[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] is investigating whether to move the war crimes trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga [TrialWatch profile; JURIST news archive] to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [JURIST news archive], ICC judge Adrian Fulford [official profile] said Tuesday. The announcement was made at pretrial hearings held at the ICC at The Hague, and comes more than a month after the ICC initially expressed a desire [JURIST report] to have the trial moved to the DRC. Fulford has said that, despite security concerns, he believed that the trial should be moved from The Hague to the DRC because it would resonate more with the people of that country if they could witness it first-hand. The trial is not expected to commence before the end of 2007.

The International Criminal Court confirmed war crimes charges against Lubanga in January, making him the first ICC defendant to face trial. As founder of the militant Union of Patriotic Congolese [Global Security backgrounder], Lubanga is accused [indictment, PDF; case materials] of enlisting child soldiers [BBC report] in the Democratic Republic of Congo's violence-plagued Ituri district [HRW backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Malaysian judge has ruled that a five-year marriage between two local citizens is void, after finding that the husband is actually a woman, according to a local report [The Star report] on Tuesday. The judge made his ruling after a physician conducted an examination on the husband, concluding that she was in fact a woman. The couple was charged under the Malacca Islamic Family Enactment 2002 with being in a same-sex marriage and has been given two weeks to appeal. Reuters has more.

Most Muslim countries do not recognize same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], and strict Islamic practice rejects homosexual unions. Earlier this year, a Pakistan judge gave three-year prison sentences [JURIST report] for perjury to two women who have publicly acknowledged their same-sex relationship in separate women's prisons after one initially claimed to be a man. The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] one month later granted the couple bail [JURIST report] and agreed to hear an appeal.

[JURIST] Russia has appointed a new lead prosecutor to investigate the October 2006 killing [JURIST report] of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive], according to a statement from the Prosecutor General's office [official website, in Russian] Tuesday. Control over the investigation was handed to Sergei Ivanov in a move that Politkovskaya's former colleagues at the newspaper Novaya Gazeta [media website, in Russian] say is evidence of political interference. Last week, then-lead prosecutor Pyotr Gabriyan arrested 10 suspects [JURIST report] in connection with the crime; Gabriyan was well liked by Politkovskaya allies, many of whom suspect Kremlin involvement in the murder. Russian officials, including Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika, say that Politkovskaya was murdered by an anti-Kremlin crime organization. Officials denied that Ivanov's appointment was political, saying the leadership change was necessary because of the large volume of work on the case. Reuters has more.

Politkovskaya, who had covered the crisis in Chechnya [BBC Q&A] for Novaya Gazeta since 1999, was shot in the head and in the chest after returning to her Moscow apartment building in October last year. Politkovskaya was a well-known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and authored two books on Chechnya. Last week two of the 10 arrested suspects were released; so far four suspects have reportedly been charged [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] Washington DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and DC Attorney General Linda Singer [official profiles] Tuesday formally appealed a March federal court ruling invalidating the District of Columbia's handgun ban [JURIST report] to the US Supreme Court, setting the stage for the biggest Second Amendment challenge in almost 70 years. In March, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held [opinion, PDF] that the city's 30-year-old ban on private possession of handguns was unconstitutionally broad. City lawyers have warned that the ruling "severely limits" the ability of local and federal legislatures to regulate firearms to protect citizens and law-enforcement officers. DC's certiorari petition [PDF text] argues that

states remain free to regulate arms within their boundaries so long as they do not thereby deprive the United States of the ability to obtain the assistance of an armed citizenry in time of need.

[JURIST] Belgian prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen said Tuesday that the Church of Scientology [church website] should be classified as a criminal organization after completing a 10-year investigation into the church's activities. Van Espen also recommended that the Church and a dozen of its adherents should face criminal charges of fraud and extortion in Belgium [JURIST news archive], where the Church is not deemed an official religious group [IRNA report]. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office also alleges that the Church of Scientology International European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights [branch website] in Brussels has unlawfully practiced medicine and violated privacy laws. A Belgian administrative court will evaluate whether charges should be filed against the Church; if so, a court hearing may occur within the next few months.

A spokesperson for the Church of Scientology said the organization will fight any charges filed by Belgium. Belgium began investigating Scientology in 1997, after former church members complained that the church used threats and intimidation against them. AP has more.

[JURIST] Officials in Norway [JURIST news archive] have indicted three men on terrorism-related charges, according to a statement by the national prosecutor [official website, in Norwegian] Tuesday. The three men were indicted for their alleged roles in the September 2006 shooting at an Oslo synagogue and in planning attacks on the US and Israeli embassies in Norway. A trial date has not yet been set. All charges against a fourth suspect originally arrested in conjunction with the terrorist plots have since been dropped. AP has more.

The US ambassador to Norway recently criticized [JURIST report] a circulated draft of Norway's new anti-terrorism law as too lenient. Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget [official profile] responded by saying that he had no objection to the US government expressing its opinion, but that Norway would make its own decisions.

[JURIST] US government secrecy increased in 2006, according to the Secrecy Report Card 2007 [PDF text, PDF; press release] released over the weekend by OpenTheGovernment.org [advocacy website]. The report cited an increased reliance on national security letters (NSL) [CRS backgrounder, PDF; FBI backgrounder] and more frequent assertions of the state secrets privilege. The fourth-annual report also examined other indicators of secrecy in the federal government such as the numbers of presidential signing statements [1993 DOJ backgrounder; JURIST news archive], non-competed federal contracts, whistleblowers, and assertions of executive privilege. The report found that across the federal government there was "a continued expansion of government secrecy across a broad array of agencies and actions and some, limited, movement toward more openness and accountability."

Specifically, the report showed an increase of 1,462,189 more Freedom of Information Act [text] requests in 2006, as compared to the previous year, while agency backlogs in responding to such requests continued to rise. In addition, the report indicated that the Bush administration has dramatically increased use of the state secrets privilege - invoking it a reported 39 times since 2001, an average of six times per year in 6.5 years - more than double the average (2.46) in the previous 24 years combined.

[JURIST] A Moscow District Court on Tuesday upheld the legality of the city's ban on gay pride parades [JURIST report], ruling that the city's 2007 prohibition against the Moscow Pride [advocacy website] event was legal under Russian law and the European Convention on Human Rights [text] because the government can prohibit events to ensure public security and prevent public disturbances. Parade organizer Nicolas Alexeyev has indicated the group will appeal the ruling and is considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights [official website; JURIST news archive].

In June, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation [official website, in Russian] upheld a 2006 Moscow ban, dismissing an appeal by parade organizers [JURIST reports]. Parade organizers have already filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the ECHR, seeking €20,000 euros (approximately $27,000) in compensation. RIA Novosti has more.

[JURIST] Indonesian prosecutors announced Tuesday the breakdown of court-ordered settlement negotiations [JURIST report] with lawyers representing former Indonesian President Haji Mohammad Suharto [CNN profile]. Prosecutors will instead proceed in court with the government's civil lawsuit [JURIST report] against Suharto for allegedly embezzling $440 million between 1974 and 1998 from the Yayasan Supersemar, a state-funded academic scholar fund. Indonesian law requires that parties try mediation to resolve civil disputes before courts may proceed with a case. Suharto's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon indicated that the negotiations failed because government prosecutors insisted on terms identical with their suit. Government lawyers are seeking to recover the $440 million in state funds, and an additional $1.1 billion in damages.

The civil suit is the latest effort by the Indonesian government to hold Suharto accountable for his 32-year reign, which ended in 1998 after public discontent amid the Asian financial crisis erupted into violent protests. In January, Indonesian Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh announced plans to bring the civil action [JURIST report] against Suharto after dropping criminal charges of corruption [JURIST report] because Suharto has been rendered unable to speak or write [JURIST report] as a result of several strokes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Six foreign judges on Fiji's Court of Appeal submitted their resignations Monday, accusing the military government-appointed chief justice Anthony Gates of interfering with the court's functions by not consulting the judges about their availability when arranging sittings. The judges, from Australia and New Zealand, said it was apparent that their services were no longer wanted. The Fijian government says that President Ratu Josefa Iloilo [BBC profile] has appointed two Malaysian judges [Fiji Times report] to serve on the Court of Appeal.

In January, military commander and self-declared interim Prime Minister Vorege "Frank" Bainimarama [BBC profile] appointed Gates to replace former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki after Bainimarama suspended Fatiaki [JURIST report] pending investigations into "questionable activities." Fatiaki had opposed the December 2006 coup [JURIST report], insisting that the judiciary would uphold the Fijian Constitution [text]. December's coup was the fourth coup [BBC backgrounder] in Fiji in two decades. AAP has more. The Fiji Times has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website] on Tuesday upheld the death sentences [JURIST report] of three defendants convicted for their roles in the slaughter of ten of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder]. The defendants, including Saddam Hussein's cousin and former Iraqi defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], will be executed within 30 days. The court also affirmed the life sentences against two other defendants who appealed their sentences [JURIST report] in July.

Al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, is currently on trial [JURIST report] on separate crimes against humanity charges for his alleged role in the violent suppression of a predominately Shi'a uprising [HRW backgrounder] in southern Iraq following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In July, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said that al-Majid will be executed in the Kurdish town of Halabja [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Comment: Al Majid trial a farce, Iraqi criminal justice system inadequate

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] on Tuesday released new documents describing crimes committed by US soldiers against civilians [press release; document log] in Iraq and Afghanistan which show a pattern of US troops failing to follow the laws of interrogations and deadly actions, but also a pattern of troops believing they were in fact following the law in most instances. The materials were made available in conjunction with a lawsuit the ACLU is filing Tuesday to compel the US military to release all documents relating to the deaths of civilians caused by US troops in since January 2005. The nearly 10,000 pages of documents were produced by the US Army, and include including courts-martial summaries, transcripts and military investigative reports in connection to 22 separate incidents.

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act [PDF text] request more than a year ago to release all documents relating to civilian deaths, but only the US Army responded. The documents obtained by the ACLU included documents from the conviction and reprimand [JURIST reports] of Army Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. for his role in the interrogation death of an Iraqi general, the conviction of 101st Airborne Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard [JURIST report] for his role in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees [JURIST news archive], and documents relating to the death of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Mexican President Felipe Calderon [official website; BBC profile] denounced US immigration policies during his first state of the union address [text] Sunday, promising to fight for the rights of Mexicans living in the US and protesting the "unilateral measures" taken by the US to make "the persecution and humiliating treatment of undocumented Mexican workers worse." Calderon added that Mexican workers in the US contribute a "great deal" to the US economy, and chided the US government for its "insensitivity" to the "enormous contribution" Mexicans make. Calderon also insisted that Mexico will continue to advocate comprehensive immigration reform [JURIST news archive] that is favorable to Mexico and will continue to "categorically reject[] construction" of a 700-mile fence [JURIST news archive] on the US-Mexico border.

Calderon delivered his speech Sunday from the National Palace, after leftist opposition legislators refused to allow Calderon to follow tradition and deliver his speech to the Mexican Congress [official website, in Spanish] on Saturday, marking the second year in a row that legislators refused to allow the president to deliver his state of the union address. Last year, former Mexican President Vincente Fox [BBC profile] was prevented from delivering his address [JURIST report] to Congress as opposition legislators accused Fox of aiding Calderon in an alleged fraudulent narrow victory [JURIST report] over leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [BBC profile]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Israel [official website] Tuesday ordered the Israeli government to redraw the route of its West Bank security barrier [official website; JURIST news archive] near the Palestinian village of Bilin within a "reasonable period." Bilin residents had challenged the construction of the wall on the grounds that the barrier's planned route of the barrier prevented some Bilin residents from accessing their fields and orchards, thereby preventing the villagers from earning a livelihood. The court also determined that the separation barrier discriminates against Bilin residents because the Israeli government has seized and uprooted thousands of olive trees along the border to make room for construction. The contested portion in Bilin is just 500 acres of a 410-mile wall along the West Bank border, which Israel began to construct in 2002 to keep suicide bombers from entering Israeli territory. The barrier has been denounced by Palestinians as a land grab and an "apartheid wall" breaking up communities and families, but Israeli officials insist it is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.

Last year, the Israel Supreme Court ordered Israel to dismantle another section of the wall [JURIST report] in the northern West Bank, but Israeli courts have also rejected [JURIST report] petitions by Palestinians when security concerns outweighed the Palestinians' objections. In addition, the International Court of Justice [official website] in 2004 issued a non-binding advisory opinion [text; JURIST report] that parts of the wall should be torn down. AFP has more.