[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled [decision, PDF] Monday that those placed on the government's "no-fly list" can challenge their inclusion on the list in federal district courts. The issue came before the court in a case brought by a woman on the list, in which a district court had ruled that it lacked jurisdiction because of a law [statute text] exempting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [official website] orders from federal trial court review. Reversing the decision, the Ninth Circuit held that the Terrorist Screening Center [official website] which actually maintains the list is a subsection of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is therefore subject to review by the district courts:

Our interpretation of section 46110 is consistent not merely with the statutory language but with common sense as well. Just how would an appellate court review the agency’s decision to put a particular name on the list? There was no hearing before an administrative law judge; there was no notice-and comment procedure. For all we know, there is no administrative record of any sort for us to review. So if any court is going to review the government’s decision to put Ibrahim’s name on the No-Fly List, it makes sense that it be a court with the ability to take evidence.[citations omitted]

[JURIST] Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY materials; JURIST news archive] has moved to replace the judges [order designating judges, PDF] at his upcoming war crimes trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website], according to documents released on Tuesday. Karadzic argues that presiding Judge Alphons Orie [DPA profile] is biased against him because he has overseen ICTY cases brought against various other former Bosnian Serb leaders and would want to maintain their line of reasoning. As an example of these past cases, he cited the prosecution of former Bosnian Serb parliamentary leader Momcilo Krajisnik [ICTY backgrounder], who was sentenced [judgment, PDF; JURIST report] to 27 years' imprisonment in 2006 for various war crimes committed during the Bosnian war. Karadzic has asked for the removal of the other judges assigned to his case for similar reasons. Reuters has more.

Karadzic, who has been indicted [text] on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, was arrested [JURIST report] in Serbia in July after evading capture for nearly 13 years. Later that month, Serbian authorities transferred [press release] Karadzic to the custody of the ICTY. Karadzic was originally indicted [text] by the ICTY prosecutor in 1995, but had been in hiding under an assumed identity as an alternative medicine practitioner [BBC report] until his arrest. He is accused of involvement in the Srebrenica [JURIST news archive] massacre and other war crimes against Bosnian Muslims and Croats during ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Committee leaders Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official websites] sent a letter [PDF text; press release] to Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday, calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to postpone implementation of new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official websites] guidelines until Congress has had a chance to review the changes. Opponents of the controversial guidelines argue [ACLU release] that the changes, if adopted, could allow for inappropriate profiling and would allow agents to open terror investigations without evidence of any crime being committed. The senators wrote that Congress should be consulted because of the change in protocol regarding racial profiling [guidelines] in FBI investigations [PDF backgrounder]:

The guidelines... reflect a laudatory effort to ensure that front-line agents are given clear rules to follow in pursuit of their investigations. Nevertheless, efforts to harmonize the rules governing criminal and national security matters also raise potential civil liberties concerns, given the broader latitude currently given to investigators to consider race and ethnicity in national security matters...

The important aims of the guidelines, and their potential implications for civil liberties, require a meaningful dialogue between Congress and DOJ. Notwithstanding the work of our staff, Congressional consultation is difficult during the recess period. Moreover, these issues are sufficiently important to merit a public hearing. After all, although prior consultation on such guidelines is not mandatory, the level of public and Congressional confidence in the guidelines will inform later legislation and oversight activities.

[JURIST] The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) signed an agreement on Monday detailing the upcoming power transfer in Kosovo [JURIST news archive], which will mean new responsibilities for the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) [official websites]. The memorandum covers EULEX's duties regarding judicial, policing and other operations. Serbia, which has vehemently opposed independence for Kosovo, denounced the deal as a violation of international law [press release]. Russian officials said the nation would lodge a complaint [Balkan Insight report] with the UN to challenge EULEX's legality. EULEX is expected to assume a limited executive role in implementing the rule of law as UNMIK nears the end of its 120-day timetable for reducing operations. The International Civilian Office [official website] will oversee progress under Kosovo's status settlement. Kosovo's new constitution [text] went into effect [JURIST report] in June. The Sofia Echo has more.

Both Serbia and Russia have previously condemned the EULEX mission as illegal. In February, Russia condemned [press statement; JURIST report] a decision [press release, PDF] by the European Union [official website] to send the EULEX task force of police, prosecutors and judges into Kosovo, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov [official profile] calling it "in breach of the highest international law." Russia earlier rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia [JURIST report], warning that such unilateral action without the approval of the United Nations sets a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" around the world.

[JURIST] Russian officials on Monday confirmed that the nation will file a complaint against Georgia with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and said that the government is considering filing another complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official websites]. The filings would be related to war crimes allegedly committed against ethnic Russians in the breakaway region of South Ossetia [BBC report]. Russia's Foreign Ministry [official website] has also called for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to resign [press release] and be tried for war crimes before the ICC. Last week, Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of Russia's Prosecutor General's Office, said that his staff is collecting evidence [JURIST report] of war crimes allegedly committed by Georgian forces in South Ossetia. The Moscow Times has more.

Last week, Georgia filed a complaint [PDF text; JURIST report] against Russia with the ICJ, alleging that invading Russian troops have engaged in murder, rape and mass displacement of civilians during the recent conflict between the countries. Georgia also accused Russia of ongoing violations of the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [text] since 1990 based on its removal of ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia is seeking an ICJ order that Russia pay compensation, withdraw its troops, and allow all displaced ethnic Georgians to return home.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of California [official website] ruled [decision, PDF] Monday that gay and lesbian patients cannot be denied medical treatment because of doctors' religious beliefs. The issue came before the court in a case where a lesbian couple who were denied an artificial insemination procedure by a clinic claimed the refusal violated anti-discrimination provisions in California's Unruh Civil Rights Act [materials, PDF]. The clinic and doctors who were the defendants in the case claimed that under both the California Declaration of Rights [text] and the US Constitution [First Amendment backgrounder], their right to free exercise of religion permitted them to refuse treatment. constitutions as part of their right to exercise their religion. Disagreeing with this interpretation, the court wrote:

California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, from which defendant physicians seek religious exemption, is “a valid and neutral law of general applicability.” As relevant in this case, it requires business establishments to provide “full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services” to all persons notwithstanding their sexual orientation. Accordingly, the First Amendment’s right to the free exercise of religion does not exempt defendant physicians here from conforming their conduct to the Act’s antidiscrimination requirements even if compliance poses an incidental conflict with defendants’ religious beliefs. [citations omitted]

[JURIST] Pakistan's ruling coalition on Tuesday failed to reach an agreement on reinstating the judges who were ousted last year by President Pervez Musharraf [official website; JURIST news archive]. Officials had originally projected that a plan would be established Tuesday for restoring the judges within the next few days, and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) [party website] head Nawaz Sharif has threatened to withdraw from the coalition if judges, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive], are not returned to office within 24 hours. The negotiations come one day after Musharraf announced that he was resigning from office [press release; JURIST report] in order to avoid impeachment proceeding by the country's parliament. The coalition government is also discussing who will succeed Musharraf as president, but Pakistan People's Party head Asif Ali Zardari [BBC profile] has implied that the presumptive nominee will come from his party. It is not clear yet whether Musharraf will face prosecution for alleged human rights violations committed while in office. DPA has more. The New York Times has additional coverage.

Earlier this month, the coalition government said that it would push to impeach Musharraf because had given a "clear commitment" to step down from office after his party was defeated in parliamentary elections [JURIST reports], but subsequently refused to resign or go into exile, and because be had failed to follow through on a promise to ask parliament for a confidence vote. In June, the PML-N called for Musharraf's impeachment [JURIST report] and released a "charge sheet" outlining misuse of presidential authority, including the dismissal of the country's superior court judges. Also in June, PML-N leader and former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [JURIST news archive] called for Musharraf to be tried for treason [JURIST report], labeling him a traitor disloyal to Pakistan and saying he should be punished for the "damage" that he has done to the country in the years since he led a military coup [BBC backgrounder] and unseated Sharif in 1999.

[JURIST] The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) [official website] on Monday called on Russia to take action against growing instances of ethnic violence and Neo-Nazi activity within its borders. CERD said that Chechens, Roma, and other ethnic and religious minorities are the most common victims and noted allegations that Russian police frequently refuse to intervene to stop such attacks. The panel also urged Russia to investigate reports that in 2006 officials forcibly deported ethnic Georgians living in Russia. Georgia has said that the incident reflected official state policy at the time and last week filed a complaint [PDF text; JURIST report ] with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website]. Monday's comments are related to CERD's scheduled review [UN materials] of Russia's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [text]. Reuters has more.

This is not the first time that Russia has been criticized for racist attacks. A January report [JURIST report] issued by the SOVA Center [advocacy website] rights group found that hate crimes [JURIST news archive] in Russia rose 13 percent in 2007, but also found that police have done little to stop attacks. In June 2007, Human Rights First [advocacy website] reported that hate crimes are on the rise throughout all of Europe [JURIST report], after conducting a study examining recent hate crimes in France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. That study found that Russia has a "proliferation of violent hate crimes directed against ethnic, religious and national minorities."

[JURIST] The government of Peru on Monday instituted a state of emergency [Peruvian Times report] in the northern region of the country, banning public gatherings, limiting travel, and increasing police presence for 30 days. The measure comes in response to large protests held by indigenous groups who oppose a new law reducing the majority by which a tribe must agree to sell communal land to oil and natural gas companies. Government officials said that the actions were necessary [Andina report, in Spanish] to protect the power generation stations which were the focus of the occasionally-violent protests, but an advocacy group for the Amazon natives [AIDESEP website] has defended their right to protest [press release] what they say is an encroachment on their decision making process. Earlier this month, the UN held a celebration [JURIST report] of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples [official website], where UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed the UN's dedication [statement] to ending the "expropriation of [indigenous peoples'] traditional lands." AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

The controversial new law is part of a trade agreement negotiated during the administration of US President George W. Bush, who has tried to make it easier for energy companies to acquire land from US trading partners. Bush has made several other recent policy changes in an effort to increase the country's oil supply. In July, he issued a memorandum [presidential statement; JURIST report] lifting an executive ban on offshore oil drilling [JURIST news archive] which had been put in place in 1990 by his father, then-President George H. W. Bush. In June, Bush called on Congress, which is still preventing offshore drilling, to relax restrictions on oil exploration [statement text; JURIST report].