[JURIST] A US military judge Wednesday denied a request by lawyers for Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan [Trial Watch profile; JURIST news archive] to meet with top terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, citing security concerns. Lawyers had hoped that the suspects, including alleged Sept. 11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile], would be allowed to testify that Hamdan was not a devoted member of al-Qaeda and should not be tried as an enemy combatant under the US military tribunal system. A pretrial hearing for Hamdan was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. AP has more.

In October, the US Supreme Court declined to review Hamdan's appeal [JURIST report] challenging the constitutionality of the military commission system. Hamdan was allegedly a driver for Osama bin Laden before his capture and incarceration at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and last year successfully challenged President George W. Bush's military commission system when the Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that the commission system as initially constituted violated US and international law. Congress subsequently passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [JURIST news archive], but Hamdan argued that the current law still violates his rights. He had hoped the Supreme Court would consider his case along with those of other detainees challenging their detention at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report]. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the consolidated cases of Boumediene v. Bush (06-1195) [docket; merit briefs] and Al Odah v. United States (06-1196) [docket; merit briefs] on whether detainees at Guantanamo Bay should be allowed to challenge their detentions in federal court.

[JURIST] Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] will be sentenced next week for ordering a 2000 warrantless search on the apartment of the wife of former Peruvian Intelligence Director Vladimiro Montesino [BBC profile], according to a Wednesday press release [text, in Spanish] from the Peruvian Supreme Court. Prosecutors alleged that the search was intended to uncover and confiscate documents that might incriminate Fujimori. Fujimori admitted to ordering the raid, but said that it was meant to find Montesino, who was wanted for money laundering. This will be the first time that Fujimori has ever been sentenced for a crime. AP has more. Prensa Latina has additional coverage.

The Supreme Court of Peru [official website, in Spanish] last week sentenced 10 former Fujimori cabinet officials for their involvement in the government's seizure of power from Congress and the judiciary in 1992. Fujimori suspended the Supreme Court and dissolved Congress in 1992, saying it was necessary to counter the terrorist threat posed by the Shining Path [MIPT backgrounder]. Fujimori was transferred [JURIST report] to Peru for trial after the Supreme Court of Chile allowed the extradition [ruling, PDF; JURIST report] in September. Fujimori is currently awaiting trial before a special chamber [official website] of the Peru high court on human rights charges for the 1992 murder of 25 people, and faces up to 30 years in prison and a $33 million fine. That trial is scheduled to begin [JURIST report] December 10.

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] Wednesday asked the UN Security Council [ICC press release] to press Sudan to execute outstanding arrest warrants against two Sudanese men accused of crimes against humanity in Darfur [JURIST news archive]. Moreno-Campo said that the government of Sudan has not cooperated with efforts to arrest former Sudanese Minister of the Interior Ahmed Muhammad Harun [Trial Watch profile; JURIST report] and former militia leader Ali Kushayb [Trial Watch profile], in violation of UNSC Resolution 1593 [text]. Reiterating that the Government of Sudan has a legal duty to arrest and surrender the suspects, Moreno-Ocampo said that Harun is the chief coordinator of the second phase of a criminal plan to target civilians in camps believed to be rebel supporters, and that while he remains free "there will be no comprehensive solution in Darfur." Moreno-Ocampo also announced two new investigations: identification of Harun's principal allies and supporters involved in his criminal activities, and an inquiry into attacks against UN and African Union peacekeepers. Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem called Moreno-Ocampo's investigations "politicized" and said that the Sudanese judiciary could handle accusations against its citizens internally.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon encouraged all nations [JURIST report] involved in the ICC to assist with the arrests. Moreno-Ocampo has previously called on Sudan itself to arrest Sudanese war crimes suspects, but Sudan has responded by saying the ICC does not have jurisdiction to prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A group of renowned Chinese lawyers and academics Tuesday released an open letter to the Chinese government [text, in Chinese], calling for the end of "re-education" labor camps. The scholars said the camps, originally designed in 1957 to deal with political dissidents, violate the Chinese constitution because sentences are imposed by police or political leaders rather than by the judiciary. They also said the camps exist in violation of numerous Chinese laws and international human rights laws to which China is a party. The scholars who signed the letter include an Economist at the China Academy of Social Sciences, and professors from People's University and the China University of Political Science and Law [official websites, in Chinese].

Human rights groups have been protesting the re-education camps for years. In March, the Chinese Parliament considered reforming the re-education system [JURIST report]. In August, Amnesty International [advocacy website] noted that the continued use of re-education camps shows that China is failing to meet its promise to improve human rights [report text; JURIST report] in preparation for the 2008 Olympics [official website] in Beijing. In October, the Chinese organizer of a 12,000 signature petition asking the government to eliminate re-education camps was arrested and sent to one [Toronto Star report], without trial or access to counsel. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Newly declassified court documents show that a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) at Guantanamo Bay ignored evidence clearing German-born Turkish citizen Murat Kurnaz [AI case sheet; JURIST news archive] of terrorist connections, the Washington Post reported [text] Wednesday. Kurnaz sued the Department of Defense [JURIST report] in December 2006 to compel the release of the classified documents. The Post reported Wednesday that a 2002 memo [PDF text] from a German intelligence officer written just months after Kurnaz's arrest said that the United States considered Kurnaz's "innocence to be proven" and that he would be released in approximately six to eight weeks. Kurnaz in fact was detained until 2006 [JURIST report], and the memo was not disclosed to him during the proceedings against him. Also fully declassified was a 2005 opinion [original censored version, PDF] from US District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Joyce Hens Green that held that Kurnaz did not receive a "fair opportunity to contest the material allegations against him."

Lawyers for Kurnaz and other detainees participated in oral arguments [JURIST report] before the US Supreme Court Wednesday in the consolidated cases of Boumediene v. Bush (06-1195) and Al Odah v. United States (06-1196) [dockets], arguing that the suppressed documents evidence a systematic bias against fair hearings for detainees. Kurnaz was arrested by US officials in Pakistan shortly after September 11 and held at Guantanamo from 2002. He was ultimately released in response to repeated appeals to US authorities by current German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German]. Kurnaz has alleged he suffered abuse and torture [Deutsche Welle report] as a Guantanamo detainee.

[JURIST] Former Pakistani prime ministers Nawaz Sharif [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and Benazir Bhutto [personal website; JURIST news archive] are in negotiations to draw up a list of formal demands they say must be met by the government of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [official website; JURIST news archive] before they will definitively agree to participate in January's parliamentary elections, but they remain divided on the issue of reinstalling ousted superior court judges, according to Tuesday media reports. Sharif and Bhutto began formulating the demands, which include the end of the present state of emergency [JURIST news archive] and the release of former Supreme Court judges from house arrest, in a meeting on Monday. Sharif wants to link participation in the elections with restoring the pre-state of emergency judiciary, but Bhutto has said she would be satisfied as long as the judges are given their freedom and does not want to make restoration of the judiciary a requirement for her party's participation.

Musharraf dismissed 14 Supreme Court judges after declaring the state of emergency [JURIST report] last month, replacing them with lower court judges more loyal to the president. Provincial high courts were also purged. On Tuesday, the Pakistan government announced the formal forced retirement [JURIST report] of 37 judges from the Supreme Court and other high courts, citing the judges' refusal to take oaths under the Provisional Constitution Order [text as amended]. AP has more. The News has local coverage.

[JURIST] Disgraced Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu [Wikipedia profile] was indicted [press release, PDF] Tuesday on 15 additional counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) [text] in connection with a massive alleged Ponzi scheme [SEC backgrounder]. Hsu also allegedly made illegal campaign contributions in other peoples' names in violation of the FECA. According to the indictment [text]:

In an effort to raise his public profile and thereby convince more victims to invest in his fraudulent scheme, Hsu pressured many of his victims to individually contribute thousands of dollars to various candidates for President of the United States, the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives whom Hsu supported. Hsu allegedly made direct and implied threats to these victims, leading them to believe that their failure to make the required political contributions would adversely impact their ongoing investment relationships with Hsu.

[JURIST] Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda [official website; BBC profile] Wednesday apologized to the thousands of Japanese women and children abandoned during Japan's retreat from China [Kyoto Journal backgrounder] at the close of World War II, marking the first time that a Japanese leader has apologized for the country's failure to support the "war orphans" [JURIST news archive]. The remarks came after the recent passage of a new law that will provide 66,000 yen (close to $600) every month to each repatriated war orphan, settling class action suits brought against Japan by approximately 2,200 persons.

In July, thousands of other Japanese war orphans accepted an aid proposal [JURIST report] from the government in exchange for abandoning all claims against Japan. Only 61 plaintiffs, who filed their suit in Kobe, have received compensation [JURIST report]. Japanese courts have consistently dismissed their lawsuits [JURIST report], ruling that the current Japanese government has no obligation to compensate the victims because it had no obligation to assist the repatriation and assimilation process. Courts have also ruled that the current Japanese government is not responsible for the actions of the wartime government, which operated under a different constitution. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments Wednesday in the consolidated cases of Boumediene v. Bush (06-1195) [docket; merit briefs] and Al Odah v. United States (06-1196) [docket; merit briefs] on whether detainees at Guantanamo Bay should be allowed to challenge their detentions in federal court. The Court is considering [questions presented, PDF] whether the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; JURIST news archive] "validly stripped federal court jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions filed by foreign citizens imprisoned indefinitely at the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay" and also "whether Petitioners' habeas corpus petitions, which establish that the United States government has imprisoned Petitioners for over five years, demonstrate unlawful confinement requiring the grant of habeas relief or, at least, a hearing on the merits." During arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia seemed skeptical of the detainees' argument that they should be entitled to civilian court review, with Scalia asking for an example of when an alien detainee held under similar conditions has been allowed to challenge his detention in civilian court. Roberts also pressed the detainees' lawyer on why the length of detention - six years for many detainees - was important.

The cases [LII backgrounder; JURIST report] are on appeal form the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which earlier this year upheld [PDF text; JURIST report] the habeas-stripping provision of the controversial Military Commissions Act as applied to "enemy combatants." AP has more.

2:49 PM ET - The transcript [PDF text] of Wednesday's oral arguments is now available.

[JURIST] Investigators in Chad Tuesday completed a criminal probe into French charity Zoe's Ark [advocacy website, in French; BBC backgrounder] for its involvement in an October attempt to airlift 103 alleged Darfur orphans [JURIST news archive] from Chad to Europe, and transferred the case to Chadian prosecutors. According to a Chadian court official, prosecutors will now determine whether the case should proceed on misdemeanor charges to a correctional court, as the defendants have requested, or on more serious charges to a criminal court. The official said that a decision should be made by next week.

The government of Sudan [JURIST news archive] said last week that it was planning a lawsuit against the charity, and that it also has plans to sue a French base in Chad for allegedly allowing Zoe's Ark to use its airport for the attempted airlift. Last month, Chad released three Spanish air crew and a Belgian pilot [JURIST report] held in Chad in connection with the attempted airlift. Chadian authorities also freed seven Europeans [JURIST report] in early November, including three French journalists, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy personally intervened on their behalf. Six Europeans still remain in Chadian custody. Four Chadian nationals also face criminal charges [JURIST report] over their alleged involvement in the attempted airlift, including the mayor, secretary-general, deputy governor and neighborhood chief of the Chadian border town of Tine. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The Pakistan Law and Justice Ministry Tuesday announced the formal forced retirement from the Pakistan Supreme Court and other high courts of 37 judges, including ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry [JURIST news archive], who was replaced immediately after President Pervez Musharraf's November 3 imposition of emergency rule. Acting Law Secretary Malik Hakim Khan cited the judges' refusal to take oaths under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) [text as amended] as the reason the government moved against them, denying them of pensions and other usual benefits. Many of the deposed judges were also told to vacate their official residences, as the homes have now been allotted to newly appointed PCO judges [News report]. In response to the latest announcement, members of the Islamabad Bar Association staged a protest [Reuters report] against Musharraf Wednesday, saying that they will work only half-days until he reinstates the ousted judges.

Musharraf dismissed 14 Supreme Court judges, including Chaudhry, in the wake of his declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report], replacing them with lower court judges more loyal to the president. Provincial high courts were also purged. Last week, Musharraf pledged to end emergency rule and reinstate the suspended constitution on December 16, but officials said he would not reinstate the ousted justices [JURIST report]. The United Nations and some US lawmakers have called for the reinstatement of an independent judiciary [JURIST report] in Pakistan, but press reports have quoted Western diplomats as saying that this is not the official stance of some Western governments that agree with Musharraf that the Chaudhry-led Supreme Court was meddling in Pakistani politics. The Nation has more.

[JURIST] The Iraqi legislature's failure to pass an oil law [JURIST news archive], rather than the security situation in the country, is preventing international oil corporations from investing in Iraq, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt [official profile] said Tuesday. Kimmitt explained that companies are looking for the law to establish a firm investment framework with clear regulations before moving into Iraq, and are less concerned with security issues, with which the companies are used to dealing.

Negotiations on a controversial Iraqi oil bill on regulation and revenue-sharing collapsed in September [JURIST report] because of Kurdish opposition on the issue of control over oil fields in Kurdish-ruled areas. The oil law is one of 18 benchmarks established by Public Law 110-28 to measure US success in Iraq. Several recent reports, including the White House's Initial Benchmark Assessment Report [text; JURIST report] and a report [text, PDF] released in September by the US Government Accountability Office, conclude that the Iraqi government has not met most of those legislative, security, and economic benchmarks. AP has more.

[JURIST] A Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee survived a self-inflicted injury last month when he cut open his throat using a sharpened fingernail during his daily shower, Navy Cmdr. Andrew Haynes said Tuesday. The detainee received stitches after losing a substantial amount of blood in what Haynes believed to be an intentional "self-harm" rather than a true suicide attempt. The name or ethnicity of the prisoner has not been released.

There have been four suicides since the opening of the US detention facility at Guantanamo in 2002, including three in June 2006 [JURIST report]. The fourth suicide [JURIST report] occurred in May 2007. Haynes said there have also been nearly a half dozen occurrences of self-harm in the past two months. AP has more.