[JURIST] Lawyers for an Algerian national detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] on Monday filed an emergency motion [text, PDF] in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] to block the detainee's transfer to his home country. Petitioner Ahmed Belbacha renewed his request for an administrative stay of a February court order mandating the transfer. The motion alleges that flaws in an earlier court order and new circumstances in the case motivate a ruling in favor of Belbacha:

With respect, the Court seriously misapprehended Mr. Belbacha's earlier request for an administrative stay. In addition, a fresh development – an announcement on Friday that the Attorney General will meet this week with the Algerian Minister of Justice – underscores the need for an administrative stay. As this Court recently recognized, the "potential harm" that Mr. Belbacha faces if he is transferred to Algeria is "significant" and "substantial." The case for an administrative stay is especially strong because there is substantial question as to the Court's jurisdiction to issue the February 4 Order.

[JURIST] An Egyptian criminal court on Sunday ordered 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) [party website; JURIST news archive] released on bail [MB press release], including deputy chairman Mahmoud Ezzat and spokesperson Essam al-Erian. The members of MB, which has been banned in Egypt [JURIST news archive], were arrested in February and charged with plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government. The MB has called those charges "concocted." The Egyptian government has often used the country's emergency laws [FIDH backgrounder; JURIST news archive] to arrest and indefinitely detain individuals it considered a threat to state security. This includes the MB, which the Egyptian government has accused of trying to create an Islamic theocracy through violence. There has been no indication of when the 16 individuals will be released.

In the past, Egypt has also used the emergency laws extensively against other opposition parties. In July, the trial of 26 individuals with alleged ties to Hezbollah was transferred to a court [JURIST report] established under the emergency laws. In February 2009, a military court utilized the laws during a trial in which it sentenced [JURIST report] opposition leader Magdy Ahmed Hussein to two years in prison. The emergency laws have been in effect continuously since the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and were renewed [JURIST report; JURIST op-ed] most recently in May 2008. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] sharply criticized the renewal [JURIST report], saying the move showed "contempt for the rule of law."

[JURIST] Australia confirmed Monday that it will accept three Cuban asylum seekers currently held at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] Migrations Operation Center. The center, utilized [CIP report] by the US military after the recent Haitian earthquake [JURIST news archive] to house mainly Haitian asylum seekers, is not affiliated with the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Upon the announcement, Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans [official profile], denied [Australian report] any connection between Australia's acceptance of the Cuban asylum seekers and US acceptance of Tamil [JURIST news archive] asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian Customs Service [official website] in October and denied [press release] entrance into Australia. All 78 asylum seekers aboard an Australian Customs Service vessel have been declared refugees [Radio Australia report] by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHRC) [official website]. The Australian government has been actively seeking resettlement [ABC report] of the refugees in countries other than Australia.

Australia has been criticized for its Immigration Detention Policy [HREOC backgrounder], which requires any non-citizen seeking entrance into Australia to be detained. In 2006, the High Court of Australia [official website] held [JURIST report] that a "holder of a temporary protection visa is not entitled to further protection in Australia if they are no longer in danger in the country from which they fled" and that the person may not remain a refugee. The UNHCR criticized [JURIST report] Australia for its strict policy of detaining illegal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. A representative of the UNHCR said that detention of asylum seekers and refugees is inherently undesirable and should only be used while authorities checked identities, where travel and identification papers had been lost or destroyed, or to protect public security.

[JURIST] The US Customs and Border Protection [official website] has arrested 115 Haitians who have crossed the border illegally since the January 12 earthquake [NYT backgrounder, JURIST news archive], according to Sunday reports. Mark Henry, operations officer for the Border Patrol's Swanton sector [official website], which covers 261 miles of the US-Canada border from New Hampshire through Vermont to New York said that 114 Haitians have been arrested in Vermont [Burlington Free Press report] and one in New York. Many of the Haitians, previously deported from the US and seeking refugee status in Canada, returned to reconnect with remaining relatives in the US after losing family in the earthquake. Additionally, it is suspected that the illegal entrants are returning to the US with hopes that the 18-month Temporary Protected Status (TPS) [JURIST report] will allow them to reestablish themselves and strengthen their case for citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] granted TPS and placed a ban on deportation and removal proceedings of Haitian nationals in order to provide a temporary refuge for those already present in the US on January 12, regardless of their immigration status.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano [official profile] said in January that Haitians who arrived illegally after the earthquake would be sent back to Haiti [JURIST report]. Napolitano told a news conference that Haitians should not view the earthquake as an open opportunity to migrate to the US, but should remain in their country to help rebuild. Additionally, the DHS announced that the US would allow Haitian orphans into the country [JURIST report] to receive needed care in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake [USGS backgrounder] that caused massive damage to property and infrastructure in Haiti. The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti [official website] has said that up to 50 percent of buildings [statement, PDF] have been destroyed or damaged, including the presidential palace, the UN Mission headquarters, and the main prison, allowing nearly 4,000 inmates to escape [JURIST report]. Thousands of US military troops have been deployed to assist the Haitian police and international peacekeepers as they confront rising lawlessness [JURIST report] in the country. UN officials say the death toll may never be known [WP report], but Haitian officials have estimated that between 100,000 to 200,000 have died as a result of the earthquake.

[JURIST] A Thai court on Monday dismissed the government's application for an injunction against protesters gathered in Bangkok's business district. The Internal Security Operations Command, under the direction of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva [official profile], applied for an injunction [Bangkok Post report] that would have ordered the protest organizers to lead the group out of the area after three days of protests. The court was also asked to ban rallies in 11 other areas, which, on Sunday, were declared by the government to be covered under the Internal Security Act (ISA) [text, PDF], restricting protesters from entering. The court denied the request [AFP report], stating that it was unnecessary given that the government already had the power to evict protesters under the ISA. The protesters, known as the red shirts [BBC backgrounder], are supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who was removed from power in 2006 following a coup. They converged on Bangkok's commercial hub on Saturday, demanding that the Election Commission (EC) [official website] agree to expedite a corruption case against the ruling Democrat Party [party website, in Thai]. The party has been accused of receiving a 258 million baht (USD $8 million) donation in violation of a 10 million baht (USD $300,000) annual limit contained in the Thai Constitution [text, PDF].

The Thai Cabinet [official website, in Thai] approved [JURIST report] the invocation of the ISA last month to allow for increased security measures in anticipation of large anti-government protests. The Cabinet later extended [AFP report] application of the ISA after protests continued beyond the original March 23 mandate. The law was designed to provide more power to security forces [BBC report] and allow for the movement of protesters to be restricted through the imposition of curfews, checkpoints, and restrictions on the size of gatherings, in the event demonstrations turn violent. In February, the Thai Constitutional Court seized [JURIST report] 46.4 billion baht (USD $1.4 billion) in assets from Thaksin for abuses of power while in office. Thaksin has been convicted of corruption in Thailand, but Cambodia has refused [JURIST reports] to extradite him. Last April, Abhisit instituted a state of emergency [JURIST report] in Bangkok and several provinces following an outbreak of protests calling for his resignation. He also canceled [press release] the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations [official website] leaders, which was being held in the country.

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] called on Uzbekistan Monday to deliver on promises to improve its human rights record. In a speech [text] to the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, Ban challenged the former Soviet republic to live up to its obligations as a signatory to various international treaties banning torture and civil rights violations. The rapidly growing Central Asian nation has long faced accusations from the West of rampant political oppression and a litany of human rights abuses, including the use of torture on its prisoners [HRW report]. Ban emphasized the importance of civil rights to the nation's growth as a democracy and as a member of the international community:

Central Asia is central to this world - a key player. ... You have an important place in the universal agreements that bind us as a community of nations. You have committed yourselves to many them, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, more than 60 other international treaties on human rights. ... It is time to deliver.

[JURIST] German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger [official profile] on Sunday announced plans to enact a law to increase protections for journalists using information obtained from government sources. Under section 353b of the German Penal Code [text], public officials who release state information can be punished by up to five years in prison. While the current law does not specifically target members of the press, prosecutors have used the law to search and confiscate [DW report] information from journalists even if they are not suspected of wrong-doing. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger indicated that the proposed law would allow journalists to act as an important check on the government without fear of interference. The law appears to have broad support within the government and negotiations on the law are expected to begin next month.

Germany joins Iceland and the US on the list of countries that have recently proposed legislation meant to increase freedom of the press. In February, the Icelandic Parliament [official website, in Icelandic] began considering measures [JURIST report] aimed at increasing protections for journalists and promoting freedom of speech and transparency in government. Last December, the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] approved a bill [JURIST report] that would protect journalists' abilities to shield sources in federal court proceedings. Reporter's Without Borders (RWB) [advocacy website] ranked Iceland number one in press freedom in 2009 [2009 rankings], while ranking Germany eighteenth and the US twentieth.