[JURIST] Amnesty International [advocacy website] on Monday sharply criticized the Cambodian government for forcibly evicting impoverished citizens from their homes to make way for tourism development and infrastructure projects. In a report [text; press release] entitled "Rights Razed - Forced Evictions in Cambodia," Amnesty said that since 2003 nearly 30,000 Cambodians in the capital city of Phnom Penh have been forcibly evicted, and that nearly 150,000 Cambodians across the country are at risk of being evicted. Amnesty called on Cambodia to stop the practice, which it said violates the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [texts].

Amnesty urged Cambodia to ban forced evictions and to ensure that victims of forced evictions have access to shelter, clean water, sanitation, and health and education services. Amnesty also called on Cambodia to adopt the recommendations provided in a 2006 report [PDF text] prepared by UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Miloon Kothari [official website]. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A nine-member judicial committee of the UK House of Lords heard testimony Monday in the case of two mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq who are seeking to force the British government to hold a public inquiry into the UK's decision to go to war in Iraq [JURIST report]. Beverley Clarke and Rose Gentle argue that the government's refusal to hold an inquiry violates Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text] requiring that a proper, adequate investigation be conducted when lives are lost.

The mothers are appealing a December 2005 lower court ruling [text; JURIST report] that they could not challenge the government's refusal to hold a public inquiry. In December 2006, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court judgment [judgment text; JURIST report], ruling that the decision to establish an inquiry was one for the executive, not the courts. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] A former Chinese-American engineer at Boeing [corporate website] was arrested [DOJ press release] Monday for allegedly stealing corporate trade secrets related to the Space Shuttle and other aerospace programs and turning them over to China [JURIST news archive]. Dongfan "Greg" Chung was indicted [PDF text] last Wednesday on charges of economic espionage, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, obstruction of justice, making false statements to FBI investigators, and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Chung's arrest is reportedly related to the case of Chi Mak [CI Centre backgrounder; JURIST report], a Chinese-American engineer convicted [BBC report] in 2007 of conspiring to smuggle sensitive naval intelligence data to China.

In related news Monday, federal agents also arrested [press release] three other suspects, including an official with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) [official website] of the US Department of Defense, on separate espionage charges [affidavit, PDF] related to divulging classified US government documents and information to the Chinese government. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] US District Judge John Walter of the Central District of California on Monday sentenced former Milberg Weiss [firm website] partner William Lerach to two years in prison for his part in the firm's illegal kickback scheme [WSJ backgrounder]. Lerach pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to obstruct justice after reaching an agreement [JURIST reports] with prosecutors in September. In January, the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California recommended [JURIST report] that Lerach receive two years in prison. Lerach's attorneys filed a sentencing memorandum [PDF text; WSJ report] with the court Friday requesting the imposition of a 12-month sentence to be divided between six months of incarceration followed by six months of home confinement. Lerach's attorneys also provided the court with more than 150 letters written by individuals urging leniency on Lerach's behalf. In addition to prison time, Lerach was sentenced to two years probation and 1,000 hours of community service. He must also pay a $250,000 fine. AP has more.

In October, Milberg Weiss co-founder Melvyn Weiss pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to federal charges of conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and making false statements. In May 2006, a federal grand jury indicted [JURIST report] the firm and two name partners, David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman, on charges of conspiracy to make false statements and obstructing justice. Lerach was named as "Partner B" in the indictment [PDF text]. As part of the scheme, certain individuals who agreed to serve as lead plaintiffs in class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits were promised 10 percent of the attorney fees eventually gathered by Milberg Weiss. Prosecutors allege that the firm paid up to $11.3 million in illegal kickbacks since 1984. Three individuals pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in connection with the scheme in May 2006, and Bershad pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to conspiracy charges in July.

[JURIST] An Egyptian appeals court Monday overturned the jail sentence [JURIST report] of an Al Jazeera [media website] television reporter convicted for her role in producing a film on police torture. Howayda Taha [AELME profile] was tried in May 2007; she was sentenced in absentia to six months in prison and fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds for her work on a film that Egyptian authorities say includes phony shots of Egyptian police torturing suspects. The appeals court upheld the fine Monday. Al Jazeera responded that the footage in question was a reenactment of actual scenes of torture by actors. Human rights groups maintain that torture is commonplace in police stations in Egypt [JURIST news archive], but Egyptian authorities have denied the allegations.

Taha was first detained by Egyptian authorities [RSF report] in January 2007 as she was leaving the country at the completion of filming. She was charged with "harming Egypt's national interest" after prosecutors discovered the videotapes in her baggage, but was released on bail. Taha was not present at the Egyptian court hearing Monday. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] ended a nearly two-week long hunger strike Monday as former Yukos executive and lawyer Vasily Aleksanian [defense website; JURIST news archive] was confirmed to have been transferred to a Moscow hospital for treatment. Khodorkovsky began his hunger strike [JURIST report] after Aleksanian was denied medical treatment for AIDS, accusing officials of attempting to coerce Aleksanian into making false confessions and assisting prosecutors with charges against Khodorkovsky. Early last week, a Russian court denied Aleksanian temporary medical release [JURIST report], despite three calls from the European Court of Human Rights to move Aleksanian to a medical clinic or risk violating the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text]. Last Thursday, however, Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said it would allow Aleksanian to be moved [JURIST report] to a civilian medical clinic. RIA Novosti has more.

Aleksanian was arrested in 2006 on charges of money laundering and embezzlement and was diagnosed with HIV a few months later. Khodorkovsky was convicted of tax evasion [JURIST report] in 2005 and is currently imprisoned in Siberia. Russian prosecutors indicted Khodorkovsky on new money laundering charges [JURIST report] in early 2007. Khodorkovsky, an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has always maintained his innocence and insisted that the charges against him are politically motivated, although Russian prosecutors say otherwise [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Estonia has signed an enforcement of sentences agreement [PDF text] with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive] to allow ICTY convicts to be held in Estonian prisons, the ICTY announced [press release] Monday. Under the agreement, ICTY suspects who are held at a detention unit [ICTY backgrounder] in The Hague during trial may be moved to Estonian jails after conviction. Sentences to be served under the agreement cannot exceed the Estonian maximum sentence for the crime. The agreement now must be ratified by the Riigikogu [official website], the Estonian Parliament.

Estonia is the fourteenth UN member state to offer its jails to house prisoners convicted by the ICTY. Last August, Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to agree to enforce ICTY sentences [JURIST report]. Over 35 ICTY convicts have used the enforcement of sentence agreements to serve their sentences in an offering country, and seven transfers are pending.

[JURIST] Former Congolese Nationalist and Integrationist Front leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui [ICC materials] on Monday appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [press release] at The Hague for the first time. The public hearing allowed judges to verify Ngudjolo Chui's identity and to read his arrest warrant [PDF text] for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ngudjolo Chui's lawyer asked that the case be dismissed, saying that Ngudjolo Chui had already been acquitted of the same charges by a court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [JURIST news archive]. A hearing to confirm the charges is set for May 21.

Ngudjolo Chui was arrested [JURIST report] last week in the DRC and after his transfer to the ICC, he became the third Congolese national accused of war crimes in ICC custody. The ICC will consider whether to join Ngudjolo Chui's charges with those of Germain Katanga [ICC materials; BBC profile], who is accused of using child soldiers and other war crimes, in a closed session scheduled for Tuesday. Another Congolese war crimes suspect, Thomas Lubanga [ICC materials; JURIST report], was taken into ICC custody in March 2006 [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Rwanda [official website] Monday urged the international community and Interpol [official website] to ignore arrest warrants [JURIST report] issued last week for 40 Rwandan military officers by Spanish National Court Judge Fernando Andreu, saying the warrants were based on "falsehoods" from "well-known detractors of Rwanda." Last Wednesday, Andreu indicted the officers on genocide and terrorism charges stemming from crimes allegedly committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] that claimed some 800,000 lives. Andreu indicated that he could have also indicted Rwandan President Paul Kagame [BBC profile] on similar charges if he were not protected by immunity as sitting head of state.

Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front [HRW backgrounder] is widely credited with ending the 1994 genocide, but is also suspected of having killed thousands of noncombatants during its campaign to establish control. In 2005, the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled [text, in Spanish; JURIST report] that Spanish courts can exercise universal jurisdiction over war crimes. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Two opposition groups in Myanmar, the 88 Generation Students [Asia Times backgrounder] and the National League for Democracy (NLD) [Wikipedia backgrounder], on Monday urged citizens to reject a proposed constitutional referendum put forth by Myanmar's military government. In a statement to Reuters, the 88 Generation Students called the proposal a "sham" to legalize military rule. Last Saturday, the military government announced in a television broadcast that it will hold a constitutional referendum in May [JURIST report], and promised that multi-party elections will follow in 2010. The military government has not published a draft of the proposed constitution.

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. In December 2007, the military government said that the new constitution would be drafted solely by a 54-member constitution-drafting commission [JURIST report], rejecting UN calls for the country's constitution-drafting process to be opened to outside groups. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) [profession website] on Monday launched a new nationwide boycott of the courts to protest President Pervez Musharraf's November ouster of Pakistani Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry [JURIST news archive] and to demand his reinstatement and that of other ousted superior court judges. Chaudhry and the other judges were effectively dismissed on November 3 [JURIST report] after Musharraf suspended the country's constitution and declared emergency rule [proclamation, PDF]. Chaudhry has been under virtual house arrest since at least November 5 [JURIST report], when an Army major locked him in his residence and took the keys. He has not been allowed to leave since, and police have blocked would-be visitors. Chaudhry was deposed as the country anticipated a Supreme Court ruling [JURIST report] on whether Musharraf had been eligible to run for re-election as Pakistan's president while still army chief. He and the other ousted judges have since been formally retired [JURIST report], although they and their supporters insist that they still legally hold office under Pakistan's constitution.

The PBC eased a previous courts boycott [JURIST report] in January because the backlog it caused was reportedly creating hardship for civil litigants and criminal defendants. On Friday, the reconstituted Pakistan Supreme Court swore in two additional judges [JURIST report] to bring its total membership to 16, a move expected to allow it to handle more cases. AP has more.

[JURIST] A multi-party coalition of Japanese parliamentarians said Monday that they have drafted a bill proposing a four-year moratorium on the death penalty and giving convicts already on death row life sentences without the possibility of parole. The bill is likely to face opposition from Japanese Minister of Justice Kunio Hatoyama, who is a supporter of the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. Japan previously maintained an unofficial moratorium on capital punishments between 1989 and 1993, as anti-death penalty justice ministers refused to sign execution orders.

Last December, Japanese officials publicly disclosed the identities [JURIST report] of three executed death row inmates for the first time. The Justice Ministry of Japan [official website] said the policy was designed to increase understanding about the death penalty. Previously only the number of prisoners executed and the time of their execution was made publicly available. In August 2007, Japan's national bar association called for a moratorium on the death penalty [press release, in Japanese; JURIST report] until new safeguards are enacted to prevent wrongful executions based on dubious evidence. Japanese courts rely heavily on confessions, often obtained by police after prolonged interrogations. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] Spanish police on Monday arrested 13 suspected members of Batasuna [BBC backgrounder], the banned political arm of the armed Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], one month before Spain's March general elections. The same Spanish National Court judge who ordered Monday's arrests last week banned [JURIST report] two Basque political parties from fielding candidates in the elections, ruling that the two parties were connected to the ETA. Several thousand people protested the judge's ruling in the northern city of Bilbao on Sunday, leading to four arrests.

The Supreme Court of Spain banned Batasuna itself in 2003 for its refusal to cut ties with ETA. ETA has been blamed for more than 800 deaths in bombings and attacks since the 1960s. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Pentagon is expected to announce Monday that military prosecutors will seek the death penalty against six Guantanamo detainees accused of involvement in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to government sources speaking on condition of anonymity. Under the 2006 Military Commissions Act (MCA) [PDF text], the convening authority who oversees the military commissions process, former US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Judge Susan J. Crawford [DOD press release], will decide to reject or grant the prosecutor's request for a capital trial. Among the six detainees expected to be charged is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile], who has said under oath that he masterminded the 9/11 attacks [JURIST report] and is responsible for 29 other planned terror attacks.

The decision to seek the death penalty in the six 9/11 cases is expected to attract additional criticism from countries and human rights groups that already oppose the Bush administration's treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The US has said that some 80 Guantanamo detainees will eventually face prosecution under the military commissions system [DOD materials]. So far, cases have been initiated against seven detainees, including two charged [JURIST report] last week. The New York Times has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

11:58 AM ET - In a press conference Monday morning, the Defense Department announced that charges [PDF text] have been sworn against six Guantanamo Bay detainees:

• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
  
• Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek Bin 'Attash,
  
• Ramzi Binalshibh,
  
• Ali Abdul Aziz Ali,
  
• Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and
  
• Mohamed al Kahtani.

Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy and the separate, substantive offenses of: murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, terrorism and providing material support for terrorism.

The first four defendants, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek Bin 'Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali are also charged with the substantive offense of hijacking or hazarding a vessel.

All of the charges are alleged to have been in support of the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.