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Pakistan leaders fail to agree on resolution restoring ousted judges as new deadline looms
Talks between the leaders of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in London Friday failed to produce an agreement on a draft resolution for reinstating judges ousted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last year, but party members pledged to continue negotiations. A panel convened last week pursuant to an initial deal struck by the leaders in Dubai completed a draft parliamentary resolution to restore the judges, but disagreements on implementation among panel members meant that the resolution had to go the top leadership of the PPP and the PML-N for approval before being submitted to the Pakistani parliament.
On Monday, retired Justice Fakhruddin Ibrahim quit the drafting panel, citing the "non-serious attitude" of fellow panel members and "unconstitutional" efforts by the PPP to retain judges who had endorsed Musharraf's declaration of emergency last year. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif initially said that the judges would be restored May 12, but Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek said Friday that the governing coalition will be unlikely to meet that deadline. JURIST's Pakistan correspondent says that if the deadline passes without agreement Sharif is likely to step out of the coaliton cabinet, a move that could bring down the new government. The Pakistan Newspaper has more. UPI has additional coverage.
EU parliament head slams possible court ban of Turkish ruling party
European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering Thursday slammed a bid by Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya to have the country's ruling Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) legally dissolved for not respecting Turkey's strict secular principles. Poettering said it would be "absurd" for the Constitutional Court of Turkey to close the party as it had come to power through democratic means. On Wednesday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called for the Turkey to respect democratic principles in what was considered a message of support for the government. Rehn has previously warned that the closure of the AKP could have could be serious ramifications for Turkey's bid to join the European Union. MSNBC has more.
In March, Yalcinkaya petitioned the court to disband the AKP and bar Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul from political office. The AKP filed a response to the dissolution petition last week, arguing that shutting down the party would leave a political void and endanger Turkey's democracy.
Anthrax reporter challenges contempt of court order for not revealing sources
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments Friday in the appeal by former USA Today reporter Toni Locy against sanctions imposed on her for refusing to disclose government sources who provided information about former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Steven J. Hatfill. In a March ruling, US District Judge Reggie Walton found Locy in contempt of court and ordered that, beginning March 11, Locy pay a fine of $500 a day; the fine was due to increase to $1000 a day after one week and then up to $5000 a day after two weeks. Walton refused to delay the sanctions until Locy could file an appeal and also ruled that Locy cannot accept reimbursement for the monetary sanctions. The appeals court later granted an emergency stay against the monetary sanctions while Locy pursued her appeal. Locy's lawyers said that she is unable to pay the fines and categorized the sanctions as "destructive," arguing that Walton had abused his discretion. On Friday, the court appeared receptive to the argument.
Locy, currently a journalism professor at West Virginia University, has refused to cooperate in Hatfill's suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) for its alleged violation of the US Privacy Act, arguing that the information Hatfill is seeking has not been demonstrated to be central to the lawsuit. Hatfill was identified as a "person of interest" in the investigations of the 2001 anthrax attacks. He contends that FBI and DOJ officials violated federal privacy laws by providing personal information and information about the investigation to journalists. AP has more.Editor's Note: Toni Locy served as a JURIST student staff member while pursuing her MSL at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2006-07.
Some Guantanamo detainees could pose threat if released: Gates
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that a number of current Guantanamo Bay detainees would pose a new threat to the US if they were returned to their home countries. Of the 500 inmates who have been released from the detention facility, Gates said Pentagon data shows that between 5-10% of detainees "return to the battlefield" after being released.
Gates, who has been a proponent of closing the base, added:I think we do as careful a vetting job as we possibly can before releasing these people. There are a lot of -- there are a lot of prisoners down there, frankly, that we would be prepared to turn over to their home government, but the home government isn't prepared to receive them, or we don't have any confidence that if they still need to be incarcerated, that the home government will keep them incarcerated. So there are actually a fair number of the prisoners at Guantanamo that we would be prepared to send home if we had -- if their government would accept them and -- or if we had confidence that the government would continue to keep them incarcerated.Gates' comments came in response to earlier reports that one former detainee, Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi, was responsible for an April suicide attack targeted at security forces in Mosul, Iraq. Al-Ajmi had been captured in Afghanistan in 2002, but was released to the custody of his home country, Kuwait, in May 2006. Upon his return, a Kuwaiti court acquitted and freed al-Ajmi and four other former detainees accused of being al Qaeda members or of raising money for the terrorist group. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.
Myanmar junta urges citizens to approve constitution in weekend referendum
Myanmar's ruling junta Friday urged the country's citizens to approve the military-backed draft constitution in an upcoming Saturday national referendum that the government has refused to reschedule despite a devastating cyclone last week that may have left up to 100,000 people dead. The United Nations estimates that another 1.5 million people have been "severely affected," but the Myanmar regime has thusfar blocked international aid efforts. Reports have also surfaced that a riot broke out after the storm in a notorious Rangoon prison used to hold political dissidents; soldiers and police reportedly opened fire on the rioters, killing 36.
Myanmar opposition groups and international figures have slammed the government's decision to go forward with the vote under the circumstances. On Wednesday, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering condemned the decision, while the National League for Democracy Tuesday derided it as "extremely unacceptable." Myanmar state media have reported that Saturday's vote will proceed as scheduled in most of the country, although the regime now says that the vote will be postponed in districts hardest hit by the cyclone. Reuters has more.
Nuclear powers say Iran threatening nuclear treaty goals
The world's five major nuclear powers - Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US - cited Iran's uranium enrichment program as a major threat to the goals of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in a joint statement issued Thursday at the end of a two-week meeting of 106 NPT member nations. The five urged Iran, currently under UN sanctions for its nuclear program, to accept an incentive package in exchange for abandoning uranium enrichment. The statement also addressed the nuclear situation in North Korea, which opted out of the treaty in 2003 to restart disarmament negotiations. Conspicuously absent from the statement was any mention of a secret reactor that Syria is suspected of building, which some speculate is because of a lack of confidence in the related US intelligence.
Iran maintains that it is pursuing nuclear capabilities solely for use in producing electricity, a use allowed under the treaty, and has repeatedly balked at the UN sanctions targeted at the country. The US and other western powers are particularly concerned that energy-related uranium enrichment processes could be easily altered to produce weapons-grade material. Reuters has more.
US military judge refuses to set Khadr trial date pending Guantanamo records release
US military judge Col. Peter Brownback again refused to set a trial date for Canadian-born Omar Khadr at a pre-trial hearing Thursday, threatening to suspend military commission proceedings against the Guantanamo detainee until the government submits daily records of Khadr's detention. Khadr's lawyers claim the government is stalling the prosecution under the Military Commissions Act to cover up abusive treatment at Guantanamo. In an affidavit released in March, Khadr claimed that US interrogators in Afghanistan threatened him with rape, physically abused him, and forced him to swear to false statements. The Toronto Star has more.
Khadr, 21, faces life imprisonment for crimes allegedly committed at the age of 15 while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was charged in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as well as spying.In April, Brownback ruled that Khadr was not a child soldier when he was captured in Afghanistan. Khadr's lawyers had asked for the case to be dismissed saying that it violated the Optional Protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which gives special protection to children under 18 involved in armed conflicts.
Federal judge orders handover of CIA 'torture' memo
A US federal judge Thursday directed the CIA to produce a 2002 US Department of Justice memo that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims authorized the agency to use specific torture techniques - including waterboarding - on US detainees held abroad. The memo prepared by the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has been described by the ACLU as "one of the most important torture documents still being withheld by the Bush administration." Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in his order that he required production of the document before determining whether it could be made public as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the ACLU and other rights groups under the Freedom of Information Act for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in US custody abroad. Reuters has more.
In a statement on the order, the ACLU said that for almost four years it had been challenging the government's assertion that the OLC memo could not be released because of attorney-client privilege, arguing that the privilege does not apply to a legal memo that the CIA adopted as a matter of policy. Hellerstein ruled for the government in a January hearing, but on the ACLU's motion "reconsidered his decision after senior officials publicly acknowledged that the CIA had waterboarded three prisoners and after Attorney General Michael Mukasey stated to Congress that the CIA's interrogation program had been authorized by the OLC."
Egypt court fines newspaper editor for reporting on labor dispute
An Egyptian court Thursday ordered the editor of independent newspaper al-Badeel to pay a $2,000 fine for publishing an article about labor disputes in the state-owned Middle East News Agency. Mohammed Sayyed was convicted of libel, and also ordered to pay $1,000 in compensation to the chief of the news agency. AP has more.
In recent months, Egypt's independent media have been the target of multiple lawsuits for reporting on sensitive issues. Last month, the former editor of weekly newspaper al-Dustour was sentenced to six months in prison after being convicted on charges of spreading "rumors" about the health of Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak in an August newspaper report. Last year, two journalists were convicted in absentia of libel for writing a story about an illegal land transaction from the Ministry of Religious Endowments at a secret auction. Under Egyptian law, citizens may file lawsuits against individuals who make statements that harm society, and the accused can face criminal punishment if found guilty. Mubarak has previously pledged to decriminalize press offenses in Egypt, but has yet to do so.
Australia military investigating Taliban detainee 'mistreatment' claims
The Australian Defence Force is investigating claims by four Taliban members detained following the death of an Australian soldier in Afghanistan that they were mistreated during their time in custody, Australian media reported Thursday. The allegations were reported by a senior Afghan commander who spoke of "mistreatment" of prisoners by Australian troops. ABC Australia has more.
Australia currently has slightly over 1000 troops committed to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force under its Operation Slipper. Earlier this week the Melbourne Age reported other complaints by one-time Australian and Dutch detainees that they were beaten after being handed over to local Afghan security forces. Similar claims have dogged the Canadian military, which subsequently renegotiated its prisoner transfer agreement with Afghan authorities. In a May 2 statement, Stephen Smith, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, denounced torture and announced the steps Australia is taking to accede to the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, previously rejected by the government of Prime Minister John Howard.
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