[JURIST] US Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) [official website] said Thursday that he would fight subpoenas issued by the US Department of Justice [official website] for documents, including legislative records, relating to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff [JURIST news archive]. Doolittle's lawyer said that the Justice Department had overstepped its authority in demanding the documents, noting that the Constitution forbids the executive branch from intervening in legislative affairs. The subpoenas reportedly call for Doolittle and five members of his staff to turn over almost 11 years worth of records.

Last year, Abramoff pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in federal court in Florida to two conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from the 2000 purchase of the SunCruz Casino [corporate website] as part of a plea agreement [PDF text] with federal prosecutors that would reduce his punishment in exchange for favorable testimony in future DOJ corruption cases. The DOJ is also investigating Abramoff's ties with former house majority leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) [official website; JURIST news archive], Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) [official website], Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) [official website], 17 current and former congressional aides, and two former Bush administration officials in the Interior Department and government procurement office. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] Thursday handed down judgments [judgment summary; press release] on war crimes suspects Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Sljivancanin [BBC profiles; ICTY case backgrounder], who were accused of killing some 200 Croatian POWs at a pig farm near Vukovar [BBC backgrounder] in 1991. The court found Mrksic guilty on three counts of war crimes [JURIST news archive] and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for his part in the massacre. Sljivancanin received a five-year sentence on aiding and abetting charges, prompting immediate criticism from ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [official profile] who deemed the sentence too lenient. Radic was acquitted on all counts. AFP has more.

In December, the Serbian Supreme Court ordered a retrial [JURIST report] in the case of 14 former members of Serb militias who were convicted [JURIST report] of war crimes for their role in the Vukovar massacre. The Vukovar case, which opened in March 2004 [JURIST report] has been widely seen as a test of Serbia's domestic war crimes process.

[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] approved an amendment to the 2008 Senate Defense Reauthorization Bill [HR 1585 materials] by unanimous voice vote Thursday that would expand federal hate crimes legislation. Among its provisions, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 [S 1105 materials] broadens the definition of a hate crime to include violent attacks against people based on their gender or sexuality and makes it easier for federal law enforcement to become involved in hate crimes cases. The bill is named for Matthew Shepard [foundation website], a gay college student who was killed because of his sexual orientation. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) [official websites] co-sponsored the measure and applauded the amendment's passage [press release] Thursday. The US House of Representatives passed [JURIST report] its version of the bill [PDF text; HR 1592 summary] in May.

The White House has repeatedly threatened to veto [policy statement, PDF] the hate crimes legislation, leading many Senate Republicans to argue that Senate Democrats attached the hate crimes amendment to the bill authorizing Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] funding to force US President George W. Bush's approval. Senate Democrats countered by arguing that the hate crimes amendment legitimately deals with domestic terrorism, while the Defense Reauthorization Bill relates to international terrorism. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russia's top prosecutor has denied a move by a descendant of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II [Wikipedia profile] to have the Romanovs declared "political victims," Russia's RIA-Novosti reported Wednesday. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanov [Wikipedia profile], a Spanish resident, was attempting to obtain an order from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office [official website, in Russian] that the Romanov's 1918 execution [eyewitness account] was a political killing. The office took control of the case in May [JURIST report] after several Russian courts refused to declare the execution political. After conducting its own investigation, the prosecutor's office determined that the execution by revolutionary Bolsheviks was a premeditated murder and not performed following a legal court decision [press release, in Russian], but said that only a decision by a court or "extrajudicial body" can declare the Romanovs to be "political victims." RIA-Novosti reported that a lawyer for the family called the decision "illegal."

Nicholas II, the Tsarina Alexandra, their five children, and several household servants were executed without trial near Yekaterinburg in 1918. The royal family's remains were found in a mining pit in 1991, and reburied with honors [BBC report] at St. Petersburg in 1998. AP has more.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] Thursday upheld [judgment summary; press release] a 2005 lower court ruling [JURIST report] acquitting two Kosovo Albanians and convicting one other for their alleged actions at a prison camp run by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) [BBC backgrounder] during its open rebellion against Serbian forces in 1998. The ICTY specifically rejected the appeal of Haradin Bala, a commander and guard at the Lapusnik prison camp, who was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of torture, cruel treatment and murder. The ICTY also affirmed the 2005 acquittal of Bala's co-defendants, Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu, on charges of committing murder, torture and inhumane acts.

In 2003, Bala, Limaj and Musliu were the first Kosovo Albanians indicted [BBC report] for crimes committed during the KLA rebellion. The three men originally went on trial [JURIST report; ICTY case backgrounder] before the ICTY in late 2004. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Lawyers representing twelve members of the US House of Representatives [official website] who were subpoenaed last month in the criminal trial of a defense contractor charged with bribing former US Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham [official profile] filed motions in the Southern District of California [official website] Wednesday seeking to have the subpoenas quashed. Lawyers for Brent Wilkes [Newsweek profile], who is facing up to 20 years in prison on charges of bribery, fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy, are seeking information on congressional "earmarks" that Cunningham requested for Wilkes, and wish to view internal house documents related to defense appropriations. The subpoenaed congress members have said they will not comply with the orders, because according to House Rules [text], sitting House members may only comply with subpoenas when their testimony could be "material and relevant." In addition, their lawyers have argued that members of Congress are not required to disclose communications related to their official duties.

The subpoenas were served on August 13th, however they were only disclosed to the public last week [JURIST report], when the served members announced into the congressional record [floor summary] their intent to not comply. The served members are:

• Roy Blunt (R-MO), House Republican Whip;
• Norm Dicks (D-WA), House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee Chairman;
• John Doolittle (R-CA);
• Dennis Hastert (R-IL), former House Speaker;
• Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), former House Intelligence Committee Chairman;
• Duncan Hunter (R-CA), former Armed Services Committee Chairman;
• Darrell Issa (R-CA);
• Joe Kollenberg (R-MI), former House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee Chairman;
• Jerry Lewis (R-CA), former Appropriations Committee Chairman;
• John Murtha (D-PA), House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman;
• Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), House Intelligence Committee Chairman; and
• Jerry Weller (R-IL).

[JURIST] Pakistan police closed off the capital of Islamabad on Thursday to prevent protesters from rallying against President Musharraf's bid for a second five-year term in office. Pakistani lawyers had threatened earlier in the week to defy a government ban on gatherings of more than five people to protest Musharraf's candidacy, which they call illegitimate as Musharraf also serves as the head of the military. The election is scheduled for October 6 and the Supreme Court of Pakistan is expected to issue its ruling on court challenges to Musharraf's re-election bid [JURIST report] within the next several days.

Also Thursday, the Pakistani Supreme Court chief judge ordered the release of over 200 opposition party workers [AP report] who have been detained [JURIST report] by the government since Saturday. The government had justified the arrests as necessary to maintain law and order. AP has more.

[JURIST] Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] devoted much of his address [PDF statement] to the 62nd UN General Assembly on Wednesday to attacking the human rights record of US President George W. Bush. Mugabe was responding to Bush's address [PDF text], where Bush called Mugabe's government a "tyrannical regime" that has "cracked down on peaceful calls for reform, and forced millions to flee their homeland." Mugabe in turn accused Bush of human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of torturing prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret prisons in Europe [JURIST news archives].

Bush invoked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [text] in condemning the human rights records of many countries, including Zimbabwe, and Mugabe responded with the example of Guantanamo Bay:

at that concentration camp international law does not apply. The national laws of the people there do not apply. Laws of the United States of America do not apply. Only Bush's law applies...Mr. Bush thinks he stands above all structures of governance, whether national or international. At home, he does not need the Congress. Abroad, he does not need the UN, international law and opinion. This forum did not sanction Blair and Bush's misadventures in Iraq. The two ran roughshod over the UN and international opinion. Almighty Bush is now coming back to the UN for a rescue package because his nose is bloodied!

[JURIST] Myanmar police arrested dozens of Buddhist monks during dawn raids on two monasteries Thursday, one day after police opened fire on anti-government protesters [JURIST report], killing at least eight and arresting over 300. Also Thursday, police again fired shots [BBC report] near crowds of protesters, killing one person. It is unclear whether the shots were aimed at or above the crowd. It is also not clear exactly how many monks were arrested during Thursday's dawn raids, but a monk from the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery estimated that 70 of the 150 monks in residence there were arrested. A witness at a second monastery reported the arrest of several others.

The monks are leading the protests against the government, which they accuse of human rights abuses, including the detention of demonstrators who peacefully protested a sharp rise in fuel prices in August. Tens of thousands of citizens have joined the marching monks in what has become the largest demonstration in the country since a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. The government tolerated the anti-government protesters for a month, but on Tuesday, the military government banned public gatherings [JURIST report] of more than five people and imposed a curfew in response to the anti-government protests [BBC Q&ampA]. The New York Times has more.

In response to Wednesday's violence, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched [UN press release] his Special Envoy to Myanmar and urged peaceful dialogue with the junta leaders. The United States and the European Union issued a joint statement [text; AFP report] calling for an end to the violence and looking to "China, India, ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and others in the region to use their influence in support of the people of Burma/Myanmar." Earlier this week, US President George W. Bush announced US sanctions against Myanmar [speech text, PDF; JURIST report], supplementing the current visa ban on alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses. Myanmar has been governed without a constitution since the military regime took power in 1988. Talks on a new national charter [JURIST report] have been underway for 14 years. It is not yet clear who will draft the actual constitution or how that process will occur, but the Myanmar government has pledged to put the resulting document to a vote in a national referendum.

[JURIST] Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (INP) [official website] has begun officially publishing a list of public officials who worked with or were spied on by the country's Communist-era secret police as part of ongoing efforts to reconcile Poland's pre-1989 Communist heritage. Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and President Lech Kaczynski [official websites] were both listed Tuesday as officials who had been placed under surveillance by the secret police. A special court called for the publication of the index [INP materials] in order to help the country comply with the so-called Lustration Law [RFE backgrounder; BI backgrounder on "lustration" generally] passed in October 2006 requiring over 700,000 Polish professionals - academics [IPN announcement], journalists, lawyers, diplomats and managers of state-owned companies - to file affidavits swearing they they never cooperated with the country's Communist-era secret police.

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal [official website] ruled in May that portions of the law were unconstitutional [JURIST report], but left in force provisions that authorized the disclosure of names of public officials who worked with the secret police. Before the ruling, the prime minister said [JURIST report] that judges could face charges if they acted improperly in ruling on the legality of the Lustration Law. Jaroslaw had called for judges on the court to go before a decommunization tribunal themselves before ruling on the law's constitutionality. AP has more. AFP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) [official website] said Wednesday that it will reshelve all religious material taken from prison chapel libraries originally determined to fall outside of the agency's approved list of materials. The BOP made the decision to temporarily end the Standardized Chapel Library Project in light of growing criticism from a wide spectrum of religious and secular leaders. The BOP says it produced the list of limited material based on a 2004 report [PDF text] by the US Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General [official website], which provided recommendations for curbing violence and derogation related to Muslim extremism in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks [JURIST news archive]. The BOP will begin to return all religious material to chapel libraries, except anything deemed to incite violence or encourage radicalism.

Earlier this month, several inmates in a federal penitentiary in New York filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against the BOP claiming that the removal of religious texts violated the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [text]. The move to restrict prisoners' access to reading materials is not unprecedented; in June 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in favor of allowing federal prisons to prevent the most difficult inmates from reading and possessing general-interest newspapers and magazines. The New York Times has more.