[JURIST] The US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) [DOJ backgrounder] denied Friday the emergency stay of deportation filed by accused Nazi prison camp guard John Demjanjuk [NNDB profile; JURIST news archive]. In March, a Munich district court charged [JURIST report] Demjanjuk with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder for his alleged involvement at the Sobibor [Death Camps backgrounder] concentration camp. Demjanjuk had filed the emergency stay of deportation denying the allegations and stating he was a Russian soldier held by the Nazis as a prisoner of war. Friday's decision [AP report] makes it likely that Demjanjuk will be extradited to Germany.

Last week, a US immigration judge revoked a stay of deportation [JURIST report] issued for Demjanjuk. The stay had been ordered [AP report] after Demjanjuk filed a motion to reopen his case. The immigration judge ruled [AFP report] that the stay had been ordered in error and revoked it, stating the motion should have been filed with the BIA. Demjanjuk has fought a lengthy legal battle over his alleged involvement with Nazi death camps during World War II. In 2008, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in Demjanjuk v. Mukasey [order, PDF; JURIST report], ending the appeals process for his deportation order. Demjanjuk was appealing a 2005 ruling [JURIST report] by then-US Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy which ordered his deportation. Demjanjuk had previously lost his appeal to the BIA. Additionally, 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 US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday refused [opinion; PDF] a petition for an en banc rehearing by former Ukranian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], who had been on trial for money laundering and embezzling, allowing several of his convictions to stand. In September, the appeals court vacated [opinion, PDF] Lazarenko's nine-year sentence [JURIST report], setting aside five counts of wire fraud and a single count conviction for interstate transportation of stolen property. The court affirmed the conviction on eight counts and remanded to the lower court for resentencing. On Friday, the court denied Lazarenko's petition for an en banc rehearing, granted in part his petition for a panel rehearing, and issued a new opinion affirming and reversing the same counts and remanding for resentencing.

Lazarenko, who sought political asylum in the US during the 1999 Ukrainian presidential elections, is accused of defrauding and laundering at least $114 million from Ukrainian businesses and government projects between 1996 and 1997. Originally convicted [JURIST report] by a federal jury in 2004, 15 of the original 29 charges against Lazarenko were later dismissed [JURIST report], but the most serious charges were sustained. The former Ukrainian leader has been under house arrest in the US since his conviction.

[JURIST] A New York state appeals court ruled [decision text] Thursday that a same-sex partner lacks standing to assert parental rights over the biological child of her partner unless she has adopted the child. The ruling limits parental rights under NY Domestic Relations Law § 70 [text] to biological or adoptive parents, following precedent set in the 1991 case of Allison D. v. Virginia M. [decision text]. The trial court had rejected that precedent and ordered a hearing to determine whether the plaintiff's relationship with the child was tantamount to that of a parent. Amicus curiae briefs in favor of the hearing were submitted by the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Social Workers' New York State Chapter, the National Association of Social Workers' New York City Chapter, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the New York Civil Liberties Union [advocacy websites].

Thursday's decision comes shortly after a New York court ruled that a same-sex surviving spouse was entitled to inheritance [JURIST report], an outgrowth of New York's 2008 legal recognition of all out-of-state same-sex marriages [JURIST report]. This mandate supported an intermediate appellate court ruling [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that legal same-sex marriages performed outside the state are entitled to recognition in New York. In September, the a New York judge dismissed [decision and order; JURIST report] a challenge to the directive.

[JURIST] Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] has called on Uganda to end what it said was the use of torture and unlawful arrest [text, PDF; press release] by the country's Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATT). According to HRW, JATT engaged in 106 documented cases of illegal or prolonged detentions between August 2008 and February 2009, and employed torture methods against both Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] rebels and political opponents of the government. HRW said in its report released Wednesday that the JATT used the tactics in the name of combating terrorism, but was still violating international law:

The manner in which JATT carries out its operations-deliberate efforts to conceal arresting officers' identities and affiliations, disorienting suspects by blindfolding them while in transport, failing to inform detainees of the reason for their arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, and interrogations involving torture-reflects what appears to be a flawed policy on alleged rebel or terrorist activity, which includes committing serious violations of national and international law.

[JURIST] Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo [official profile] announced Friday that he was suspending [statement text] the country's constitution [text], and revoking the appointment of all judicial officers, after the Fiji Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled [JURIST report] his appointment of military officer Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama [BBC profile] as Prime Minister unconstitutional. Iloilo had appointed Baininmara following a 2006 coup [JURIST report], but the Court of Appeal ordered him to appoint a civilian replacement for Baininmara until democratic elections could be held. Iloilo said that despite the action, other existing laws would continue to be enforced and that he would reconstitute the country's judiciary in coming days. He also said that Friday's moves were necessary to preserve law and order and to allow him to enact certain reforms before future election, saying the decision:

not only gives certainty but provides stability and the opportunity to carry out reforms which are crucial before true democratic elections can be held. In this respect I believe that a period of 5 years is necessary for an interim government to put into place the necessary reforms and processes.I shall also direct the soon to be appointed Interim Government to hold true democratic and parliamentary elections by September 2014 at the latest.

[JURIST] CIA director Leon Panetta [official website] on Thursday outlined new techniques [press release] to be employed by the agency in their detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists. The new policies include discontinuing the use of contractors to conduct interrogations and a renewal of the agency's pledge to comply with President Barack Obama's executive order [JURIST report] to discontinue the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. The statement also detailed the agency's plans to enact the closure of so-called black sites, pursuant to the same executive order. The release stated that while the CIA retains the authority to detain individuals on a short-term basis:

[The] CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites and has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining sites. I have directed our Agency personnel to take charge of the decommissioning process and have further directed that the contracts for site security be promptly terminated. It is estimated that our taking over site security will result in savings of up to $4 million.

[JURIST] The US has been slow to conduct habeas corpus hearings [JURIST news archive] for Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees despite a June 2008 US Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] mandating prompt hearings, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said in a Thursday report [text, PDF; press release]. The group said that since the ruling, only 12 detainees have received the hearings, and that only one detainee has actually been released since President Barack Obama's January order to close the facility [text, JURIST report] within one year. The group also said that the country has too narrowly construed the court's invalidation of section 7 of the Military Commissions Act [text, PDF] by only allowing detainees to challenge their unlawful detentions and not pursue allegations of unfair treatment, harsh conditions, or secret transfers. The group called for the release of those detainees not facing criminal charges:

Amnesty International considers it unacceptable that any Guantanamo detainee continues to be held without criminal charge followed without further undue delay by a fair trial. It therefore continues to call on the administration to immediately release any detainee not charged with a recognizable criminal offence for trial under fair procedures in existing District Courts.

Amnesty International reiterates that the USA should offer release into the USA to detainees who are not charged, cannot be returned to their country of origin, and for whom there is no immediate, safe, lawful and appropriate third country solution, in order to bring their unlawful detention to an end.

[JURIST] The Bolivian National Congress [official website, in Spanish] approved [press release, in Spanish] Thursday the general framework of the electoral law [text, in Spanish] that the new Bolivian constitution [JURIST report] mandated within 60 days of its adoption. Earlier Thursday, Bolivian President Evo Morales [official website; BBC profile] declared himself on hunger strike [YouTube video, in Spanish; AP report] until congress passed the law since the 60-day period decreed in the constitution had lapsed Wednesday. The law, which will regulate election of the congress, president, and vice-president of Bolivia, also seeks to adopt remedial actions for the disenfranchisement of indigenous groups and women from the political system. Under the proposed law, congressional candidate rosters must feature alternating male and female candidates, and Bolivians living outside the country would be entitled to vote. Specific details of the law are yet to be agreed upon as the opposition demands further changes to address their concerns. Senate [official website, in Spanish] opposition members have strongly objected to the proposed 14 congressional seats reserved for indigenous groups and the referendum on autonomous regions. In addition, they demanded a revision of the electoral roll to ensure transparency in the upcoming elections. General elections must now be held on December 6 of this year, and regional elections on April 4, 2010.

In February, Bolivia's new constitution went into effect, after being approved [JURIST reports] by national referendum in January. Other measures adopted by the constitution include land reform and regulations [JURIST report] on single farms to limit acreage to 12,400 and placing economic and social requirements on them.