[JURIST] The US has been unable to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] because it has been stymied by legal and practical questions about what to do with the center's detainees, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [official profile] said at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing [recorded video] Tuesday. Gates said that the US has not found a way to handle detainees who will not be charged under the military tribunal system but who cannot be released for security reasons, partly because most US jurisdictions are reluctant to take on the accused terrorists. Gates also said that there are approximately 70 detainees at Guantanamo who cannot be returned to their home countries, either because those countries refuse to accept them or because of concerns that the detainees may pose a threat to the US if released [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

Numerous international groups and rights activists have called for the closure of the Guantanamo detention center [JURIST news archive]. In February, the leaders of 34 international bar associations and law societies sent a letter [PDF text] to US President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging the "immediate closure" of the facility [JURIST report]. Last October, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin called on the US to quickly prosecute or release terror suspects [JURIST report] detained at Guantanamo Bay so that the US can close the detention center. Bush himself said in August 2007 that he wants to shut down [JURIST report] the detention facility, but indicated that other countries have shown reluctance to accept detainees.

[JURIST] A Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks [JURIST news archives] attempted to commit suicide last month, his lawyer said Tuesday. Mohammad al-Qahtani [JURIST news archive], a Saudi Arabian citizen known as the "20th hijacker" for his alleged role in 9/11, was reportedly upset about charges brought by the US Department of Defense that could have led to a death sentence against him. Those charges were dropped [JURIST report; Center for Constitutional Rights press release] last week. A Guantanamo spokesperson refused to comment on the alleged suicide attempt. AP has more.

Al-Qahtani was refused entry into the US at Orlando, Florida in August 2001 and was later captured in Afghanistan. Since his capture, he has been held at Guantanamo Bay, where Pentagon officials say he admitted to being sent to the US to participate in the attacks. In documents the Associated Press obtained in September 2007 through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [PDF, text], he denied his involvement in and knowledge of the attacks [JURIST report]. Al-Qahtani also alleged that his statements were coerced by US torture [JURIST report]. A military investigation in 2005 concluded that al-Qahtani had been subjected to harsh treatment, authorized [JURIST report] by former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [official profile], but concluded that he was not tortured since he was not denied food, water or medical care, and interrogators did not inflict physical pain on him.

[JURIST] The White House played a "significant role" in a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] to reject California's request for a waiver [JURIST news archive] allowing the state to impose stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars and light duty trucks, a Majority Staff report [PDF text] by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [official website] suggested Monday. According to the report, the California waiver:

had unanimous support among the career EPA staff and was backed at least in part by EPA Administrator Johnson. What the record does not answer, however, is why the California petition was denied given the strong support inside EPA.

It appears that the White House played a significant role in the reversal of the EPA position. This raises questions about the basis for the White House actions. The Clean Air Act contains specific standards for considering California's petition. It would appear to be inconsistent with the President's constitutional obligation to faithfully execute the laws of the United States if the President or his advisers pressured Administrator Johnson to ignore the record before the agency for political or other inappropriate reasons.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] Tuesday indicted [PDF text] a Kosovar journalist on contempt of court charges for allegedly revealing the identity of a witness in the war crimes trial of former Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj [TrialWatch profile; JURIST news archive]. Baton Haxhiu was promptly arrested on the charge [Shekulli report, in Albanian]. Haradinaj was acquitted [JURIST report] in April, but former Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte’s claims of witness intimidation have cast doubt on the proceedings. Prosecutors are now appealing. AP has more. The UN News Centre has additional coverage.

Haradinaj was a senior commander of the KLA, the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force that opposed Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war [BBC backgrounder]. He was indicted [initial indictment, PDF] by ICTY prosecutors in 2005.

5/21/08 - According to Reuters, Hoxhiu pleaded not guilty [Reuters report] in the Hague on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, the ICTY assigned German lawyer Christian Kemperdick as duty counsel for Hoxhiu [order, PDF] until permanent counsel is assigned.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives Tuesday voted 324-84 [roll call] to pass a bill [HR 6074 materials] which would subject members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) [official website] to US antitrust [JURIST news archive] law. The bill would authorize the US Department of Justice to file charges against OPEC countries for allegedly restricting oil supplies and colluding to set prices. The bill now goes to the Senate.

President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the bill, but the House will likely be able to override any potential veto. The White House argues [SAP, PDF] that initiating legal action against oil-producing nations may hurt relations and invite retaliation. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] Monday asked the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to block his extradition to France, arguing in court filings that extradition would violate his prisoner of war (POW) status. Noriega will remain in a US federal prison [JURIST report] until all appeals relating to the extradition request have been exhausted. Ultimately, the US State Department will issue the final order on France's extradition request.

Noriega is wanted in France on charges of money laundering through French banks. Noriega and his wife were sentenced in absentia [AP report] to 10 years in jail in 1999, but France has agreed to hold a new trial if he is extradited. Noriega has made multiple attempts to block his extradition; in addition to a January ruling [JURIST report] by US District Court Judge Paul Huck, another federal judge in September 2007 rejected [JURIST report] Noriega's arguments to block extradition. Noriega's lawyers argue that France's request was superseded by his status as a US POW and that under the Geneva Conventions the US must return him home to Panama upon his release. The US State Department has indicated that it is satisfied that France will treat Noriega as a POW [JURIST report] if Noriega is extradited to that country. AP has more.

[JURIST] Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. [corporate website] Tuesday agreed to pay $58 million [Pennsylvania AG press release] to settle lawsuits brought by 29 states and the District of Columbia regarding Merck's allegedly deceptive advertising for the painkiller Vioxx [Merck materials; JURIST news archive]. Under the settlement, Merck agreed to submit all future TV commercials for its drugs to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval and to implement all FDA-recommended changes. The company is also barred from "ghostwriting," a practice in which companies generate positive press designed to appear as if it came from an unbiased outside source. AP has more.

Merck has been involved in a stream of Vioxx-related litigation during the last few years, including state and federal lawsuits in Louisiana, New Jersey, and California [JURIST reports]. In September 2007, the New Jersey Supreme Court dismissed [JURIST report] a class action lawsuit filed against Merck, reversing a lower court's decision to grant nationwide class certification in the case. In November 2007, Merck said that it had agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle all pending lawsuits [press release; JURIST report] regarding its marketing and distribution of Vioxx.

[JURIST] The trial of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and seven co-defendants resumed Tuesday, three weeks after a brief opening session and subsequent adjournment [JURIST report] at the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website] in Baghdad. Some members of the defense's legal team were missing, but lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano told AKI that he did not "want to grant credibility to the tribunal" [AKI report] by appearing. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

Aziz was deputy prime minister under Saddam Hussein's regime. He and his co-defendants are charged in connection with the 1992 execution of 42 merchants accused of price-gouging during a period of UN sanctions. One of the defendants, Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali," did not attend the opening session last month due to ill health [JURIST report] brought on by a self-imposed hunger strike, but was present at Tuesday's proceedings.

[JURIST] Pakistan's governing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) [party website] will propose an amendment to the country's 1973 Constitution [text] to restrict judicial and presidential power, Pakistan's News daily reported Tuesday. The proposed amendment would raise the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court judges, limit the term of the Chief Justice to four or five years, and make judges that approved or endorsed any unconstitutional action taken by the president liable for treason. The first two of these terms resemble mooted elements of the failed May 1 'agreement' on restoring judges [JURIST report] between the PPP and the its alliance party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) [party website. The amendment would also bar a president from seeking indemnity from the Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] if he is accused of high treason for subverting the constitution. The PPP says it plans to introduce the amendment by the Assembly's June 10 budget session.

In order for the amendment to pass, it must receive the support of two-thirds of both the National Assembly and the Senate [official website]. Garnering that support for the measure may prove difficult as the PML-N pulled nine of its ministers out of the government last week to protest delays [JURIST report] in reinstating judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf last November after his declaration of emergency rule [PDF text; JURIST report]. JURIST's Pakistan correspondent suggests that the introduction of the amendment is being timed to coincide with a major June 10 demonstration [JURIST report] by lawyers to protest the judges' ouster. IANS has more.

[JURIST] Military defense lawyers for the five Guantanamo Bay detainees allegedly behind the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive] are attempting to delay their clients' arraignments, currently scheduled [JURIST report] for June 5. They allege the US government has interfered with the defendants' rights to counsel by refusing to provide facilities for the review of classified evidence or to grant security clearances to attorneys assisting in the defense. The lawyers also objected to the restrictions on discussion of their clients' cases with co-counsel, limitations on the review of the attorneys' own notes taken regarding the cases, and procedures to gain access to the defendants. Last Tuesday, the Miami Herald reported that death penalty charges against the Sept. 11 defendants were confirmed [JURIST report] by the Convening Authority for the military commissions. AP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.

Military defense lawyers filed motions to dismiss charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other Sept. 11 defendants Friday, arguing that the charges against them were unduly influenced [JURIST report] by Air Force Reserve Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann. Early last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] accused the US Department of Defense of stalling on security clearances [JURIST report; ACLU press release] for civilian lawyers seeking to assist in the defense of Guantanamo detainees. The US Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on the cases of Boumediene v. Bush [docket; merit briefs] and Al Odah v. United States [docket; merit briefs], determining whether Guantanamo detainees should be allowed to challenge their detentions in federal court.

[JURIST] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] Tuesday upheld [decision, PDF] a district court ruling [JURIST report] that the design of US paper currency discriminates against the blind in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [US DOL materials]. The court found that the plaintiff in the case, American Council of the Blind [advocacy website], had shown that the current design denied the blind "meaningful access" to the use of the paper currency, and that there are facially reasonable accommodations, such as differentiated bill sizes, that could be made to grant access. The court also ruled that the government had not adequately supported its claims [JURIST report] that making such changes would create an undue burden on either the Bureau of Engraving and Printing [official website] in the manufacture of the bills, or third parties such as the vending machine industry in their processing. AP has more.

The United States is the only nation [JURIST report] of some 180 using paper currency that produces same-size, undifferentiated bills in all denominations. Approximately 1.3 million Americans are legally blind. The case has now been remanded to the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] to determine the appropriate form of relief to grant the Council.

[JURIST] Jaber Elbaneh, a Yemeni-American on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists List [FBI notice] for alleged participation in acts of international terrorism, was jailed [WP report] in Yemen Monday after an appeals court upheld his ten-year prison sentence. Elbaneh was indicted by the US government in 2003 for conspiracy and providing material support to a terrorist organization, charges related to his involvement with the so-called "Lackawanna Six" [JURIST report; Frontline backgrounder], an alleged terrorist cell operating outside of Buffalo, NY. Elbaneh was jailed in Yemen in 2004, but escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006 along with 26 other detainees. He was tried in absentia in 2007, convicted, and sentenced to ten years in prison. Elbaneh turned himself in to Yemeni authorities in December 2007, but was allowed to remain free during his retrial. Under Yemeni law, individuals convicted in absentia are retried if they later surrender. AP has more.

The US had offered a $5 million reward [US National Counterterrorism Center profile] for information leading to Elbaneh's arrest, due to his alleged connection to the al-Qaeda terrorism network. After his arrest in 2004, Yemen refused to extradite Elbaneh to the US. The move to bring Elbaneh back into custody came one day after the Washington Post published a report highlighting Elbaneh's freedom of movement through Yemen during his second trial. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Doudou Diene [OAS profile; OHCHR backgrounder], the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, is visiting the US this week to gather first-hand information on issues of race relations [UNHCHR press release]. Diene's visit comes at the invitation of the US government. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] called the fact-finding mission [ACLU press release] "a critical opportunity to shed light on the pervasive and systemic problem of racism and discrimination in the United States." The US envoy to the UN, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad [official profile] welcomed Diene, but stated that he did not think the visit was necessary, and that the UN Human Rights Council [official website] should "focus on real problems elsewhere." Reuters has more.

In a report issued in November 2007 to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, Diene stated that increasing institutionalization of racist political ideologies and violent expressions of racism seriously threaten democracy and human rights [JURIST report]. Diene warned the UN [JURIST report] in March 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.