[JURIST] The Moscow Military District Court on Friday rejected a petition by prosecutors to allow further investigation into the 2006 shooting death of journalist Anna Politkovskaya [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. The retrial of three men acquitted [JURIST report] of involvement in her death began [JURIST report] earlier this week with the prosecution asking that the case against Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and Ibragim Makhmudov be combined with an investigation against other suspects, including Rustam Makhmudov, the brother of Dzhabrail and Ibragim, who is thought to be in hiding under an alias. Judge Nikolai Tkachuk denied the petition [RIA Novosti report], allowing the trial to proceed. Reporters Without Borders [advocacy website] sharply criticized [press release] the decision:

We are utterly dismayed by the Russian judicial system's inability to demonstrate any determination to solve this murder. There could not have been a worse decision just weeks after Natalia Estemirova's tragic murder and just two months before the third anniversary of Politkovskaya's death. Impunity now reigns supreme in Russia.

This decision serves to confirm that nothing can be expected from this retrial. No light will be shed on the many questions left unanswered by the original trial. The retrial will be nothing more than an empty formality.

[JURIST] A Canadian Catholic diocese on Friday reached a proposed settlement agreement [text, PDF; press release] in a class action suit alleging that diocesan priests sexually abused children. Under the terms of the agreement, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish [diocesan website] would establish a CAD $12 million fund from which people who were abused by priests since 1950, or their estates, could be compensated for pain and suffering, the costs of necessary counseling, lost wages, and legal costs. At a Friday press conference [statement text] with lead plaintiff Ron Martin, Bishop Raymond Lahey [diocesan profile] formally apologized to the victims and their families, and called the agreement a "symbolically important" step toward reconciliation:

I believe that in this Settlement, by avoiding adversarial procedures, we have created a fair and respectful process. We have worked together to achieve genuine mutual agreement. To the extent that we can, we want to correct the wrongs of the past. While we have not short-circuited due process—we have learned from other situations – and we have been very sensitive to ensure a procedure of verification that is truly respectful.

[JURIST] Voters in Niger overwhelmingly approved a referendum Friday establishing a new constitution that would allow President Mamadou Tandja [BBC profile] to remain in office. Among the new constitution's changes is the abolition of a presidential two-term limit, allowing Tandja to remain in office for three more years [AFP report] and to run in any subsequent elections. Tandja argued that continuation of his presidency is necessary to the completion of economic development projects in the Saharan country, including a uranium mine and a dam on the Niger River. The new constitution will also allow the president to appoint one third of the members [CBC report] of a newly-created Senate, and to establish a media-monitoring position that would have the authority to jail reporters thought to present a threat to the country. The vote was held [JURIST report] on Tuesday, with the Elections Commission claiming that the referendum passed with 92 percent of the vote [BBC report] and that voter turnout was more than 68 percent. The opposition group Coalition of Forces for Democracy and Republic (CFDR), which had encouraged a popular boycott [AP report] of the referendum on constitutional grounds, disputes the figures [press release, in French], saying that overall turnout was less than 5 percent.

In June, opposition leader Bazoum Mohamed of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) [party website] accused Tandja of committing a coup d'etat [JURIST report] by annulling the West African country's Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ruled [Pana report] in May that plans to hold a referendum on allowing a third term violated the 1999 Constitution [text, in French]. Tandja responded to the ruling by dissolving parliament and assuming emergency powers.

[JURIST] The German Constitutional Court [official website, in German] ruled [judgment, in German; press release, in German] Thursday that children can be required to attend sex education classes, despite parents' religious objections. The suit was brought by Baptist parents [DW report] who were fined €80 after keeping their two sons home from a school program on sexual abuse and another event celebrating Carnival. The court found that even though religious freedom is a fundamental right, there is also a very strong government interest in compulsory education. The court found that the school was "neutral and tolerant" toward the parents' religious beliefs and therefore did not violate the fundamental right.

Germany has been criticized for restricting religious freedom by banning headscarves [JURIST news archive] worn by Muslim women. In February, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] said that Germany's bans on religious clothing and symbols are discriminatory [JURIST report] and violate international human rights standards. Headscarves have been the topic of fierce debate in Germany since teacher Fereshta Ludin [Pluralism Project backgrounder] filed suit after being denied a job in Stuttgart in 1998. Ludin argued that the German constitution guaranteed her right to wear the headscarf. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2003 that under then-current laws, she was correct, but it also noted that individual states could pass laws banning the headwear. Currently headscarves are prohibited in nine of the 16 German states, including in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria [JURIST reports]. Baden-Wuerttemberg initially banned headscarves from schools in 2004 [JURIST report], becoming the first state in Germany to do so.

[JURIST] The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of the Interior [official websites, in Portuguese] announced Friday that the country will accept two Syrian [press release, in Portuguese] Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees in order to aid US efforts to close the facility. According to the statement, US special envoy Daniel Fried met with Portuguese officials in Lisbon and presented a specific request that Portugal accept the two detainees. Portuguese officials determined that accepting the detainees would not violate Porguese law and said:

The hosting of the Guantanamo detainees in Portugal is part of a shared effort with other European partners.

The closing of the Guantanamo detention center has an undeniable range. This is a milestone for the revitalization of the transatlantic relationship and a victory for all those who advocate and promote respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Wednesday refused to accept [order, PDF] a $33 million settlement agreement [press release] reached this week between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] and Bank of America [corporate website]. The SEC charged BOA on Monday with misleading investors [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] regarding billions of dollars paid to Merrill Lynch [corporate website] executives during the acquisition of the firm. The complaint alleged that, during the merger of the companies, the agreement for BOA to allow Merrill Lynch to pay discretionary bonuses was located in a separate document that was not disclosed prior to the shareholders' vote on the merger. The agreement allowed Merrill Lynch to pay up to $5.8 billion of the $50 billion merger consideration as executive bonuses. Ultimately, $3.6 billion in bonuses were paid to Merrill Lynch executives despite record losses in 2008. BOA agreed to settle with the SEC and pay a $33 million penalty but did not admit or deny the allegations. Judge Jed Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] rejected that settlement, ruling that it could be unfair to the public, noting that the basis of the $33 million figure is unspecified. Rakoff set a hearing for Monday.

The recent economic downturn has led to numerous SEC financial fraud suits. On Thursday, former American International Group (AIG) [corporate website] executives agreed to settle [press release; JURIST report] a suit [complaint, PDF] brought by the SEC alleging their involvement in inflating the company's reported financial records. On Tuesday, General Electric Co. (GE) agreed to settle [JURIST report] for $50 million an SEC suit which alleged that the company misled investors in regards to its financial statements.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Thursday rejected [opinion, PDF] an appeal from an Internet domain owner seeking to recover $10 million in damages from an online marketer under the federal CAN-SPAN Act [text, PDF]. James Gordon had recruited his friends and relatives to collect thousands of unsolicited emails as evidence that Virtumundo, Inc., had violated the federal law limiting the activities of so-called "spammers." The US District Court for the Western District of Washington [official website] granted summary judgment [order, PDF] to Virtumundo in May on the grounds that Gordon had not suffered "adverse effects" within the meaning of CAN-SPAM. The Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's decision, finding that Gordon was not an "Internet access service" (IAS) provider, and that therefore the limited right of private action in the the Act did not provide him with standing to sue. Writing for the court, Judge Richard Tallman said:

[O]ur review of the congressional record reveals a legitimate concern that the private right of action be circumscribed and confined to a narrow group of private plaintiffs. [T]his demonstrates to us that lawmakers were wary of the possibility, if not the likelihood, that the siren song of substantial statutory damages would entice opportunistic plaintiffs to join the fray, which would lead to undesirable results. While Congress did not intend that standing be limited to fee-for-service operations, we think it did intend to exclude plaintiffs who, despite certain identifying characteristics, did not provide the actual, bona fide service of a legitimate operation.

[JURIST] An indigenous tribe in Indonesia on Thursday filed a $30 million lawsuit against a subsidiary of US mining company Freeport-McRoRan Copper & Gold [corporate website] for numerous environmental and human rights violations. The Amungme people are suing PT Freeport [corporate website, in Indonesian] for damages to their ancestral lands [Jakarta Globe report] in the Papua province, claiming that they are the rightful owners of the 2.6 million hectares on which the mine is located because the 1967 contract between the Indonesian government and Freeport was executed without their approval. The plaintiffs also allege that they were promised an annual fee of $1 million that was never received. Also named as defendants are the Indonesian government and PT Indocopper Investama, an investment company with a stake in Freeport. The South Jakarta District Court appointed a judge to seek a mediated settlement between the parties.

Freeport's Indonesian facility is the world's largest gold mine. It has been a frequent target [AP report] of environmental and human rights groups. The mine has been the site of several recent violent attacks. Last month, charges were filed [NYT report] against two mine employees after a series of ambushes and attacks left three dead and several others wounded.

[JURIST] Chinese authorities on Friday executed [Xinhua report] the former head of the company that owns the Beijing Capital International Airport, after he was convicted of bribery and embezzlement. Li Peiying, former chairman of the Capital Airports Holding Company [corporate website], was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of accepting bribes of 26.61 million yuan (USD $3.9 million) between 1995 and 2003 and embezzling 82.5 million yuan for personal use between 2000 and 2003. His death sentence was upheld last month by the Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court and was reviewed by the Supreme People's Court. Also this week, the Chinese government executed beauty parlor owner Du Yimin [Xinhua report] for defrauding investors out of 700 million yuan (USD $102.5 million), and Si Chaxian [AFP report], for defrauding investors out of 167 million yuan (USD $24 million).

Last month, anti-death-penalty group Hands Off Cain [advocacy website] said that although the number of countries with capital punishment, as well as the total number of executions was down in 2008 [report] from the previous year, China continues to account for more executions [JURIST report] than any other country. In 2008, the country executed at least 5,000 people, or more than 87 percent of the world's total. China said last month that it plans to reduce [China Daily report] the number of executions it conducts, reserving the death penalty for only a small number of severe crimes.

[JURIST] Japan's first jury trial since World War II ended Thursday, with the Tokyo District Court [official website, in Japanese] convicting Katsuyoshi Fujii of murder. A mixed panel of six lay and three professional judges sentenced [Kyodo News report] the 72-year-old Fujii to 15 years in prison for killing his neighbor in May. Fujii's trial began [JURIST report] Monday after the six lay judges were selected [Mainichi Daily News report] from 47 candidates summoned to court. Fujii pleaded guilty, though his lawyer said he may appeal the severity of the sentence. In Japan, murder sentences range from five years in prison to death. Demonstrators had gathered outside the court on Monday to protest the new system that may require them to stand in judgment of fellow citizens, which they believe violates the constitutional principles of freedom of thought and conscience.

Japan has revamped its criminal-trial system, which had been presided over only by professional judges, in order to make the trial process more efficient and transparent. In 2004, Japan's parliament, the National Diet, enacted the Lay Assessor Act [materials, PDF; Ministry of Justice backgrounder], which impanels professional and lay judges to decide and sentence capital cases and cases involving an intentional death. Panels can be made up of three professional judges and six lay judges or one professional judge and four lay judges. For their verdicts to stand, lay judges need the concurrence [BBC report] of at least one professional judge. The lay-judge system was to go into effect May 1, but 20 members of Japan’s parliament formed a group in April to delay [JURIST report] the system’s implementation.

[JURIST] The security company known formerly as Blackwater Worldwide [official website; JURIST news archive] and its former CEO and founder Erik Prince illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq, indiscriminately killed Iraqi civilians, and committed a number of other crimes, according to sworn affidavits of two former employees filed this week in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website]. The affidavits of John Doe #1 [text, PDF] and John Doe #2 [text, PDF], filed Monday, allege that Prince fraudulently ran his corporations to avoid tax liability, encouraged the killing of Iraqis, deployed men he knew to be incompetent to handle lethal weaponry, provided his men in Iraq illegal weapons such as grenade launchers and ammunition that would explode after entering a target, illegally sold weapons, knowingly failed to stop the use of prostitutes &mdash including child prostitutes &mdash by his employees, and that Blackwater frequently used unnecessary force against Iraqis. Both John Does refused to give their real names, hinting that Blackwater had killed at least one other person who planned to testify against it. The affidavits were filed as part of a brief [text, PDF] opposing Blackwater's motion to dismiss [text, PDF] lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against by families of slain Iraqi civilians. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday. Blackwater, which is now named Xe, will respond [CNN report] to what it has termed false allegations in a brief that will be filed August 17.

Blackwater ended its operations in Iraq [JURIST report] in May. In February, a judge rejected a jurisdictional challenge [JURIST report] by five Blackwater employees accused of killing 17 Iraqis [JURIST report] in September 2007. The five guards were indicted [text, PDF; JURIST report] in December on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence. The guards pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in January. A sixth guard pleaded guilty [text, PDF] to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the same incident.

[JURIST] The US plans to implement large-scale changes to its immigration detention system, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website] announced [press release] Thursday. According to ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton [official profile], the goal is to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in jails and jail-like facilities, to improve the living conditions of detainees, and to make sure the detainees' rights are not violated. To this end, Morton announced the creation of an Office of Detention Policy and Planning (ODPP), which will be charged with overseeing the location and operation of detention facilities, ensuring that detainees have access to health care, and taking steps to prevent the persecution of detainees. Morton also announced that the controversial T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center [ICE fact sheet] would cease to hold families, and proposed turning it into a center for women only. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] called the closure of the family detention facility "extremely welcome and long overdue," but claimed [press release] that the measures announced Thursday "failed to address a number of holes in the system." Similarly, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) [advocacy website], which last month issued a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] criticizing ICE, said [press release] Thursday's announced measures "are indicative of movement toward better protecting due process rights of detainees." However, the same statement said the measures "closely resemble policies already in place, and are insufficient." The plan is expected to be implemented over several years [WSJ report].

Since its creation in 2003, ICE has been criticized for many of the methods it uses to capture and detain illegal immigrants. Last month, the Immigration Justice Clinic [academic website] at the Cardozo School of Law released a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] saying that immigration agents have committed numerous constitutional violations during raids on immigrants' homes. In February, the clinic reported that ICE documents [text, PDF] obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [5 USC § 552 text; JURIST news archive] show that Bush administration immigration enforcement tactics were both overly-aggressive and ineffective [JURIST report]. Earlier this month, the US Department of Homeland Security [official website] announced changes to immigration policies [press release; JURIST report] for state and local agencies. The new policies create uniform standards for local agencies that will require them to pursue all criminal charges leading to an immigrant's arrest prior to initiating removal proceedings.