[JURIST] The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [advocacy website] on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit [complaint, PDF; EFF press release] seeking injunctive, declaratory and equitable relief from the National Security Agency (NSA) [agency website] warrantless surveillance program [JURIST news archive], which gave government agencies access to over 300 terabytes of data concerning communication sent and received by AT&T [corporate website] customers. Filed on behalf of those customers, the suit names as defendants the US government, the NSA, President George W. Bush [official profile], Vice President Dick Cheney [official profile], and several other officials. EFF alleges violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive], and federal electronic surveillance law. The complaint also argues that the surveillance program violated the Federal Administrative Procedure Act [text] because it exceeded Congressionally-mandated limitations established by FISA, and alleges that it violates the Constitutional separation of powers principle

because it was authorized by the Executive in excess of the Executive’s authority under Article II of the United States Constitution ... and exceeds the statutory limits imposed on the Executive by Congress.

[JURIST] The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] on Friday announced that former Khmer Rouge official Nuon Chea [PBS backgrounder] will be held for another year as prosecutors continue to build a war crimes case against him. Nuon Chea, known as Brother Number Two in the Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder], was arrested and charged [JURIST report] in September 2007. He has been in court custody since his arrest, and the court has rejected his lawyers' attempts to have him released [JURIST reports] until trial. AFP has more.

In February, a Cambodian genocide survivor testified against Nuon Chea [JURIST report] at a pre-trial hearing, marking the first time that a victim has ever taken the stand against a former Khmer Rouge official. The ECCC has said it plans to try as many as eight suspects [JURIST report] on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the Khmer Rouge regime, which is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. In June, the court announced plans [JURIST report] to complete operations a year early and to significantly reduce its budget, but said that it would still be able to prosecute all of its suspects despite the cutbacks.

[JURIST] New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo [official website] Thursday said his department is conducting an investigation [AP report] into whether some investors used illegal methods to profit from recent declines in banking and insurance stocks. It is alleged that some investors combined the short-selling [Forbes backgrounder] of stock with the spreading of false information to illegally gain from recent devaluations in Lehman Brothers, AIG [corporate websites] and other stocks. Cuomo said his office will prosecute those found to have intentionally contributed to the declines under a New York law [Martin Act backgrounder, PDF], which gives him broad authority to investigate financial crimes. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented a temporary ban [press release; revised rules, PDF] on certain kinds of short-selling of key financial stocks in an attempt to stabilize their values [NYT report]. Bloomberg has more.

In an effort to better detect other kinds of financial fraud, including insider trading [JURIST news archive], in August the SEC announced [press release; JURIST report] that it had reached a tentative agreement [PDF text] with ten US stock exchanges to centralize insider trading controls among the institutions. Under that plan, the programs to prevent and detect insider trading will be monitored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and a section of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) [corporate websites], instead of having each exchange run its own program.

[JURIST] The American Psychological Association (APA) [official website] announced Wednesday that it had adopted a measure [petition text; APA press release] prohibiting members from participating in interrogations of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and other military prisons where suspects have allegedly been tortured. The resolution, approved by a vote of 8,792 to 6,157 members, represents a reversal in position by the group, which last year rejected a similar ban [JURIST report]. The measure states:

Whereas torture is an abhorrent practice in every way contrary to the APA's stated mission of advancing psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Mental Health and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have determined that treatment equivalent to torture has been taking place at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Whereas this torture took place in the context of interrogations under the direction and supervision of Behavioral Science Consultation Teams (BSCTs) that included psychologists....

Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law or the US Constitution, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights.

[JURIST] A US Army Special Forces soldier faces court-martial proceedings [JURIST news archive] following his arraignment [press release] in connection with the killing of an Afghan man earlier this year. The Army announced Thursday that Master Sgt. Joseph D. Newell of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) [unit website] based at Fort Bragg, N.C., is charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with murder and related offenses [text]. He is accused of fatally shooting an unidentified Afghani near Hyderabad in March and then cutting an ear off the man's body. During an Article 32 preliminary hearing [JAG backgrounder] last month, a defense lawyer contended that the military had insufficient evidence against Newell. A court-martial is scheduled to convene on January 7. AP has more.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released documents [JURIST report] describing alleged crimes committed by US soldiers against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan [JURIST news archive] but showing that troops believed they were following the law in most instances. The materials were made available in conjunction with a lawsuit the ACLU filed to compel the US military to release all documents relating to the deaths of civilians caused by US troops since January 2005. In 2006, court-martial proceedings against a group of US soldiers implicated in the abuse of detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan ended with only one conviction [JURIST report]. Three other soldiers pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to abusing prisoners at Bagram, two others pleaded guilty at the court-martial and five were acquitted. The Army dropped the charges against three others.

[JURIST] The State Council of China [official website, in English] on Thursday issued regulations implementing ambiguous provisions of the Labor Contract Law [backgrounder] that took effect [JURIST report] at the beginning of this year. Among other clarifications, the regulations provide that contracts without a termination date do not have a lifetime term, instead specifying the circumstances in which employers or employees may unilaterally terminate. Although the law is viewed as a major advancement [IHT report] for employee rights, employers have complained that it has increased operational costs. The law requires workers to have written employment contracts, establishes a right to severance pay, sets a minimum wage and limits the amount of overtime that companies may ask employees to perform. Draft regulations were released [China Law & Practice report] in May. Following public comment, the final regulations were approved September 3 by the State Council, which is China's Cabinet. Xinhua has more.

The law was adopted [JURIST report] last June by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress [official website] amid revelations that labor officials had failed to report [JURIST report] the enslavement of hundreds of people at brick kilns in Shanxi and Henan provinces. Criminal charges were brought against government officials, and a State Council conference chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao [BBC profile] said that those who had enslaved workers or illegally employed children would be severely punished.

[JURIST] In an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged [indictment, PDF; DOJ press release] sixteen individuals and companies from Iran [JURIST news archive] and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on thirteen counts related to alleged conspiracies to illegally export electronic components to Iran, in violation of US law and the US economic embargo against Iran. According to the indictment, many of the components were eventually found in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used against coalition forces in Iraq. Specifically, the indictment alleges that the sixteen individuals and businesses engaged in conspiracies that entailed the ordering of electronic components, including microwave isolators, global positioning system (GPS) units, and microchips from US manufacturers through offices in Egypt, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and the UAE, then transporting them to Iran and eventually Iraq. None of the charged individuals is presently in US custody. The Washington Post has more.

The electronic components named in the indictment are considered "dual-use" technologies by the US, indicating that they have both civilian and military uses. The export of such technologies from the US is regulated by the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) [official website].

[JURIST] The South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) [official website] announced Thursday it would appeal [press release, PDF] a Pietermaritzburg High Court judgment invalidating corruption charges [JURIST report] against politician Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The NPA stated that the appeal will argue that the "court's interpretation of the Constitution and the NPA Act regarding the obligation to solicit representations before recharging was incorrect." The NPA's appeal will also be based on the impact the judgment has on the "operational process of the NPA." The corruption charges against Zuma were invalidated last Friday on procedural grounds [ruling, PDF text] because Zuma was not given the chance to respond to the allegations against him. Zuma was indicted [JURIST report] in December 2007 on charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. Zuma has said that the charges were part of a politically-motivated effort by outgoing President Thabo Mbeki [official profile] to upset Zuma's plans to run in the 2009 presidential election. Zuma is seen as Mbeki's inevitable successor due to his position as president of the African National Congress (ANC) [party website], the South African ruling party. The New York Times has more. AP has additional coverage.

In late July, the South African Constitutional Court [official website] rejected a motion [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] by Zuma to exclude evidence from the corruption trial. Zuma had argued [JURIST report] that evidence seized in 2005 raids by the Directorate of Special Investigations [official backgrounder; BBC report] should be thrown out because the raids violated his rights to privacy and a fair trial. The court upheld the validity of the warrants used in the raids, confirming a November 2007 decision [JURIST report] by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal. The court also held [opinion, PDF; summary] that papers obtained by the Mauritius government [JURIST report] believed to document meetings between Zuma and arms manufacturer Thint were also admissible. Zuma has been facing corruption allegations [BBC timeline] and other charges for several years. He was first charged with corruption in 2005, but those charges were later dismissed [JURIST report] because prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures.

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] on Thursday passed the Second Amendment Enforcement Act (H.R. 6842) [bill text], which would repeal multiple parts of the District of Columbia's Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, including its semiautomatic handgun ban, its registration requirements, and its mandate that any guns in the home be locked up and inoperable. The National Rifle Association-supported bill was passed despite protests from Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) [official website] who introduced alternative legislation and argued [press release]:

The needless consideration of this issue, when the District was well on its way to substantially altering its gun own legislation, was all the more egregious because the city's representative could not vote on final passage.

[JURIST] Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty [official website] on Thursday urged Canadian officials to embrace his call for an outright ban on handguns. Acknowledging that all federal leaders should use the upcoming October election to discuss the issue, McGuinty commented [The Globe and Mail local coverage]:

We have an opportunity as a distinct Canadian society to say, 'We are not going to do what other countries have. We're going to do everything we can to eliminate handguns.'

Toronto continues to face unacceptable incidents of gun violence. These cannot be fully addressed without a total ban on handguns. Handguns are designed for one purpose and that is to kill people and have no place in our society. Statistics show that in jurisdictions with gun bans, supply is limited and shootings are less common.