when Haneef was detained. Haneef, who has since traveled to Bangalore, India to rejoin his wife and newborn child after the Australian government lifted Haneef's travel ban [JURIST report], is currently appealing the revocation of his work visa at the Federal Court of Australia [official website]. Haneef's next hearing is scheduled for August 8. BBC News has more. AP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [official website] reached an agreement in principle Monday to establish a human rights body as part of the proposed ASEAN Charter, according to an announcement by Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo [official profile]. Yeo, who is heading the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, told reporters that the ten member states have reached a broad consensus, although the ministers have not yet discussed the specific details of the proposed human rights body. An unnamed diplomat told Reuters that Myanmar had initially opposed the proposal, while Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam had sought to delay the creation of the proposed human rights body. The diplomat also indicated that ASEAN members will also need to decide whether the organization will adhere to its tradition of deciding issues by broad consensus or by submitting issues before a vote amongst the member states. The organization will also need to decide how it would hold member states accountable if they violate the organization charter.

ASEAN foreign ministers are currently working on a draft organizational charter, which ASEAN hopes will be completed in time for a heads of states' summit in November 2007. Last March, ASEAN officials acknowledged that there had been little progress in efforts [JURIST report] to establish a human rights body within the organization. In December 2005, ASEAN members agreed [declaration] to draft its first charter. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights [official website] rejected the British government's proposal for an extension of pre-charge detention for terror suspects, saying in a report [PDF text] published Monday that it is "not convinced of the need" of extending the current 28-day limit. The Committee criticized the former Blair government's "apparent desire to be seen to do something about terrorism by rushing hastily prepared legislation through Parliament" and praised new Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government for indicating that "there will be no 'rush to legislate'" after the attempted car bomb attacks [JURIST report] in the UK in June.

The report also raises concerns over the controversial use of control orders [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], which have been criticized as a violation of personal liberty. The committee also recommended the construction of a new terror detention facility after finding the current facility to be "plainly inadequate." Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official website] told parliament that the 28-day pre-charge detention should be extended [JURIST report] to allow police more time to question detained terror suspects. Brown recommended a proposal that would allow the extension of the 28-day limit after a declared state of emergency, and another alternative that would allow judges to authorize weekly extensions for up to 56 days subject to parliamentary notification. AP has more.