[JURIST] A jury of US Marines acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer [JURIST news archive] Thursday of one count of murder and one count of dereliction of duty for his involvement in the shooting death of a detained Iraqi insurgent during a Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-Iraq) [official website] November 2004 offensive in Fallujah [JURIST news archive]. Weemer's defense lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense [AP report]. The jury deliberated for more than four hours before reaching their verdict. Weemer would have faced life in prison, had he been convicted of murder.

In July 2007, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) [official website] announced investigations of at least 10 Marines [JURIST report] in connection with the Fallujah offensive after Weemer admitted during a polygraphed job interview with the US Secret Service that he had witnessed indiscriminate killings in Fallujah. Weemer was charged [JURIST report] in March 2008. The charges against Weemer followed December 2007 charges against Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson for murder and dereliction of duty, and August 2007 charges [JURIST reports] against former Marine Sgt. Jose Nazario for voluntary manslaughter in connection with the same incident. Nazario was acquitted [JURIST report] by a civilian jury in August. Nelson pleaded not guilty in December and is currently awaiting court-martial proceedings.

[JURIST] Officials in North Korea [JURIST news archive] announced Thursday that the country would revise its constitution [text]. The announcement came during a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) [Reuters backgrounder] attended by the country's leader, Kim Jong-Il. According to the North Korean state media outlet Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) [media website], the measure to "approve and supplement" the constitution was approved by a unanimous vote [KCNA report] of the SPA. The SPA meeting was Kim's first public appearance [BBC report] since August 2008, when he was rumored to have suffered a stroke. The decision to revise the constitution has been interpreted [Yonhap report] as a move to arrange a plan of succession for the leadership of the country.

North Korea recently launched long-range test missile [BBC report], sparking an international outcry and possible UN sanctions. The country has also come under fire for the detention and prosecution [JURIST reports] of two American journalists alleged to have illegally entered North Korea from China. North Korea has been accused of using the captured journalists as pawns [JURIST op-ed] in policy disputes with the US. North Korea has ranked [JURIST report] among the countries with the least protection for press freedoms. The North Korean regime has been the subject of considerable international pressure over its refusal to fully disclose [AP report] its past nuclear activity. The US removed North Korea [WP report] from the State Department's list of terror sponsors [text] in October after former president George W. Bush agreed [JURIST report] to the step following the communist state's handover of a report on its nuclear program to China, one of the countries participating in the so-called Six Party Talks [CFR backgrounder] on the North Korean program. In February 2007, North Korea agreed [JURIST report] to end its nuclear weapons program, shut down and seal any reactors, and completely declare the extent of its nuclear activities in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel.

[JURIST] The French National Assembly [official website, in French] on Thursday defeated a controversial internet piracy bill [materials, in French] that would have cut off internet access for those who repeatedly illegally download copyrighted material. Under the bill, which won preliminary parliamentary approval [JURIST report] last week, any internet user tagged by an ISP as downloading the material would initially receive a warning, followed by up to a one-year ban for the second offense. Users would be responsible for controlling the use of their own connections, and the High Authority for the Distribution of Works and the Protection of Rights on the Internet [materials, in French], referred to as "Hadopi" by local media, would use discretion in determining whether to ban offending users. After receiving initial parliamentary approval for the bill last week, the passage of the measure was apparently seen as such a certainty by politicians that few lawmakers were present to vote [AP report], and the bill was defeated by a vote of 21-15.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [organization website], representing the worldwide recording industry, has welcomed the legislation [press release], while French consumer interest group UFC-Que Choisir [advocacy website] has denounced it [press release, in French] as ineffective. The assembly began considering the bill [JURIST report] in March after it passed through the French senate in October 2008, following in the wake of other nations' attempts to balance protecting copyrighted materials with privacy concerns. In December, the Recording Industry Association of America [association website] dropped a number of lawsuits against illegal file-sharers after some of the defendants counter-sued the association [JURIST reports] for tactics it used to track their internet use. In January 2008, the European Court of Justice [official website] held [judgment; JURIST report] that telecommunication companies operating in Spain were not obligated to disclose the identities of internet users suspected of illegal file sharing. In July 2007, a Belgium court ordered a file sharing website to filter or block access [JURIST report] to users sharing copyrighted material.

[JURIST] The Court of Appeal of Fiji ruled Thursday that the country's appointment of a military government following a 2006 coup [JURIST report] was unconstitutional and must be replaced immediately by an interim prime minister until democratic elections can be held. Ousted Fijian prime minister Laisenia Qarase [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] brought the challenge against a November High Court decision finding that current President Ratu Josefa Iloilo [official profile] had the authority under the Fijian constitution [text] to appoint new leaders following Qarase's ouster. The Court of Appeals denied Qarase's request to be reinstated as prime minister, instead urging the president to appoint an independent interim prime minister to dissolve the current parliament and schedule elections. Current Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama [BBC profile] responded in a televised address to the nation [transcript] that the government has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, though an application to stay the declarations of the Court of Appeals pending appeal was denied. Bainimarama said that Iloilo will soon announce whether the government will comply with the court's instruction to appoint interim leadership, adding that security forces will "ensure that there will be no disruption to law and order." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a call [statement text] for the nation to respect human rights and the rule of law.

In September, Qarase made additional charges that Bainimarama and others who participated in the December 2006 military coup had committed treason [Fiji Daily Post report] by ousting Qarase's democratically elected government. Later that month, Qarase tried to make a statement [JURIST report] to police regarding the allegations, but they said they would not investigate the charges. Qarase then brought the suit [JURIST report] in October. Less than two days after the coup, a previous interim prime minister installed by the military characterized the coup as "illegal" [JURIST report], but defended it as necessary. Qarase's case was heard in the High Court by a three-judge panel led by Acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates, who was appointed [press release] after Bainimarama suspended former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The UK Ministry of Justice (MOJ) [official website] on Wednesday began the second stage of a consultation [text, PDF; press release] on giving certain prisoners the right to vote based on the length of their prison terms, seeking public input on what the maximum allowable term should be. The UK has long banned prisoners from voting [statute text] in elections, but the European Court of Human Rights [official website] ruled [text; JURIST report] in 2005 that the blanket ban violated the right to free elections protected by the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text]. The MOJ said that even though earlier public input on the issue weighed heavily against granting voting rights to any prisoners, it was bound by the court's decision and must decide to which prisoners to grant the right:

As well as taking account of the results of the first consultation paper, in taking steps to implement the judgment the Government must act in a way compatible with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: so any approach will need to be within the margin of appreciation afforded to signatory states in applying Convention rights. And the Government must take careful account too of the practical implications of enfranchisement for institutions where individuals are held; for the courts; and for the effective delivery of elections.

In the light of these considerations, and given the serious and difficult issues at stake, the Government has reached the preliminary conclusion that to meet the terms of the judgment a limited enfranchisement of convicted prisoners in custody should take place, with eligibility determined on the basis of sentence length.

[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Thursday issued rulings [press release] in four cases ordering Russia to pay a total of €282,000 to compensate six families who claimed government agents abducted their Chechen relatives between 2001 and 2003. In three of the four cases, Dokayev and Others v. Russia, Dzhabrailova v. Russia, and Malsagova and Others v. Russia [judgment texts], masked men clad in camouflage and armed with machine guns abducted five men from their Chechen Republic homes in 2002 and 2003. In the fourth case, Gaziyeva and Others v. Russia [judgment text], masked men abducted a man in February 2001 while he was stopped at a military roadblock. In each case, the court found that Russian state servicemen had abducted the victims, whom the court presumed to be dead. The court held Russia liable in all four cases for violating the disappeared men's rights to life, protection from inhuman treatment, and protection from unacknowledged detention under the European Convention on Human Rights [Articles 2, 3, and 5 text]. In three cases, the ECHR also found that Russia failed to provide an effective remedy during investigations into the disappearances, in violation of Article 13. Under Article 43 of the ECHR treaty, any party to the case has three months to request that a panel of the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court review the judgments before they become final.

The ECHR has repeatedly ruled against Russia in human-rights cases involving Chechnya. In March, the court ordered Russia [JURIST report] to pay €37,000 to a Russian national for the death of her husband, who was chopping wood when Russian troops killed him in 2000. In December, the court determined [JURIST report] Russia had violated the human rights of six other Chechens who disappeared between 2001 and 2003, and ordered Russia [ECHR news release] to pay the victims' families €320,000. Last May, the court held Russia responsible [JURIST report] for the disappearance of a dozen others from Chechnya in 2002 and 2003.

[JURIST] A Lebanese judge on Wednesday ordered the transfer of documents related to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive] to a UN tribunal created to investigate and try suspects in the killing. Judge Sakr Sakr's order [AFP report] comes in response to a request [order, PDF; JURIST report] issued last month by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) [official website] that Lebanese authorities "defer to the Tribunal's competence" by turning over the results of the Lebanese investigation and a list of all persons detained in connection with the 2005 assassination. Sakr's order also lifts arrest warrants for four generals held since 2005 in connection with the case, though they will remain in jail in Lebanon pending an STL decision. STL registrar Robin Vincent [official profile, PDF] said in February that it plans to ask the Lebanese government to transfer the generals [Daily Star report; JURIST report] to the tribunal. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1757 [text, PDF; JURIST report], which established the tribunal, STL assumed exclusive jurisdiction [Daily Star report] over the case after making the request.

In March 2008, lead prosecutor Daniel Bellemare [Ya Libnan profile] said he believed a criminal network was behind the assassination [JURIST report]. The investigation into the assassination has been extended past its original anticipated end date and expanded [JURIST reports] to cover other assassinations in the country. Several reports from the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) [authorizing resolution; UN materials], also headed by Bellemare, have implicated Syrian officials [JURIST report] in Hariri's death.

[JURIST] South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) [official website] leader Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday called on the Judicial Service Commission [governing statute text] to conduct a review of the country's Constitutional Court [official website], saying the court has too much power and had abused its authority. Zuma also criticized the country's judiciary and prosecutors for pursuing corruption charges [JURIST report] against him, in what he said was an attempt to undermine his leadership [Pretoria News report] of the ANC. Earlier this week, the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) [official website] decided to drop the charges [JURIST report] against Zuma, but opponents have criticized the move [Star report]. A spokesman for the Congress of the People [party website] party said that if Zuma is able to weaken the Constitutional Court, it would not be able restrain his use of power should he become president in upcoming elections.

The NPA's decision to drop the charges against Zuma came at the end of a long legal battle. In January, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa [official website] reinstated the charges against Zuma, which had been invalidated [JURIST reports] in September. In July, the Constitutional Court rejected a motion [JURIST report] by Zuma to exclude evidence from the corruption trial. Zuma had argued [JURIST report] that evidence seized in 2005 raids by the Directorate of Special Investigations should be thrown out because the raids violated his rights to privacy and a fair trial. The court upheld the warrants used in the raids, confirming a November 2007 decision [JURIST report] by the Supreme Court of Appeal. Zuma was first charged with corruption in 2005, but those charges were later dismissed [JURIST report] because prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) [official website] on Wednesday denied [opinion, PDF] in part a motion to dismiss lawsuits against some companies accused of assisting South Africa's apartheid-era [JURIST news archive] government can go forward. The lawsuit, brought by a class of thousands of South African plaintiffs against several companies under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) [text], alleges the companies were complicit in the oppression of the black majority by doing business with the country during apartheid. In denying defendants' motion to dismiss, Judge Shira Scheindlin rejected [AP report] arguments by the US and South African governments that the lawsuits could harm relations between the two countries. All claims against IBM, Ford Motor Co., Daimler, General Motors Corp., and Rheinmetall Group [corporate websites] were not dismissed [BBC news report] based on arguments that the companies knew their products would be used to support apartheid. Scheindlin also dismissed claims against certain companies for "merely doing business with the apartheid government of South Africa."

The case was returned to the SDNY after the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] affirmed [text, PDF] a Second Circuit judgment [opinion, PDF] in May on the rare grounds that it lacked a quorum [JURIST report] due to four recusals. The Second Circuit's decision allowed the ATCA action to go forward to trial [JURIST report], but had dismissed additional claims filed under the Torture Victims Protection Act [text]. The Supreme Court's recusals were statutorily required [text] because several justices had financial conflicts, but raised fairness concerns and brought about discussion as to possible effects on future cases.

[JURIST] UN and Cambodian officials failed to reach an agreement Wednesday on a system for monitoring corruption issues in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website]. UN assistant secretary-general for legal affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen presented a proposal [UN News Centre report] to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An [official profile], but no agreement has been reached [Phnom Penh Post report]. Taksoe-Jensen had meet with Sok An, who also chairs the Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials [official website], during the past week to discuss his system which would allow ECCC personnel to deliver complaints to the ethics monitor of their choosing without the fear of reprisal. In presenting the proposed anti-corruption mechanism, Taksoe-Jensen stressed the need to deal with allegations of corruption in the ECCC as the tribunal began [JURIST report] its first substantive trial of a former Khmer Rouge [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] leader last month. Taksoe-Jensen has left a proposal for Sok to consider, saying he believed they were close to an agreement but that further negotiations would not continue.

The ECCC was intially created by Cambodia under a 2001 law [amended text, PDF] to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials. The ECCC plans to try as many as eight suspects [JURIST report] for their roles in the Khmer Rouge, but rights groups have warned that the trials could face credibility and corruption [JURIST reports] problems. Some believe that such allegations of corruption are a leading cause of the ECCC's extreme financial difficulties, discouraging potential donors from contributing funds. Despite Japan's pledge [JURIST report] of an additional $21 million in January, it is feared that the court may go bankrupt. The ECCC announced last June that it planned to end its operations [JURIST report] a year early because of limited funding.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] upheld [text, PDF] Wednesday a lower court decision denying the habeas corpus petition of former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega [BBC backgrounder, JURIST news archive] and authorizing his extradition to France. The court held that Noriega was precluded from invoking the Geneva Convention [text] as a source of rights in a habeas proceeding by § 5 of the Military Commission Act of 2006 (MCA) [text, PDF]. Noriega alleged that although he could not use the Convention as a source of rights for purposes of a judicial proceeding, the Convention was not abrogated in its entirety, and sought to enforce the provision requiring his repatriation at the end of his confinement against the Secretary of State, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Department of Justice. The court reasoned:

Accordingly, the plain language of § 5 of the MCA, which is clearly supported by its legislative history, precludes Noriega’s Geneva Convention claims. As the Geneva Convention is Noriega’s only substantive basis for relief he has failed to state a claim upon which habeas relief could be granted.