[JURIST] Former Guinean junta aide Lieutenant Aboubacar Cherif "Toumba" Diakite is the sole government official to blame for the killing of more than 150 civilians in Conakry [BBC backgrounder] in September, a commission created by Guinea's junta announced on Tuesday. The commission's conclusion contradicts a UN report [JURIST report] that blamed junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara [BBC profile], Minister for Special Services Moussa Tiegboro Camara, and Toumba for the September 28 slayings. According to the UN, there is evidence that all three men committed crimes against humanity and they could face prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Toumba is currently in hiding after a botched attempt to assassinate Camara [BBC report] this past December.

The Conakry incident stemmed from a pro-democracy demonstration against Camara, who intended to push elections forward three months and stand for re-election. In October, the ICC placed the Guinean military under preliminary investigation for human rights violations related to the Conakry incident, and the UN and Guinea both announced they were creating commissions to investigate [JURIST reports] the killings. Camara led a coup in December 2008 after the death of president Lansana Conte [BBC obituary]. The coup received mixed reactions among Guineans, some of whom welcomed [Washington Times report] a change from Conte's 24-year regime. Camara promised to remain in power only long enough to assist the country's transition to a new election in which he would not run himself. The international community decried the coup, and conditions inside the African country have since declined [HRW report] with a rise in violence and increasing crackdown on opposition.

[JURIST] Former UK international development secretary Clare Short told the Iraq Inquiry [official website] in a public hearing [transcript, PDF; video] on Tuesday that Former UK prime minister Tony Blair [official profile; JURIST news archive] was "misleading" and "deceitful" with the Cabinet and parliament regarding the Iraq invasion. Short rejected Blair's statements [official transcript, video] to the Inquiry last week, in which he claimed that there had been "substantive" discussion regarding the invasion, which led to an "endorsement" by the Cabinet. Short claims that Blair continually blocked the Cabinet from discussing the legality of the war and they were soon reduced to having "little chats." Short also stated that her warnings about the humanitarian crisis that would result from the invasion were ignored by Blair. In a 2003 letter [text, PDF] to Blair, Short outlined her reservations:

[The] situation of the Iraqi people [is] already extremely fragile. Any disruption could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. With some more time sensible measures can be taken to reduce these risks and improve Iraq's prospects for stability after conflict. Such measures would also help persuade the Iraqi people - as well as neighbouring countries and the British public - that we have their concerns at heart.

[JURIST] Iran will "soon execute" nine more Iranian citizens for their roles in last summer's post-election protests [JURIST news archive], according to a statement given by senior judiciary official Ebrahim Raisi to the Fars News Agency [official website] Tuesday. The nine protesters are charged with the capital crime of moharebeh, which means waging war against God. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi [JURIST news archive] has condemned the hangings and holds that they are aimed at intimidating protesters who are planning a demonstration on February 11 during the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. In an interview on his website [personal website], Mousavi stated that he plans to move forward with the demonstration because "peaceful protests are Iranians' right." Contrary to most reports, an Al Jazeera reporter in Tehran claims that a final decision on the executions has still not been reached [Al Jazeera report].

The news of the impending executions comes one day after top Iranian judge Sadeq Larijani said that any further executions of anti-government protesters will be based on the law [JURIST report] rather than on political pressure. The death sentences were issued last week, the same day two Iranian men identified as Momammed Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were executed [JURIST report] on similar charges. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] condemned [press release] the executions, saying, "[t]hese shocking executions show that the Iranian authorities will stop at nothing to stamp out the peaceful protests that persist since the election." The Iranian government has faced significant international scrutiny for its handling of the post-election protests and treatment of thousands arrested as a result. Last month, AI labeled [JURIST report] human rights violations committed by the Iranian government following the election among the worst of the past 20 years.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Togo [official website, in French] ruled Tuesday that presidential candidate Kofi Yamgnane [campaign website, in French] is not eliglble to run in the February 28 election. Yamgnane was to face incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe [official profile, in French; BBC profile] of the ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RTP) [party website, in French] party. The court rejected Yamgnane's bid over inconsistent records of his date of birth and conflicting immigration documents. Holding dual citizenship in France and Togo, Yamgnane's French documents show his date of birth to be October 11, 1945, while his Togolese documents show him to be born on December 31, 1945. Yamgnane asserts that the decision is a pretext to eliminate the most dangerous candidate to the ruling RTP party. Yamgnane is unable to appeal the final decision of the constitutional court. The court has accepted the eligibility of seven other candidates to run for president, including Gnassingbe.

Gnassingbe took office [JURIST report] in February 2005 immediately following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema [BBC obituary], who was president of Togo for 38 years and one of the country's longest serving leaders. Gnassingbe's unconstitutional succession to office [JURIST report] was met with international outcry. The Togo National Assembly [official website, in French] subsequently elected him as speaker, entitling him to his already appointed post of president, and further modified the constitution to remove the need for interim elections, allowing Gnassingbe to serve out his father's term until 2008. Later, Gnassingbe announced that he would hold elections [JURIST report] as required by the original Togolese constitution. As pressure mounted for Togo to hold democratic elections, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [official website] member countries imposed sanctions against Togo, and the National Assembly re-amended the country's constitution [JURIST reports] so that presidential elections could be held within 60 days. African leaders later lifted sanctions against Togo following Gnassingbe's resignation [JURIST report]. Togo's Parliament then named Abass Bonfoh, a member of the ruling party, as acting president. In May 2005 Togo's constitutional court confirmed Faure Gnassingbe as the official winner of the disputed presidential election [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] The Dutch Supreme Court [official website, in Dutch] on Tuesday reversed [press release, in Dutch] the 2008 acquittals of seven men charged with belonging to a terrorist network, ordering a new trial. The seven men, suspected of belonging to the Dutch Muslim Hofstad Network terrorist group, were originally convicted of planning attacks on Dutch politicians and were connected to the November 2004 murder [JURIST report] of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh [Independent obituary], but their convictions were later overturned [JURIST report]. According to the Supreme Court, The Hague Appeals Court failed to classify the Hofstad Network as a terrorist organization because it used too stringent a definition when assessing the existence of a criminal or terrorist organization. Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court's claim that terrorist offenses exist only when directed against vulnerable minority groups was not supported by law. The cases have been remanded back to the Amsterdam court.

The Hofstad Network included Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri [BBC profile], who confessed [BBC report] to the November 2004 murder of van Gogh. Bouyeri, who was sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report], said he killed van Gogh in response to his film, "Submission" [BBC report], which criticized the treatment of women under Islam.

[JURIST] A French court on Tuesday began the trial to determine the cause of the Air France Concorde jet crash [BBC backgrounder] outside Paris in 2000. French officials blame US-based Continental Airlines [corporate website] for the accident, alleging that a piece of metal fell off of a Continental plane and onto the runway, later causing the damage to the Concorde. The US carrier denies responsibility and claims that the Concorde caught fire before reaching the debris on the runway. Continental Airlines and two of the airline's employees are among the six defendants [CBC report] charged with manslaughter. Other defendants include two former high-ranking Concorde employees and the retired head of the French aviation authority. If convicted, the defendants could each receive up to five years in prison or a €75,000 fine. The trial, which is scheduled to last four months, has been met with criticism [Daily Mail report] for starting a decade after the accident, especially since the victims' families received settlements in 2001 and the Concorde jet was officially retired by all airlines in 2003.

More than 100 people died when Air France Concorde flight 4590 crashed into a hotel [BBC backgrounder] shortly after takeoff in July 2000. The French Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) [official website, in French] concluded [report, PDF] in 2004 that the crash was caused by a titanium strip that fell from the Continental Airlines flight and pierced the Concorde's tire.

[JURIST] The Nigeria-based Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP) [advocacy website] has submitted a letter [text, DOC] to International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] requesting an inquiry into the spate of religious violence [BBC report] that erupted in the city of Jos in January. SERAP lawyers argue that the ICC should investigate alleged unlawful killings and other human rights abuses that took place in violation of the ICC's Rome Statute [text]. The letter, dated last week, specifically calls upon the ICC to take the following action:

1. Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of the unlawful killing of at least 326 people and other crimes committed during the violence in Jos this month, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction. ...

2. Bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for crimes against humanity in Jos.

3. Urge the Nigerian government to fulfil [sic] its obligations under Article 86 of the Rome Statute to cooperate; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Jos, take testimony, and provide other support to the ICC.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled Tuesday that President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] will begin his second term in office on November 19, 2010. Rajapaksa won re-election [NYT report] last week with an 18-point victory over his opponent, retired general Sarath Foneska. The election was held two years before the scheduled end to Rajapaksa's first term in office, creating the question of when the president's second term should begin. Rajapaksa called for the election to be moved up in order to capitalize on the victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [JURIST news archive] in May, ending a 25-year conflict. Supporters of the president had argued that his second term in office should begin on November 19, 2011, at the conclusion of his first six-year term, and that the results of the most recent election did not affect the length of the original term. The Supreme Court, however, concluded [Hindu report] that the second term must begin within a reasonable amount of time in order to reflect the will of the voters. Rajapaksa is expected to meet with advisers [Xinhua report] over the next few days in order to dissolve the present parliament and order new parliamentary elections.

During his second term in office, Rajapaksa will have to continue addressing allegations of human rights violations that have been leveled against the Sri Lankan government. Last month, a UN rights expert urged Sri Lanka [JURIST report] to conduct a war crimes probe after a video showing the execution of members of LTTE by members of the Sri Lankan military was authenticated. In October, the US State Department [official website] released a report [text, PDF] on the conflict, urging [JURIST report] Sri Lankan officials to investigate reports of human rights violations and war crimes and prosecute those responsible. While the government of Sri Lanka rejected [statement] the findings of the report, Rajapaksa decided in October to appoint an independent committee [JURIST report] to investigate allegations of human rights violations.

[JURIST] Canadian citizen Maher Arar [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] on Monday asked [cert. petition, PDF] the US Supreme Court [official website] to overturn a lower court ruling that he cannot sue the US government for damages based on his detention in the US and his detention, interrogation, and torture in Syria after he was mistakenly identified as a terrorist. Arar is attempting to challenge the US government's policy of extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] under the Torture Victim Protection Act [text] and the Fifth Amendment [text] of the US Constitution. Lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights [advocacy website] who are representing Arar said [press release]:

the Supreme Court should hear the case because the Court of Appeals' decision not only contradicts Supreme Court decisions but also raises issues of national importance by effectively immunizing federal officials who conspired to subject Arar to torture, and to block his access to a court that would almost certainly have barred the federal officials from carrying out their illegal plan.

[JURIST] The Obama administration continued to criticize the Supreme Court [official website] Monday for its recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission [JURIST report], which eased restrictions on political campaign spending by corporations and labor unions. In an appeal [WH blog; fact sheet, PDF] for political campaign spending legislative reform, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen said "the President was right to criticize the Supreme Court's recent decision," citing to reports [WSJ report] of foreign corporations preparing to lobby against proposed legislation that would make political campaign spending more difficult for foreign-owned companies. The proposal that Obama called for in his State of the Union Address [transcript; JURIST report] last week would set low limits on dollar contributions to federal candidates, enhance disclosure rules that apply to lobbyists and earmark requests, and close the loopholes opened by Citizens United pertaining to corporate political campaign spending.

In its ruling last month, the court cited First Amendment concerns in overturning Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) [text, PDF], which prohibited corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech defined as an "electioneering communication" or for speech expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. The court, in a 5-4 decision [opinion, PDF], said that, "[t]he Government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether." The White House immediately responded [press release] by pledging to work with Congress "to develop a forceful response."