[JURIST] UN Peacekeeping Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MUNOC) [official website] head Alan Doss [appointment release] on Saturday condemned [UN News Centre report] recent killings of civilians by militias in the country as war crimes. Doss made the statement after MUNOC announced [press release] that it had received "credible reports" that civilians had been targeted by militia groups the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) [official website], the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), during fighting over control of the town of Kiwanja last week. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] on Friday called [statement; UN News Centre report] for the militias to recognize a cease-fire agreement in the conflict and urged regional leaders to take "historic responsibility" by supporting UN efforts against the violence. Also on Friday, Ki-moon advisor Francis Deng [appointment release] said that those who encouraged or supported acts of genocide in the country would be held accountable [AP report] for their actions.

Last week, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] reasserted [ICC press release; JURIST report] that the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in the Congolese province of North and South Kivu in the wake of renewed fighting there [BBC report] and that his office intends to punish those responsible. Tensions have recently increased between rebels and the pro-government militia, with talks intended to help hundreds of refugee civilians recently breaking down [AP report]. The ICC president has urged all parties, including regional and international organizations, to support and work together with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) [JURIST news archive; ICC materials] authorities, particularly in the execution of the arrest warrant [JURIST report] issued by the ICC against Bosco Ntaganda, who is accused of committing war crimes in the DRC from July 2002 until December 2003.

[JURIST] Thousands of demonstrators in San Diego and Los Angeles on Saturday protested [Union-Tribune report] the passage [unofficial results; JURIST report] of Proposition 8 [text and materials], an amendment to the California constitution [text] making same-sex marriages illegal in the state. The proposition, approved by about 52 percent of California voters last week, provides that "[o]nly marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Earlier in the week, similar protests [AP report] were held in San Francisco, and also in Utah, where protesters picketed outside of the headquarters of the Mormon Church [religious website], which had supported the proposition [press release]. Also last week, advocacy groups American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition [PDF text; JURIST report] with the California Supreme Court [official website] seeking to invalidate the amendment. An estimated 2.7 million not-yet-counted provisional and absentee ballots on the measure are not expected [LA Times report] to change the result of the vote on the proposition. AP has more.

Proposition 8 was a response to the California Supreme Court's decision in May striking down [JURIST report] a statutory ban on same-sex marriage as violating the equal protection and privacy provisions of the state constitution. The measure generated more than $60 million in contributions [JURIST report] to committees representing both sides of the issue - a figure believed to be a US record. Voters in Arizona [Proposition 102 text, PDF] and Florida [Proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 text, PDF] also approved [JURIST report] similar measures last week. More than half of US states have adopted constitutional amendments [NCSL list] limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, while most of the remainder have defined marriage by statute. Massachusetts and Connecticut [JURIST reports] are now the only US states that sanction same-sex marriages under decisions by their highest courts.

[JURIST] The British government has revoked the visa of former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], and his wife Pojamarn Shinawatra according to media reports Saturday. The couple had been residing in Britain prior to Thaksin's conviction [JURIST report] last month on corruption charges [JURIST report] related to a 2003 purchase of land by his wife from the government-controlled Financial Institutions Development Fund [official website]. It is unclear where Thaksin is currently located, but members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who support Thaksin, have said that they are not concerned about the rejected visas as there are there are many other countries that would welcome him. AFP has more. The Bangkok Post has local coverage.

Thaksin, who was ousted as Thailand's prime minister in a military coup in 2006, has seen a long series of corruption actions brought against him and his wife. In August, Thai prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to seize over $2 billion [JURIST report] from the Shinawatras' frozen accounts and holdings in relation to the charges. In July, the Thai Attorney General's Office filed corruption charges [JURIST report] against Thaksin for his role in a 2003 resolution reducing fees paid by mobile phone companies to state telecommunications agencies. Later that month, Pojamarn, as well as her step-brother and secretary, were convicted of tax evasion [JURIST report] for transferring $16.3 million worth of stock she transferred to the two. Also that month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear additional charges against Thaksin and 47 other for alleged misconduct [JURIST reports] related to the country's lottery system.

[JURIST] The Indonesian attorney general's office Sunday confirmed that three men convicted for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC backgrounder] which killed 202 people were executed by firing squad just after midnight Saturday local time. The executions were carried out after the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected [JURIST report] last-minute appeals filed by relatives of Mukhlas, Imam Smudra, and Amrozi Nurhasyim [BBC profiles], with a judge saying the men had exhausted their rights of appeal. The three men, members of of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive], had called on Islamic militant groups to carry out retribution attacks, which resulted in stepped-up security in the capital Jakarta and a warning [text] issued by the US embassy in Indonesia. Thousands of supporters turned out later Sunday at the funerals of the bombers [AP report] in their home vilages. The Jakarta Post has local coverage. Xinhua has more. The International Herald Tribune has additional coverage.

Last month, Indonesia's Constitutional Court rejected [JURIST report] bid by the convicted bombers to have the executions carried out by beheading rather than firing squad. The court ruled that any difference between the methods was immaterial.