[JURIST] The Quezon City Trial Court in Manila on Thursday issued arrest warrants for 189 suspects for their alleged role in the November 2009 massacre [CSM backgrounder] in semi-autonomous Maguindanao province that left 57 dead. Eight more individuals are also wanted in connection with the killings, but they are already in custody [Manila Bulletin report] on separate charges for allegedly mobilizing a rebellion to interfere with investigations into the massacre, including Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son. Also Thursday, the Philippine police reported that 142 of the wanted suspects are still at large [AP report]. The arrest orders were issued [WP report] only a day before the campaign period for the May 2011 parliamentary elections kicks off.

Last month, the Philippine Department of Justice (PDOJ) [official website] charged 197 people with murder [JURIST report] in connection with the November 2009 killings. Among those charged was Andal Ampatuan Sr., a former political ally to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [official website; BBC profile]. In December, the PDOJ began the trial [JURIST report] of more than 600 people charged with rebellion for allegedly interfering with government operations following the killings. Several of Ampatuan Sr.'s sons, including Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of the southern Philippine town of Datu Unsay, have also been charged. Ampatuan Jr. has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to 41 counts of murder. Following the killings, Arroyo imposed martial law [JURIST report] and suspended habeas corpus in the province. She later lifted the conditions, following international pressure and domestic legal challenges [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday announced changes to the enforcement [press release] of the Don't Ask Don't, Tell [10 USC § 654 text; JURIST news archive] policy to make it more difficult to expel openly gay service members from the military. The changes, set to take effect immediately, include raising the level of who can initiate and conduct investigations, revising what constitutes credible information to initiate an investigation, and revising what constitutes a "reliable person" for initiating an investigation. Gates believes that these changes provide:

a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved. Of course, only Congress can repeal the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" statute. It remains the law, and we are obligated to enforce it. At the same time, these changes will allow us to execute the law in a fairer and more appropriate manner.

[JURIST] The US and Russia reached an agreement Wednesday to reduce nuclear arms, marking the first such agreement between the two nuclear powers in nearly two decades. According to an anonymous Kremlin spokesperson, the two countries have come to an agreement [WP report] that will be finalized at a meeting Friday between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [official profiles]. The new pact will supplant the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I Treaty) [materials], signed in 1991. The agreement treaty will be legally binding on both countries and will reduce long-range nuclear weapons by dropping the ceiling of 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675. The agreement will also limit the number of jets, land-bases, and submarines that can have nuclear warheads. It is expected that Obama and Medvedev will sign the agreement [NYT report] at a ceremony on April 8 in Prague.

The agreement comes after months of talks between the US and Russia since Obama and Medvedev came to tentative terms of the non-proliferation agreement in July. Both US and Russian officials have recently expressed desire to have the treaty in place prior to the upcoming Global Nuclear Security Summit [NTI backgrounder] in April, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference [CAC fact sheet] in May. Nuclear disarmament between the US and Russia, whose nuclear arsenals comprise 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, languished [JURIST report] during the Bush administration. The treaty is considered a key part of easing tensions between the former Cold War rivals, which reached their worst point after the 2008 Georgia conflict [BBC backgrounder].

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday denied [order, PDF] a Yemeni Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee's habeas corpus petition on its merits, allowing the US government to prolong the detention indefinitely. Detainee Makhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi [NYT materials] was captured during the 2001-2002 American intervention campaign in Afghanistan and maintains that he was only a medical clinic worker at the time. The US government alleges that Pentagon intelligence demonstrates Warafi was a trained jihadist [Miami Herald report]. The order by judge Royce Lamberth cites a classified memorandum containing details of the reasoning, which was filed with the court security officer. Also Wednesday, Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court dismissed [text, PDF] without prejudice the habeas corpus petition of Guantanamo detainee Zahar Bin Hamdoun [NYT materials], who was captured in 2002 in Pakistan. Hamdoun's lawyers had requested that the court delay [JNSLP report] proceedings in order to confer with him over new developments pertaining to evidence in the case.

Earlier this week, Judge James Robertson of the DC District Court ordered the release [JURIST report] of Mauritanian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi [NYT materials], who had been accused of planning the 9/11 [JURIST news archive] terrorist attacks. Slahi has been in US custody for over seven years and brought a habeas corpus petition, claiming that he had been tortured in prison [Miami Herald report] and had made confessions under duress. In late February, Kessler ruled that the government can continue to hold indefinitely [JURIST report] two Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainees, even though Fahmi Salem Al-Assani and Suleiman Awadh Bin Agil Al-Nahdi [orders, PDF] had been cleared for release by the Bush administration two years ago. The US government has prevailed in 12 of the 46 habeas corpus cases decided [JURIST news archive] in the DC District Court.

[JURIST] The US Senate [official website] voted 56 to 43 [roll call] to pass a modified version of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 [HR 4872 materials] Thursday, after certain language in the original bill was altered to fix parliamentary problems highlighted by Republicans. The bill will now be sent back to the US House of Representatives [official website] for a final vote on the new language. Democratic leaders stated that the alterations, which involved student-lending legislation attached to health care bill, were minimal and should easily pass through the lower chamber. All Senate Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill, but it still passed because budget reconciliation bills [Senate backgrounder] require only a simple majority, rather than the standard 60-member super-majority, to advance. The House vote is slated for Thursday evening.

US President Barack Obama signed the original bill into law on Tuesday after it was passed by the House [JURIST reports] by a vote of 219 - 212. He has since signed an executive order [text; JURIST report] continuing a prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortion [JURIST news archive] except in cases of rape or incest or where a woman's life would be endangered, as part of a compromise with conservative Democrats. The same day that the original bill was signed into law, the attorneys general (AGs) for 13 states filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the new law [JURIST report]. Last week, Idaho Governor CL Otter signed into law [JURIST report] a bill banning a federal mandate that citizens purchase health insurance. Earlier in March, the Virginia legislature passed a similar bill [JURIST report] that Governor Bob McDonald has indicated he will sign. The AGs who filed suit Tuesday originally threatened the action in December, after the Senate passed its version [JURIST reports] of the health care overhaul bill.

9:30 PM ET - The House voted 220-207 [roll call] to approve the bill.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday granted [order, PDF] a temporary stay of execution for convicted murderer Henry "Hank" Skinner [advocacy website] who requested DNA testing be conducted in his case to prove his innocence. The court granted the stay just one hour prior to Skinner's execution and will now decide whether to grant certiorari. Skinner is requesting access to DNA testing based on a civil rights claim under § 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 [42 USC § 1983 text] instead of a federal habeas corpus challenge. In his petition, Skinner argued that lower courts are unclear on whether a DNA access claim may be granted under civil rights law or only under a habeas challenge following the Court's decision [text, PDF] in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report]. The court is expected to make its decision to hear the case within the next few weeks. The French ambassador to the US had also pressed for a stay of execution [AFP report] for Skinner, who is married to a French anti-death penalty activist.

Skinner was convicted in 1995 of killing his girlfriend, Twila Jean Busby, and her two adult sons. Skinner has maintained his innocence saying he was not capable of committing the murders because of the amount of drugs and alcohol in his system on the day of the murders. While the prosecutors in the case did rely on some DNA evidence in the case, Skinner's attorneys argue they were selective in the tests they conducted. In District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, the court held that a defendant does not have the right to obtain post-conviction access to the state’s biological evidence in order to do DNA testing. The decision involved a claim for access under section 1983, but the majority rejected that approach saying it "would take the development of rules and procedures in this area out of the hands of legislatures and state courts shaping policy in a focused manner and turn it over to federal courts applying the broad parameters of the Due Process Clause."

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] on Thursday called for a renewed international commitment to eradicate all forms of slavery [statement text]. Ban's comments took place on the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade [press release], which is held annually pursuant to General Assembly resolution A/62/L.32 [text]. In his statement, Ban said that the fight against slavery continues even though the practice may now take different forms than it has in the past:

Slavery is abhorrent. It is explicitly prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations has reaffirmed this principle many times, including in the Durban Declaration adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism.

But slavery and slavery-like practices continue in many parts of the world. Slavery is mutating and re-emerging in modern forms, including debt bondage, the sale of children, and the trafficking of women and girls for sex. Its roots lie in ignorance, intolerance and greed.

We must create a climate in which such abuse and cruelty are inconceivable. One way is by remembering the past and honouring the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. By reminding ourselves of past injustices, we help to ensure that such systematic abuse of human rights can never be repeated.

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] on Wednesday passed three resolutions [press release] critical of Israeli practices towards Syrian and Palestinian territories. The resolutions were adopted [Haaretz report] during the 13th session of the UNHRC [materials] held in Geneva. One resolution titled "The grave human rights violations by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" passed by a vote of 31 to 9 and made specific demands on Israel including:

... that the occupying Power, Israel, end its occupation of the Palestinian land occupied since 1967, and that it respect its commitments within the peace process towards the establishment of the independent sovereign Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peace and security with all its neighbours;

... that the occupying Power, Israel, stop the targeting of civilians and the systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people, in addition to the destruction of public and private properties, as laid down in the Fourth Geneva Convention

... that Israel, the occupying Power, respect the religious and cultural rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the core international human rights instruments, the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Conventions, and that it allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites therein

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida [official website] on Wednesday lifted the stay [order, PDF] blocking the extradition of former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] to France, where he is wanted on money laundering charges. This latest order comes two days after the US Supreme Court declined to reconsider [JURIST report] Noriega's petition to stop the extradition process. His lawyers filed the petition last month after the Supreme Court denied certiorari [JURIST reports] on the case in January. Noriega, who has been declared a prisoner of war, sought to enforce a provision of the Geneva Convention [ICRC backgrounder] that requires repatriation at the end of confinement.

Noriega has been fighting extradition [JURIST report] since 2007. He is wanted in France on charges of money laundering through French banks. Noriega and his wife were sentenced in absentia [Reuters report] to 10 years in jail in 1999, but France has agreed to hold a new trial if he is extradited.

[JURIST] The European Commission (EC) [official website] on Wednesday proposed reforms to simplify and clarify international divorce laws. Under the proposal, married couples from different European Union (EU) countries could choose the country of the divorce, and the various courts would use a common formula [press release] to decide which country's law applies when a couple disagrees. EC Vice President Viviane Reding [official website] said the law will protect [press release] the weaker spouse and reduce the costs of litigation:

International couples can encounter arbitrary legal problems that turn the tragedy of divorce into a financial and emotional disaster, making peoples' lives very hard. Thousands of couples find themselves in difficult personal situations because national legal systems have so far failed to provide clear answers. In many cases, children and the weaker spouse suffer. I do not want people in the EU to be left to manage complicated international divorces alone. I want them to have clear rules so that they always know where they stand. This is why we decided to move ahead today.

[JURIST] French President Nicholas Sarkozy [official website, in French] said Wednesday that the government will introduce legislation to ban traditional Muslim face veils [transcript, in French; video, in French] in public places. Sarkozy's announcement comes weeks after a French parliamentary commission charged with investigating whether to enact laws banning the wearing of burqas [JURIST news archive] or other "full veils" released its report [text, PDF; in French] calling for a partial ban [JURIST report] that would apply in public facilities, including hospitals, schools, and public transportation, and to any individual attempting to receive public services. Sarkozy supported the commission's suggestions, saying:

The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women. The answer is to ban the full veil. The government will introduce a bill to ban consistent with the general principles of our law.

[JURIST] The Russian State Duma [official website, in Russian] on Wednesday approved a bill [text, DOC, in Russian; bill history, in Russian] to ban pre-trial detention for suspects accused of economic crimes. The legislation would allow those charged with financial crimes to be bailed out of jail [RIA Novosti report] at any time during legal proceedings for a minimum bail charge of 100,000 rubles (USD $3,300), and 500,000 rubles (USD $16,600) for serious crimes. The bill was introduced [RIA Novosti report] earlier this month by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev [official website, in Russian], who said that the measure would help cut the prison population and would also prevent prison from being used to pressure businessmen. The bill's introduction was welcomed [press release] by the lawyer for Yukos Oil [JURIST news archive] founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive], who was denied bail in 2003. The bill must now be approved by the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council [official website, in Russian].

Khodorkovsky recently criticized [JURIST report] the Russian justice system as an "assembly line" that inevitably finds the government's political enemies to be guilty. Both he and former business partner Platon Lebedev [defense website] are serving time on tax evasion and fraud charges, but Lebedev successfully challenged [JURIST report] the legality of his arrest and was awarded USD $14,300 in damages and legal fees by the European Court of Human Rights. The two are currently on trial on additional related charges of money laundering and embezzlement, to which they have pleaded not guilty [JURIST reports]. Some critics of the Russian government have argued that the charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are politically motivated [JURIST op-ed] due to Khodorkovsky's opposition to former Russian president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [official website, in Russian; JURIST news archive].

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas [official website] issued a permanent injunction [opinion, PDF] Wednesday against a Texas city ordinance prohibiting illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive] from renting property in the city. Judge Jane Boyle ruled that the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch cannot enforce Ordinance 2952 [text, PDF], which required prospective renters to affirm they were in the country legally, finding it to be preempted by federal law under the US Constitution's supremacy clause. The ordinance allowed the city to revoke a potential renter's residential occupancy license, a license required for anyone to rent a dwelling under the ordinance, if the federal government determined the immigrant was not in the country legally. Boyle wrote:

This is not a situation where the City is aiding in the enforcement of federal immigration law based on federal standards through the means set forth by federal law; rather, the City is attempting to enforce its own scheme that incorporates federal standards for purposes not contemplated by Congress. The City may take appropriate action to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, but it may not, even if it were to incorporate the proper standard, independently enforce its own immigration rules.

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama signed an executive order [text] Wednesday continuing a prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortion [JURIST news archive] except in cases of rape or incest or where a woman's life would be endangered. Some anti-abortion congressional Democrats insisted on the order [AP report] as a condition for their support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [HR 3590 materials], which Obama signed into law [JURIST report] Tuesday. NARAL Pro-Choice America [advocacy website] President Nancy Keenan called anti-abortion Democrats' insistence on the executive order "deeply disappointing" [press release], saying that women's reproductive rights were being used as a bargaining chip. National Right to Life [advocacy website], meanwhile, called the executive order "meaningless," saying "it changes nothing" and fails [press release] "to correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill."

The passage of the health care reform bill has been extremely controversial. The same day that the bill was signed into law, the attorneys general (AGs) for 13 states filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the new law [JURIST report]. Last week, Idaho Governor CL Otter signed into law [JURIST report] a bill banning a federal mandate that citizens purchase health insurance. Earlier in March, the Virginia legislature passed a similar bill [JURIST report] that Governor Bob McDonald has indicated he will sign. The AGs who filed suit Tuesday originally threatened the action in December, after the Senate passed its version [JURIST reports] of the health care overhaul bill.