[JURIST] A Burundi military court Thursday sentenced Colonel Vital Bangirinama [Human Rights Watch backgrounder] to death for his role in the 2006 killings of 31 civilians in Muyinga province. Human rights groups, which had previously criticized the Burundi government [CIA backgrounder] for not actively prosecuting its own military officers for war crimes, applauded the prosecution. Bangirinama is reported to have fled the country and was sentenced in absentia. Three other military officers received life in prison for their role in the atrocities. Reuters has more. All Africa has local coverage.

The Muyinga massacre [Human Rights Watch backgrounder] occurred in July and August 2006 when 31 civilians were killed while in official custody in northern Burundi. According to Human Rights Watch [advocacy website], witnesses reported intelligence agents detained and questioned the victims at a military camp for weeks before soldiers killed them and threw their bodies into the Ruvubu river. Burundi government officials denied the killings until researchers from human rights organizations found decomposing bodies in the river.

[JURIST] Hu Jia [advocacy blog; JURIST news archive], a Chinese human rights activist convicted in April on charges of inciting subversion of state power [JURIST news archive], was awarded the Sakharov Prize [press release] on Thursday by the European Parliament [official website], for his fight for democracy. Hu has become prominently known as an advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and a defender of religious freedom and human rights in China. He was sentenced by China to more than three years in prison after he made public [JURIST reports] letters and recordings from Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng alleging that Gao was tortured into confessing to subversion charges. His appeals have been denied [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought [EU backgrounder], awarded each year by the European Parliament, was set up in 1988 to honor individuals or organizations for their efforts on behalf of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Named after Russian physicist Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov [autobiographical profile], who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 and is called the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, the award is given to "exceptional individuals or organizations fighting against oppression, intolerance and injustice." Past winners have included Alexander Milinkevich [JURIST report], UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official profile], Nelson Mandela [Nobel Peace Prize profile], and Oswaldo Jose Paya Sardinas [official website, in Spanish], one of Cuba's most prominent dissidents.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Turkey [official website, in Turkish] on Wednesday published its decision [text, in Turkish] striking down recent amendments to the Turkish Constitution [text; materials] to allow the wearing of headscarves in universities. Explaining the reasoning for its ruling [JURIST report] in June, the court held that lifting the ban "indirectly changes and makes nonfunctional the basic features of the republic." In the decision, as translated and quoted by the newspaper Hurriyet, the court wrote:

It is decided that the amendment of Article 10 and 42 of the constitution implicitly violates the secularism principle at its essence as it would limit other people's rights and damage the public order by taking previous verdicts of the Turkish Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights into consideration

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights Martin Scheinin [official site; JURIST news archive] Wednesday urged the UN to restructure or eliminate the existing terrorist "blacklisting" system [press release; recorded video]. Currently, the Security Council's Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee [official site] maintains a list [text] of people and entities associated with the Taliban, al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and may act to freeze their assets, restrict their travel and prevent arms purchases by them or on their behalf. On the occasion of his annual report to the UN General Assembly Third Committee, Scheinin suggested that the Security Council be more open with information regarding the reasons for its proposed sanctions and favored the introduction of an independent review authority through which those listed could challenge their status. Failing that, Scheinin proposed abolishing the committee altogether, noting that it was created "as a kind of emergency measure when there was no other framework in place". Without the committee, the UN would assist with identifying people and organizations to be listed, but would rely on member states to execute the sanctions. Scheinin's report came amid judicial challenges to and due process concerns [HRW report] about the existing sanctions regime. Scheinin expressed concern that a "wave of litigation" would risk the "whole credibility of the UN sanctions regime". AP has more.

Other groups and individuals have successfully challenged similar national international lists in the EU courts. Earlier this year, some European Parliament members criticized the EU watch list [JURIST report] as unfair and opaque, saying that the process for adding names to the list should be changed. In July 2007, the Court of First Instance overturned [JURIST report] an EU decision freezing the assets of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman and the Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa Foundation, finding that the EC did not give the plaintiffs an opportunity to challenge the legal basis for their inclusion on a terrorist watch list. In December 2006, the same court similarly annulled an asset freeze [JURIST report] against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. That judgment prompted the European Council to revise the procedures [JURIST report] used in establishing and maintaining the EU's terror list.

[JURIST] The German Federal Foreign Office [official website, in German] on Wednesday rejected a ruling by Italy's highest court ordering Germany to pay damages to relatives of civilians killed in the town of Civitella during World War II. The Italian Court of Cassation [official website, in Italian] on Tuesday awarded [AGI report] 1 million euros (US $1.3 million) to family members of some of the 203 civilians killed in the 1944 assault, which the German infantry carried out in response to an attack by Italian civilians. Reacting to the court's decision, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said during a press conference that the award is unenforceable under the principle of state immunity. German lawyers have also argued that Germany paid compensation to Italy [La Repubblica report, in Italian] through a 1961 agreement. The Foreign Ministry spokesman would not say whether Germany would appeal the ruling to an international court. AP has more. DPA has local coverage.

The Court of Cassation awarded the damages [Corriere della Sera report, in Italian] in a case against Max Josef Milde, a sergeant present at the Civitella attack, who was sentenced in absentia to life in prison. Under Italian law, crime victims may seek civil damages as part of a criminal proceeding. International agreements that govern situations in which a nation may claim immunity include the European Convention on State Immunity [text], ratified by members of the Council of Europe in 1972, and the UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property [text], adopted in 2004.

[JURIST] The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] has denied requests by former Khmer Rouge officials Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary [decisions, PDF] to receive court-appointed medical experts who would determine whether the men are fit to stand trial to face war crimes and crimes against humanity charges. Chea, known as Brother Number Two in the Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder], had complained that his brain was "not normal" and that his "thinking [was] generally unclear," and sought a mental health expert to determine his mental competency to stand trial. The court denied the request Tuesday, finding that Chea has "made collected, relevant, well-structured and comprehensive statements during hearings," and that his complaints about mental health fatigue did not "in themselves justify the appointment of an additional expert." The court denied Sary's request on similar grounds, finding that there was no evidence his physical ailments or current medications could render him incapable of standing trial. AFP has more.

To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. Sary, former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister, who has a history of heart trouble, was hospitalized twice earlier this year, and appealed his detention to the ECCC [JURIST reports] in December on grounds of ill health. The ECCC denied [PDF decision; Phnom Penh report] requests for his release pending trial last week, after denying similar requests [JURIST report] by Chea earlier this year. The Australia government Thursday announced [AFP report] that it would give the ECCC an additional $5.3M to assist it through two more years of operations, after the Court announced [UN News release] earlier this year it was facing budget shortfalls of more than $43M. The United States [Reuters report], Japan [Radio Australia report], Germany, and France [AFP reports] have also recently pledged additional money.

[JURIST] The European Court of First Instance [official website] on Thursday struck down [case materials] a decision [PDF text] by the Council of the European Union [official website] freezing the assets of the prominent Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) [group website]. The court annulled the 2007 decision as applied to PMOI, ruling that the council had failed to sufficiently justify designating PMOI as a group "involved in terrorist acts." The judges concluded that PMOI had not engaged in terrorist activity since at least 2002. They wrote:

In short, there is no evidence that the PMOI has at any time since 2003 sought to re-create any form of structure that was capable of carrying out or supporting terrorist acts. There is no evidence of any attempt to "prepare" for terrorism. There is no evidence of any encouragement to others to commit acts of terrorism.

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] announced Wednesday that it has filed new war crimes charges against two Kuwaiti men held at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Fouad Rabia, a US-educated aeronautical engineer suspected of running a supply depot at Tora Bora, and Fayiz Kandari, an alleged adviser to Osama bin Laden [JURIST news archive], were charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terror. The two men, who have spent over seven years in Guantanamo, are said to have the longest-running Guantanamo unlawful detention lawsuits pending in the US District Court in Washington. Rabia and Kandari now face a maximum of life in prison. The Miami Herald has more.

The Defense Department's filing follows a decision one day earlier by the Office of Military Commissions Convening Authority to dismiss charges without prejudice [press release; JURIST report] against five other Guantanamo detainees. Noor Uthman Mohammed, Binyam Mohammed, Sufyiam Barhoumi, Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi, and Jabran Said Bin al Qahtani remain in custody, and Chief Prosecutor Army Col. Lawrence Morris has appointed teams to consider whether to recharge each prisoner. Lawyers for Binyam Mohammed called the move a "farce" [Reprieve press release], reporting that they had been informed of plans to "charge [Mohammed] again within a month, after the election.”

[JURIST] A South African judge Wednesday gave prosecutors leave to appeal a ruling dismissing corruption charges [JURIST report] against Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) [party website]. Zuma is expected to become president after next year’s elections, although he has pledged to resign if convicted. Zuma contends the charges [JURIST report] were motivated by ANC rival and now-resigned South African president Thabo Mbeki [Guardian profile], and their initial dismissal in September exacerbated existing divisions within the party. Mbeki was forced to resign last month, and his loyalists have threatened to leave ANC to form a splinter party. Reuters has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

Zuma bested Mbeki for the ANC leadership in December 2007. He was ousted as the country’s deputy president in 2005 after an aide was convicted of corruption. He was also charged with rape, but ultimately acquitted. The pending charges, which consist of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, date back to a 1999 arms deal.

[JURIST] The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) [official website] Wednesday sentenced former Bosnian Serb special police officer Vaso Todorovic [BiH backgrounder] to six years in prison for committing crimes against humanity in the Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Todorovic was previously charged with genocide before accepting a plea agreement reducing the charge to crimes against humanity. As part of the agreement, Todorovic agreed to testify in related cases. Reuters has more. BIRN has local coverage.

Todorovic was charged [indictment] for his role in the 1995 forcible transfer of 40,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslims) from a UN-protected area in Srebrenica to Potocari where they would be permanently relocated. According to the indictment, on July 12, 1995 Todorovic took part in searching Bosniak villiages within in the UN-protected area in order to round up the Bosniak population and transfer them an area controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The indictment also alleged Todorovic took part in the July 13, 1995 capture of thousands of Bosniak men trying to escape the UN protected zone. During the relocation, Serbian forces summarily executed at least 7,000 Bosniak men between the ages of 13 and 17.

[JURIST] A judicial panel of the UK House of Lords [official website] Wednesday ruled [judgment text] that the British government acted within its power in denying a group of Indian Ocean islanders known as Chagossians [advocacy website] the right to return to an archipelago under British control. The group had challenged a 2004 order [backgrounder] prohibiting permanent residence on the Chagos Islands [CIA backgrounder], arguing that the government had abused its power by not acting in the best interest of the territory. The government had argued [Guardian report] that allowing the Chagossians to return to the islands would pose a threat to the US Diego Garcia naval base [official website], now located on the largest of the islands. In a 3-2 decision the panel ruled for the government, holding that the order could be considered to be in the best interest of the UK as a whole, and was therefore lawful. Dissenting Lords argued that the order, issued under the authority of the Queen, should not be granted such deference because had not been voted on by Parliament. The Law Lords, is the UK's highest court and the last resort for the issue and the decision cannot be appealed. The Guardian has more.

Approximately 2000 Chagossians were exiled form the islands to make way for the base in the 1960s. In May 2007 the UK Court of Appeal had ruled [judgment text; JURIST report] in favor of the islanders, and would have allowed them to resettle 65 islands in the archipelago, but not Diego Garcia itself. That decsion upheld a 2006 High Court decision [judgment text; JURIST report] granting the islanders the right to return, but both are overruled by the Law Lords decision. Earlier that year, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF opinion; JURIST report] in a similar suit against the US Department of Defense that federal courts lacked the authority to grant compensation to the Chagossians for losses they incurred because of the development of the military base.

[JURIST] A Canadian government inquiry has found [report, PDF] that officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) [official websites] "indirectly contributed" to the torture of three citizens while in Syria [JURIST news archive] between 2001 and 2004. The men, Ahmed Al Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin, claimed they were detained and tortured [JURIST report] by Syrian military intelligence during trips abroad with the cooperation [Amnesty backgrounder, PDF] of Canadian officials. In the report released Tuesday, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci [law firm profile] found that officials contributed to the mistreatment of the men by supplying classified, and in some cases misleading, information to Syria linking the men to terrorist activities. In his findings on government actions relating to one of the men, Iacobucci wrote that the combination of the information released by the agencies was likely among several factors that led to his detention and subsequent mistreatment:

The sharing by the RCMP of Mr. Elmaati's itinerary with the FBI and CIA is more proximate to Mr. Elmaati's detention than the sharing of descriptions of him with foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies. However, it is reasonable to infer that the risk that Mr. Elmaati might be detained as a result of Canadian officials sharing his travel itinerary was increased by the fact that Canadian officials had previously used labels such as "imminent threat" in describing Mr. Elmaati to their foreign partners. Accordingly, I conclude on the evidence available to me that these actions of Canadian officials resulted indirectly in Mr. Elmaati being detained by Syrian authorities.