[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF; briefs] Monday in two cases. In Peake v. Sanders [oral arguments transcript, PDF], the Court considered whether the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) [official website] bears the burden of proof that it adequately informed a veteran of the information needed to process a benefits claim under the Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA) [text, PDF]. The case involves two veterans whose benefits claims were denied. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] held [opinion, PDF] that the burden was on the VA to prove that notice was not prejudicial. Counsel for petitioner the VA argued that "the uniform practice in the courts of appeals [at the time the VCAA was enacted] was to place upon challengers to agency action the burden of showing prejudice from the error. And the Congress was well aware of that." Counsel for one of the respondents, Patricia Simmons, argued that "it would be difficult for the veteran and comparatively easy for the government to carry a burden."

In Pacific Bell v. Linkline Communications [oral arguments transcript, PDF], the Court heard arguments on whether a company can be sued for anti-competitive practices if it sets its wholesale prices to block competitors from the retail market. Linkline [corporate website] filed an antitrust complaint against Pacific Bell, doing business as AT&T [corporate website] for cornering the DSL market and then charging high wholesale and low retail prices to make it impossible for smaller companies who buy DSL from AT&T wholesale to compete in the retail market. AT&T was required to sell its services to competitors under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 [text]. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] that Linkline's case survived a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Counsel for petitioner Pacific Bell argued that the decision does not comport with the Supreme Court's 2004 decision in Verizon v. Trinko [opinion, PDF], which held that there can be no claim unless the wholesaler has an antitrust duty to sell its product to its retail competitors. Respondents since agreed that the Ninth Circuit's decision was incorrect, but did not "give up." Counsel for respondent argued that although he did not believe the decision of the Ninth Circuit was incorrect, per se, it was incomplete and should be vacated and remanded. Counsel for petitioner argued that "a decision on the merits here is important because the Ninth Circuit's decision is harmful to consumers, deterring beneficial price cuts and sufficient particle integration."

[JURIST] The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Sunday announced plans to collect signatures to initiate a referendum to make the province of Basra autonomous so that it can benefit from its oil wealth. The referendum was initiated by Wael Abdul Latif [AFP report], an independent member of parliament and former magistrate. Signatures will be collected [AFP report] from December 15 to January 14. The referendum could be held within three months. If passed, Basra would become an autonomous region with the same rights as Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq. Abdul Latif maintains that relations with the central government would differ from Kurdistan's relations in that oil contracts would not become the responsibility of the Basra government.

Basra is an oil-rich province in southern Iraq that produces about 70 percent of the country's oil. Control of the province was handed over to the Iraqi government [DOD press release] last December. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government [official website] adopted the "Kurdistan Oil and Gas Law" [JURIST report] in August 2007 after legislation was signed to allow the Kurdish government to control its own oil resources and select its own foreign investors.

[JURIST] War crimes and other human rights violations are being committed in the ongoing Somali conflict [BBC backgrounder], according to a report [text, PDF] released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The report, titled "So Much to Fear: War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia," accuses all parties to the conflict of committing war crimes, including the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) [official website; CFR backgrounder], insurgent groups, and intervening Ethiopian forces. Alleged violations include indiscriminate attacks, killings, rape, use of civilians as human shields, and looting. Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at HRW said [press release], "The combatants in Somalia have inflicted more harm on civilians than on each other." HRW called on the US and the European Union to change their policies and help end the violence:

Now is the time for fresh thinking and new political will on Somalia. Human Rights Watch calls upon all of the parties to the conflict in Somalia to end the patterns of war crimes and human rights abuses that have harmed countless Somalis and to ensure accountability for past abuses. This can only come to pass with much stronger and more principled engagement by key governments that have hitherto turned a blind eye to the extent and nature of conflict-related abuses in Somalia.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Monday unsealed indictments [text, PDF; DOJ press release] for five Blackwater USA [corporate website; JURIST news archive] guards involved in the September 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians [JURIST report]. The 35-count indictment, which was returned under seal [JURIST report] last Thursday, charges each defendant with 14 counts of voluntary manslaughter, 20 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter, and one count of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. This marks the first time that State Department contractors will be prosecuted under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) [text], which allows criminal charges to be filed against contractors working for the Department of Defense. The defendants surrendered to federal authorities in Utah Monday morning. At a press conference, Assistant Attorney General Pat Rowan said [prepared remarks]:

Today’s indictment and guilty plea should serve as a reminder that those who engage in unprovoked and illegal attacks on civilians – whether during times of conflict or times of peace – will be held accountable.

[JURIST] Pakistani police on Sunday night raided a militant camp and arrested the alleged plotters of the Mumbai terror attacks [BBC backgrounder]. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi [START profile], head of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [ADL backgrounder], was arrested, along with several other individuals believed to be responsible for the November attacks that left more than 170 dead. Lakhvi was allegedly in communication with the attackers via telephone [Telegraph report] throughout the attacks. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence is alleged to have provided intelligence and support [Hindustan Times report] to LeT, and India remains skeptical [Time report] of Pakistan's efforts to bring the responsible parties to justice.

The attacks in Mumbai were carried out at ten locations across the city including the landmark Taj Mahal Palace hotel [hotel website]. In a statement [press release] to the nation a day after the attacks started, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [official website] said the country "will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts... [and will] take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens." In the wake of the attacks, Singh pushed for tougher anti-terrorism measures [JURIST report]. The attack was the worst the city has seen since a group of bombings killed more than 250 people in 1993.

[JURIST] Five Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], the self proclaimed architect of the 9/11 attacks [JURIST report], indicated at a military commission pre-trial hearing on Monday that they wished to plead guilty to the charges against them. The judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley [DOD biography, PDF], read a letter from the defendants out loud in court that said they wanted to plead guilty and drop all defense motions, but did not indicate whether they would confess to specific acts. Four of the five defendants, including Mohammed, agreed to the statements in the letter [AP report], and the fifth remained to be questioned by the judge. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] issued a statement [press release] Monday calling for "a full and thorough factual inquiry to determine whether or not these pleas are voluntary."

Henley was assigned to the Mohammed trial last month, following the retirement [JURIST reports] of Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann [JURIST news archive]. The Pentagon approved death penalty charges against Mohammed and the four other suspects in May, and they were arraigned [JURIST reports] in June. In February, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly acknowledged [JURIST report] that Mohammed had been subjected to waterboarding [JURIST news archive] during interrogation.

[JURIST] A judge in the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong [Judiciary website] ruled on Monday that inmates have a constitutional right to vote while serving sentences. The court's decision stipulates that the justice department and the electoral commission must find a way to implement it within 14 days. A spokesman from the Constitutional Affairs and Mainlaind Bureau [official website] said that the government will study [The Standard report] the judgment and consider how to proceed. The court ruling would enable inmates to vote in territory elections for the first time in Hong Kong's history.

Inmates should have the right to vote according to Article 21 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights [text] that states that the people's will should be expressed in "periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage." The European Convention on Human Rights [text] protects the right to free elections, and only nine states, including the UK [JURIST report], do not allow inmates the right to vote. In the US, federal law allows states to determine their own voting rules [JURIST report], resulting in a full range of restrictions and freedoms to inmate's right to vote across the states.

[JURIST] Human rights conditions are worsening in 12 Arab nations, according to a report [text, PDF, in Arabic; synopsis, PDF] published Friday by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) [advocacy website]. The publication, which is the group's first annual report [press release], is titled "From Exporting Terrorism to Exporting Repression," and was released to coincide with the 60th Anniversary [anniversary website] of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [text]. The report deplores the impunity of human rights violations and crimes, including violations against political, human rights, and reform activists in the region, focusing on Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. The report identifies Iraq as the nation with the most serious human rights abuses. It charges that authoritarian tendencies in the League of Arab States [official website] have risen to an all time high, and that foreign relations of the league amount to a tool of repression. It also alleges that there is a lack of independence and guarantees of justice in the region's judicial systems. The report concludes that most Arab regimes are losing their legitimacy because they refuse to base themselves on free democratic choice and are instead allying with Salafi Islam [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], signifying a move towards religious extremism and worsening human rights conditions.

Iraq has previously been reported as having a poor human rights record. In March, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] called the human rights situation in Iraq "disastrous" [JURIST report]. In June, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants [advocacy website] declared Iraq to be one of the worst violators of refugee rights [JURIST report] in the world. Last month, the UN envoy to Iraq praised the creation of an Independent High Commission for Human Rights [JURIST report], calling it a "milestone" for human rights in the region.

[JURIST] The Dong Da district court in Vietnam on Monday convicted eight Catholics of disturbing public order and destroying property during protests over disputed land, but gave them light sentences, letting them all go free. Seven defendants received suspended sentences of 12-15 months [AP report], and the remaining defendant received a warning. The defendants, who denied all government allegations [VietCatholic report], were arrested last August during demonstrations at the Thai Ha church in Hanoi. More than 1,000 Catholics who showed up to protest the trial [Reuters report] Monday cheered [The Standard report] as the defendants were set free.

In August, hundreds of Catholics gathered at the Thai Ha church to demand return of the land [BBC report]. Protesters broke down a wall and set up an altar. Hanoi officials claim the land belongs to the city because it was lawfully turned over to them in the early 1960s. Church authorities claim the land is rightfully theirs. Protests also took place this year at the former Vatican Embassy in Vietnam. The embassy was closed after the Communists took power in 1954. In January, the Vietnamese government said it would resolve all land disputes according to Vietnamese property law [Thanhnien report].