[JURIST] Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej [BBC report] formally signed the country's new constitution [draft text, PDF; JURIST report] into law Friday. The constitution, put forward by the military-backed interim government, was approved [JURIST report] in a national referendum last week. The interim government has praised the constitution as a step toward democracy, but supporters of deposed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile] said the new constitution decreases populist influence and transfers more power to bureaucrats and the military. Over 56 percent of voters approved the draft constitution, but only 57.61 percent of the electorate, approximately 25 million people, participated in the vote.

Under the new constitution, Thai prime ministers will be limited to two terms in office and will be subject to easier impeachment. The Thai House of Representatives will be reduced from 500 seats to 400 seats, 320 of which will be directly elected and 80 appointed from party lists. Direct elections for members of the Senate will be abolished, with national and provisional committees composed of bureaucrats and judicial officials instead appointing the 150 senators. The approval of the new constitution is expected to pave the way for general elections in December. AFP has more.

[JURIST] A US judge Friday refused to reject a French extradition request for former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega [BBC backgrounder] to face charges of money laundering through French banks. Noriega and his wife were sentenced in absentia [AP report] to 10 years in jail in 1999, but France has agreed to hold a new trial if he is extradited. Noriega's lawyers had argued that France's request was superseded by his status as a US prisoner of war and that under the Geneva Conventions the US must return him home to Panama upon his release. Another hearing will be held on the extradition request on Tuesday.

Noriega, who has spent the last 17 years in US custody, including 15 years in federal prison on drug trafficking and racketeering charges, is set to be released on September 9, 2007 [BOP materials], according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons [official website]. Noriega, a former US ally who ruled Panama as a military dictator for six years, was ousted by US troops in 1989. After going into self-exile in Panama City, he was flushed out by US troops in 1990, surrendered and was taken to Miami, where he was put on trial. His initial sentence of 40 years in prison was later reduced to 30 years [NYT report] after he persuaded officials that he helped promote US interests in Latin America during the Cold War. In 2001, a Panama judge convicted Noriega of corruption [AP report], bringing his sentence time in that country to 90 years, following a previous conviction in 1995 for conspiracy to commit murder, which prompted calls for his extradition back to Panama [BBC report]. Noriega hopes to challenge the murder charge after his release this year. AP has more.

[JURIST] The War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina [official website] sentenced a Bosnian Serb former reserve policeman to 12 years in prison for crimes against humanity [press release] committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian civil war. Nenad Tanaskovic [case materials] was convicted for taking part in an organized attack on Muslim villages, during which thousands of Muslims were killed or uprooted and Tanaskovic himself set two homes on fire. Tanaskovic was also found guilty of abetting the rape of Muslim women. Survivors and survivor advocacy groups decried the punishment as too lenient.

The Bosnian War Crimes Chamber was established [JURIST report] in March 2005 to ease the backlog of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which is currently trying to complete all its work by 2010. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] An investigating judge who was to be transferred from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] to serve as the head of Cambodia's Appeals Court will still remain on the ECCC, filling both roles simultaneously, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday. The UN had expressed concern [JURIST report] that removing Judge You Bun Leng could lead to undue delays in bringing top members of the Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] to trial.

The UN-backed 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. Earlier this month, the ECCC brought its first charges against Kaing Khek Iev [TrialWatch profile; JURIST report]. AFP has more.

[JURIST] US military lawyers appearing at the first sitting of the new US Court of Military Commission Review [DOD materials] Friday urged the court to overturn a ruling [order, PDF] dropping charges against Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [JURIST news archive]. In June, a military commission judge held [JURIST report] that he had no jurisdiction over Khadr because a Guantanamo Combatant Status Review Tribunal [DOD materials] had found that he was an "enemy combatant," not an "unlawful enemy combatant" as required under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text]. Government lawyers said Friday that such minor details should not delay the start of Khadr's trial. The appeal court's decision could affect the legal status of about 80 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including the so-called "high-value" detainees whose ranks include accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile].

Khadr was detained in Afghanistan in 2002 after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed one US soldier and wounded another while fighting with the Taliban. He was only 15 at the time. After earlier proceedings against him were effectively quashed by the US Supreme Court's rejection of presidentially-established military commissions as unconstitutional he was formally recharged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] in April under the new Military Commissions Act with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying. AP has more.

[JURIST] James Ford Seale [Wikipedia profile], alleged to have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) [JURIST news archive], was sentenced to three life sentences Friday for his role in the kidnapping and death of two 19-year old teens in Mississippi in 1964. Seale was convicted [JURIST report] in June of two counts of kidnapping resulting in death and one count conspiracy. Seale was previously arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Henry Dee and Charles Moore, who were later found dead in the Mississippi River, but was released in 1964 due to a lack of evidence. Federal prosecutors revived the case, largely relying on the testimony of Charles Marcus Edwards, a former fellow KKK member who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

The Seale case was one of several recently re-opened civil rights-era cases [US News backgrounder]. Authorities reopened Seale's case following the 2005 conviction of Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST report] for the 1964 deaths of three civil rights activists. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] A UK judge Thursday ordered British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith [official profile] to hold off deportations of failed asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) [JURIST news archive] pending a determination by an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) [official website] on whether the DRC is a safe destination. Ten rejected asylum seekers scheduled to be deported on August 30 filed suit against Smith, arguing that they face torture and rape by state officials if they return to the DRC. The AIT hearing is scheduled for September. The Guardian has more.

This is not the first time that the Home Secretary and the judiciary have clashed over asylum seekers. In April, the England and Wales Court of Appeals ruled [judgment text] that three Africans formerly living in the Darfur region of Sudan [JURIST news archives] could be granted asylum in the UK. The UK Secretary of State had initially denied asylum to the appellants, saying they could safely return to Khartoum without risk of persecution. The appellants alleged they would be in danger of persecution by the Janjaweed [PBS backgrounder], and that sending them back to Sudan would go against the rules of internal relocation.

[JURIST] US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell [official profile] has confirmed that telecommunications companies have provided vital cooperation to the warrantless domestic wiretapping program [JURIST news archive], the New York Times reported Friday. In an interview [transcript] with the El Paso Times last week, McConnell called for Congress to grant immunity from prosecution to the companies that helped in the program, which allowed the US government to monitor the international communications of Americans suspected of terror links without first obtaining a warrant:

The issue was that under the president's program, the terrorist surveillance program, the private sector had assisted us. Because if you're going to get access you've got to have a partner and they were being sued. Now if you play out the suits at the value they're claimed, it would bankrupt these companies. So my position was we have to provide liability protection to these private sector entities. So that was part of the request. ... Some wanted to limit us to terrorism. My argument was, wait a minute, why would I want to limit it to terrorism. It may be that terrorists are achieving weapons of mass destruction, the only way I would know that is if I'm doing foreign intelligence by who might be providing a weapon of mass destruction.

[JURIST] Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko [official website] said Friday that he establish a body to draft a new Ukrainian constitution [text] and will propose amendments to clarify the distribution of power between the presidency, parliament, and the cabinet. In remarks [press release] marking Ukraine's Independence Day, Yushchenko addressed the need for legislative and constitutional reform:

The president said he was "full of determination" to continue changing the country. He described an upcoming snap election as his firm "response to an attack against Ukraine by corrupt politicians" and reiterated his demands that it was important to repeal legislative immunity, renew the system of government and adopt a new constitution.

"I know how to restore order in our Ukrainian house. ...I will establish a constitutional council to draft a new constitution. This process will take longer than a day but nobody will be able to make it too long. It also cannot be a hostage of the [September 30] election, as it is very important for each of us. I firmly repeat what I said two months ago on Constitution Day: our constitution will be adopted at a nationwide Ukrainian referendum."

[JURIST] US Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim [official profile] has resigned [press release] as head of the Justice Department's embattled Civil Rights Division [official website]. Kim's resignation, announced Thursday, is effective the end of the month. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales praised Kim for "his honest opinions and valuable contributions as an advisor." According to the DOJ:

During Mr. Kim's tenure, the Civil Rights Division set record levels of enforcement in a broad range of areas, which included obtaining the highest number of criminal convictions in a single year in the past two decades; filing more than twice the average number of voting rights lawsuits in one year than were filed annually over the past 30 years; and filing as many lawsuits to challenge a pattern or practice of employment discrimination in one year as during the last three years of the previous Administration combined. Mr. Kim also supervised major initiatives in the areas of human trafficking prosecutions, housing discrimination, religious liberties and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other notable accomplishments include the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006; lawsuits against several financial institutions for discrimination in lending; the investigation and prosecution of cold cases from the Civil Rights Era; and numerous cases to protect the rights of persons in institutional facilities.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has refused to block organic food company Whole Foods Market from buying rival grocer Wild Oats Markets [corporate websites]. US District Judge Paul Friedman refused to issue an injunction blocking the acquisition [opinion, PDF] last week, and the US Federal Trade Commission appealed [JURIST report] that decision to the federal appeals court. Earlier this week, the court issued an administrative injunction [JURIST report] putting the takeover on hold while it considered the case, but on Thursday it refused the FTC request for a stay pending appeal [WF press release].

Friedman ruled that the proposed merger did not violate US antitrust laws, rejecting arguments from the Federal Trade Commission [official website] that the merger will limit competition in the organic food market, thereby hurting consumers. Whole Foods, however, has said that it must still compete with traditional food markets that are beginning to offer more organic varieties. Whole Foods' tender offer expires on August 27. AP has more.

[JURIST] International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [official profile] will serve as Switzerland's ambassador to Argentina [press release] when her term as ICTY prosecutor expires at the end of the year, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Del Ponte, former Swiss attorney general, has served two four-year terms as the ICTY chief prosecutor. She was initially expected to step-down in September [JURIST report], but in June Del Ponte said she would stay until the end of the year while the UN chooses her replacement. It is expected that Serge Brammertz, a former federal prosecutor in Belgium and former deputy prosecutor for investigations at the International Criminal Court, will serve as the next ICTY chief prosecutor [JURIST report]. Brammertz currently heads the UN investigation into the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; the UN investigation's mandate expires in December.

When she first announced she was stepping down from her post in January, Del Ponte expressed regret about not being able to bring former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] to justice. Milosevic died from heart failure [JURIST report] in March 2006 while his genocide and war crimes trial at the ICTY was in its fifth year. She also said that she has yet to see actual remorse from those who have been tried before the ICTY and has witnessed only a few signs of reconciliation in the former Yugoslav republics. Del Ponte has also been a vocal critic [JURIST report] of Serbia and other countries in the region for failing to capture war crimes fugitives Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounders]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US Marines investigating officer has recommended that murder charges be dropped against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum [advocacy profile] for his role in the killing and suspected cover-up of the death of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive] in November 2005. Lt. Col. Paul Ware said that there was insufficient evidence to support bringing Tatum to court-martial on charges of unpremeditated murder, negligent homicide and assault [USMC charge list]. In making his recommendation to Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who will make a final decision on whether Tatum will face court-martial, Ware said that Tatum fired on civilians "not to exact revenge and commit murder" but "because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in." If Mattis does decide to refer Tatum to court-martial, he could face life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.

Eight Marines were initially charged [JURIST report] in connection with the Haditha killings. Charges were dropped [JURIST report] against two Marines earlier this month after a similar report from the investigating officer recommending that evidence would not support a court-martial. Among the Marines still facing allegations of wrongdoing is the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani [JURIST news archive]. An investigating officer has recommended that Chessani face court-martial [JURIST report] for dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order. Squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich [advocacy website] faces 13 counts of unpremeditated murder, and charges of soliciting another to commit an offense and making a false official statement; a preliminary hearing in his court-martial is set for August 30. AP has more.