[JURIST] Myanmar [JURIST news archive] continues to arrest and detain human rights activists, denying them fair trials in accordance with international principles, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro [official profile; JURIST news archive] said Tuesday. In a statement [text], Pinheiro also expressed concern about reports that some detainees were in failing health and urgent need of medical treatment.

After being barred from Myanmar in 2003, Pinheiro was allowed to return to the country [JURIST report] in November 2007 after a September crackdown when Myanmar security officers arrested hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrating against rising fuel prices and human rights abuses by the military regime. At least 10 people were killed when government soldiers shot into protesting crowds, although Pinheiro later estimated that at least 31 people were killed [JURIST reports]. The government has said that some 3,000 people were arrested for participating in the protests. UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] A federal court of appeals judge struck down [ruling, PDF] a 2003 agreement between Georgia and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) [official website] allowing the state's use of a federal water reservoir. Judge Judith Rogers of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] ruled that the agreement violates the Water Supply Act [text] because it allowed the Corps to make major operational changes to the Lake Lanier reservoir [USACE backgrounder] without prior Congressional approval as required by the Act. Alabama and Florida had contested the agreement, arguing that Georgia has no rights to the federal reservoir and that the state's use of that water could drain Alabama and Florida's smaller rivers. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley called [press release] the ruling "the most consequential legal ruling in the 18-year history of the water war" between Georgia, which requires more water to feed the increasingly urban Atlanta area, and its neighboring states. Officials at the Georgia governor's office are considering an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] earlier ruled in favor of Georgia, saying that the Corps of Engineers did not exceed its authority. In its reversal, the Court of Appeals noted that the diversion of about 22 percent of the reservoir's water to the Atlanta area, as proposed by the agreement, would directly impact Florida and Alabama, which are downstream from Georgia. AP has more.

[JURIST] Russian lawyer and government critic Boris Kuznetsov [ARLI profile] applied for political asylum in the US Tuesday. Kuznetsov fled Russia in July 2007 after a court approved a criminal investigation against him for allegedly divulging state wiretapping secrets by turning over evidence to the Russian Constitutional Court [official website, in Russian] that his client, former parliamentarian Levon Chakhmakhchyan, had been wiretapped by the Federal Security Service [official website, in Russian] without court authorization. The same month, the Moscow prosecutor's office formally opened an investigation [JURIST report] into Kuznetsov. AP has more.

Russia has lately seen increasing official pressure put on lawyers representing high-profile clients critical of the government. In the past, Kuznetsov has represented numerous government opponents, including the family of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC report; JURIST news archive].

[JURIST] Retired Argentine General Cristino Nicolaides and five other former officers stood trial Tuesday for their alleged role in the abduction and torture of five political dissidents during the country's military dictatorship of the late 1970s and 80s. In December 2007, Nicolaides was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison [JURIST report] for charges regarding another group of "disappeared" persons. AP has more.

It is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 people were forcibly kidnapped or "disappeared" during the so-called "Dirty War" [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], a 1976-1983 Argentine government campaign against suspected dissidents. In 2005, Argentina's Supreme Court struck down amnesty laws [JURIST report] adopted in the 1980s, prompting the government to reopen hundreds of human rights cases.

[JURIST] The CIA has used waterboarding [JURIST news archive] "on only three detainees" since September 11, 2001, CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] told the US Senate Intelligence Committee [official website] Tuesday. Stipulating that the interrogation technique has not been used by the CIA in five years, Hayden for the first time named the men waterboarded: accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], senior al Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah [BBC profile, JURIST news archive], and alleged mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri [GlobalSecurity profile; JURIST news archive]. Hayden said that at the time of the waterboardings, officials feared "imminent attack" on the US. He also said that less than one-third of the roughly 100 terror detainees held in CIA custody were exposed to any kind of coercive interrogation.

The controversy over whether waterboarding constitutes illegal torture first loomed large late last year as then-Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey tried to duck the issue [JURIST report] in his confirmation hearings and former CIA agent John Kiriakou unofficially confirmed the use of waterboarding [JURIST report] during interrogations of US terror suspects. Also in December, Hayden sent a memo [JURIST report] to CIA employees saying that the agency videotaped the 2002 interrogations of Zubaydah and al-Nashiri, but that the tapes were destroyed [JURIST news archive] in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators. Last month, the now Mukasey-led Department of Justice announced that it had opened a criminal investigation [JURIST report] into the destruction of the tapes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US President George W. Bush will veto any terror surveillance legislation passed by Congress that does not include liability protection for telecom companies, a letter from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell warned Congress Tuesday, according to AP. Last week, Bush signed a 15-day extension [JURIST report] to the temporary Protect America Act [S 1927 materials; JURIST report], designed as a stopgap while Congress works on long-term legislation to "modernize" the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive]. FISA currently allows the government to eavesdrop inside of the US without court approval as long as one end of a conversation is reasonably perceived to have been outside of the US. Controversy has arisen over proposed amendments to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies [JURIST report] from lawsuits related to their participation in the NSA warrantless surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. AP reported that the Tuesday letter, sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee [official websites], said that, "Private citizens who respond in good faith to a request for assistance by public officials should not be held liable for their actions." The letter indicated that the Bush administration otherwise supports the bill. A Senate vote may occur this week.

Bush has previously threatened to veto any version of the Protect America Act or of FISA that did not a telecom immunity provision, and repeated his stance during his final State of the Union address [JURIST report] last week. AP has more.

[JURIST] Uzbekistan [JURIST news archive] authorities have granted a pardon to a journalist and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy group] translator sentenced to prison, according to Tuesday reports. Umida Niyazova [CPJ profile] was sentenced to seven years [JURIST report] after an Uzbek court convicted her last May of illegal border crossing, smuggling, and distributing propaganda allegedly supporting an extremist religious group known as Akramiya [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Her sentence was later reduced [JURIST report] after she read a confession and expressed regret for "the crimes [she] committed unintentionally." In a separate case, prominent Uzbek human rights activist Bakhtiyar Khamrayev said his son, who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2006, was also pardoned on Tuesday.

HRW had said Niyazova's trial was politically motivated [press release] and called on the EU "to make the release of rights defenders a necessary precondition for any further easing of sanctions against Uzbekistan." EU sanctions were imposed [JURIST report] in November 2005 in response to the Uzbek government's failure to allow an independent investigation into the May 2005 Andijan uprising [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive], during which thousands of demonstrators protesting the trial of 23 businessmen on religious extremism charges stormed a prison [JURIST report]. In response, government troops killed as many as 500 demonstrators [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court [official website, in Russian] Tuesday rejected the appeal of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov [personal website, in Russian; BBC profile] to reinstate his candidacy in the March Russian presidential election. Last week, the Russian Central Election Commission banned Kasyanov from running in the election [JURIST report], rejecting 13.36 percent of signatures he submitted in support of his candidacy as either forged or incorrect. Under Russian law, no more than 5 percent of signatures in support of a candidate can be disqualified if that candidate is to run in the election. The Supreme Court conducted a one-day hearing before ruling in support of the Commission decision. A spokeswoman for Kasyanov said that both decisions "ignored the views of citizens." Russian prosecutors said earlier this month that they had launched a forgery investigation [JURIST report] into Kasyanov.

Kasyanov was an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] and his allies in the run-up to last December's parliamentary elections. Kasyanov has accused Putin, long charged with suppressing dissent, of directly refusing to register his candidacy. Kasyanov was not expected to pose a serious challenge in the March election, polling at less than 1 percent. Putin-backed Dmitry Medvedev [BBC profile], chairman of Russian gas company Gazprom [corporate website], leads all major opinion polls. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A defense lawyer representing four ex-officers of the former Rwandan army facing trials before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] has accused Prosecutor Hassan Jallow [ICTR profile] of concealing evidence favorable to the defense, according to Monday media reports. Lawyer Christopher Black claims Jallow possesses witness statements indicating that Black's client, former Rwandan army general Augustin Ndindiliyimana [TrialWatch profile], helped protect Tutsi civilians during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder]. Black urged the court to sanction Jallow, to give Black access to Jallow's evidence database, to suspend the trial, and to temporarily release Ndindiliyimana pending further investigation into the alleged witness statements.

The ICTR was established to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, died. Hirondelle News Agency has more.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official website] Tuesday urged the Chadian government and rebel forces to follow humanitarian law and respect human rights [statement] as fighting continued for a fourth day after rebels entered the capital city of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby [BBC profile]. An estimated 20,000 civilians have fled the capital [New York Times report] since violence escalated Saturday. Arbour expressed concern regarding the loss of civilian lives and called for both sides to take measures to protect civilians.

The latest fighting in Chad [JURIST news archive] is the most recent eruption of longstanding hostilities between the Chadian government and several rebel groups seeking to depose Deby. The UN Security Council [official website] Monday condemned the recent attacks [press release] and urged neighboring countries to help stop the rebel forces. UN News Service has more.

[JURIST] Private government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) [advocacy website] Tuesday urged US Attorney General Michael Mukasey [official website] to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether the White House had violated the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act [texts] in failing to preserve millions of missing White House e-mails [JURIST news archive]. In September 2007 CREW sued the Executive Office of the President and the National Archives and Records Administration over their alleged failure to preserve e-mails [complaint, PDF; press release] throughout the Bush administration. In its Tuesday letter [PDF text; press release] to Mukasey, CREW said:

The importance and historical significance of the missing email combined with the involvement of White House staff, make it imperative that the public have absolute confidence in whoever investigates this matter - the exact circumstance for which the special counsel provision was designed. The need for an impartial special counsel is all the more pronounced, in light of the recent history of improper White House involvement in, and politicization of, the work of the Department of Justice. For example, the administration has made clear that it will never allow the Department of Justice to pursue criminal contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials, including former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and several US Attorneys were fired for refusing to politicize criminal investigations. Frankly, the Department of Justice does not have the credibility or demonstrated independence required to investigate potentially criminal conduct by White House officials.

[JURIST] US Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Monday criticized a provision in the Bush administration's proposed $3 trillion FY09 budget [White House materials] that would fund the newly created Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) through the Department of Justice (DOJ) rather than through the National Archives and Records Administration as originally intended. OGIS was established under the OPEN Government Act of 2007 [S 2488 materials], signed by President Bush in December 2007. According to the CRS summary [text] of the law, the Act:

Establishes within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) an Office of Government Information Services to: (1) review compliance with FOIA policies; (2) recommend policy changes to Congress and the President; and (3) offer mediation services between FOIA requesters and administrative agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Authorizes the Office to issue advisory opinions if mediation has not resolved the dispute.

Once again, the White House has shown they intend to act contrary to the intent of Congress by removing the Office of Government Information Services from the non-partisan, independent office of the National Archives and Records Administration and moving it to the Department of Justice. The President signed legislation into law to establish the OGIS to respond to long outstanding FOIA requests. Now the President has repealed part of the law he signed just over a month ago. I will continue to work through the appropriations process to make sure that the National Archives and Records Administration has the necessary resources and funds to comply with the OPEN Government Act, and we will continue to work in Congress to make necessary reforms to the Freedom of Information Act.

[JURIST] The Chinese government on Tuesday announced the release on parole of Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Ching, sentenced to five years in prison [JURIST report] in 2006 for allegedly selling "state secrets and intelligence" to Taiwan [BBC report], was the chief China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times [media website].

In November 2006, the Beijing High People's Court turned down an appeal [JURIST report] by Ching, finding that the trial court's ruling was "accurate in application of the law and appropriate in meting out punishment. Ching's wife, Mary Lau, has maintained her husband's innocence and believes that he was tried because he obtained politically sensitive, unpublished interviews with late Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang [BBC profile], who was purged for opposing the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown [BBC backgrounder]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai [official website; BBC profile] is concerned about the imposition of the death penalty against journalism student Sayad Parwez Kambaksh but will not intervene in the case pending Kambaksh's appeal, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday. Under Article 64 of the Afghanistan Constitution [text], Afghanistan's president may reduce penalties and grant pardons in accordance with provisions of Afghan law. In January, Kambaksh was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death [JURIST report] for distributing papers questioning why Islam permitted men to have up to four wives while women cannot have multiple husbands.

A three-judge panel, following a recommendation from the Afghan Council of Mullahs, invoked Article 130 of the Afghanistan Constitution on judicial discretion and sentenced Kambaksh to death. Kambaksh has received international support [RWB report] from Reporters Without Borders [advocacy website], as well as the European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering [official website]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday upheld a jury verdict [opinion, PDF] finding Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church [WARNING: readers may find some material offensive; BBC report] guilty of intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy for staging a protest at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder [case website]. Judge Richard Bennett of the US District Court for the District of Maryland rejected Westboro's argument that their activities enjoy absolute protection under the First Amendment:

This Court has held and continues to hold that the First Amendment does not afford absolute protection to individuals committing acts directed at other private individuals. The Supreme Court of the United States has specifically held that First Amendment protection of particular types of speech must be balanced against a state's interest in protecting its residents from wrongful injury...Maryland particularly recognizes a cause of action protecting its residents from intentional infliction of emotional distress arising from outrageous conduct. Maryland also recognizes a cause of action for invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion when there is an unwarranted invasion of a person’s privacy which would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

[JURIST] A Chinese court convicted dissident writer Lu Gengsong on subversion charges Tuesday, sentencing Lu to four years in prison for writing essays exposing corruption within the Communist Party of China (CPC) [official backgrounder]. Lu was arrested last October and charged [JURIST reports] in January with "inciting subversion of state power." Lu's lawyer says they plan to appeal the conviction.

In August 2007, Human Rights Watch reported that China, fearing that activists will embarrass the party by highlighting political and social problems during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, is clamping down on human rights activists [press release; JURIST report] and other political dissidents as well as silencing independent media coverage. The same month, Amnesty International reported [text; press release] that China has not kept its promises to improve human rights and press freedom [JURIST report] in preparation for the Olympics since the Chinese government has recently committed an increasing number of rights abuses against political and religious opponents.

In January, the CPC issued a list of "10 taboos" [JURIST report] for public officials as part of the government's attempt to fight corruption ahead of reshuffling of provisional leaderships posts. China has taken a hard line on corruption in recent months, punishing several officials with lengthy prison terms and the death penalty [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal district court on Monday rejected the Bush administration's attempt to exempt the US Navy from environmental laws [JURIST report] so that the Navy could continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the coast of southern California. Last month, President Bush issued a memorandum [text] exempting the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) [text] and the Council on Environmental Quality authorized "alternative arrangements" [PDF text] for the Navy's compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [EPA materials] due to "emergency circumstances." The executive action came despite a November 2007 ruling [PDF text] by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the Navy should limit its use of high-powered sonar [JURIST report].

In Monday's ruling [PDF text], Judge Florence Marie-Cooper of the US District Court for the Central District of California lifted a temporary partial stay [PDF text] issued earlier in the case. Marie-Cooper wrote:

In this Order, the Court concludes that its preliminary injunction is not affected by the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) approval of emergency alternative arrangements because there is no emergency. The CEQ's action is beyond the scope of the regulation and is invalid. The Navy is not, therefore, exempted from compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and this Court's injunction.

This Court also expresses significant concerns about the constitutionality of the President's exemption of the Navy from the requirements of the Coastal Zone Management Act. However, because a finding on this issue is not necessary to the result reached, the Court adheres to the doctrine of constitutional avoidance and does not resolve that issue.

The Court has affirmed that we do not live under an imperial presidency. The Navy doesn't need to harm whales to train effectively with sonar. By following the carefully crafted measures ordered by the court, the Navy can conduct its exercises without imperiling marine mammals.