[JURIST] Former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) [party website] head Nawaz Sharif has threatened to withdraw from the government if all of the judges ousted last year by President Pervez Musharraf [official website; JURIST news archive] are not reinstated by Friday, according to a report [AFP report] published Thursday. Lawyers' groups in the country have also demonstrated [News report] against the failure of Pakistan's ruling coalition to reach an agreement on reinstating the judges, after the negotiations between the PML-N and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) failed [JURIST report] on Wednesday. Sharif said that the controversy centers around the reinstatement of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [JURIST news archive], and that his party will withdraw from the government if he is not restored to his position. Also Thursday, Pakistan Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum, who was appointed by Musharraf, resigned [Xinhua report] following the former President's decision to step down [press release; JURIST report] on Tuesday. PPP senator Latif Khosa took Qayyum's place.

Earlier this month, the coalition government said that it would push to impeach Musharraf because he 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 Catholic Diocese of Kansas City [official website] announced [Flash, video; press release] on Thursday that it has agreed to pay $10 million to settle 47 sexual abuse claims against the church. The deal also required the church to publicly renounce the alleged behavior and to take additional steps to prevent future instances of abuse. Kansas City Bishop Robert W. Finn made the public announcement:

We apologize for the fully unacceptable behavior that prompted these lawsuits to be brought against the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. With compassion for the victims of this behavior and with sadness over any failure by the diocese to serve as a proper steward of safety and security for our young people and our parishioners, I am here as an individual leader of the diocese to demonstrate institutional accountability for these sad events. I pray that with the settlement of this matter, the healing for all may truly begin...

...In reaching a settlement with lawyers representing the families involved in this case, we took painstaking steps to fully vet all issues enabling thoroughness to be the hallmark of this process. Assured that we have met that standard, we have agreed to fund $10 million in payments to the victims and to adhere to a number of nonmonetary stipulations that should assure our community, our congregation and these families that the diocese will continue in its exercise of vigilance and in its devotion to training and education so that we may be confident there will never, ever be a repeat of the behaviors, the offenses, or the claims that have been associated with this matter.

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] announced [press release] on Wednesday that his office is reviewing allegations [Reuters report] that war crimes have been committed during the recent conflict over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia [BBC report]. On Monday, Russian officials had expressed their intent to file a complaint [JURIST report] against Georgia with the ICC, and said that their government is considering filing another complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website]. Russia's Foreign Ministry has also called for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to be tried for war crimes before the ICC. Last week, Georgia filed a complaint [text, PDF; press release, PDF] against Russia with the ICJ, alleging that invading Russian troops have also engaged in the murder, rape and mass displacement of civilians [JURIST report].

Moreno-Ocampo has recently come under heavy criticism for his prosecutorial tactics and choices. Earlier this week, the president of Human Rights Watch [official website], mediation advisors, and other NGO leaders expressed doubt regarding his judgment [The Guardian report; JURIST report] and concern that his behavior could threaten the credibility of the court. Moreno-Ocampo has also received sharp criticism from both the League of Arab States (LAS) and the African Union (AU) [official websites] for his decision to seek the arrest [JURIST report] of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile, JURIST news archive]. In June, a Sudanese ambassador was quoted as calling Moreno-Ocampo a "terrorist" [JURIST report].

[JURIST] London's High Court on Thursday ruled [PDF, judgment] that the UK Foreign Office must turn over evidence [Independent report] "essential" to the defense of Binyam Mohamed [Reprieve profile], the last British resident still detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Lawyers representing Mohamed at his US military commission trial had appeared [JURIST report] before the High Court in July, arguing that the Foreign Office possessed evidence showing that Mohamed was tortured and went through extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive]. A Foreign Office spokesperson commented [press release]:

For strong reasons of national security, to which the Court accepted we were entitled to give the highest weight, we could not agree to disclose this information voluntarily. These and other issues relating to national security will be considered at a further hearing next week.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a district court's grant of summary judgment to a Tennessee public high school in a lawsuit brought by three students who claimed the school's ban on wearing the Confederate flag [university course backgrounder] violated their First Amendment, Equal Protection, and Due Process rights under the US Constitution. The students had argued that they wanted to wear the flag on their clothing to express their pride in their southern heritage. The Sixth Circuit carefully limited its holding in the case:

We caution, however, that our decision today does not establish a precedent justifying a school’s ban on student speech merely because other students find that speech offensive: we simply hold that the school’s dress code as applied to ban the Confederate flag is constitutional because of the disruptive potential of the flag in a school where racial tension is high and serious racially motivated incidents, such as physical altercations or threats of violence, have occurred.

[JURIST] The Preparatory Commission [official website] for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) announced [press release; Xinhua report] on Wednesday that Iraq has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) [PDF text]. Only a few of the world's major nations are not CTBT signatories. The US signed the CTBT in 1996, but has cited national security concerns as justification for withholding ratification, and boycotted [JURIST reports] a 2005 UN conference designed to encourage the treaty's passage. The Preparatory Commission announced Thursday that it is completing advance set-up work for its Integrated Field Exercise [press release] in Kazakhstan, where during September it will search for any evidence of recent nuclear testing. The Exercise is meant to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CTBT's verification procedures.

Last November, Iraq announced its intention [JURIST report] to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) [PDF text] and become a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) [official website]. The CWC prohibits the use or undeclared storage of chemical weapons by member nations. Iraqi President Jalal Talibani [BBC profile] commented that acceding to the Convention would allow Iraq to seek help from other members in eradicating environmental problems caused by the use of chemical weapons during the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder] against ethnic Kurds. Iraq has yet to complete the joining process, and still must deposit instruments of accession with the UN.

[JURIST] A US district court judge ruled Wednesday that US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) [official website; JURIST news archive] cannot transfer his corruption trial to Alaska from Washington, DC. Rejecting Stevens' argument that he needed to be in Alaska to campaign for re-election, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan said that the offense alleged in the indictment occurred in Washington and any change in venue would cause unnecessary delay and additional expense. Stevens released a statement on the decision, stating [text]:

I urged my attorneys to request a venue change because I wanted Alaskans to have a first-hand opportunity to learn the facts of this matter. I understand the court’s decision today, and continue to have every faith in the fairness of the American judicial system and the court’s commitment to conduct a speedy trial. I welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that I am innocent of these charges.

[JURIST] The Chicago Urban League (CUL) [advocacy website] on Wednesday filed a lawsuit insisting that Illinois' current school funding scheme be declared unconstitutional in violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003 [text]. CUL challenges [complaint, PDF] the state's method for raising and distributing education funds to local school districts, which it claims results in "constitutionally inadequate educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Illinois public school children." CUL asserts that the state's public school funding scheme is "fatally flawed" because it relies too heavily on local property taxes, therefore reinforcing past discrimination and ensuring that certain school districts have "no capacity to raise the revenues they desperately need to close the funding gap," explaining:

the continuous and unmitigated harm that results each year from the state's persistent failure to meet its constitutional obligation to treat all students equally, regardless of race or ethnicity, to provide all Illinois students with access to equal education opportunity and to provide a system of schools offering a "high quality" education, is irreparable and unconscionable.

Our children, especially African Americans and Latinos, have been left behind because of poorly funded schools while their white counterparts in wealthy communities are thriving. Their basic right to a quality education is being denied. Through our litigation and civic engagement around this issue, we want to make sure no more children are given a second-class education.