[JURIST] The US Senate on Thursday voted 87-11 [roll call] to approve an amendment [S.Amdt. 573 text, PDF] that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [official website] from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine [MBC backgrounder]. Under the doctrine, which was struck down by the FCC in 1987, broadcast licenses could be revoked if the broadcaster failed to give airtime to opposing sides of controversial issues. The proposal was introduced by conservative lawmakers seeking to preempt the Obama administration from attempting to resurrect the policy, but earlier this month a White House spokesman told Fox News that Obama opposes the Fairness Doctrine [report]. The Senate proposal forbids the FCC from prescribing any rules or standards requiring "that broadcasters present or ascertain opposing viewpoints on issues of public importance." The amendment was added to the District of Columbia House Voting Act [S. 160 materials; text, PDF], which seeks to provide full voting rights to the District of Columbia in the House of Representatives. The legislation now moves to the House for consideration.

In July 2007, then-FCC Chairman Kevin Martin assured the public that the FCC would not reinstate [JURIST report] the Fairness Doctrine. Martin's comments followed a push from Democratic lawmakers for Congress to consider reinstating the doctrine, after conservative radio talk shows widely attacked immigration reform bills on air. Republican members of Congress responded by introducing the ultimately-unsuccessful Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007 [HR 2905 text], which would have prevented reinstatement of the doctrine.

[JURIST] US citizen and al Qaeda member Christopher Paul was sentenced [DOJ press release] to 20 years in prison Thursday for conspiring to conduct a terrorist bombing campaign against targets in the US and Europe. Paul was sentenced by Judge Gregory Frost [official profile] of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official website]. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Paul pleaded guilty [DOJ press release] to one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in June 2008, agreeing to a sentence of 20 years. In the statement, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen [official profile] said:

Today’s sentence brings an end to the long, militant career of Christopher Paul, an Ohio native who joined al Qaeda in the early 1990s, fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and conspired with others to target Americans both at home and abroad. His lengthy prison term demonstrates our continuing resolve to protect the American public against terrorism.

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] on Thursday sentenced former CIA executive director Kyle Foggo [JURIST news archive] to 37 months in prison for wire fraud related to charges that he accepted bribes in return for granting federal defense contracts. Foggo was originally indicted [text, PDF; JURIST report] in February 2007 on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with allegations that his friend and defense contractor Brent Wilkes [Newsweek profile] gave him gifts and promised him a job in return for the granting of CIA defense contracts. Prosecutors later amended the indictment [PDF text] to include counts of conflict of interest and additional counts of fraud, but Foggo negotiated a plea agreement [JURIST report] last September, limiting the trial to one count of wire fraud [18 USC s. 1343 text]. US District Judge James Cacheris issued the maximum sentence recommended by prosecutors, rejecting the defense team's request for probation.

In November 2007, Wilkes was convicted [JURIST report] of 13 felonies, including money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy, in connection with bribes he paid to former congressman Randy Cunningham [official profile; JURIST news archive]. Both Wilkes and Foggo came under investigation when Cunningham pleaded guilty in 2005 [JURIST report] to taking $2.4 million in bribes in return for federal contracts. Foggo was the third highest-ranking CIA officer at the time of the misconduct.

[JURIST] UK Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton [official profile] gave a statement [MOD press release] to the UK House of Commons [official website] Thursday providing details of participation with US forces in the rendition of terrorism suspects from Iraq to US detention in Afghanistan, possibly by way of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] program. Hutton's revelation comes after years of statements [BBC report] by UK officials, including to the House of Commons, that there had been no participation in the CIA program. In his statement [text], Hutton explained the circumstances of the transfer, saying:

In Iraq, we have reviewed the record of detainee numbers listing all individuals held in UK detention facilities... During the final stages of the review of records of detentions, we found information about one case relating to a security operation conducted in February 2004. I am sure that hon. Members will recall that that period saw an increased level of insurgent activity as the transfer to Iraqi sovereignty drew closer. During the operation, two individuals were captured by UK forces in and around Baghdad. They were transferred to US detention, in accordance with normal practice, and subsequently moved to a US detention facility in Afghanistan.

This information was brought to my attention on 1 December 2008, and I instructed officials to investigate the case thoroughly and quickly so that I could bring a full account to Parliament. Following consultations with US authorities, we confirmed that they transferred the two individuals from Iraq to Afghanistan in 2004 and they remain in custody there today.

I regret that it is now clear that inaccurate information on this particular issue has been given to the House by my Department. However, I want to stress that that was based upon the information available to Ministers and those who were briefing them at that time. My predecessors as Secretaries of State for Defence have confirmed to me that they had no knowledge of these events. I have written to the hon. Members concerned correcting the record, and am placing a copy of these letters also in the Library of the House. Again, I want to apologise to the House for these errors.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website; JURIST news archive] Wednesday confirmed the Obama administration's intention to close Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] in 2010 despite his belief that the facility is now well-run and that detainees are treated appropriately by guards. After visiting the prison [JURIST report] earlier this week, Holder told reporters that he was impressed with what he saw there. His comments stand in direct contrast to statements [Reuters report] made earlier this week by Reprieve [advocacy website] human rights lawyer Ahmed Ghappour, who said that complaints of beatings and other abuses have increased substantially since December as guards supposedly anticipated closure and stricter restraints imposed by the new administration. Reprieve currently represents 31 Guantanamo detainees.



Holder's visit to Guantanamo Bay was part of the Justice Department's effort to carry out US President Barack Obama's January 22 executive order [text; JURIST report] freezing the military commission [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] system, calling for the review of US judicial policy towards the detainees, and directing the closure of Guantanamo within one year. Earlier this week US Navy Admiral Patrick Walsh [official profile] presented a report pursuant to the same order concluding that the prison now meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions [JURIST report], although it may not have done so in the past.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [day call, PDF; briefs] in two cases on Wednesday. In Flores-Figueroa v. United States [oral arguments transcript, PDF], the Court heard arguments on whether a federal "aggravated identity theft" statute [18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1)] applies only to individuals who knowingly use another person's identification documents. In April, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld [opinion, PDF] Ignacio Flores-Figueroa's conviction for using counterfeit social security and resident alien cards. Flores renewed his argument before the Court on Wednesday, asserting that the statute is aimed at identity theft and not immigration issues:

In common usage to say that somebody knowingly transfers, possesses or uses something is to say that that person knows what it is that he is transferring, possessing or using....The same principle follows under the Federal aggravated identity theft statute, which calls for a two-year mandatory sentence...

I agree that a person who deliberately sets out to misappropriate the identity of a known individual is almost certainly more culpable than someone who does not do it but inadvertently does so.
But I don't think that is controlling in this case for a very important reason....[W]e are not having this conversation unless the defendant has already committed the predicate felony, and he is subject to punishment for that predicate felony.

A 1993 congressional apology resolution did not alter Hawaii's right to transfer its public lands or repeal, by implication, prior congressional enactments that it extinguish all competing claims to those lands. It was, as its sponsor said at the time, a simple apology, and no more.

I think that if one looks at the critical portion of the Hawaii Supreme Court's opinion on pages 31A to 32A, where the Hawaii Supreme Court actually discusses the relevance of the Apology Resolution, the Court makes clear that it is relying on it only for the acknowledgment that Native Hawaiians have unresolved claims.

[JURIST] China's Information Office of the State Council [official website, in Mandarin] issued its now-annual report [text] on violations of human rights in and by the United States Thursday a day after the US State Department scolded China [report text] for a variety of human rights abuses in its annual series of country reports on human rights around the world [JURIST report]. Among other things, the Chinese report noted:

The United States of America is [sic] the world's largest prison and has the highest inmates/population ratio in the world. A December 5, 2007 report by EFE news agency quoted statistics of U.S. Department of Justice as saying that the number of inmates in U.S. prisons has increased by 500 percent over the last 30 years. By the end of 2006, there were 2.26 million inmates in U.S. prisons, up 2.8 percent from a year ago. The number is the highest over the last six years. The U.S. population only accounted for 5 percent of the world total, but its inmates made up 25 percent of the world total. There were 751 inmates in every 100,000 U.S. citizens, far higher than the rates in other Western countries (EFE news agency, December 5, 2007). Among the inmates, 96 percent were serving sentences of more than one year, which equaled about one in every 200 U.S. citizens serving a sentence of more than a year (Prisoners In 2006, U.S. Department of Justice, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs). Since the September 11 attacks, reincarceration rate has been rising in the United States. According to statistics, about two thirds of the inmates would commit a second crime within three years after releasing. Two out of three inmates would be caught again after their release and 40 percent would be put behind bars again.

[JURIST] A US Green Beret was found not guilty [press release] at court-martial Wednesday of murder and mutilating a dead body [UCMJ texts] in connection with the March 2008 killing of an Afghan man near Hyderabad, Afghanistan. Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Joseph Newell of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) [official website] was charged [JURIST report] last September in connection with the death, which occurred after a driver whom Newell had stopped for questioning lunged, prompting Newell to shoot him twice. The military jury deliberated for about four hours before returning its verdict. The Fay Observer has more.

In 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] released documents [JURIST report] describing multiple 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.

[JURIST] US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano [official profile] has called for a review [materials] of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website] workplace immigration raid [press release] that occurred in Bellingham, Washington on Tuesday. In a Wednesday hearing, Napolitano told lawmakers that she was not made aware of the raid which resulted in the arrest of 28 foreign nationals, adding:

In my view, we have to do workplace enforcement [and] it needs to be focused on employers who intentionally and knowingly exploit the illegal labor market. That [behavior] has impacts on American workers, it has an impact on wage levels, [and it] often has undue impact on the illegal workers themselves. Our ICE efforts should be focused on those sorts of things.

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official profile] announced [materials] on Wednesday that the Committee is set to begin hearings on the creation of a truth commission charged with investigating the national security policies of the George W. Bush [JURIST news archive] administration. Speaking on the Senate floor, Leahy called the hearing “Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry,” and said that the panel's primary focus would be on harsh interrogation tactics, extraordinary rendition [JURIST reports] and the Bush administration's broad use of executive authority. Leahy said the purpose of the commission was to not to cast blame for the policies, but to learn from previous mistakes and to regain US authority on human rights:

Nothing has done more to damage America’s standing and moral authority than the revelations that, during the last eight years, we abandoned our historic commitment to human rights by repeatedly stretching the law and the bounds of executive power to authorize torture and cruel treatment. As President Obama said to Congress and to the American people [on Tuesday] "if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that for too long we have not always met” our responsibilities. But what the President said about the economy also holds true here, “it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment” that we will be able to move forward. How can we restore our moral leadership and ensure transparent government if we ignore what has happened?

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] released a new report [text, PDF; report materials] on Thursday stating that Germany's bans on religious clothing and symbols, particularly those focused on the headscarves [JURIST news archive] worn by Muslim women, are discriminatory and violate international human rights standards. The report details the impact that the ban has on autonomy and the rights to privacy, self-expression, and religion. HRW argues that the bans violate international obligations and addresses the direct effects they have on the lives of Muslim women who wear headscarves:

After examining the laws and policies in the eight German states that restrict the wearing of religious symbols, and how they are applied in practice, Human Rights Watch has found that they contravene Germany's international obligations to guarantee individuals the right to freedom of religion and equality before the law. These laws (either explicitly or in their application) discriminate against Muslim women, excluding them from teaching and other public sector employment on the basis of their faith.

These regulations are not abstract concerns. The restrictions have a profound effect on women's lives, as was described by women affected who spoke to Human Rights Watch. In those states with bans in effect, women wearing the headscarf are not permitted to work as teachers. Immediately after the new laws came into effect, teachers were asked to remove the headscarf and were reprimanded if they refused to do so, and in some cases even dismissed. Teachers, some with many years of employment, have been threatened with disciplinary action if they continue to wear the headscarf, and have been subject to disciplinary action in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wurttemberg.

[JURIST] Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic [TrialWatch profile; ICTY case backgrounder, PDF] on Thursday was acquitted [judgment summary, PDF; press release] of all charges [case materials] of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive]. Also Thursday, five other former high-ranking Yugoslav officials were convicted for crimes against humanity by the ICTY. Of the five, former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic [BBC profile], Yugoslav Army General Nebojsa Pavkovic and Serbian Police General Sreten Lukic were each sentenced to 22 years in prison, and former Yugoslav Army General Vladimir Lazarevic and Chief of General Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic [BBC profile] were each sentenced to 15 years in prison. The charges stemmed from crimes allegedly committed during the 1999 ethnic conflicts [State Department backgrounder] in Kosovo [JURIST news archive], which included the deportation of 800,000 Kosovar Albanian civilians and the forcible transfer, murder and persecution of Kosovar Albanians at the hands of Serbian troops. The ICTY held that Milutinovic had not substantially contributed to the criminal enterprise and that he did not have actual control over these forces.

Milutinovic took over as president of Serbia [JURIST news archive] in 1997 after Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] ended his presidency, but Milutinovic reportedly continued to stay in close contact with Milosevic and carry out his policies. The Milutinovic trial was one of the largest and most complex in the ICTY's history as it included testimony from over 235 witnesses and included over 4,300 exhibits. The ICTY has indicted nine of the most senior Serb and Yugoslav officials for the crimes committed during the Kosovo conflict. In total the Tribunal has indicted 161 people for human rights violations allegedly committed in the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001, and 116 of the proceedings have been completed.

[JURIST] The US State Department (DOS) [official website] on Wednesday released its 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [DOS materials]. Announcing the release [Flash video; statement text], Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the new Barack Obama administration is seeking to both improve the US rights record at home and to continue to promote the recognition and protection of human rights around the world. In its introduction [text] to the reports, which covered almost 200 countries, the Department noted that many countries still abuse basic human rights, that those abuses are generally emblematic of deep-routed problems within the political structures of those countries, and that more robust political systems lead to the better respect of human rights:

Each country report speaks for itself. However, some broad, cross-cutting observations can be drawn.

One: In 2008, pushback against demands for greater personal and political freedom continued in many countries across the globe. A disturbing number of countries imposed burdensome, restrictive, or repressive laws and regulations against NGOs and the media, including the Internet. Many courageous human rights defenders who peacefully pressed for their own rights and those of their fellow countrymen and women were harassed, threatened, arrested and imprisoned, killed, or were subjected to violent extrajudicial means of reprisal.

Two: Human rights abuses remain a symptom of deeper dysfunctions within political systems. The most serious human rights abuses tended to occur in countries where unaccountable rulers wielded unchecked power or there was government failure or collapse, often exacerbated or caused by internal or external conflict.

Three: Healthy political systems are far more likely to respect human rights. Countries in which human rights were most protected and respected were characterized by the following electoral, institutional, and societal elements:

Free and fair electoral processes that include not only a clean casting and honest counting of ballots on election day, but also a run-up to the voting that allows for real competition and full respect for the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association;

Representative, accountable, transparent, democratic institutions of government, including independent judiciaries, under the rule of law to ensure that leaders who win elections democratically also govern democratically, and are responsive to the will and needs of the people; and

Vibrant civil societies, including independent NGOs and free media.

[JURIST] A judge in Lebanon on Wednesday granted bail to three men suspected of involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. The judge did not explain why he released [YaLibnan report, AP report] them within days of the planned start-up date for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SLT) [UN backgrounder]. Of the three men, who have been detained for three years, Mahmoud and Ahmed Abdel-Aal are Lebanese brothers whose phone records allegedly link them to the bombings, and are members of a pro-Syrian Sunni Muslim group. Ibrahim Jarjoura is a Syrian who was arrested for allegedly misleading the investigation. Four more suspects, who are high ranking Lebanese generals, are still being held. The SLT is expected to request their transfer [Lebanon Daily Star report] to The Hague within two months.

Created by UN Security Council Resolution 1757 [text] in May 2007, the SLT will commence [JURIST report] operations in The Hague on March 1, but has not yet issued any indictments. Investigation of Hariri's assassination have increased tensions between Lebanon and Syria, because the UN International Independent Investigation Commission's report [text] implicated Syrian officials [YaLibnan report] in the killing.

[JURIST] The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official website] on Wednesday found three former guerrilla leaders guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity [press release] for their roles in the country's civil war. Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao are the three highest-ranking surviving Revolutionary United Front (RUF) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] leaders, after founder Foday Sankoy died before being tried in 2003. Of 18 charges, Sesay and Kallon were found guilty of 16 offenses and Gbao was found guilty of 14 offenses. The SCSL was unable to convict any of the three men of murder or taking hostages, and Gbao was also found not guilty of conscripting child soldiers or murdering peacekeepers because his alleged actions were not sufficiently widespread and systematic to rise to the level of war crimes or crimes against humanity. The SCSL also held that they were not responsible for the January 1999 attack on Freetown which resulted in over 5,000 deaths. The three are expected to be sentenced within in one month. The SCSL announced [press release] last week that this ruling would be its last.

The Sierra Leone civil war [UNAMSIL backgrounder] ended in 2002 after eleven years, during which the RUF allegedly killed and mutilated civilians, forcibly recruited child soldiers, and forced many from their homes as villages were burned and destroyed. In 2002, the UN and Sierra Leone jointly established [text, PDF] the Special Court to try the leaders believed to be responsible. In October 2007 [JURIST report], the SCSL sentenced two former leaders of the Civil Defense Forces to serve six to eight years for "murder, cruel treatment, pillage, and collective punishment." In July 2007 [JURIST report], three former leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council were sentenced to 45 years imprisonment on counts of rape, murder, mutilation, pillage, and abducting children to force them to work as soldiers and diamond laborers.