JURIST - Paper Chase: Saturday, May 26, 2012

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that an employee with a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) [text] does not need to show that his or her disability was the sole reason he or she was fired, only that the disability was a "but-for" cause of the termination. This decision overturns 17 years of precedent in that circuit, which the appeals court now says was followed because of confusion about the meaning of the case Maddox v. University of Tennessee [opinion]. That case involved both a claim under the ADA and one under the Rehabilitation Act, which does expressly require that termination be based "solely" on a person's disability. The appeals court decided in the current case, Lewis v. Humboldt Acquisition Corp., that, because the ADA does not use the word "solely" in the relevant provision like the Rehabilitation Act does, it was intended that the ADA be applicable whenever disability was a necessary factor in an employer's decision to fire an employee.

The ADA has been the subject of much case law and has been amended since its adoption in 1990 [JURIST report]. In 2008 the US Congress amended the act [JURIST report] to make it easier for employees to bring a claim under the law, closing gaps that could have denied protection to employees with certain disabilities. At that time, Congress said the amendments were necessary to remedy the US Supreme Court's restrictive interpretation of the law in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky Inc. v. Williams [opinion] in 2002. The Supreme Court also ruled in 2006 that states have no immunity [JURIST report] under the ADA and must comply with its standards.

[JURIST] UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General Dr. Augustine Mahiga told the press on Friday that the Elders of Somalia will select delegates for the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) by June 20, which will convene on July 2 to approve Somalia's new constitution [press release, PDF]. The NCA will have until July 10 to adopt the constitution, and the new Somali Parliament will be chosen by July 15. Mahiga announced this after returning from a three-day trip to Somalia for meetings with the signatories of the Roadmap for the End of Transition in Somalia [text, PDF]. Mahiga also said that the Technical Selection Committee for the NCA, which will provide the Elders with assistance to ensure nominees are qualified under the Garowe Conference criteria, and the Somalian Parliament will be expanded to represent clans and international observers. Mahiga expressed excitement that "Somalia is less than ninety days from the most momentous event in its recent history" and called on all parties involved and the international community to offer their support.

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) [CFR backgrounder] has been working toward establishment of a legitimate government since the 1991 end of the Muhammad Siad Barre [Britannica profile] dictatorship. Earlier this month, a UN expert urged Somalia to establish a new judicial system [JURIST report] that conforms to international human rights standards. In February, the TFG was criticized [JURIST report] by Human Rights Watch for failing to stop recruitment of child soldiers. Earlier that month, parties to the TFG were commended by the UN for coming to an agreement at the Garowe II Constitutional Conference [JURIST report] that set guidelines for establishment of a new parliament.

[JURIST] Moshe Harel was arrested in connection with the organ trafficking operation in Kosovo during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] the European Union Rule of Law Mission to Kosovo (EULEX) [official website] said Friday. A report [text] authored by Council of Europe (COE) [official website] member Dick Marty [BBC profile] details how criminals harvested the organs of civilian detainees killed on Albanian territory near the Albania-Kosovo border and sold the organs on the black market for overseas transplants. Harel was arrested in Israel [Reuters report] along with several other suspects.

This organ trafficking scandal has been receiving more attention after Marty's report implicated [JURIST report] Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci [official profile] in the scheme. Since then, an EU prosecutor began investigating organ trafficking in Albania [JURIST report] in October 2011. In August of that year a US prosecutor began investigating Thaci's role in the scandal [JURIST report]. In February 2011 UN Special Representative to Kosovo Lamberto Zannier requested [JURIST report] that the UN Security Council [official website] open an independent investigation into alleged incidents of organ trafficking. That January, the COE also demanded that Albania and Kosovo investigate the claims [JURIST report].

[JURIST] US resident Dejan Radojkovic was deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday in order to face charges related to his actions as a police commander in Srebrenica during the Bosnian Civil War [JURIST news archive] in 1995. Radojkovic is accused of rounding up more than 200 Bonian-Muslims who were then taken to another area where they were executed. He immigrated to the US in 1999. After an investigation uncovered that Radojkovic had not disclosed his involvement in the conflict, he was arrested in 2009 and a judge ordered that should be deported. Radojkovic's appeal was denied in February. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website] Director John Morton [official profile] released a statement [text]:

For the families who lost loved ones at Srebrenica, justice has been a long time coming, but they can take consolation in the fact that those responsible for this tragedy are now being held accountable for their crimes. I applaud the outstanding work by ICE attorneys, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, and ERO officers in bringing a successful conclusion to this case. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our country does not serve as a haven for human rights violators and others who have committed heinous acts.

Radojkovic is the second police commander to be deported after his commanding officer, Nedjo Ikonic, was deported in 2010 [JURIST report].

Earlier this month two Bosnian Serbs were sentenced to prison [JURIST report] for their roles in Srebenica massacre. The trial of former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY case materials; JURIST news archive] began earlier this month but was postponed due to evidence disclosures [JURIST report]. In April, a Bosnian-Muslim woman pleaded guilty to was crimes after being extradited from the US [JURIST report]. That same month, the trial of eight Bosnian-Muslims began [JURIST report]. In February the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive] sentenced Milan Tupajic to two months in prison [JURIST report] on two counts of contempt for refusing to testify against accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic.