[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Friday opened the trial [press release] of former Bosnian Serb leader Zdravko Tolimir [case materials; JURIST news archive]. Tolimir is charged [indictment, PDF] with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and murder. The crimes with which Tolimir is charged were allegedly carried out against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica [JURIST news archive] and Zepa from July-November 1995.

Also on Friday, the ICTY rejected a motion by Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [case materials; JURIST news archive] to delay the calling of witnesses in his own trial. Karadzic and Tolimir's cases are among the 40 ongoing trials at the ICTY. Tolimir, a former general and aide to top Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic [case materials; JURIST news archive], was apprehended in May 2007. Mladic and Bosnian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic [ICTY profile] remain at large. The ICTY has indicted 161 political and military officials since its creation in 1993.

[JURIST] The top Venezuelan human rights official on Thursday criticized [press release, Spanish] findings in a report [text; JURIST report] issued by the Organization of American States (OAS) [official website] Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website]. Ombudsman Gabriela Ramirez [official profile, in Spanish], Venezuela's top rights official, said that the report makes unfair characterizations and undermines Venezuelan democracy. Ramirez responded to statistical findings in the report that suggest the perpetuation of undemocratic processes, saying that the data actually show an improved rights record. In a related statement issued Friday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] reaffirmed his belief that the IACHR, which has seven members elected by the OAS General Assembly, is an instrument of US imperialism [press release, in Spanish].

Venezuela has long been criticized for rights abuses, allegations that the Chavez government has repeatedly denied. Last year, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) added Venezuela to its "watch list" [JURIST report] of countries that limit religious freedom. Also last year, the US State Department criticized Venezuela for press restrictions [JURIST report] in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In 2008, Venezuelan officials ordered two senior Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] staff to leave the country [JURIST report] after the group released a report concluding that democracy and human rights have suffered during the Chavez administration.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court [official website, in Russian] of the Russian Federation ruled [press release, in Russian] Friday that Russian courts must reconsider civil cases decided by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website], ordering legislative amendments. The rule previously applied only to criminal and arbitration cases [Russia Today report]. The decision stems from a complaint [RIA Novosti report, in Russian] brought by three Russian citizens who won legal battles in the ECHR, only to find that Russian courts would not rehear their cases. The courts had cited [Radio Svabodna report, in Russian] Article 392 of Russia's Civil Procedure Code, which does not explicitly enumerate cases tried by the ECHR among cases that can be retried.

The Russian Federation has been working to reform its relations with the EHCR. Last month, the Russian Federation Council [official website, in Russian] voted to ratify Protocol 14 [text] to reform the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF]. In June, the Council of Europe (COE) harshly criticized Russia's judicial system and called for reform [JURIST report]. In recent years, Russia has had the largest number of cases pending in the ECHR out of any COE member-state. In 2009, Russia had 32,600 cases pending, followed next by Turkey, which had 12,800 cases pending, and in 2008 [statistics, PDF] Russia had 27,250 cases pending, followed next by Turkey, which had 11,100 cases pending. In 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed that Russian courts become more transparent [JURIST report] in order to restore faith in the justice system and prevent people from turning to the ECHR.

[JURIST] UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze [official profile] on Friday condemned calls by Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi [official website] for a jihad on Switzerland. Gaddafi issued the call [Telegraph report] in response to Switzerland's recent vote to ban the construction of minarets [JURIST report]. Ordzhonikidze called the declaration "inadmissible" [BBC report]. Also Friday, a spokesperson for EU high representative Catherine Ashton criticized Gaddafi's calls. Gaddafi had earlier warned [SwissInfo report] that the ban could make Switzerland an enticing target for al Qaeda.

In December, Hafid Ouardiri, a former spokesman at the Geneva Mosque, filed a complaint [JURIST report] at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] challenging the ban on the construction of minarets, a week after a group of Swiss intellectuals called for [JURIST report] the ban's reversal. Swiss Supreme Court President Lawrence Meyer also said [NZZ report, in German] that two suits have been filed in federal court challenging the ban's legality. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] has condemned the ban [JURIST report] as a form of religious discrimination. In 2008, the Swiss government announced [JURIST report] that Swiss nationalist parties had gathered enough signatures on their initiative against the construction of minarets [initiative website, in French] to force a national referendum on whether the country's constitution should be amended to ban the structures. The initiative was originally sponsored by the anti-immigrant Swiss People's Party (SVP) [party website].

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] on Thursday approved a measure to extend expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] with no new privacy measures. Representatives voted 315-97 [Reuters report] in favor of the measure, which 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. The vote came just one day after the Senate [official website] approved the extension [JURIST report]. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] criticized [press release] the extension, with Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office Laura Murphy saying:

Congress refuses to make reforming the Patriot Act a priority and continues to punt this crucial issue down the road. Once again, we have missed an opportunity to put the proper civil liberties and privacy protections into this bill. Congress should respect the rule of law and should have taken this opportunity to better protect the privacy and freedom of innocent Americans. We shouldn't have to live under these unconstitutional provisions for another year.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Thursday that a federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] has returned a five-count superseding indictment [text, PDF] against suspected terrorists Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay. The men, both US citizens, have been charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and commit murder in the US, and providing material support to and receiving training from al Qaeda in connection with a plot to detonate explosives in the New York City subway system. Ahmedzay faces an additional count of making false statements in a terrorism investigation. Both men were arrested last month, and Medunjanin has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to similar charges. Two of the counts carry possible sentences of life in prison. Both pleaded not guilty to the new charges on Friday.

Medunjanin and Ahmedzay are suspected of operating in conjunction with Najibullah Zazi, a native of Afghanistan arrested [BBC report] by FBI agents in Colorado last fall. The three allegedly traveled together [Reuters report] to Pakistan in 2008 to receive al Qaeda training. Zazi pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to three criminal charges earlier this week, including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in the US and to commit murder in a foreign country, as well as providing material support for al-Qaeda. He faces up to life in prison for two of the counts, and 15 years in prison for the third.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Thailand [official website, in Thai] ruled Friday to seize 46.4 billion baht (USD $1.4 billion) in assets from ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] for abuses of power while in office. The court found [Bangkok Post report] that Thaksin crafted government telecommunications policy to benefit his family by providing them with shares in Shin Corporation [corporate website]. The shares were then sold just three days after the the government raised the maximum foreign ownership of telecommunication companies from 20 percent to 49 percent. The Thai attorney general sought to have all family assets seized, but the Court found [Bloomberg report] that 30.2 billion baht belonged to Thaksin’s family and could not be confiscated. Thaksin maintains [statement] that his wealth was honestly earned and taken for political reasons.

In November, Cambodia refused [JURIST report] a request by the current Thai administration to extradite Thaksin, heightening tensions among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [official website]. In October 2008, a Thai court found Thaksin guilty [JURIST report] in absentia on corruption charges and sentenced him to two years in prison. In August 2008, Thai prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to seize over $2 billion [JURIST report] from Thaksin's frozen accounts and holdings in relation to the charges. In July 2008, the Thai Attorney General's Office filed corruption charges [JURIST report] against Thaksin for his role in a 2003 resolution reducing fees paid by mobile phone companies to state telecommunications agencies. Later that month, Thaksin's wife, as well as her step brother and secretary, were convicted of tax evasion [JURIST report] as a result of her transferring $16.3 million worth of stock to the two.

[JURIST] Myanmar's Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the latest appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] against the extension of her house arrest. The court heard Suu Kyi's latest appeal [JURIST report] to the 18-month extension last month. Suu Kyi appealed to the supreme court in November after a lower court found her guilty [JURIST reports] of violating the terms of her house arrest when she allowed an American to stay with her after he swam across a lake to her home. Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said that he will file one final appeal [AP report] after learning the reasons for the court's decision. He has argued that the extension to Suu Kyi's arrest is based on provisions of the now-defunct 1974 constitution.

Suu Kyi's detention in her compound in Yangon will prohibit her from competing in this year's elections [BBC report] as a member of her National League for Democracy (NLD) [party website] party. Suu Kyi, who has been in prison or under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years, will be released in November [JURIST report], according to a government official, likely after the elections have taken place. The Myanmar Supreme Court agreed to hear Suu Kyi's case in December after an unsuccessful October appeal [JURIST report] to the Divisional Court in Rangoon. In addition to rejecting the appeal, the lower court ruled that Suu Kyi herself would be barred [JURIST report] from attending the proceedings.

[JURIST] The England and Wales Court of Appeal [official website] on Friday disclosed additional text [judgment, PDF] that was omitted from a previous ruling related to former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed [JURIST news archives]. The language in question is critical of British intelligence service MI5 [official website], suggesting that its agents were aware of Mohamed's "mistreatment" while in US custody despite reports to the contrary and questioning the reliability of agents' statements. The court cited "the principles of open justice" in its decision to release the section, which was originally redacted after a senior governmental lawyer reviewed a draft of the judgment and raised concerns about its fairness. Amnesty International UK [advocacy website] welcomed the order and called for additional inquiries [press release] into the British government's involvement with torture.

The language was originally to be included in an order the court issued earlier this month that instructed the government to release seven previously withheld paragraphs [JURIST report] outlining the alleged torture of Mohamed. The court's ruling ended the long-running legal battle to keep the information classified. In December, British government lawyers argued that two UK High Court judges acted irresponsibly when they ruled that the details of the detention must be released [JURIST reports]. This was following an interim ruling [JURIST report] by Lord Justice Thomas and Justice Lloyd Jones that redacted the release. Last November, a separate judge on the High Court ruled that, in Mohamed's separate suit for damages, information relating to his treatment at Guantanamo Bay may be withheld [JURIST report] under a "closed material procedure." Mohamed was returned to the UK in February 2009, after charges against him were dismissed [JURIST reports] in October 2008. Mohamed had been held at Guantanamo Bay for four years on suspicion of conspiracy to commit terrorism [JURIST report].

[JURIST] Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation [official website, in Italian] on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of David Mills [JURIST news archive], a British barrister and former lawyer to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [official profile, in Italian; BBC profile]. The court agreed with prosecutors who said the statute of limitations had expired [Times report], but fined Mills [Corriere Della Sera report, in Italian] €250,000 for damaging the state's reputation and ordered Mills to pay €10,000 for legal costs. Mills was sentenced [JURIST report] last February to four-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly accepting USD $600,000 in bribes for offering false testimony at two trials in 1997 and 1998 involving Berlusconi's broadcasting company Mediaset [corporate website]. An appeals court upheld [JURIST report] his conviction in October. It appears likely that prosecutors will drop charges against Berlusconi [Telegraph report] associated with the incident since the court ruled the statute of limitations has expired. Berlusconi's trial was scheduled to resume Friday.

Berlusconi's trial was postponed [JURIST report] in January so that the court could hear Mills's appeal. Proceedings were previously delayed [JURIST report] late last year while the court determined whether Berlusconi was immune from prosecution. In October, the Italian Constitutional Court struck down [JURIST report] a law granting top Italian lawmakers immunity from prosecution while in office. Berlusconi was removed as a defendant in the case after the 2007 passage of the immunity law [JURIST report]. The bribery and corruption trial against Berlusconi and Mills began [JURIST report] in early 2007. Mills's allegedly false testimony was given during trials at which Berlusconi was acquitted [JURIST report] of paying kickbacks to the late Socialist premier Bettino Craxi.

[JURIST] A Turkish court charged an additional 11 military officers Friday morning as the investigation into the military's so-called "Sledgehammer plot" to overthrow the government continues, bringing the total charged so far to 31. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke at a Justice Development Party (AKP) [party website, in Turkish] meeting, vowing [AFP report] that all those involved in the plot would stand trial. Police also arrested 18 more officers [Reuters report] Friday, bringing the total detained to more than 50. Tensions between the military and the government appeared to ease after three top generals were released [JURIST report] from custody Thursday. Turkey's prime minister and president met [Reuters report] with the head of the armed forces, General Ilker Basbug, for three hours on Thursday, discussing ways to resolve the situation.

Twelve officers were charged in the alleged plot Wednesday after mass arrests [JURIST reports] Monday resulted in the detention of more than 40. Arrests and charges began after the newspaper Taraf [official website, in Turkish] revealed the 2003 Balyoz Security Operation Plan [Taraf report, in Turkish], or "Sledgehammer plot," last month. The plot included detailed plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane as part of an effort to undermine the government. Turkey's secular nationalist establishment, including the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) [official website, in Turkish], has had tense relations with the AKP government, which is accused of having radical Islamic ambitions. The TAF has been Turkey's strongest and most trusted institution for years. The military drafted the country's current constitution in 1982 after a coup d'état, one of four times that the military has overthrown the government in the past 50 years. 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]. Trials in the Ergenekon conspiracy [JURIST report] opened two years ago with more than 200 suspects in custody.

[JURIST] French President Nicholas Sarkozy [official website, in French] admitted [text, PDF, in French; video, in French] Thursday that France and the international community made "mistakes" in handling the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Sarkozy spoke while on a visit to Rwanda to meet with President Paul Kagame [official website; BBC profile], the first visit to Rwanda [BBC report] by a French president since the genocide of the Tutsi people by the Hutus. Sarkozy said France and the rest of the world made errors that allowed the genocide to happen but did not offer a formal apology. The trip is intended to strengthen ties between the two countries after France severed ties with Rwanda [JURIST report] in 2006 when a French judge accused Kagame of being involved in shooting down a plane carrying the former Rwandan president, which initiated the genocide. Kagame, the leader of the Tutsi rebels who took control of the country, ending the conflict, claims the plane was shot down by Hutu extremists to justify the mass killings during the genocide.

Prosecutions of those responsible for the genocide are ongoing. Earlier on Thursday, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] convicted [JURIST report] ex-army officer Ephrem Setako [case materials; Trial Watch profile] of genocide, crimes against humanity, and murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Also this month, the ICTR convicted former Rwandan army officer Tharcisse Muvunyi [case materials; Trial Watch profile] of direct and public incitement to genocide and sentenced [JURIST report] him to 15 years imprisonment. In January, French Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner [official profiles] announced plans to create a special judicial service [JURIST report] to investigate and charge individuals accused of crimes against humanity and genocide in France or in other countries. The new judicial unit would streamline the prosecution of Rwandans living in France who are accused of war crimes committed during the 1994 conflict.

[JURIST] Spain's Senate [official website, in Spanish] on Wednesday gave final approval [press release, in Spanish] to a bill that will ease restrictions on abortions [JURIST news archive]. The legislation passed [El Pais report, in Spanish] once three veto proposals were denied by majority votes, after which 88 amendments were rejected. The new law allows for abortions to be performed up to 22 weeks with the confirmation of two doctors that there exists fetal malformation or that the pregnancy poses a serious risk to the mother's health. A fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening condition may be aborted after the 22 week period. Additionally, women aged 16 or 17 are also allowed to have an abortion without parental consent, though they must notify their parents. The legislation will effect four months after official publication, which is expected to occur in March.

Spain's lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, passed the bill in December after it received approval [JURIST reports] from the Council of State in September. In October, hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in Madrid [JURIST report] in opposition to the proposed legislation. The changes were proposed [JURIST report] last March by a panel of legal and medical experts led by Minister of Equality Bibiano Aido [official website, in Spanish], eliciting widespread protests [JURIST report] throughout Spain. The panel was formed [JURIST report] in September 2008 at the request of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [official profile, in Spanish] as part of a series of social reforms that have included same-sex marriage [JURIST report] and streamlined divorce proceedings. The conservative Popular Party [party website, in Spanish] has repeatedly expressed the opinion [El Pais report, in Spanish] that relaxed abortion laws would stand in opposition to Article 15 of the Spanish Constitution [text], which guarantees the right to life. Prior to the revisions, Spanish abortion laws [BBC backgrounder] dated to 1985, after the end of the Franco regime, and were among the most restrictive in European nations. Abortions were permitted only in the case of rape, up to 12 weeks, severe fetal malformation, up to 22 weeks, or if the woman's physical or mental health was in danger.

[JURIST] The Federal Court of Australia [official website] ruled Thursday that former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Mamdouh Habib [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] can sue the Australian government for complicity in his ill-treatment while incarcerated in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Habib claims he suffered sleep deprivation, electrocution, and drug injections during his detainment, some of which happened in collusion with or in the presence of Australian officials. The Commonwealth of Australia, which denies the allegations, claimed the case should be thrown out because it was outside the realm of the judiciary to hear a case on the actions of foreign officials. A three-judge panel rejected this claim [BBC report] stating that torture offends the "ideal of common humanity," whether administered domestically or abroad, and can never be justified by official acts or policy. Habib said that he plans to sue the Australian government for unlimited damages.

In 2008, the Federal Court of Australia ruled against [JURIST report] Habib in his ongoing claim for compensation against the Australian government, finding that he was mistaken and was not interrogated anywhere under the control of the Australian government. Habib was detained in 2001 in Pakistan and was held in Egypt and Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo Bay for three years, where the US accused him of aiding terrorist militants. The US released him without charge [JURIST report] in 2005. Habib and his lawyers have repeatedly said that he was tortured while in US custody [JURIST reports].