JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, July 11, 2010

[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] said during an interview [transcript] Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation that no final decision has been reached as to whether accused 9/11 conspirators, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], will be tried in civilian court or by military tribunal. Holder stated that the main goal of the administration is to hold the people responsible for 9/11 accountable in the most effective way possible, and that the administration continues to look at a variety of concerns that have arisen about both possible venues. He indicated that funding restrictions placed by Congress as well as concerns expressed by local officials [JURIST report] will both play an important role in the final decision regarding trial location. Holder reiterated his support for holding the trials in civilian courts [JURIST report] saying that the criminal justice system has been proven an effective location for terrorism trials and that excluding civilian courts as a possible tool in fighting terrorism would ultimately weaken the nation's security. One limitation on military tribunals Holder cited is the ability to sentence a person to death who has pleaded guilty. He indicated that it may not be legal to sentence someone to death who has pleaded guilty before a military tribunal, but noted that the death sentence is an option for a person who has pleaded guilty in civilian court.

Rights groups have repeatedly urged the Obama administration to utilize civilian courts over military commissions for the trials of suspected terrorists. In March, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin [official website] called on the Obama administration to hold civilian trials [JURIST report] for Mohammed and other suspected terrorists saying that the military commissions system is fatally flawed and cannot be reformed. Also in March, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] released a full-page advertisement in the New York Times urging President Barack Obama [JURIST report] to uphold his pledge to try 9/11 suspects in civilian criminal court. That release came just days after White House advisers announced they were considering recommending [JURIST report] that Mohammed be tried in a military court rather than through the civilian criminal justice system. Holder announced in November that Mohammed would be tried in a civilian court [JURIST report] in Manhattan, drawing intense criticism and leading the Obama administration to reconsider the decision.

[JURIST] More than 1,000 protesters marched through the streets of Toronto on Saturday to demand transparent public inquiries into police action in connection with last month's Group of 20 (G-20) summit [official website]. Nearly 1,000 arrests were made before and during the G20, making it the largest mass arrest in Canadian history and protesters contend that both the police and the government acted beyond the scope of their authority in planning and carrying out security measures related to the summit. The protests were organized by rights groups including Amnesty International Canada (AI) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) [advocacy websites] and called for accountability [Toronto Star report] from city leaders, the heads of Toronto and Ontario police forces, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The protesters expressed the need for an objective review independent of police organizations and the government. They contend that a recently approved [meeting agenda] independent civilian review of the Toronto Police Services Board [official website] is not broad enough in scope to conduct a thorough, wide-reaching investigation.

On Friday, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Martin [official website] announced that he was launching an investigation [JURIST report] into local regulation 233/10 [O Reg 233/10 text], which expanded the scope of police powers of search and seizure during the summit. The regulation, enacted under the Public Works Protection Act [text], required those present in certain areas of Toronto to present identification to police or be subjected to a search. Rights groups have expressed concern [JURIST report] that the regulation was enacted in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text] and that the public was not given enough notice of the regulation in order to comply. The inquiry is expected to be completed within 90 days.

[JURIST] The Cuban government on Saturday freed the first of 52 political prisoners who will be released as part of an agreement [JURIST report] with the Roman Catholic Church [church website], which was brokered by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos [official website, in Spanish]. According to reports, three of the political dissidents were released [AFP report] from custody and taken to an undisclosed location where they will await a transfer to Spain. Spain has formally agreed to accept the first five prisoners scheduled to be freed and has also informally agreed to accept all 52 of the prisoners. Under the agreement, five prisoners are scheduled to be released [AP report] almost immediately, while several others will be moved to prisons closer to Havana in anticipation of the remaining 47 being released within the next two months. The political prisoners scheduled to be released were all captured as part of a 2003 tightening on dissent within the country. A total of 75 dissidents were arrested at that time, although 23 have subsequently been released. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] on Friday said she welcomed the release of the prisoners [press release] and that she hopes it will be "the start of a series of significant steps to advance the protection of human rights in Cuba."

Cuba continues to face criticism for its human rights record. Earlier this month, 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 [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.

[JURIST] British Prime Minister David Cameron [official website] and UN Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Serge Brammertz [official profile] marked the Fifteenth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre [JURIST news archive], by reaffirming their commitment to bringing those responsible for the deaths of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys to justice. Cameron issued a statement [press release] calling the massacre "a crime that shamed Europe" and stating that the victims must never be forgotten. He pledged that the British government will continue its efforts to bring former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic [JURIST news archive] and others before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive]. He also stated that his government will "take a close interest in the [Balkan] region" to help them move forward and eventually join the European Union (EU) [official website] and NATO [official website]. Cameron promised that the government would do "all in [its] power to ensure that such an atrocity can never be repeated." In an interview with a German newspaper, Brammertz echoed Cameron's pledge [Die Wertz report, in German] to bring Mladic and others involved in the massacre to justice. Brammertz said that justice will not be completely served until Mladic is found and indicated that his capture is a test of the EU's credibility. Brammertz also stressed the importance of stability in the Balkans and urged the international community to continue to support efforts to bring the accused before the ICTY.

Mladic is one of two high-level targets still at large under the jurisdiction of the ICTY and faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for allegedly overseeing the Srebrenica massacre and other war crimes violations during the Bosnian civil war [JURIST news archive]. In May, Mladic's family filed a claim in the Belgrade District Court seeking to have him declared officially dead [JURIST report] in order to collect his state pension and sell his property. Earlier that month, the ICTY announced that the Office of the Prosecutor filed a motion to amend the indictment against Mladic [JURIST report] to include 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war in order to help speed up court proceedings once Mladic is captured. In March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] said that the ICTY will continue to operate [JURIST report] beyond its originally planned end date, in part to apprehend both Mladic who has been a fugitive since 1995, and political leader Goran Hadzic [case materials], who both face a significant number of charges. Ban estimated that it will be necessary for the court to remain open until 2013.