[JURIST] The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 235-184 [roll call] in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act [HR 3685 materials], legislation that would extend protections against workplace discrimination to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. The bill covers hiring and firing practices, the setting of compensation levels, and promotion determinations, and makes it illegal for employers to consider an employee's sexual orientation when making decisions in the workplace. The legislation must still be considered by the Senate and several senators said Wednesday that they would introduce a similar bill in the Senate.

The bill was approved in committee [JURIST report] last month, though it prompted criticism from rights groups [ACLU press release] who urged the inclusion of transgendered individuals among the protected classes. Currently less than half of US states specifically prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation [JURIST news archive], and only half of these laws include protection for transgender individuals. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The government of Nigeria [JURIST news archive] filed a lawsuit [BBC report] in a Nigerian federal court Wednesday against local tobacco producer International Tobacco Company, Ltd. and international tobacco producers British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International [corporate websites]. The lawsuit seeks upwards of $40 billion in damages for costs for the treatment of tobacco-related diseases in Nigeria and for the sale of cigarettes to minors in Nigeria. Also included in the lawsuit was a request to the court for an injunction preventing the marketing and sale of cigarettes to minors. Reuters has more. CNN/Dow Jones has additional coverage. The Daily Trust of Abuja has local coverage.

The Nigerian lawsuit comes as another in a succession of lawsuits brought by governments against tobacco companies [JURIST news archive] for health care costs associated with the treatment of tobacco-related diseases. Similar lawsuits have been filed in South Korea, Japan, and Canada. [JURIST reports] The federal government, 46 US states, and a number of US territories settled litigation [US Department of Justice backgrounder] against a number of tobacco companies in November 1998 [settlement summary] for damages stemming from tobacco-related health care costs. In 2006, a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that the tobacco industry [JURIST news archive] was liable for civil racketeering charges filed against the industry by the Department of Justice in 1999. In a lawsuit out of Oregon, the US Supreme Court earlier this year overturned an $80 million punitive damages award [JURIST report] against Philip Morris. The jury made the award because it found the marketing tactics of Philip Morris were "reprehensible," but the Supreme Court found the damages to be improper.

[JURIST] Increasing institutionalization of racist political ideologies and violent expressions of racism seriously threaten democracy and human rights, a United Nations expert told the General Assembly Wednesday. In his report [PDF text] to the General Assembly's Third Committee [official website], UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diene [OAS profile, DOC] wrote that ethical and cultural strategies to uncover the cause of racist ideologies will help lawmakers establish a balance between freedom of expression and the freedoms and rights contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text]. While noting that nations should use both legal and social methods to combat racism, Diene specifically encouraged the adoption of legal, political and administrative methods to ensure universal human rights, particularly the freedoms of religion and expression. The increases in violent racism and xenophobia in general are not limited to citizens - the report shows that immigrants and asylum seekers are also targets - and Diene said that their rights must be respected and guarded rather than overlooked in furtherance of security and national identity. The report does not specify laws that societies should adopt, but Diene said that nations should look to the ICCPR and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action [text, PDF]. The UN News Centre has more.

Diene warned the UN [JURIST report] in early 2006 about a worldwide increase in racism and xenophobia, which were no longer confined to extremist groups but had become integral to mainstream democratic systems. Diene said that the fight against terrorism and other government initiatives had led to discriminatory immigration and asylum policies and a retreat from diversity and tolerance. Diene noted that racism was "commonplace" and ethnically and racially biased stances had become increasingly legitimized in intellectual discourse by respected scholars.

[JURIST] The Florida Supreme Court [official website] issued a 5-2 order [PDF text] Wednesday denying a stay of execution for death row inmate Mark Dean Schwab [FCCD profile, DOC]. The court ruled last week that the state could proceed with Schwab's execution after finding that Florida's revised lethal injection protocol does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment [JURIST report]. The US Supreme Court currently has on its docket a case challenging lethal injection as unconstitutional, and earlier last week the Court granted a stay of execution [order, PDF; JURIST report] to a convicted murderer on Mississippi's death row. Some analysts have suggested that the Mississippi stay, which marked the third reprieve granted by the Court since September 25, signals a de facto nationwide moratorium [CSM news report] on lethal injections until the Supreme Court reaches a decision in the lethal injection case - Baze v. Rees.

Justice Barbara J. Pariente [official profile] wrote in a concurring opinion that:

Schwab should seek a stay from the United States Supreme Court and it should be that Court's decision to determine whether it intends a de facto moratorium on the death penalty and whether the issues it is presently reviewing regarding lethal injection justify a stay of Schwab's execution.

The circumstances of this case, and especially the United States Supreme Court's pending review of the constitutional issues involved, present this Court with a compelling case for ordering that the execution of the appellant be stayed pending the Supreme Court's resolution of the constitutionality of the use of lethal injection as it is administered in Florida and other states. While the pendency of a case directly on point in the Supreme Court alone constitutes a compelling reason for the entry of a stay, this factor is especially compelling in Florida because our state constitution mandates that this Court must apply the United States Supreme Court's decision on the issue before us. The majority is clearly ignoring that mandate in refusing to grant a stay here.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website; JURIST news archive] Wednesday ordered eight Croatian journalists to be questioned about possible contempt of court violations for revealing confidential information. Three national television journalists and five newspaper writers will be investigated for revealing confidential portions of indictments against former generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac [case backgrounders, PDF]. The journalists will be questioned by a Zagreb court before the ICTY will decided if it will file charges. AFP has more.

In February, the ICTY sentenced Croatian freelance journalist Domagoj Margetic [JURIST report] to three months in jail and a 10,000 Euro fine for contempt of court; Margetic had published the names of two witnesses that were under a protective court order on his website. In August 2006, Croatian journalist Josip Jovic was fined [JURIST report] 20,000 Euros for publishing transcripts of a closed court session and revealing the identity of a witness, current Croatian President Stipe Mesic [official profile], who testified in the Tihomir Blaskic case [ICTY case backgrounder].

[JURIST] The government of the Republic of Georgia [official backgrounder] has declared a state of emergency following days of protests in the capital city of Tbilisi, according to a televised speech Wednesday. Reading a prepared statement, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli [official profile] announced a presidential decree temporarily banning demonstrations and public calls for violence or government overthrow. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili [official website], a US ally, has blamed Russian spy agencies for instigating the protests; Russia dismissed the claims as an attempt to distract from domestic turmoil. The presidential decree will be submitted to the Georgian Parliament [official website, in Georgian] for approval in the next two days, per the republic's constitution [text]. So far several hundred demonstrators have been injured as police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up protests calling for election changes and for Saakashvili's resignation. Also Wednesday, police shut down independent television station Imedi, which had aired opposition statements and showed footage of police violence at the protests.

In August, a Georgian court sentenced 12 opposition activists [JURIST report] to prison terms of up to eight-and-a-half years for participating in a coup plot that Saakashvili alleged was backed by Russia. Saakashvili has allied himself closely with the US and NATO since taking office in 2004, and Georgian authorities alleged that the convicted opposition activists had been supported by the Russian security services. Georgian-Russian relations have deteriorated markedly [JURIST report] in the last year. AP has more. The International Herald Tribune has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Wednesday in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel [Duke Law case backgrounder; merit briefs], 06-989, where the Court considered whether parties can contractually agree to vacate an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) [USC Title 9 text]. Hall Street Associates leased property to toy manufacturer Mattel [corporate website] and filed suit after Mattel failed to clean up contaminates from its on-site factory. The parties initially agreed to arbitrate the dispute, subject to judicial review of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Section 10 of the FAA restricts judicial review of arbitration decisions to limited instances such as fraud. A district court reversed an arbitral award in Mattel's favor, but the US Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit rejected [opinion text, PDF] the district court's holding and reinstated the initial arbitral finding for Mattel.

The American Arbitration Association [group website] filed an amicus brief [PDF text] supporting the Ninth Circuit ruling and arguing that arbitral awards should be final. Chief Justice John Roberts said during arguments Wednesday that expanded judicial review may be valid as a term of a bargained-for contract, but several other justices voiced concern that such terms may be an illegal expansion of arbitration rights. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former chairman and CEO of mortgage finance company Freddie Mac [corporate website] Leland Brendsel agreed to a consent decree [press release; stipulation and consent order, PDF] Tuesday to settle administrative charges filed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) [official website], which maintains government oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, in December 2003. Under the consent order, Brendsel will pay a $2.5 million fine to the US government, and disgorge previously paid salary and bonuses of $10.5 million to Freddie Mac. Brendsel, who is not permitted to work for Freddie Mac in the future without OFHEO permission, has also agreed to waive civil claims he filed against Freddie Mac for the payment of $3.4 million in back compensation. The OFHEO administrative enforcement action against Brendsel stemmed from accounting violations, including "allow[ing] improper earnings management to develop, fail[ing] to ensure that adequate internal controls were put in place and permitt[ing] the accounting function to operate without adequate resources." According to OFHEO director James B. Lockhart, Brendsel fostered a culture at Freddie Mac that supported the accounting violations and contributed to the company's declining performance and misstatement of billions of dollars of revenue.

Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 to stabilize the mortgage market. In September 2005, Freddie Mac settled [JURIST report] OFHEO charges with a $125 million fine payable to the US government. As part of the settlement, Freddie Mac agreed to cooperate with the regulatory agency's investigation into Brendsel. The Wall Street Journal has more. The Washington Business Journal has additional coverage.

[JURIST] Bosnian police Wednesday arrested retired Serbian General Novack Djukic [press release, in Bosnian] for alleged involvement in a 1995 war crime in which the Republika Srpska Army [UN backgrounder] fired a single artillery shell into the central square of the town of Tuzla. Seventy-one people died as a result of the blast, most between the ages of 18 and 25. The youngest victim was only three years old.

Bosnian prosecutors [official website] will try Djukic in Bosnia's own War Crimes Chamber [HRW backgrounder] in the Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina [official website]. The War Crimes Chamber was set up to alleviate the caseload of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], and will continue to hear cases as the ICTY winds down in 2010. Reuters has more. B92 has local coverage.

[JURIST] The Interpol General Assembly [official website] Wednesday voted to issue arrest notices [press release] for five Iranians and one Lebanese man wanted in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center [Wikipedia backgrounder]. On Monday, Iran ended its formal attempts [JURIST report] to prevent the issuance of the red notices [Interpol backgrounder], which included lobbying General Assembly delegates, particularly those from African and Asian countries, and distributing leaflets saying that Argentina's investigation into the bombing was flawed. Iran noted that several of the witnesses cited in the Argentinian investigation are themselves wanted by Interpol, and said the vote was being used by Israel and the United States as a political tool.

Argentinian prosecutors have alleged that the bombing was planned by Iranian officials, and carried out by the Lebanese group Hezbollah [BBC backgrounder]. The country originally sought the arrests of high ranking members of the Iranian government, including former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [official website, in Farsi; JURIST report], but Interpol's Executive Committee [official website] denied the request and granted only six of the nine Red Notices requested by Argentina. The authorization of the notices went before the General Assembly following an Iranian appeal of the Executive Committee decision. AP has more.

[JURIST] Four Chadian nationals face criminal charges over their alleged involvement in an attempt to airlift 103 children [JURIST news archive] from Chad for the French charity Zoe's Ark [advocacy website, in French; BBC backgrounder]. The four defendants - the mayor, secretary-general, deputy governor, and neighborhood chief of the Chadian border town of Tine - appeared in court Wednesday on charges of fraud and conspiring to kidnap minors. If convicted, they could face extended prison time with hard labor.

On Monday, a Chadian prosecutor questioned [JURIST report] Europeans detained for their roles in the attempted airlift, including three Spanish flight crew members and five workers from the charity. On Sunday, a top official with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) [official website] said the attempted airlift violated international law. Although Zoe's Ark officials said the children were orphans from Darfur, UNICEF found that they were mostly from villages in Chad and were not actually orphans [press release; JURIST report]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's Saturday declaration of emergency rule [PDF text] is likely to end in two to three weeks, ruling Pakistan Muslim League party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told Pakistan's English newspaper Dawn Tuesday. Hussain said that Musharraf understands the consequences of an extended declaration of emergency, and that it was enacted reluctantly from the start. Amid these statements, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto urged supporters to continue with a rally [AP report] against emergency rule planned for Friday despite the government's ban on protests and its threat to end any demonstration.

Pakistani police attempted to crush a Wednesday demonstration [AP report] launched by some 400 Bhutto supporters against emergency rule, with AP reporting the use of batons and tear gas against the crowd and police dragging at least half a dozen people from the area. Pakistani police Tuesday arrested some 50 lawyers [JURIST report] at the Lahore High Court who were involved in protesting the declaration of emergency, suspension of the constitution, and effective dismissal of Pakistan's Supreme Court. The arrests took place a day after a larger protest in Lahore escalated into violence [JURIST report]. CBC News has more.

[JURIST] UN Special Envoy for Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari [official profile] will meet with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile] on Thursday, Gambari told diplomats during a one-hour briefing Wednesday. Gambari had originally proposed a meeting with both Suu Kyi and a member of the military government, but said that the junta rejected the idea. Gambari has met with several ranking officials during his visit to the country, but has been unable to arrange a meeting with junta leader Senior General Than Shwe [BBC profile].

Last week, officials said that the Myanmar junta had released an additional 46 people detained during the recent government crackdown on opponents of the military junta, after releasing 87 other demonstrators [JURIST reports] at the end of October. The government crackdown against protesters began in August, when Myanmar [JURIST archive] security officers arrested hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrating against rising fuel prices and human rights abuses by the military regime. Protests only subsided when junta troops effectively locked down Myanmar's major cities. At least 10 people were killed when government soldiers shot into protesting crowds [JURIST report] and the government has said that some 3,000 people were arrested for participating in the protests. It is unclear how many protesters remain in detention, but official media reported Wednesday that 2,836 people out of 2,927 detainees have been released [Xinhua report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Illinois Governor George Ryan [JURIST news archive] headed to federal prison Wednesday morning to serve a 6 1/2-year sentence [JURIST report] on corruption charges after the US Supreme Court on Tuesday denied [AP report] Ryan's request to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction, affirming the decision [PDF text; JURIST report] of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Ryan made the 255-mile journey to the correctional facility in Wisconsin with his family and with what he describes as a "clear conscience," once again asserting his innocence on all charges.

Ryan's trial began in 2005, and in 2006 a jury found him guilty [JURIST reports] on multiple counts of corruption and fraud [indictment, PDF] in connection with a bribes-for-licenses scandal that occurred during Ryan's term as Illinois Secretary of State. Ryan made national headlines and won praise in some quarters in January 2003 when, just before leaving office, he commuted the executions of all Illinois inmates then on death row [CNN report; Ryan speech]. A lower court judge last month ordered Ryan to report to prison by November 7 [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The trial of Serb nationalist leader and war crimes defendant Vojislav Seselj [BBC profile; ICTY case backgrounder, PDF] began Wednesday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website]. The prosecution in its opening statement told the court that Seselj incited atrocities through hateful speeches he made during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Seselj is charged [indictment, PDF] with three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes, and is accused of establishing rogue paramilitary units affiliated with the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) [party website, in Serbian], which are believed to have massacred and otherwise persecuted Croats and other non-Serbs during the Balkan conflict.

Last year, Seselj agreed to end his nearly month-long hunger strike [JURIST reports] after an ICTY appeals chamber ruled that Seselj could represent himself during trial. The ICTY had previously stripped Seselj of his right to defend himself [JURIST report] after he failed to appear in court, despite an earlier appeals court ruling that he could represent himself [JURIST report] provided he not engage in courtroom antics that "substantially obstruct the proper and expeditious proceedings in his case." BBC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The Russian State Duma voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a measure that would suspend the nation's responsibilities under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty [text; backgrounder]. The Russian government first threatened to temporarily withdraw [JURIST report] from the treaty in June, amid tensions between the US and Russia over US plans for an anti-missile defense shield in central Europe, which Russia perceives to be a threat to Russian national security. The measure reinforces legislatively a presidential decree [JURIST report] issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website]in July. The bill must still pass in the upper house of parliament and be signed by Putin in order to take effect.

In April, Putin told both houses of the Russian parliament that he was suspending Russia's implementation of the CFE Treaty [JURIST report] due to what he called a US-led NATO military "build up" in Europe, and said he would explore the possibility of ending Russia's commitments under the treaty. The CFE Treaty, concluded in 1990 by the 22 members of NATO and the former Warsaw Pact, regulates deployment of non-nuclear forces in Europe. In October, Putin also threatened to withdraw [JURIST report] Russia from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty [US DOS backgrounder] unless that treaty is expanded to include neighboring countries such as China, India, and Pakistan. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday upheld language used in homeowner insurance policies [opinion, PDF] by State Farm Fire and Casualty, overturning a district court ruling that the policy language was ambiguous and consequently unenforceable. The three-judge circuit panel held that the policy's anti-concurrent causation clause

clearly state[s] that excluded losses – here, any loss which would not have occurred in the absence of one or more of the excluded events – will not be covered even if a nonexcluded event or peril acts "concurrently or in any sequence" with the excluded event to cause the loss in question. Thus ... the ACC Clause in State Farm's policy is not ambiguous, and should be enforced under Mississippi law.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice filed an appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Tuesday against the dismissal [PDF text; JURIST report] of immigration fraud charges against anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles [JURIST news archive; case materials]. US District Judge Kathleen Cardone ruled in May that the Carriles' indictment should be dismissed because the US government's tactics in its investigation of Carriles were "so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice." Prosecutors, however, argued on appeal that Posada did not properly show that the government engaged in trickery or deceit and that any "deception or outrageous conduct" on the part of the government does not excuse Posada's alleged actions.

Carriles, a former CIA operative trained by the US for the failed anti-Castro Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, was arrested in 2005 [JURIST report] for illegally entering the United States and had been under the custody of immigration officials until his release on bail [JURIST report] in April. Cuba criticized Carriles' release [JURIST report] and accused the United States of violating international anti-terrorism treaties by freeing the militant and dismissing charges against him. Carriles is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela on terrorism charges relating to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner [Wikipedia backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion [order, PDF; press release] Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit against CACI International [corporate website], an American military contractor being sued over its alleged involvement in the torture of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive]. Judge James Robertson did however dismiss a similar lawsuit against Titan [corporate website], another military contractor that provided translators to the US Army. Robertson concluded that the military exclusively supervised and controlled Titan contractors, relieving Titan of liability, whereas "a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that CACI retained significant authority to manage its employees," who worked as interrogators for the US military.

The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights brought a racketeering lawsuit [JURIST report; CCR materials] in 2004 against the two civilian defense contractors, accusing the companies of conspiring to torture, rape and kill Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. CACI and Titan both sought protection under federal laws that shield the government from lawsuits filed as a result of military activities during wartime. AP has more.