[JURIST] Bavaria's Secretary of Justice Beate Merk told reporters Saturday that the deportation of Nazi prison camp guard John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile; JURIST news archive], does not amount to torture. Demjanjuk was recently charged with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder [JURIST report] by German prosecutors for his alleged involvement at the Sobibor [Death Camps backgrounder] concentration camp. On Friday, he won a ruling in a US immigration court [NYT report] that suspended his deportation to Germany pending an appeal of the original case that ordered his expulsion from the US. Demjanjuk's lawyers had argued that deportation would subject Demjanjuk to mental and physical pain that would amount to torture because of his deteriorating health and Germany's intent to place him in prison. Merk called the delays cynical and intolerable [AP report], and said she was unsure how the case would go forward.

Demjanjuk has fought a lengthy legal battle over his alleged involvement with Nazi death camps during World War II. In May 2008, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in Demjanjuk v. Mukasey [order, PDF; JURIST report], ending the appeals process for his deportation order. Demajanjuk was appealing a 2005 ruling [JURIST report] by then-US Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy ordering his deportation. Demjanjuk had previously lost an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals [DOJ backgrounder]. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied Demjanjuk's petition for review [text, PDF] in January 2008. In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death by an Israeli court which found that he was a notorious guard from Treblinka nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible." The sentence was vacated by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993, and Demjanjuk returned to the US.

[JURIST] The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] on Friday strongly criticized [AFP report] the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] investigation into possible war crimes that were committed during recent fighting in the Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder]. In an interview with a reporter, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the probe is an attempt to demonize Israel and that it has no moral ground. Palmor also condemned the UNHRC as unreliable and having the worst history of all the organizations within the UN. The criticism came the same day that the UNHRC announced the appointment [press release; JURIST report] of South African judge Richard Goldstone to head the fact-finding mission. Israel has not said if it will cooperate with the probe, which was originally approved [AFP report] by the UNHCR in January.

The probe follows a previous report [text, PDF; JURIST report], authored by UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk [appointment release], which criticized Israel for failing to take adequate precautions to distinguish between civilians and combatants in their offensives in the region. Both Israel and the US criticized the report, calling the rapporteur's views "anything but fair." An internal Israeli military investigation found earlier this week that war crimes had not been committed [JURIST report] in the offensive despite individual reports by Israeli soldiers. Israel has already disputed [JURIST report] a previous report to the UNHRC that accused it of human rights violations. In January, the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] said that it lacked standing [JURIST report] to investigate possible war crimes in Gaza.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] may lift travel and money transfer restrictions with Cuba [State Department backgrounder; JURIST news archive], according to statements by administration officials Saturday. The new rules [AP report] would allow Americans with family members in Cuba to make unlimited trips to the country and would permit them to send unrestricted amounts of money for support, the officials said. Currently, Americans with family in Cuba are limited to one visit per year and can transfer $300 per quarter to each household in Cuba that receives funds. Despite the relaxation of policy with Cuba, Obama is not expected to ask Congress to lift the trade embargo [Treasury Department materials] with the communist nation, which has been in place since 1962 after Fidel Castro took power. While the actions are generally seen as a fulfillment of a campaign promise made by Obama, some oppose the removal of restrictions [WSJ report] because it does not speak out against the Castro regime.

Earlier this year, Congress approved legislation that relaxed rules put in place by the Bush administration in 2004 [JURIST report]. Previously US residents were only allowed to visit relatives on the island once every three years. In February, a bill [H.R. 874 materials] was introduced [JURIST report] into the US House of Representatives [official website] that would end the ban on travel by US residents to Cuba. A similar bill [S. 428 materials] is pending in the US Senate [official website]

[JURIST] A senior judge in the UK House of Lords [official website] on Friday criticized [BBC report] the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website], saying the court has overstepped its bounds and is attempting to create a "federal law of Europe." In a recent lecture, Lord Hoffman [BBC backgrounder], the second senior law lord, said that attempts by the ECHR to influence UK domestic law should not be allowed. Hoffman also said that such attempts have led to the court's accumulation of more than 100,000 cases. Ultimately, Hoffman emphasized that he agrees with the European Convention of Human Rights [text], but not the court that executes it.

Hoffman, who is set to retire when the UK Supreme Court opens later this year [JURIST report], has been involved in disputes within the courts before. Hoffman's 1982 ruling that ordered a freelance journalist to disclose sources for an article published in The Engineer magazine was appealed and the case was thrown out by the ECHR in 1989. In 1998, Hoffman failed to disclose ties with Amnesty International [advocacy website] before the House of Lords made a ruling on whether former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] should be granted immunity. This led to an unprecedented overruling [Independent report] of the law lord's decision that Pinochet should not be granted immunity.