[JURIST] German legislators in the lower house of the Bundestag [official website, in German] Thursday approved a bill [text, PDF, in German] that criminalizes training in terrorist camps, among other provisions. Under existing law, prosecution of an individual for involvement in a suspected terrorist organization requires membership in the organization or support of it. The proposed legislation seeks to broaden the definition of those who can be prosecuted to include those residing in a training camp of a suspected terrorist group. The bill also broadens other aspects of punishable terrorist involvement to include financing and other means of support not previously covered. By encouraging early intervention into potential terrorist activity, the bill aims to reduce the threat of attacks against Germany and the international community. According to the text of the legislation, motivation for drafting the law stemmed from the arrest of three 9/11 [JURIST news archive] hijackers who lived in Germany before the attacks. The proposed legislation must still be passed by the upper house.

Last year, the lower house of the Bundestag passed [JURIST report] an anti-terrorism measure to expand the federal police power to include online and telephone surveillance. In February, 2008, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court [official website] ruled that a 2006 North-Rhine Westphalia [official website, in German] law authorizing intelligence agents to search personal computers, networks, and Internet communications was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. The court ruled [text, in German; press release, in German] that the law violated privacy rights, but said similar methods might be appropriate in limited, compelling circumstances, such as if a life was in danger or to prevent an immediate terrorist attack.

[JURIST] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] on Thursday denied [order, PDF] Belgium's request to compel Senegal to extradite former Chadian president Hissene Habre [BBC profile]. Belgium had accused Senegal of violating international law, including Article 7 of the Convention Against Torture [text], by not trying Habre in Senegal, where he has lived under house arrest since 1990. In April, Belgium asked [JURIST report] the ICJ to force Habre's extradition under Belgium's universal jurisdiction [AI backgrounder, PDF]. The ICJ found that assurances made by Senegal that Habre would remain in custody until trial were sufficient and that "the risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by Belgium is not apparent." Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade [official profile, in French] warned last year that he would need $27 million [HRW backgrounder] in order to prosecute Habre, and has asked the international community for that funding.

Belgium filed the suit [ICJ press release; JURIST report] in February asserting the ICJ must intervene because Belgium and Senegal were in dispute over Habre's prosecution. In October, lawyers for Habre filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [official website] to prevent his trial for crimes against humanity in Senegal from moving forward. Fourteen citizens of Chad and Senegal filed complaints [JURIST report] with a Senegalese prosecutor in September alleging Habre committed war crimes and torture. In August, Chad convicted and sentenced Habre to death in absentia [JURIST report] for crimes against the state but did not seek extradition. Since 2005, Belgium and Senegal have been engaged in a legal battle over Habre because Senegal has long refused extradition [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The Tokyo High Court [official website, in Japanese] granted an appeal Thursday to consider 30 people for official recognition as atomic bomb victims, ruling that 9 of the plaintiffs who were previously denied should receive the status. Officials said that the government will consider revising [AP report] the way it determines which atomic bomb survivors are to receive free medical care pursuant to the court order. Although the court rejected the plaintiffs' requests for damages of 3 million yen each, the ruling would provide monthly allowances, free medical care for ailments related to atomic bomb radiation, and funeral costs. Reasoning that the current standards for determining victim status may underestimate the effects of radiation, the court ruled that afflictions such as chronic pain from shrapnel, cirrhosis hepatitis and decreased thyroid activity should be recognizable ailments [Mainichi Daily News report]. The court rejected the claims of one of the 30 plaintiffs on the grounds that the ailments suffered were too attenuated from radiation exposure. High court Judge Tatsuki Inada criticized the government's criteria for being inflexible.

US atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945 killed approximately 210,000 people and left many survivors with various radiation-related ailments. In 2006, the Hiroshima District Court ruled [JURIST report] that 41 survivors of the atomic bombings were incorrectly denied benefits as sufferers of radiation sickness although, like the recent plaintiffs, the victims were denied damages. In 2005, a Japanese high court held [JURIST report] that a survivor of the atomic bombings living abroad was entitled to the same benefits as survivors living in Japan without having to return to the country to file claims.

[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] Secretary-General Irene Khan said Thursday that the global economic crisis is exacerbating [press release] the world's human rights failures, urging governments to "invest in human rights as purposefully as they are investing in economic growth." Khan spoke at the release of the 2009 Annual Report [text, PDF; materials], which says that wealthy nations have overlooked "massive human rights abuses, entrench[ed] poverty and endanger[ed] regional stability," while attempting to assemble economic recovery packages. The report noted that growing wealth inequality in many parts of the world has been widened by the economic crisis, and that "the numbers of people living in poverty and subjected to human rights abuse are likely to grow ... in a recessionary economic climate." Developments in the US, including the June 2008 ruling [JURIST report] by the US Supreme Court [official website] in Boumediene v. Bush [Duke Law backgrounder] and a January decision by US President Barack Obama [official profile] to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility [JURIST report] tempered AI's continued criticism of human rights abuses resulting from the "war on terror."

Previous annual reports, including the 2008 report [JURIST report], have condemned human rights violations reported in the US "war on terror." The 2007 report [JURIST report] was critical of the US and other "Western democratic states" for attempts "to roll back some fundamental principles of human rights" in their efforts to fight terrorism. The 2006 report [JURIST report] reached similar conclusions, and suggested that Western powers had overlooked human rights violations due to a preoccupation with security. Concern for violence against women, persecution of human rights activists, the rights indigenous peoples and the use of the death penalty in criminal prosecutions also continue to be major themes in the Annual Reports.

[JURIST] A US federal judge Wednesday sentenced [DOJ press release] the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) [ADL backgrounder; case materials] and five of its officials pursuant to their convictions of providing material support to Palestinian group Hamas [BBC backgrounder]. District Judge Jorge Solis sentenced Shurki Abu Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh to prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years and reaffirmed the jury's $12.4 million judgment against the group. The parties were convicted [JURIST report] in November under the "material support" provision of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act [text], which provides that money in the hands of a terrorist organization, even if for charitable purposes, supports the organization's terrorist objectives. Their convictions also included conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to impede and impair the IRS, and filing false tax returns. Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris said that the sentences "should serve as a strong warning to anyone who knowingly provides financial support to terrorists under the guise of humanitarian relief." Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' deputy political leader, claimed the ruling was politically motivated [AP report].

HLF, once the largest Muslim charity in the US, was shut down in 2001 by federal prosecutors who accused the group of financing international terrorism by supporting Hamas. The group and officials were originally charged [original indictment, PDF; JURIST report] in 2004 on 42 counts of conspiracy, dealing in the property of a specially designated terrorist and various other charges. The group defended themselves on the grounds that the charity's funds were used solely to help Palestinians in need [JURIST report], but the prosecution maintained that the group was in place only to funnel money used to support Hamas through Palestinian schools and charities.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council [official website] adopted a resolution [text, DOC] Wednesday "welcoming the conclusion of hostilities" in Sri Lanka, but failing to call for an investigation into war crimes committed during the conflict. Adopted during the 11th special session on human rights [materials], the resolution condemned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [JURIST news archive] attacks on civilian populations and use of human shields, and acknowledged the Sri Lankan government's commitment to "provide access as may be appropriate to international humanitarian agencies." The resolution did not address allegations [press release] made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile; JURIST news archive] and others that war crimes may have been committed by both sides of the 25-year civil war [BBC timeline], which resulted in more than 70,000 deaths. Sri Lankan Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka [official profile] said [press release] that the was "no rationale for this Special Session with a regular session just a few days away" except to appease those countries and commissioners who had accused the government of war crimes.

The international community has expressed concerns about human rights violations during and after the Sri Lankan conflict. On Saturday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] released a joint statement [text] granting humanitarian groups access to aid internally displaced persons, which Rajapaksa rejected [JURIST report] on Sunday. Last week, the Council of the European Union [official website] called for an independent inquiry [conclusions, PDF; JURIST report] into possible war crimes committed during fighting between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE. In March, the Sri Lankan Government denied [JURIST report] Pillay's allegation that 2,800 civilian deaths caused by recent military action against the LTTE may constitute war crimes. In February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] alleging that both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are guilty of human rights violations. Earlier this year, Pillay condemned [press release; JURIST report] the deteriorating conditions of those trapped in the Vanni region, and called for investigations and prosecutions for the killings and other human rights abuses.

[JURIST] The photographs of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] that US President Barack Obama [official website] does not want to release include depictions of rape and sexual assault, according to former US Major General Antonio Taguba on Wednesday. In an interview [text] with the Daily Telegraph, Taguba maintained support for Obama's decision [JURIST report] not to release the photos, maintaining that doing so would endanger US troops. In April, the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] agreed to release [JURIST report] at least 44 photographs of alleged detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan pursuant to a court order [order, PDF]. After lobbying from senior military officials and meeting with White house lawyers, Obama reversed the decision to release the photos based on concerns for the safety of US troops. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy group] criticized [press release] Obama's decision, claiming that it contradicted the administration's desire to restore transparency and moral standing. Taguba addressed the ramifications of releasing the photographs, saying:

I am not sure what purpose their release would serve other than a legal one and the consequence would be to imperil our troops, the only protectors of our foreign policy, when we most need them, and British troops who are trying to build security in Afghanistan. The mere description of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it.

[JURIST] The Knesset [official website], Israel's parliament, on Wednesday approved 47-34 the preliminary reading of a bill that would punish public statements likely to "cause an act of hatred, scorn or disloyalty to the state" with one year in prison. Introduced by MK Zevulun Orlev [official profile] of the Habayit Hayehudi [party website, in Hebrew] party, the bill is aimed at criminalizing public statements that could threaten the Jewish and democratic nature of the country. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) [advocacy website] called the measure "draconian," saying [Jerusalem Post report] that the measure is one that "delegitimizes legitimate public debate, and whose goal is to silence free debate on important questions."

The measure is the latest in a series of controversial bills introduced by conservative members of the Knesset. ACRI also criticized [press release] a bill introduced by Israel Beytenu [party website] MK Alex Miller [official profile] and passed [press release] by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday that would criminalize marking Israeli Independence Day as a day of mourning, a practice known as Nakba. Israel Beytenu also introduced a bill Sunday that would require all first-time ID card recipients to pledge a loyalty oath to a "Jewish, Zionist, and democratic" Israel. Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League [advocacy website], in an interview with the New York Jewish Week, said that the proposals were discriminatory [report].

[JURIST] A disciplinary panel of judges ruled Wednesday that former US District Court judge Samuel Kent [official profile] engaged in conduct that constitutes grounds for impeachment [certification letter, PDF], and urged prompt action on the matter. Kent, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice [JURIST report] for lying about allegations of sexual harassment of two female assistants, had sought to retire on disability and retain his yearly salary [AP report]. The council denied that request. Under the plea agreement, Kent will serve 33 months in prison [JURIST report] and pay both a fine and restitution.

Kent's plea prevented him from becoming the first federal judge to go on trial for sexual harassment. He was indicted last August, and was initially charged with the sexual harassment of his former case manager. Charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of his secretary were added [ABA Journal report] in January. In 2007, the American Bar Association (ABA) [professional association] adopted new policies reforming the Model Code of Judicial Conduct [JURIST report], which for the first time included prohibitions against sexual harassment.

[JURIST] The Myanmar court hearing the trial of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has rejected the defense's request to call four witnesses. While the prosecution has been allowed to call 14 witnesses, Suu Kyi's lawyers will only be permitted one defense witness [BBC report], who is scheduled to testify Thursday. Suu Kyi's lawyers believe that the decision by the court indicates the end of the trial is near, merely nine days after it began [JURIST report]. If convicted of breaking the terms of her house arrest, Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison.

News of Suu Kyi's trial has been met with criticism from numerous agencies and governments around the world. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] has called the charges [HRW report] against Suu Kyi, "trumped up." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand [official website, in English] released a statement through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations calling for the immediate release of Suu Kyi [statement, PDF], a call echoed by US President Barack Obama [official statement].