[JURIST] A Turkish court on Thursday released three high ranking military officials detained for questioning over an alleged coup plot, hours after top political and military officials met to discuss the escalating situation. The court released [AP report] former chief of the Navy, Adm. Ozden Ornek, ex-chief of the Air Force Gen. Ibrahim Firtina, and Gen. Ergin Saygun, ex-deputy chief of the military, but all three remain under investigation. Turkish President Abdullah Gul [official website, in Turkish], Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug [official profile], met in Ankara [NYT report], to discuss tensions over the coup plot and the ensuing prosecutions. Eight officers were charged early Thursday on top of the 12 charged [JURIST report] on Wednesday. Had Ornek and Firtina also been charged, they would have been the most senior military officers charged thus far in connection with the 2003 Balyoz Security Operation Plan [Taraf report, in Turkish], or "Sledgehammer plot," revealed last month by the newspaper Taraf [official website, in Turkish].

Ornek and Firtina were apprehended on Monday by Turkish police in an operation that detained more than 40 people [JURIST report] in connection to the coup. Turkey's secular nationalist establishment, including the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) [official website, in Turkish], has long conflicted with the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish]. In July 2009, Gul approved [JURIST report] a law that would allow the prosecution of military personnel in civilian courts and would prevent military prosecution of civilians during peacetime. Gul said that the law was necessary for accession [JURIST report] to the European Union (EU) [official website]. The Sledgehammer plot is similar to the Ergenekon [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] conspiracy, in which the secular group is suspected of planning to overthrow [JURIST report] the AKP. The Ergenekon group is also alleged to be involved in bombings, political assassination plots, and the death of journalist Hrant Dink [BBC obituary]. The probe into the Ergenekon conspiracy has been criticized as an attempt by the AKP to silence opposition and further its imposition of Islamic principles [JURIST report] in violation of Turkey's secular constitution [text].

[JURIST] UK Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP), Keir Starmer [official profile], published a new policy [text; press release] on Thursday for prosecutors in regards to cases of assisted suicide [JURIST news archive]. While the new policy does not legalize assisted suicide, it introduces six public interest considerations against prosecution, including compassion of the suspect, an effort to dissuade the victim, and reporting the suicide to the police. Starmer developed the new policy by gathering public opinion through a consultation process [materials], which garnered more than 5,000 responses. The DDP assured the public that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) [official website] will follow the new policy:

The policy is now more focused on the motivation of the suspect rather than the characteristics of the victim. The policy does not change the law on assisted suicide. It does not open the door for euthanasia. It does not override the will of Parliament. What it does is to provide a clear framework for prosecutors to decide which cases should proceed to court and which should not. ... As a result of the [public consultations] there have been changes to the policy. But that does not mean prosecutions are more or less likely. The policy has not been relaxed or tightened but there has been a change of focus.

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] publicly supported [text] the final report [text, PDF] of the UN Fact Finding Mission of the Gaza Conflict [official website] on Wednesday, calling its conclusions sound. The report, originally adopted [JURIST report] by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] in October, accused both Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) [official website] and Hamas [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] fighters of war crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict [JURIST news archive]. Pillay praised the mission for its methodology, and the report itself for promoting accountability:

In a 60 year-long conflict marred by egregious human rights violations, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, cynics are often ready to label accountability as utopia or, at least, as wishful thinking. However, the United Nations Fact Finding Mission succeeded in placing the acute need for accountability on the international community’s agenda, compelling different and often opposing constituencies to take note of the facts documented and the calls for justice from victims on all sides.

[JURIST] Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler [official website] said Wednesday that the state of Maryland and its agencies should recognize [opinion, PDF] same-sex marriages [JURIST news archive] performed lawfully in other states. Gansler's opinion, issued in response to a legislator's request for clarification of Maryland law, said that the state's highest court would likely rule that legal same-sex marriages from other states are valid in Maryland. Gansler concluded:

While the matter is not free from all doubt, in our view, the Court is likely to respect the law of other states and recognize a same-sex marriage contracted validly in another jurisdiction. In light of Maryland's developing public policy concerning intimate same-sex relationships, the Court would not readily invoke the public policy exception to the usual rule of recognition.

[JURIST] Incidents of anti-Semitism [JURIST news archive] in Canada have risen 11.4 percent [text, PDF] since 2008, according to a Wednesday report by B'nai Brith Canada [advocacy website]. The group found that there were 1,264 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment, violence, and vandalism in Canada during 2009. It also said that anti-Semitic incidents increased globally in 2009, linking them to a rise in Middle East strife:

[I]t is becoming increasingly complex to isolate anti-Israel rhetoric, which has been intentionally entangled in antisemitic discourse - from a completely separate, more "traditional" anti-Jewish hatred unconnected in any way to the Middle East conflict.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] ruled Wednesday that the government can continue to hold indefinitely two Yemeni Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees, even though the men had been cleared for release by the Bush administration two years ago. Judge Gladys Kessler denied the petitions for habeas corpus filed by Fahmi Salem Al-Assani and Suleiman Awadh Bin Agil Al-Nahdi [orders, PDF]. The men had been notified of their release in 2008, but the decision was suspended [Miami Herald report] when President Barack Obama took office. Full text of the opinions explaining Kessler's reasoning will be made public after passing a security clearance.

Nearly half of the 188 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo Bay are from Yemen. Last month, a Yemeni government official said that Yemen will build a rehabilitation center [JURIST report] for Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Obama administration has suspended the transfer [JURIST report] of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen after learning that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab [BBC profile, JURIST news archive], accused of trying to ignite explosives on a US-bound plane in December, had allegedly received his training in Yemen. Earlier in January, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the detention of Yemeni Guantanamo detainee Ghaleb Nassar Al-Bihani, ruling that he can remain in US custody, but, in December, the US government transferred six detainees [JURIST reports] back to Yemen. Also in December, a federal judge granted Yemeni detainee Saeed Hatim's petition for habeas corpus, ordering his release [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] on Thursday convicted [judgment summary, PDF] ex-army officer Ephrem Setako [case materials; Trial Watch profile] on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and murder and sentenced him [press release] to 25 years in prison. The tribunal found that Setanko, a lieutenant colonel in the Rwandan Army who was also head of the legal affairs division of the Ministry of Defense, ordered the killing of around 50 Hutus at a military camp in northern Rwanda between April and May 1994. He was acquitted of complicity to commit genocide, murder as a crime against humanity, and pillage as a war crime.

Setako went on trial [JURIST report] before the ICTR in 2008. He was arrested in the Netherlands in February 2004, and later transferred to a UN detention facility. He subsequently pleaded not guilty [press release]. Earlier this month, the tribunal convicted another ex-army officer, Tharcise Muvunyi [case materials; Trial Watch Profile], on similar charges [JURIST report] and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. There are currently 24 cases in progress [ICTR materials], and two others await trial. The ICTR was established to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive] between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples, in which nearly 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, were killed.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Korea [official website, in Korean] ruled Thursday that the death penalty [JURIST news archive] does not violate the South Korean constitution [text, PDF]. The court's 5-4 decision could lead to a reinstatement of the death penalty in South Korea, which has held an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment [BBC report] since former president Kim Dae-Jung took office in 1998. Kim, who ruled from 1998 until his death in 2003, had opposed the death penalty [AFP report], but it is unclear whether the new government will uphold his 12-year precedent. The South Korean parliament [official website, in Korean] must vote on whether to reinstate capital punishment before any changes to the current system can take effect.

On Wednesday, UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze [official profile] praised the increasing number of countries [JURIST report] that have suspended or abolished the death penalty. Speaking at the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty [FIDH backgrounder] in Geneva, Ordzhonikidze expressed hope that countries that have not abolished the death penalty would adopt the 2007 UN Resolution 62/149 [text], placing a moratorium on the use of capital punishment. Earlier this month, the Supreme People’s Court of China [official website, in Chinese] issued new guidelines for limiting capital punishment [JURIST report] in Chinese courts. The new rules instruct courts to issue the death penalty only to those who commit "extremely serious" crimes and allows reprieves for certain cases as allowed by law. Last month, Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia [official profile] announced that he would suspend [JURIST report, speech text] the death penalty and commute the sentences of all prisoners currently on death row to 30 years in prison. Tsakhia called for a permanent ban on the death penalty, saying that many mistakes are made in its administration, and that the system has been abused by those with power.

[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] voted Wednesday night to authorize three key provisions of the USA Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] set to expire on Sunday. The bill, passed [AP report] by a voice vote, would allow federal authorities to conduct "roving" wiretaps, to compel the production of business, medical, and library records, and to track so-called "lone wolf" suspects who are not affiliated with an organization or country, so long as they are not US citizens. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] criticized [press release] the lack of increased privacy protections:

I would have preferred to add oversight and judicial review improvements to any extension of expiring provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. A bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced compromise legislation to the full Senate for consideration more than four months ago. Since then, I have worked with Senator Kyl, Senator Feinstein, members in the House, and the Senate leadership to make further improvements to this legislation, and the bill is strongly supported by the administration. The USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act should be an example of what Democrats and Republicans can accomplish when we work together but I understand some Republican Senators objected to passing the carefully crafted national security, oversight, and judicial review provisions in this legislation.

[JURIST] UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze [official profile] on Wednesday praised the increasing number of countries [text] that have suspended or abolished the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. Speaking at the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty [FIDH backgrounder] in Geneva, Ordzhonikidze expressed hope [UN News Centre report] that countries that have not abolished the death penalty would adopt the 2007 UN Resolution 62/149 [text], placing a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Ordzhonikidze urged pragmatism, stating:

We must not lose sight of the fact that abolishing the death penalty is a difficult and sensitive process for many societies. That is something we understand at the United Nations. Moving this process forward will require comprehensive and inclusive national debates. It is my hope that the discussions at this World Congress, which will highlight the practical experiences of countries that have either abolished the death penalty or instituted a moratorium, can help to stimulate such national debates.

[JURIST] The Venezuelan government is continuously violating basic human rights [press release], particularly freedom of expression, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the Organization of American States (OAS) [official website] said in a report [text] released Wednesday. The Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela report provides a detailed analysis on the state of human rights in the country, led by President Hugo Chavez [JURIST news archive], and ultimately concludes that not all citizens are ensured full enjoyment of their basic human rights. The IACHR, which prepared the report without being able to visit Venezuela due to the country's refusal, said that threats to human rights and democracy are serious issues. In particular, the report details the lack of freedom of expression, citing accounts in which the State is "punishing people based on their political convictions." The report also notes a lack of punishment for cases involving violence:

Acts of retaliation to quash dissent; attacks against human rights defenders and against journalists; repression of peaceful protest; abuse by State agents and common and organized crime; violence in the prison system; violence against women; and other grave violations of human rights are all characterized in Venezuela by the high levels of impunity associated with them.

[JURIST] The European Commission (EC) [official website] confirmed [press release] Wednesday that it has received three antitrust complaints against Google [corporate website] regarding the way the search engine ranks search results, but said it has not started a formal investigation. UK price comparison company Foundem [corporate website], French legal website EJustice [corporate website, in French], and consumer review website Ciao [corporate website] claim that Google impedes [Telegraph report] users' abilities to find companies' websites to prevent the companies from competing with Google and that Google binds partners to unreasonable agreements. Two of the companies have ties to Microsoft [corporate website] - Foundem is a member of a group partially funded by the computer company, while Ciao is owned by Microsoft and runs with Microsoft's search engine Bing. Google responded in a blog post [text], stating:

Though each case raises slightly different issues, the question they ultimately pose is whether Google is doing anything to choke off competition or hurt our users and partners. This is not the case. We always try to listen carefully if someone has a real concern and we work hard to put our users' interests first and to compete fair and square in the market. We believe our business practices reflect those commitments.

[JURIST] The US Central Intelligence Agency [official website] (CIA) [official website] briefed lawmakers [press release] between 2001 and 2007 on the specifics of enhanced interrogation techniques, according to declassified documents [text, PDF] made public by Judicial Watch [advocacy website] on Tuesday. The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch pursuant to a court order, indicate that at least 68 members of congress were briefed on the use of controversial techniques such as waterboarding [JURIST news archive] and include the dates on which these briefings took place. Some documents list the members of congress in attendance and the specific subjects discussed. The heavily redacted documents, marked "Top Secret," show that the CIA began the program after the 2002 capture of al Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah, but that they did not use the enhanced interrogation techniques until after receiving legal advice from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] in August 2002. Further documents are expected to be released.

Earlier this week, the DOJ overruled [JURIST report] the findings of a report [text, PDF] concluding that two Bush administration lawyers committed professional misconduct when they wrote memos [JURIST news archive] authorizing the use of certain interrogation techniques that critics have called torture. Instead, the DOJ said that John Yoo [academic profile; JURIST news archive], and Jay Bybee [official profile; JURIST news archive] were only guilty of "poor judgment" in writing the memos. In October, the CIA released letters and memoranda [JURIST report] detailing overseas interrogations that included sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation, and physical abuse. The documents, which analyzed the legality of "enhanced interrogation" procedures, were released pursuant to a court order resulting from ACLU litigation. In July, a former CIA counter-terrorism agent reported that waterboarding techniques were used prior to the issuance of legal memos authorizing the practice [JURIST reports]. In January 2009, President Barack Obama expressly banned [JURIST report] the use of torture in interrogations.