The interim guidelines will be in place until the new coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron [official profile] further reviews the nation's counter-terrorism legislation. May said that the government cannot appeal [AFP report] the ECHR ruling, but would not do so if it could.

In January, ECHR unanimously ruled [judgment text] that searches performed by police without legitimate suspicion are illegal. The ECHR found that British police had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF] when they stopped and searched two individuals in 2003 under the Terrorism Act 2000. Under Article 8, everyone is entitled to the right of respect for private and family life. The court found that although the search is undertaken in a public place, Article 8 is still applicable. "Indeed, in the Court's view, the public nature of the search may, in certain cases, compound the seriousness of the interference because of an element of humiliation and embarrassment."

Cuba continues to face criticism for its human rights record. Last week, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] criticized the Cuban legal system [JURIST report], stating that the government's restrictions on freedom of expression create a "climate of fear" among journalists and activists. The report follows a statement released by AI in March urging the Cuban authorities [JURIST report] to "revoke laws that restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association and to release all dissidents unfairly detained by the authorities." Also in March, the US State Department [official website] criticized Cuba for interfering with the right to privacy in its 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [materials; JURIST report]. In November, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a report [text, PDF; JURIST report] claiming that the Cuban government continued to repress dissidents and violate fundamental civil liberties of Cubans, and resorted to imposing short-term imprisonment measures to elude international critique. According to a February 2009 report by the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) [El Pais backgrounder, in Spanish], the number of political prisoners in Cuba had declined [JURIST report] from 234 in January 2008 to 205, while the number of brief detentions had increased.

The judgment comes at a time when the multi-billion euro industry is attempting to break the monopoly held by domestic "game of chance" agencies in many EU member states. In June, the ECJ issued two judgments [JURIST report] against UK betting companies Ladbrokes International and Betfair [judgments], upholding Dutch restrictions on Internet gambling. The ECJ ruled in both cases that national regulations on games of chance are compatible with EU law when they are enacted to mitigate addiction and combat fraud. The US has also taken recently taken steps to tighten restrictions on Internet gambling. Official federal enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) [HR 4411 materials] began in June. The UIGEA, which bans banks and financial institutions from intentionally accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers related to unlawful Internet bets was scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2009, but enforcement was delayed [JURIST report] in November until June 1. The delay allowed US banks and financial institutions six months to get in compliance with the new rules designed to curb Internet gambling. The act was signed into law [JURIST report] by then-president George W. Bush in October 2006 amid controversy over the effects of the bill on US bettors and foreign companies.

Lubanga is accused of war crimes for allegedly recruiting child soldiers to fight in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002-2003. His trial began in January 2009 but was halted soon after when one of the child witnesses recanted his testimony [JURIST report] that Lubanga had recruited him for the militia. The prosecution concluded its case [JURIST report] last July after presenting 22 weeks of testimony. Lubanga maintains he is innocent [JURIST report] of the charges against him. He became the first war crimes defendant to appear before the ICC, formed in 2002, after he was taken into custody [JURIST report] in March 2006.

A total of 24 men were arrested during UK raids in August 2006, and police charged 11 suspects [JURIST report] under the Terrorism Act 2006 and Terrorism Act 2000 [texts]—eight with conspiracy to commit murder and with preparing acts of terrorism, one with possession of articles useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism and two with failing to disclose information of material assistance in preventing an act of terrorism. In September, three men convicted of attempting to smuggle liquid explosives onto the airplanes were sentenced [JURIST reports] to life in prison by the London court.

Members of the Roma minority have been frequent targets of discriminatory government actions throughout Europe. In March, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled [judgment text] that the practice of segregating Roma primary school students in Croatia from other pupils is discriminatory [JURIST report]. Also in March, the US State Department released their 2009 human rights report [JURIST report] noting an increase in the killings of Roma people in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In February of last year, Italian authorities dismantled illegal immigrant camps [JURIST report] heavily populated by members of the Roma minority following the alleged rape of a 14-year old girl by East European immigrants, which led to public outcry and vigilante reprisals. In July 2008, the Italian government began recording the fingerprints [JURIST report] of thousands of Roma, including children, ostensibly to reduce street crime and begging. Later that month, the European Parliament [official website] called on EU member states to repeal all anti-Roma laws and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights urged Italy to change its "severe" policies [JURIST reports] on Roma people.

The UK High Court approved the extradition [JURIST report] of Aswat and Ahmad to the US in 2006. Aswat is wanted in the US on suspicion of setting up a terrorist training camp and Ahmad is wanted for conspiring to kill Americans and running a website used to fund terrorists and recruit al Qaeda members. The extraditions were approved only after the US offered assurances that it would not seek the death penalty, try the suspects before military tribunals or declare them enemy combatants. The extradition of Hamza was approved [JURIST report] by a British court in 2007. Hamza, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence in the UK [JURIST report] for urging his followers to kill Jews and other non-Muslims, faces US charges of attempting to establish terrorist training camps in Oregon, conspiring to take hostages in Yemen, and helping terror training in Afghanistan.

The TFTP has provided critical investigative leads -- more than 1,550 to EU Member States -- since its creation after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. These leads have aided countries around the world in preventing or investigating many of the past decade's most visible and violent terrorist attacks and attempted attacks, including Bali (2002), Madrid (2004), London (2005), the liquids bomb plot against transatlantic aircraft (2006), New York's John F. Kennedy airport (2007), Germany (2007), Mumbai (2008), and Jakarta (2009).

The EU and US have struggled to balance privacy concerns with anti-terrorism efforts in the past. In 2006, an EU panel said that SWIFT broke privacy laws [JURIST report] by sharing data with the US. Revelation of the once-secret program [NYT report; JURIST report], prompted sharp criticism from the Bush administration, which defended the initiative. The chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee [official website] later encouraged the administration to press criminal charges [JURIST report] against the media for publicizing the program, which allowed the CIA [official website] to monitor international financial transactions processed by SWIFT.

The DOJ revealed the broader underlying plot of Zazi's failed attack last Septemeber. Zazi is a native of Afghanistan who was arrested [BBC report] by FBI agents in Colorado last fall. He was originally charged with making false statements to the FBI. In September, Zazi was indicted [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] and originally pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. In February, he changed his plea to guilty to three criminal charges of 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. The guilty plea was praised [JURIST report] by US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website], who has been a strong proponent of using civilian courts to try terrorist suspects.

Al Odah's case, pending since 2002, was a companion case to the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush [opinion text; JURIST report], in which the court determined that Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to bring a habeas challenge in federal court. Last week, the DC Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that evidence against Algerian Guantanamo detainee Belkacem Bensaya, the only one of the six Boumediene petitioners who has not been granted habeas relief, must be reviewed to determine if he was "part of" al Qaeda. Al Odah's case was also a companion case to the 2004 Supreme Court decision of Rasul v. Bush [opinion text; JURIST report], in which the court ruled that US courts have jurisdiction to hear challenges brought by foreign-born detainees to contest their captivity and treatment at Guantanamo Bay.

Al Qosi has been detained at Guantanamo since he was transferred there from Afghanistan in 2002. In December, a military judge ruled [opinion, PDF] that the US government could partially amend the charges [JURIST report] against al Qosi by changing his jurisdictional basis but could not include four additional years of alleged activities under the charges. In October, military judges granted continuances [JURIST report] for prosecutors in the case against al Qosi, as well as in the case against Noor Uthman Mohammed [DOD materials]. At the time, it was expected that the continuances would make way for a decision on whether to hold the remaining Guantanamo detainee proceedings in civilian or military court.

This is not the first time Caspar has initiated legal action against a popular US Internet company over privacy issues. He recently filed a complaint [Boston Globe report] against Google [corporate website; JURIST news archive], joining many in other countries in contending that their Street View feature violates privacy rights. Facebook has also faced privacy complaints in other countries. In January, the Canadian Office of the Privacy Commissioner [official website] announced that it would launch a new probe [JURIST report] of Facebook to investigate privacy issues in response to complaints. Last year, five Facebook users sued the company in a California court alleging the site violated their privacy [JURIST report].