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 Legal news from Saturday, October 31, 2009 |
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Saturday, October 31, 2009 |
UN report criticizes Russia on human rights
Jay Carmella at 12:38 PM ET
[JURIST] Russia must undertake extensive legal reforms in order to protect human rights, according to a report [text] issued Friday by the UN Human Rights Committee [official website]. The committee found that Russia is failing to protect important human rights in a number of areas. The report emphasized the problems the country is having guaranteeing its citizens rights such as fair trials and freedoms of speech and of the press. The report specifically criticized the activities in Chechnya [JURIST news archive]. Despite not referring to specific cases, the report discussed the unsolved killings of journalists and human rights activists, violence against citizens, and discrimination against homosexuals. The Russian government has not responded to the report.
The UN report comes less than a week after prominent opposition leader and human rights activist in Russia's southern province of Ingushetia [official website, in Russian], Maksharip Aushev, was shot dead [JURIST report] while traveling on a highway in the North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria. In August, Chechen human rights activist Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov were found dead [JURIST report]. Sadulayeva's death came less than a month after the death [JURIST report] of activist Natalia Estemirova. Also in July, the body of Russian human rights activist Andrei Kulagin [JURIST report], missing since May, was found in a quarry. In April, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin expressed concern [JURIST report] that activists in Russia were being attacked with greater frequency.
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ICC concludes charges hearing for alleged Sudanese rebel leader
Christian Ehret at 12:07 PM ET
[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Friday completed the confirmation of charges hearing [press release] against Sudanese war crimes suspect Bahr Idriss Abu Garda [case materials]. During the hearing, prosecutors alleged that Abu Garda controlled rebel forces during the September 2007 attack [BBC report] against African Union peacekeepers in North-Darfur. Abu Garda is suspected of having led the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) [official website, in Arabic] during the attacks, resulting in the death of 12 African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) soldiers and several injuries. The defense argued that Abu Garda is not responsible for the attack and that the AMIS had lost its protected status [video] under international law, making it a legitimate military target. The hearing was to address three charges arising out of the attacks that include violence, pillaging, and intentionally directing attacks against a peacekeeping mission. The pre-trial chamber will announce its decision within 60 days, determining how the case proceeds. Abu Garda is the first suspect to appear before the ICC in regard to the Darfur situation [JURIST news archive].
The confirmation hearing, during which prosecutors had to allege sufficient evidence for each charge, began last week [JURIST report]. Abu Garda first appeared [JURIST report] before the ICC in May to deny responsibility for war crimes committed in Darfur. The court is also pursuing cases against Ahmad Harun, Ali Kushayb [TrialWatch Profiles], and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Al-Bashir is accused of leading the systematic harassment and murder of members of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups under the pretext of counter-insurgency since 2003. In July, prosecutors appealed [JURIST report] the court's decision to not charge Bashir with genocide. The ICC originally issued the arrest warrant [JURIST report] for al-Bashir in March, resulting in much controversy [JURIST news archive].
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Law Library of Congress refusing to retract report on Honduras coup: report
Sarah Miley at 11:00 AM ET
[JURIST] A US Law Library of Congress (LLOC) [official website] spokesperson said Thursday that the LLOC will not retract its report [text, PDF] on the military-backed coup in Honduras [JURIST report], according to a McClatchy Newspapers report [text]. The statement came in response to demands [McClatchy Newspapers report] from senior congressional Democrats to retract the report, which the lawmakers charge is based on flawed legal analysis and has exacerbated the country's political unrest. The congressional research agency reportedly stands by its legal analysis of the ouster of Manuel Zelaya [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], which concludes:
Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.
Heads of the House and Senate foreign relations committees, John Kerry (D-MA) and Howard Berman (D-CA), have spoken out against the report stating that it is based on a provision of the Honduran Constitution that was struck down in 2003 and has been denounced by experts from the US, the Organization of American States (OAS), and Honduras. Republicans have called the objections an attempt to suppress opposition of the Obama administration's refusal to recognize the de facto government. While the congressional research agency's legal analysis supported the ousting of Zelaya, the report went on to say that the removal of Zelaya from the country by military force is in direct violation of the the constitution, and is currently under investigation by the Honduran authorities.
Also Thursday, the interim government of Honduras and Zelaya reached an agreement [JURIST report] allowing the ousted president to return to power conditioned on Supreme Court approval with a subsequent affirmative vote from the Honduran legislature. Last week, the interim government officially eased restrictions [JURIST report] on protests and media that were put in place in response to protests by Zelaya supporters. Also last week, a delegation from the OAS arrived in Honduras to investigate allegations of human rights abuses [JURIST report] that have occurred since Zelaya's ouster.
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Pennsylvania court overturns thousands of juvenile sentences in judge kickback scandal
Zach Zagger at 10:15 AM ET
[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania [official website] on Thursday overturned [opinion, PDF] thousands of juvenile-offender convictions issued by a judge indicted on federal corruption charges for an alleged kickback scheme. The order voids about 6,500 convictions handed down by former Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas [official website] president judge Mark Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008. Ciavarella, along with former president judge Michael Conahan, has been accused of accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks for sentencing teenagers to two private juvenile detention facilities in which they had a financial interest. The court accepted the recommendation of Special Master Arthurt Grim to vacate the convictions, finding:
Judge Grim refers to the “pall” that was cast over all juvenile matters presided over by Ciavarella, given his financial interest, and his conduct in cases where juveniles proceeded without counsel. We fully agree that, given the nature and extent of the taint, this Court simply cannot have confidence that any juvenile matter adjudicated by Ciavarella during this period was tried in a fair and impartial manner.
The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center [advocacy website], which advocated on behalf of the youth, applauded [press release] the court's decision, calling it, "an exceptional response to the most serious judicial scandal in the history of the United States." About 100 of the cases are eligible be reopened [Philadelphia Inquirer report], and the Luzerne County District Attorney has 30 days to decide whether to retry any of the defendants.
Ciavarella and Conahan were indicted in September after withdrawing the guilty pleas [JURIST reports] they entered in February. The plea withdrawal came after Judge Edwin Kosik of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania [official website] rejected their plea agreements, finding that the men did not accept responsibility and that the prison sentences were too lenient [NYT report]. This prompted the two former judges to file a motion for their reinstatement. Kosik refused to reinstate the plea agreements, causing the former judges to withdraw their pleas and clearing the way for a trial. In March, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania overturned [JURIST report] hundreds of Ciavarella's juvenile convictions in specific cases where the juveniles were not represented by lawyers. Robert Powell, the owner of PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care juvenile facilities has pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to both Ciavarella and Conahan.
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