[JURIST] Twenty-six men suspected both of plotting numerous attacks in Egypt [government website; JURIST news archive] and of having links to Hezbollah [JURIST news archive] were transferred Sunday to an emergency state court that deals specifically with terrorism and state security. Four of the men remain at large, among them group leader Mohammed Qubyan. In April, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah claimed that one of those detained, Mohammed Yusef Mansur, was a Hezbollah agent tasked with smuggling weapons into Palestine [Middle East Online report].

In February, Egypt made notable use of its emergency laws [EOHR backgrounder] and courts when it sentenced opposition leader Magdy Ahmed Hussein to two years in prison following a trial carried out under the laws that have been in effect since the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and were renewed [JURIST report] in May 2008. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] sharply criticized the renewal [JURIST report], saying the move showed "contempt for the rule of law." Egypt has used security courts extensively against members of the Muslim Brotherhood [party website; JURIST news archive].

[JURIST] UN Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations [official website] Dmitry Titov [official profile] has called conditions in a Goma, Congo prison "inhumane" and said that it is the worst in Africa. Although built for 150 prisoners, the facility now holds 850. In a June riot the prisoners are reported to have raped some 20 women [EU press release]. Titov was on a working visit [MONUC press release] to the DRC to evaluate its prison system.

The current conflict in the DR Congo has been one of the most deadly in the world, claiming an estimated 45,000 lives [Guardian report] per month. Several prominent figures in the conflict - including ex-militia leaders Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and Jean Pierre Bemba - are currently facing prosecutions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for atrocities.

[JURIST] Chief Justice of the High Court of Justice in Gaza [JURIST news archive] Abdul Ra'ouf al-Halabi Sunday announced an order requiring female lawyers to wear traditional religious robes and headscarves or hijab [JURIST news archive] for any court appearances. The order, originally issued July 9, also establishes new guidelines for male lawyers. The decision has been criticized for establishing different courtroom garb rules for Palestinian areas in Gaza and the West Bank. In a statement Sunday the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights [advocacy website] said [press release] the decision also "violates the constitution and the law and undermines women's rights and personal freedoms ensured by the constitution," adding that the the Higher Justice Council in Hamas-controlled Gaza is unconstitutional because "its mandate derogates from the authorities of the Higher Judicial Council, which had already been established in accordance with the constitution." The decision will take effect on September 1 and coincides [Haaretz report] with a series of other Muslim religious laws that have been approved recently in Gaza.

Two parallel governments have been established in the territory of the Palestinian National Authority as a result of infighting between Hamas [JURIST news archive; CFR backgrounder] the secular Fatah Movement [BBC backgrounder], which currently holds the West Bank. Hamas began to replace [JURIST report] the Gaza courts in 2007 when the judiciary in the strip stopped cooperating with the Hamas government on orders from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, which was elected as the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority in 2006, has refused to distance itself from terrorism or recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation-state, resulting in increased ostracism by the United States, the European Union, and Israel.