[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] has distanced himself from remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] in which he characterized the US as a "nation of cowards" on race matters, according to an interview [NYT report] with the New York Times published Saturday. Holder made the statement [text; JURIST report] during a Justice Department (DOJ) [official website] event commemorating Black History Month in February, and he has been criticized by some groups [VOA report] for the comment. In his interview with the Times, Obama said that Holder had made some good points in his speech, but that he would have advised the attorney general to use different language. Obama said that he believed the remaining racial tensions in the country could be best resolved by economic development and improved education and health care.

Earlier in February, the US Senate [official website] voted 75-21 to confirm [JURIST report] Holder as attorney general. Prior to becoming the attorney general, Holder served as a associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia [official website] and Deputy US Attorney General [archive materials] during the Clinton administration. Additionally, Holder served as acting attorney general during a brief period of the Bush administration before the confirmation of John Ashcroft [BBC profile].

[JURIST] Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Sunday continued to criticize foreign aid agencies he has expelled from the country, and threatened to expel remaining agencies, diplomats and peacekeepers in Sudan. Bashir has expelled 13 foreign aid agencies [VOA report] from Sudan after the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] last week issued a warrant [text, PDF] for his arrest. Human rights and other groups have urged Bashir [JURIST report] to allow the agencies to remain in the country, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] spokesman Rupert Colville has said that his office may investigate [JURIST report] whether Sudan's removal of the groups is a possible breach of human rights law or war crime. Bashir has said that he remains committed [JURIST report] to a peace deal his government has with opposition groups in the country despite the warrant, but warned that foreign nationals still in Sudan would have to obey his government or also face expulsion.

The ICC's warrant against Bashir includes [decision, PDF; JURIST report] seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The controversial arrest warrant [JURIST news archive] had been sought by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile], who in July filed preliminary charges [text, PDF; JURIST report] against Bashir alleging genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the Darfur region in violation of Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute [text]. The ICC announced last week [JURIST report] that they would decide whether to issue an arrest warrant on Wednesday. The announcement came after the New York Times reported [NYT report] last month that the warrant had been issued, leading a court official quickly to issue a denial [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Bangladeshi officials said Saturday that the government is considering trying by court-martial [JURIST report] the more than 1,000 border guards accused of participating in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) [official website] mutiny [BBC backgrounder], which killed dozens of top BDR officials, including the force's commander. Law Minister Shafique Ahmed [official profile] said the government would wait [Daily Star report] for an investigation report before deciding between prosecution under conventional law or special tribunal. Ahmed said BDR members could be tried under the Army Act 1952 [text], while outsiders could face charges under the International War Crime Tribunal Act 1973 or the Special Tribunal Act, which would require a constitutional amendment. The death penalty is available under each of these laws. The US has sent a two-person FBI team [bdnews24 report] to Bangladesh to assist the investigation.

Last week, police in Bangladesh charged [JURIST report] more than 1,000 members of the paramilitary BDR in connection with the mutiny. The incident comes in a time of difficult transition for Bangladesh. Voters elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December 2008, ending two years of military rule. In January, Ahmed declared [JURIST report] his government's desire to restore Bangladesh's 1972 constitution [text, PDF]. Prior to the elections, interim Bangladeshi president Iajuddin Ahmed signed [JURIST report] the Emergency Powers (Repeal) Ordinance of 2008, lifting a two-year state of emergency to allow for political campaigning. The state of emergency, declared in January 2007 [JURIST report], had suspended democratic rights throughout the country.

[JURIST] Former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Binyam Mohamed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] claimed in Sunday media reports that documents sent from MI5 [official website] to the CIA [official website] show that the British intelligence agency was involved with his alleged torture in Morocco [JURIST news archive]. Mohamed claimed [Daily Mail report] the documents reveal that MI5 fed the CIA questions that ended up in the hands of his Moroccan interrogators. A telegraph to the CIA dated November 5, 2002, reportedly has the heading, "Request for further Detainee questioning." Mohamed, a native of Ethiopa [JURIST news archive] who claims to have been transferred to Morocco for torture under a US program of extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive], said he obtained the documents through the US legal process while seeking his release from Guantanamo Bay. Conservative MP David Davis [political website] called for investigations [Telegraph report] into British collusion in torture.

Last week, the UK government's independent reviewer of terror laws called for a judicial inquiry [JURIST report] into British complicity in US rendition and torture. British media reported last week that UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak told British ministers that MI5 may have been complicit [JURIST report] in torture committed while detainees including Mohamed were in US custody. Mohamed was returned to the UK [JURIST report] last week following seven years of detention, including five at Guantanamo Bay, where he was held on charges of conspiring to commit terrorism. Those charges were dismissed [JURIST report] in October, but Mohamed remained in custody while US authorities considered filing new charges.