[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Thursday called on the US government [press release] to make "fundamental changes to reduce civilian casualties" in Afghanistan after attacks last week reportedly left more than 140 civilians dead. HRW said that a review announced by chief of the US Central Command General David Petraeus [official profile] must result in "measures that genuinely minimize civilian loss of life." HRW called on the US to heed international laws of war, under which attacks cannot be indiscriminate or cause disproportionate civilian loss.
On Friday, US Marine Corps Commandant General James Conway said that the investigation will show [AP report] that the Taliban [JURIST news archive], not US air strikes, are responsible for the civilian deaths.

Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga [official website], the lower house of the Afghan parliament, on Monday demanded that restrictions be placed on foreign forces to avoid further civilian casualties before recessing in protest of recent air strikes. Wolesi Jirga secretary Abdul Sattar Khawaasi said that parliament has given the government one week to come up with a plan to regulate US and other foreign troops [Reuters report]. Afghan President Hamid Karzai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] also called for an end to US air strikes [CNN report] last week. US President Barack Obama's national security adviser retired Gen. James Jones told ABC Sunday that the US would not end air strikes [interview transcript].

[JURIST] US officials said Friday that Algerian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Lakhdar Boumediene [BBC profile] has been released and sent to France [DOJ press release]. Boumediene was the named plaintiff in the US Supreme Court case Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF; JURIST report], in which the Court held that Guantanamo detainees could challenge their imprisonment in federal court through the use of habeas corpus motions. Last week, the French government confirmed that it would accept Boumediene after French President Nicholas Sarkozy told US President Barack Obama [official profiles] at an April meeting that the country would accept one Guantanamo prisoner as part of a symbolic measure [JURIST report] to assist in the closing of the facility. The framework for the agreement was established at the first meeting between the two heads of state, at which Sarkozy congratulated Obama on his January decision to order the closure of Guantanamo [executive order; JURIST report].

Obama's order directed that the military prison be closed "as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order." The order did not specify where detainees would go upon release, but did call for diplomatic efforts with foreign states in order to facilitate the closure of the facility. Last week, a spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry [official website, in German] said that the US has asked Germany to take in up to 10 detainees [JURIST report]. In April, UK Minister of Justice Jack Straw reiterated his country's willingness to accept Guantanamo detainees [JURIST report] in order to speed the closure of the facility. In March, top officials from the Obama administration met with leaders from the European Union (EU) [official website; JURIST news archive] to discuss plans to transfer [JURIST report] Guantanamo Bay detainees to European countries. Individual member states have also indicated their openness to accepting detainees, including Lithuania, Ireland, and Portugal [JURIST reports]. Other states have expressed reservations about accepting detainees, including Poland and Spain, while Italy [JURIST reports] and the Netherlands [AFP report] have said they will not accept detainees.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] announced Friday that he is reinstating the controversial military commission system [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] to try some Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees. Obama said that there will be changes to the system to increase defendants' rights, including barring statements obtained under harsh interrogation methods and making it more difficult to introduce hearsay evidence. The administration will also seek a 90-day continuance of pending proceedings to implement the new rules, ask Congress to make changes to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [text, PDF] to give defendants expanded rights. Obama said [statement text]:

Today, the Department of Defense will be seeking additional continuances in several pending military commission proceedings. We will seek more time to allow us time to reform the military commission process. The Secretary of Defense will notify the Congress of several changes to the rules governing the commissions. The rule changes will ensure that: First, statements that have been obtained from detainees using cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation methods will no longer be admitted as evidence at trial. Second, the use of hearsay will be limited, so that the burden will no longer be on the party who objects to hearsay to disprove its reliability. Third, the accused will have greater latitude in selecting their counsel. Fourth, basic protections will be provided for those who refuse to testify. And fifth, military commission judges may establish the jurisdiction of their own courts.

These reforms will begin to restore the Commissions as a legitimate forum for prosecution, while bringing them in line with the rule of law. In addition, we will work with the Congress on additional reforms that will permit commissions to prosecute terrorists effectively and be an avenue, along with federal prosecutions in Article III courts, for administering justice. This is the best way to protect our country, while upholding our deeply held values.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] urged the US [NYT op-ed] Wednesday to hold accountable those accused of committing torture under the Bush administration. Pillay welcomed the US as a new member of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] and lauded decisions by US President Barack Obama [official website] to ban torture and close CIA prisons [JURIST report] and to review detentions [JURIST report] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], but said that the US should hold accountable anyone who committed human rights abuses:

Although much more needs to be done, President Obama's determination to resolve the untenable situation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, ban C.I.A. prisons and implement the prohibition on torture in compliance with international standards is highly welcome. The U.S. should also shed light into the still opaque areas that surround capture, interrogation methods, rendition and detention conditions of those alleged to have been involved in terrorism, and ensure that perpetrators of torture and abuse are held to account.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that the insurance company for defense contractor CACI International’s [corporate website] has no duty to defend or indemnify CACI against claims of torture at Iraq prisons such as Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive]. CACI conceded that its insurance policy from St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. generally covered the intelligence contractor only in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico but argued that its policy covered some claims involving CACI employees who were abroad for a "short time" on business. The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court decision [opinion, PDF], writing that St. Paul would have a duty to defend CACI from lawsuits "if there is any potential that the policies would cover the claims alleged in the underlying complaints." The court determined that abuses and injuries alleged in Iraq in two complaints filed against CACI did not occur in the territory CACI's policy covered because "it is the location of the injury — not of some precipitating cause — that determines the location of the event for purposes of insurance coverage." The court also determined that the complaints' allegations "make it difficult to infer that those engaged in [repetitive] activities were present in Iraq only for a few days." Thus, the complaints' allegations "foreclose the possibility of coverage under the territorial provision or 'short time' exception of the policies."

In 2003, CACI contracted with the US government to provide intelligence services in Iraq. CACI agreed to interrogate prisoners at Abu Ghraib. CACI took out an insurance policy with St. Paul that indemnified CACI for up to $2 million. In 2004, two groups of former Iraq detainees sued [JURIST report] CACI. One complaint alleged CACI engaged in a conspiracy to commit torture, and the other complaint alleged CACI engaged in a "multi-year pattern of criminal conduct." CACI has faced several lawsuits from detainees. In March, a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] ruled [order, PDF] that CACI is not immune from a lawsuit [JURIST report] brought in 2008 by Abu Ghraib detainees, denying CACI's motion to dismiss.

[JURIST] German Social Democratic Party (SPD) [party website, in German] lawmakers said Thursday that they will not support a recently proposed bill that would ban paintball in response to a March school shooting that left 16 dead [BBC report], including the 17-year-old gunman. The move came just two days after they had agreed on the proposal along with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) [party website, in German]. Instead, lawmakers may conduct an inquiry into changing age requirements [AFP report] or placing other restrictions on the activity. Current German law requires that participants be at least 18 years of age. Supporters of the ban have argued that paintball promotes gun violence [DW report] by simulating killing, while opponents have argued that it is just a sport. Lawmakers plan to continue working on other measures [Local report] designed to strengthen gun control.

Less than a week after the March shooting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official profile] said in a radio interview [transcript, in German] that the German government must more strictly enforce its gun-control laws [JURIST report]. Under German law, stored guns must be locked [DW report] in safes. Merkel asked parents and educators to be vigilant in keeping guns out of children's hands and mentioned the possibility of random checks to make sure weapons are properly stored. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble [BBC profile] said last week that tightening Germany's gun-control laws would not eliminate youth gun violence [Reuters report]. Schaeuble called Germany's gun-control laws among the world's strictest [Reuters report].

[JURIST] Russian Foreign Ministry [official website, in Russian] spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko said Thursday that Russia has proposed changes [statement, in Russian] to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) [text; backgrounder]. The 1990 treaty restricts the number of troops and heavy weapons that can be stationed between the Atlantic coast and Russia's Ural mountains. Russia suspended [JURIST report] its responsibilities under the CFE in November 2007 amid tensions between the US and Russia over US plans for an anti-missile defense shield in central Europe. Nesterenko said, "Russia believes that the chances of returning to the viability of the Treaty remain." He said that Russia has proposed negotiating revisions to the treaty with the US and that other NATO countries were also welcome to join in the talks.

In 1999, a newer version of the CFE was signed, but it was never ratified by NATO countries. In April 2008, then-president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [official website; JURIST news archive] said that Russia would resume participation in the CFE [JURIST report] if Western nations ratified the 1999 version. The NATO-Russia Council has urged [statement] Russia to end its moratorium on the CFE and pledged to address the country's national security concerns.