CrimProf Blog

Accused 9/11 Co-Conspirators' Defense Problems

From miamiherald.com: Two weeks after the Pentagon announced plans to stage death-penalty trials for six Guantánamo captives as alleged Sept. 11 co-conspirators, none of the men has seen a military defense lawyer.

Only one of the six has an assigned lawyer, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles. But Broyles failed to see his client during a Feb. 13-16 visit to the isolated Navy base.

Lawyer visits will be a key precursor in the Pentagon's bid to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed and five other alleged 9/11 co-conspirators on trial. On Feb. 11, the Pentagon announced plans to simultaneously try the men by military commission -- and to seek to execute them if they are convicted.

But Army Reserves Col. Steve David said so far he had only assigned Broyles to the complex six-defendant case -- to defend Mohammed al Qahtani, a Saudi considered the least valuable captive among the six men.

Broyles blamed the prison camps lawyer, Navy Capt. Patrick McCarthy, for placing obstacles in the path of his bid to meet Qahtani in the company of a civilian lawyer, Wells Dixon, of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The Army colonel told The Miami Herald he went to the base specifically to meet Qahtani and another Saudi war-court candidate, Ahmed al Darbi, with Dixon -- and was thwarted by the military, not the detainees, on both counts.

In a statement, the prison camps spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Rick Haupt, blamed the conflict on defense lawyers -- describing their failure to comply with prison camp bureaucracy and on scheduling conflicts. But, in the end, Haupt said, the bureaucracy issues were ''moot'' because Darbi and Qahtani refused to meet the military defense lawyer at their assigned time.

A core issue is Broyles' bid to have Dixon join the meetings with the men -- who claim brutal treatment in U.S. custody.

Absent an introduction by the civilian lawyer, Broyles said, the detainee might not believe he is there to help in his defense and instead suspect an interrogation trick.

Qahtani was once known as The 20th Hijacker, suspected of failing to join the 19 other suicide bombers in the 9/11 attacks because he was turned away from entry into the United States at an Orlando airport.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Charles Taylor's War Crime Trial Begins

From NYTimes.com: The war crimes trial of Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president, heard its first testimony Monday and saw video of victims telling of being sexually assaulted or dismembered by rebels who plundered West African diamond fields.

The trial before the international tribunal in this Dutch city resumed following a six-month break, having been adjourned in June after Taylor boycotted proceedings and fired his lawyer.

Back in court, Taylor looked confident and blew a kiss to supporters in the gallery as his new lawyers challenged the prosecution to prove that he was behind the widespread murder, rape and amputations during Sierra Leone's civil war.

Prosecutors allege the so-called ''blood diamonds'' mined in Sierra Leone were smuggled through neighboring Liberia and that Taylor used the profits to arm the rebels. Taylor, 59, is accused of orchestrating the violence from his presidential palace in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. He has pleaded innocent to all 11 charges.

He is the first former African head of state to face an international tribunal.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Philippine Court Convicts 14 in 2001 Kidnapping

From NYTimes.com: A Philippine court  convicted 14 members of the Abu Sayaff group today in the 2001 kidnapping of 20 people off an island resort, including three Americans, two of whom were eventually killed.       

The 14  were sentenced to life imprisonment. Four others were acquitted.

Robert Courtney, a Department of Justice attaché at the United States Embassy in Manila, said the verdict “sends a strong message about the capability of Philippine law enforcement to deal with terrorist activities.”

The kidnappers took their hostages to the island of Basilan, which was Abu Sayyaf’s base of operations at the time. Guillermo Sobero, a Peruvian-born American from California, was beheaded. Some of the others paid ransoms and were freed.

There were accusations of collusion between Abu Sayyaf and some elements of the military, particularly after the kidnappers managed to escape from a hospital in Basilan that had been surrounded by soldiers. A subsequent Senate investigation found “circumstantial evidence” of collusion between the militants and some civilian and military officials.

Thirteen months after the kidnappings, an American-supported military operation tried to free the remaining hostages, including Martin and Gracia Burnham, a missionary couple from Wichita, Kan. But Mr. Burnham and a Filipino nurse, Ediborah Yap, were killed. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

CIA Secret Holding Cell in Jordan

From washingtonpost.com: Over the past seven years, an imposing building on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan has served as a secret holding cell for the CIA.

The building is the headquarters of the General Intelligence Department, Jordan's powerful spy and security agency. Since 2000, at the CIA's behest, at least 12 non-Jordanian terrorism suspects have been detained and interrogated here, according to documents and former prisoners, human rights advocates, defense lawyers and former U.S. officials.

In most of the cases, the spy center served as a covert way station for CIA prisoners captured in other countries. It was a place where they could be hidden after being arrested and kept for a few days or several months before being moved on to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or CIA prisons elsewhere in the world.

Others were arrested while transiting through Jordan, including two detained during stopovers at Amman's international airport. Another prisoner, a microbiology student captured in Pakistan in the weeks after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has not been seen since he was flown to Amman on a CIA plane six years ago.

The most recent case to come to light involved a Palestinian detainee, Marwan al-Jabour, who was transferred to Jordan last year from a CIA-run secret prison, then released several weeks later in the Gaza Strip. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

 

British Teacher in the Sudan Gets 15 Days in Jail for Naming a Teddy Bear Muhammad

From NYTimes.com: The British teacher in Sudan who let her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty on Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation.

Under Sudanese law, the teacher, Gillian Gibbons, could have spent months in jail and been lashed 40 times.

“She got a very light punishment,” said Rabie A. Atti, a government spokesman. “Actually, it’s not much of a punishment at all. It should be considered a warning that such acts should not be repeated.”

British officials, meanwhile, were furious. As soon as the news broke that Ms. Gibbons had been convicted, the British foreign office in London, which had called the whole ordeal “an innocent mistake” summoned the Sudanese ambassador — for the second time in two days. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

French Protestors and Police Clash After Car Accident

From nytimes.com: Dodging rocks and projectiles, the French police lined the streets of this tense suburb Tuesday where angry youths have vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of two teenagers who died in a weekend collision with a police car.

Police union officials warned that the violence was escalating into urban guerrilla warfare, with shotguns aimed at officers — a rare sight in the last major outbreak of suburban unrest, in 2005.

More than 80 have been injured so far — four of them as a result of gunfire — and the rage was still simmering Tuesday afternoon. Inside the city hall of Villiers-le-Bel, a group of visiting mayors appealed for calm while police officers dodged rocks outside.

“We are sitting targets,” said Sophie Bar, a local police officer who stood guard outside. “They were throwing rocks at us and it was impossible to see where they came from. They just came raining over the roof.”

The violence was set off by the deaths of two teenagers on a motorbike who were killed in a crash with a police car Sunday night. The scene, with angry youths targeting the police mostly with firebombs, rocks and other projectiles, was reminiscent of three weeks of rioting in 2005.

Rest of Article. . .[Mark Godsey]

British Court Upholds the Right of Mothers Not to Tell Fathers about Babies

From the guardian.com: A British woman who conceived a child after a one-night stand with a colleague and hid her pregnancy from everyone has won the right to keep the birth a secret from the father.

The woman, who is now 20 and cannot be named for legal reasons, became pregnant when she was 19, but did not realise until a late stage. She told no one, shunned medical help until she went into labour, and put the girl up for adoption as soon as she was born.

In September, after an application from the local authority, a county court judge ruled that the woman's parents and the father of the child should be told. But yesterday, three appeal judges overruled him and, in a landmark judgment, agreed that the mother has "the ultimate veto" over who should be told about her child.

They ordered that the local authority and guardian take no steps to identify the father or tell him about the birth of the girl, who is now 19 weeks old. They also banned the authority from introducing the girl to any of the mother's family to assess them as potential carers. Her family had found out about the child during the proceedings after the local authority wrote to them by mistake.

None of the names and locations of those involved in the case can be published by order of the court to protect the mother's wishes that the father should never know about his child.

Lady Justice Arden said the county court judge had made his order because he believed the local authority had a duty under the law to find out as much information about the background of the family as it could. But she said: "In my judgment, when a decision requires to be made about the long-term care of a child, whom a mother wishes to be adopted, there is no duty to make inquiries which it is not in the interests of the child to make, and inquiries are not in the interests of the child simply because they will provide more information about the child's background.

"They must genuinely further the prospect of finding a long-term carer for the child without delay. This interpretation does not violate the right to family life."

She said that the judge had directed himself according to the wrong principle, and that the appeal must be allowed.

Lord Justice Thorpe described the case as "on any view extraordinary". "I need only refer to the mother's success in concealing the pregnancy from her family, her employers and her fellow employees," he said. "Her immediate request that her daughter should be placed for adoption at the earliest opportunity was entirely consistent with all that she had done and all that she had not done prior to the delivery."

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

For the First Time, the Number of People Given Life Sentences Outnumbers People Immediately Executed in China

From chinadaily.com: For the first time in New China's history, the number of criminals given death sentences with a two-year reprieve - which usually translate into life imprisonment - have this year outnumbered those sentenced to immediate execution, the country's top judge said on Friday.

This reflects the new trend since the Supreme People's Court (SPC) took back the right to review death sentences from local courts on January 1, Chief Justice Xiao Yang said.

"The number of death sentences has been gradually decreasing and human rights are being better protected," Xiao told a national work conference on court reform, without elaborating.

Capital punishment should be given "only to an extremely small number of serious offenders", he said.

"The judicial reform process has been progressing smoothly, with leniency shown in a growing number of criminal trials," he said.

In Jiangxi Province, the number of death sentences with immediate execution issued up to October was just half what it was in the same period last year, Kang Weimin, president of the provincial high people's court, said. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

ACLU Will Monitor Guantanamo Bay Hearing

From aclu.org: The American Civil Liberties Union will be at Guantánamo Bay Thursday to monitor the military commission hearing of Canadian national Omar Ahmed Khadr. The proceeding follows months of disarray and uncertainty about the U.S. government’s system of prosecuting prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay without charges or trial. The ACLU is one of four organizations that have been granted status as human rights observers at the military commission proceedings and has observed the tribunals since they began in 2004.

“The Guantánamo proceedings must be changed so that they are consistent with constitutional and international law, and we will continue to do our part by monitoring them and documenting the problems,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “So far, the proceedings have failed miserably to uphold America’s commitment to due process and the rule of law.”

Khadr, now 21, was 15 years old when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He is the first detainee to face a military commission since June when charges against him and a Yemeni prisoner, Salim Hamdan, were thrown out by military judges who said the commission lacked proper jurisdictional authority to prosecute them. The military judges ruled that the two defendants had not been designated “unlawful enemy combatants” as required under the Military Commission Act signed into law by President Bush in October 2006.

The U.S. government appealed the dismissal of the cases, and the newly established U.S. Court of Military Commission Review – a panel of three military officers appointed by the Pentagon – reinstated the charges in September by deciding that the military commission judges have the authority to decide whether detainees should be deemed “unlawful” enemy combatants. Despite an appeal filed by Khadr’s lawyers with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the military judge in Khadr’s case, Col. Peter Brownback, will hear the case Thursday. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Egyptian Judge Sentences Officers in Torture Case

From washingtonpost.com: An Egyptian judge sentenced two police officers Monday to three years in prison for presiding over the 2006 torture of a 21-year-old minivan driver in a Cairo police station.

The abuse of Emad el-Kabir became a landmark in Egyptian rights cases -- not because of the police torture, which rights groups say occurs daily here, but because police recorded the torture on a cellphone video camera.

Egyptian bloggers obtained the clip and posted it on the online video site YouTube spurred greater reporting of torture in Egypt and heightened international criticism of human rights abuses by Egyptian authorities.

Kabir, now 22, thrust his hands in the air in victory when court officials announced the conviction and sentence Monday. "Thank God!" he shouted.

"I've regained my rights," Kabir said. "I don't want anything more than that."

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

American Freed From Iranian Prison

From washingtonpost.com: After more than four months in an Iranian prison, California businessman Ali Shakeri arrived home in the United States late Tuesday. He is the fourth American Iranian to be freed from jail in recent weeks, and the third allowed to leave Iran.

In an interview, Shakeri said his passport was returned Sunday and he immediately left Iran after posting a bond. But he said he still expects to have to go back to Iran to face charges.

"They released me on bond to come to the U.S., and by court order, when they want me, I'll be there," he said in an interview. "This is not something which I will disobey. I gave up the property deed of my brother's place, which is worth about $110,000."

Shakeri was picked up March 8 at Tehran's international airport as he was about to fly out after visiting his ill mother. She died while he was in Tehran, and he stayed for the funeral and to settle family business.

Shakeri said he was not ill treated during his long ordeal in Evin Prison, where he was held in solitary confinement in the section for political prisoners. "I was not treated bad in Ward 209, and I appreciate the discipline in prison," he said. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

CrimProf Tom Coetzee Says Trial of Jacob Zuma is Inevitable

From legalbrief.com: The corruption trial of Jacob Zuma in South Africa became inevitable with the unanimous decision yesterday of 11 Constitutional Court judges to dismiss Schabir Shaik’s application to appeal against his conviction on charges of corruption and fraud and his 15-year jail sentence, says University of North West CrimProf Tom Coetzee.

According to a Beeld report, the judges ruled that Shaik’s application to appeal did not have a reasonable chance of succeeding, and that it would therefore not be in the interests of justice to hear it. It notes the judges referred in particular to Schaik’s corrupt relationship with Zuma and said it centered on the High Court’s finding that Shaik and his companies had from October 1995 to September 2002 ‘made certain payments in a corrupt way to Zuma, with the intention of influencing him to use his name and political influence to benefit Shaik and his undertakings’.

Coetzee said the decision means that from a legal point of view a prima facie case against Zuma ‘clearly exists’ and that it is a matter that Zuma ought to respond to in court, ‘regardless of the massive political impact’ that this would have. ‘Remember that the finding that Shaik paid money in a corrupt way to Zuma is now the finding of three courts: the High Court, Appeal Court and Constitutional Court. I’m not saying that Zuma is guilty. What I am saying is that it’s inevitable that he’ll now have to be charged to put his side of the case.’

However, Business Day quotes prosecutor Billy Downer as saying the outcome of other cases was being awaited before a final decision was made about Zuma. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Attorney Monica Feria Wins Justice Prize for Work to Stop Peruvian Injustice

From NPR.com: Monica Feria will receive the Gruber Justice Prize next week for her work as an attorney on behalf of hundreds of Peruvians who were killed and held illegally by their government. She was among them. Feria talks with Scott Simon. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

Colombia Has a New Anti-Drug Strategy

From latimes.com: From his dugout canoe in the Napipi River, Jefferson Rojas spotted what he was after: a 40-foot-high jagua tree, its canopy dotted with dozens of thick-skinned fruits the size of tennis balls.

Rojas pulled his boat to shore, macheted his way through thick foliage and with his telephone lineman gear quickly scaled the tree. He lopped off the fruits, which fell with thuds to the floor of the jungle.

Why did Rojas go to such lengths for a fruit that isn't even ripe? Because the body-marking market has caught on to what indigenous tribes here in Choco state have known for centuries: Jagua is an excellent source of nonpermanent tattoo ink.

Ink that eventually makes its way to the biceps or backsides of trendy teenagers thousands of miles away might appear to have a tenuous connection to Plan Colombia, the seven-year program that has funneled $5.4 billion in U.S. taxpayer money into fighting drug traffickers and guerrillas. But with the current fiscal year, which began Monday, more of those funds are to go to economic projects such as Rojas' tattoo ink venture and fewer to finance the Colombian military and anti-coca spraying than in past years.

The initiative will soon take on a "softer" profile, at the insistence of the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress. It is expected to contain more money to fund "alternative development" programs to encourage farmers to grow legal crops and steer clear of joining armed groups. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

ANC President Jacob Zuma to face Corruption Charges

From news24.com: A trial on charges of corruption has become inevitable for Jacob Zuma, the deputy president of the African National Conference and possible candidate for its leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

That's according to University of North West CrimProf Tom Coetzee, following the unanimous decision on Tuesday of 11 Constitutional Court judges to dismiss Schabir Shaik's application to appeal against his conviction on charges of corruption and fraud and his 15-year jail sentence.

Rest of Article. . .[Mark Godsey]

CrimProf Don Stuart Discusses Broken Agreement Between the Crown and Defendants

From canada.com: Queen's University CrimProf Don Stuart comments on Candian in case in which the Crown terminated an agreement with defendants.

A decision by the federal Crown to terminate a written agreement with defendants in the Toronto-area alleged terror-plot trial will almost certainly trigger an abuse-of-process motion arguing that charges should be dismissed against some of the accused or that there be an order for the preliminary hearing to resume.

The deputy Attorney-General of Canada issued a direct indictment on Monday against the 14 terrorism suspects, which brought an end to a preliminary hearing that began in June.

A direct indictment is a broad power in the Criminal Code that permits a federal or provincial Attorney-General or deputy Attorney-General to order defendants directly to trial. The direct indictment was issued despite a written agreement negotiated this spring between the Crown and the defence, which was filed in court.

The National Post has obtained a copy of the agreement, which contains concessions by defence lawyers so that the Crown would call certain witnesses at the preliminary hearing. "The taking of evidence will commence on May 28, 2007, and continue until the preliminary hearing is completed," the document states.

While the agreement is not an enforceable contract, the actions of the Crown may bolster the defence in an abuse-of-process motion, said Don Stuart, a criminal law professor at Queen's University in Kingston. "We have a tradition in the criminal justice system that the lawyers get along and trust each other," he explained. He stressed that it is very rare for a court to find the Crown has engaged in an abuse of process and while it is unlikely a judge will dismiss charges against any defendants, a "creative remedy" would be to order the preliminary hearing to resume. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Guantanamo Prisoners on Hunger Strike and Being Force Fed

From observer.com: New details have emerged of how the growing number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay are being tied down and force-fed through tubes pushed down their nasal passages into their stomachs to keep them alive.

They routinely experience bleeding and nausea, according to a sworn statement by the camp's chief doctor, seen by The Observer.

'Experience teaches us' that such symptoms must be expected 'whenever nasogastric tubes are used,' says the affidavit of Captain John S Edmondson, commander of Guantánamo's hospital. The procedure - now standard practice at Guantánamo - 'requires that a foreign body be inserted into the body and, ideally, remain in it.' But staff always use a lubricant, and 'a nasogastric tube is never inserted and moved up and down. It is inserted down into the stomach slowly and directly, and it would be impossible to insert the wrong end of the tube.' Medical personnel do not insert nasogastric tubes in a manner 'intentionally designed to inflict pain.' Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Soldier Convicted of Raping and Killing 14 Year Old Iraqi Girl Sentenced to 110 Years

From washingtonpost.com: A soldier convicted of rape and murder in an attack on a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

The sentence was part of a plea agreement that attorneys for Pfc. Jesse Spielman had made with prosecutors, which set the number of years he could serve in prison, regardless of the jury's recommendation.

The jury had recommended life with parole, a sentence under which he would have had to wait longer for the possibility of freedom.

Spielman was convicted Friday of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder.

Military prosecutors did not say Spielman took part in the rape or murders but alleged that he went to the house knowing what the others intended to do and served as a lookout.

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Cambodian Tribunal Charges Khmer Rouge Torture House Commandant

From NYTimes.com: A tribunal in Cambodia charged the commandant of the main Khmer Rouge torture house with crimes against humanity on Tuesday, bringing the first charge in a long-delayed trial in the deaths of 1.7 million people in the late 1970s.

The commandant, Kaing Guek Eav, 64, known as Duch, was the leader of the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh where at least 14,000 men, women and children were tortured and sent to killing fields. Only a handful survived.

Two weeks ago, prosecutors announced that they had submitted to the tribunal a list of five potential defendants for consideration by co-investigating judges, who are authorized to decide on filing formal charges.

The other four names have not been disclosed. In the charges on Tuesday, the judges said Duch had been placed in “provisional detention,” but did not explain. A small holding center was recently built on the grounds of the tribunal in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Duch has been the only major Khmer Rouge figure in custody, in a military jail in Phnom Penh on separate charges, since 1999 when a British photographer discovered him in rural Cambodia. He was working for a government agency and had become a born-again Christian. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

CrimProf Ivana Bacik Attempts to Take Seat in Seanad

From independent.ie.com: In Dublin,Ireland,Trinity College's Reid CrimProf Ivana Bacik was looking likely last night to take a seat in the Seanad.

Ms Bacik, who was a prominent spokeswoman for the Alliance for a No Vote in the successful campaign to defeat the referendum on abortion in March 2002, seemed set to take the seat formerly held by Mary Henry, who is not standing in this election.

Family values campaigner Ronan Mullen is also in the running to take a seat in the Seanad at his first attempt.

As counting of about 36,000 ballots from National University of Ireland graduates began yesterday, early tallies showed that he had received 13.64pc of first preferences.

This put him just behind outgoing senator Joe O'Toole (15.3pc) but ahead of the other outgoing senators on the university panel, former supermarket owner Fergal Quinn (10.76pc) and Labour politician Brendan Ryan (9.67pc).

"I'm delighted with the first count tally and I'm grateful to the people who voted for me," he said. "It's a huge encouragement because it's my first time running since student politics 16 years ago." 

Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Medical Workers Freed in Libya

From NPR.com: Six foreign medical workers sentenced to death in Libya are free thanks to a deal with the European Union. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor flew out of Libya to Bulgaria aboard a French jetliner accompanied by the wife of French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The medical workers were convicted of intentionally infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. They have maintained their innocence. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

British Arrest Man Plotting to Kill a Russian Exile

From NYTimes.com: The British police said on Wednesday that they had arrested a man last month on suspicion of plotting to kill the Russian exile Boris A. Berezovsky  a prominent critic of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

A police official, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity, said that the suspect was arrested in London on June 21 and handed over to the immigration service two days later, without being charged. The suspect, the official said, was a Russian who was then sent home. Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Berezovsky said that he had been compelled to leave Britain temporarily last month after the security services warned him that a Russian assassin had arrived and intended to kill him.

“A month ago, an officer from Scotland Yard said a person came with the task of killing me, and that I knew this person,” Mr. Berezovsky said in a telephone interview. “They said I should meet with nobody, and I should leave the country.”

Mr. Berezovsky described a plot — outlined further to him by Russian friends “who are connected to the special services” — that was said to involve a man who would lure him to a meeting and shoot him. Then the gunman would surrender to the British authorities, serve a long sentence in Britain and return to Russia to collect “a large reward and Hero of Russia medal,” Mr. Berezovsky said.

Mr. Berezovsky, who parlayed once close ties to the Kremlin into an industrial empire and vast wealth, fell out with Mr. Putin and sought refuge in Britain. He was granted political asylum in 2003 and is wanted in Russia on charges of fraud, embezzlement and fomenting a coup. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Prosecutors Want Long Prison Terms for War Criminals

Frm NYTimes.com: Prosecutors in the war crimes court for Sierra Leone called Monday for long prison terms for three rebel leaders convicted of crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war.

“All three should be sentenced to extreme lengthy terms of imprisonment,” the deputy prosecutor, Christopher Staker, told the United Nations-backed court.

He asked for 60-year terms for Alex Tamba Brima, 35, and Brima Bazzy Kamara, 39, and a 50-year term for Santigie Borbor Kanu, 42.

In June, the court found all three guilty of 11 of the 14 charges against them, which included murder, rape and enlisting child soldiers. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday.

The defense lawyer, Kojo Graham, urged the court to “consider the need for reconciliation as an important issue in relationship to sentencing.”

The three rebel commanders, who all pleaded not guilty, were believed to have had the support of Charles Taylor then the president of Liberia, in exchange for Sierra Leone diamonds. Mr. Taylor is on trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection to the Sierra Leone civil war.

By the time the decade-long civil war ended in 2001, 120,000 people had died. Thousands of others had been mutilated, with their arms, legs, ears or noses chopped off. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Crimprof Don Stuart Comments on Recent Supreme Court of Canada Case

From lawtimesnews.com: Queen’s University CrimProf Don Stuart recently commented on the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v. Clayton.  In overturning a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court suggested there needs to be deference to police when a handgun is recovered, despite allegations of Charter breaches.

The ruling also goes farther than the U.S. Supreme Court in granting the power to stop cars without “individualized suspicion” if there is a gun call.

CrimProf Stuart says he agrees with the Supreme Court’s conclusion that the search was justified in this case.

But he suggests the ruling does not provide sufficient guidance for other cases and the court should have adopted the test set out by Doherty. “What he did was come up with a nuanced roadblock power. I think it was good law,” says Stuart. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Japan Prepares for Jury Trials

From NYTimes.com: Japan is preparing to adopt a jury-style system in its courts in 2009, the most significant change in its criminal justice system since the postwar American occupation. But for it to work, the Japanese must first overcome some deep-rooted cultural obstacles: a reluctance to express opinions in public, to argue with one another and to question authority.

To win over a skeptical public, Japan’s courts have held some 500 mock trials across the country, including six here in Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Still, polls show that 80 percent are dreading the change and do not want to serve as jurors, a reluctance that was on display among the mock jurors here.

They preferred directing questions to the judges. They never engaged one another in discussion. Their opinions had to be extracted by the judges and were often hedged by the Japanese language’s rich ambiguity. When a silence stretched out and a judge prepared to call upon a juror, the room tensed up as if the jurors were students who had not done the reading.

“I think there is also the matter of how much he has repented,” one of the judges said. “Has he genuinely, deeply repented, or has the defendant repented in his own way? What’s the degree? I mean, some could even say that he hasn’t repented at all.” Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Afghanistan President Pardons Suicide Bomber

From timesonline.com: An unprecedented move by President Karzai of Afghanistan to pardon a teenage Taleban suicide bomber – and pay him $2,000 to travel home to Pakistan – has drawn stinging criticism and warnings that it will encourage such attacks.

“It is a very silly idea to forgive such criminals. He was a volunteer,” Mullah Malang, an MP from Baghdis province, told The Times. “When he goes back to Pakistan he will tell all his friends that he deceived the Afghan Government. He is brainwashed, he will always be a Taleb.”

The extraordinary case involved Rafiqullah, 14, a would-be suicide bomber, who was captured in May by Afghan police in the province of Khost, which borders Pakistan. He was wearing a suicide vest and riding a motorbike. His target was Arsala Jamal, the governor of the province.

He had crossed the border from South Waziristan, a troubled tribal belt in Pakistan, where he lived and had been attending a religious school. “Today we are facing a hard fact, that is, a Muslim child was sent to madrassa [religious school] to learn Islamic subjects, but the enemies of Afghanistan misled him towards suicide and prepared him to die and kill,” Mr Karzai told reporters. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Libyan Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentences for Dr. and Nurses Who Intentionally gave Children AIDS

From NYTimes.com: The Libyan Supreme Court today once again upheld the death sentences imposed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were accused of intentionally infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the AIDS virus in 1998.

The court rejected the results of a 2003 investigation by two of the world’s leading AIDS experts, which found that unsanitary medical conditions at Benghazi Children’s Hospital were to blame for the children becoming infected with HIV. The nurses and doctor have now been in jail for nearly a decade.

Still, their fate remained uncertain today, despite the court’s ruling on the one hand, and months of recent negotiations to secure their release on the other. The European Union and the United States have repeatedly pressed the Libyan government to free the six, and groups of Nobel laureates have visited Tripoli to plead their case with the Libyan leader, Moammar Ghaddafi. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Bosnian Muslim War Crime Trials Begin

From washingtonpost.com: A former Bosnian army commander accused of letting his Muslim fighters kill dozens of Serbs and Croats will be acquitted if judges refuse to allow more witnesses to testify, prosecutors said Monday as his trial began.

Retired Gen. Rasim Delic, one of only a handful of Muslims indicted by the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, is charged with murder, rape and cruel treatment. Prosecutors say Delic failed to prevent foreign Islamic fighters known as mujahadeen gunning down prisoners and beheading others during the Bosnian war.

Prosecutors indicted him on the basis of command responsibility _ arguing he knew about the mujahadeen's crimes but failed to prevent or punish them.

"He had a duty to act," prosecutor Daryl Mundis said in his opening statement. "He failed in that duty and as a result crimes were committed and perpetrators were allowed to escape justice."

In order to speed the trial, judges curtailed the number of witnesses prosecutors can call to 55 from the 91 originally requested.

"If we are required to start the trial under these conditions, the likely outcome would be acquittal," Mundis told judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal. "We are not in a position to be able to prove our case with 55 witnesses."

Prosecutors last week sought more time and witnesses, but judges insisted the trial start and said prosecutors could ask for more witnesses later.

Delic surrendered to the court after he was indicted in 2005 and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The tribunal is under increasing pressure from the United Nations, which pays the multimillion-dollar court bill, to finish its work quickly. The court is due to finish its trials by 2008 and round off all appeals and shut down in 2010. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Pakistani President Runs into Set Backs With Attempt to Remove Chief Justice

From ap.org: Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's attempt to remove Pakistan's chief justice received a setback Monday when a Supreme Court judge rejected government evidence and ordered a sweep of courts and judges' homes for spying devices.

Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on March 9 for alleged misconduct, sparking a legal tussle that has fueled growing opposition to military rule.

Last week, the government filed a thick file of evidence against Chaudhry with the Supreme Court, which is examining the judge's appeal of his suspension.

But at a hearing Monday, the presiding judge rejected the documents and reprimanded a senior government lawyer for presenting "vexatious and scandalous" material.

Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday provided no details on the contents of the file, but referred to concerns raised by Chaudhry's lead counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan.

Ahsan said the file contained photographs taken inside Chaudhry's home as well as anonymous complaints and derogatory remarks about senior judges. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Mexico Fires Federal Police Chiefs

From latimes.com: Mexico replaced the federal police chiefs from each of the country's 31 states and the Federal District on Monday, pending polygraph and drug tests to determine whether they are on the right side of the law in the nation's foundering drug war.

The surprise purge of top leaders of the federal police and an elite federal investigations agency comes as Mexican President Felipe Calderon seeks traction in a 6-month-old campaign against drug traffickers that has neither stemmed killings nor slowed shipments.

Corruption among local, state and federal law enforcement has for years given cover to drug smuggling gangs, now at war over access routes to the United States, and over Mexico's growing domestic markets.

"Every federal cop is obliged to carry out his post with legality, honesty and efficiency," Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said at a news conference Monday announcing the housecleaning. "In the fight against crime, we have strategies. One axis of our strategy is to professionalize and purge our police corps." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Chemical Ali Sentenced to Death

From washingtonpost.com: Three senior aides to Saddam Hussein were found guilty on Sunday of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High Tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging for their roles in the slaughter of as many as 180,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980s.

The most notorious of the defendants, Ali Hassan al-Majeed -- a former general known as "Chemical Ali" -- received five death sentences for ordering the use of deadly mustard gas and nerve agents against the Kurds during the so-called Anfal campaign. Majeed and Hussein were cousins.

Some Kurds said after Sunday's hearing, which was nationally televised, that they felt deprived of justice because of the rush to execute Hussein. The government had hoped his quick death would allow Iraqis to put the past behind them and focus on transforming the country into a functioning democracy.

"I wished they had kept Saddam alive and had not executed him until they finish all the trials, so all Iraqis, including Kurds, could feel that they had been repaid for the injustices of his regime," said Saman Mahmood Aziz, 55, a teacher whose wife and five children died during the Anfal campaign. But he added, "We feel so happy after seeing the verdict today against Chemical Ali." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Rwanda Abolishes the Death Penalty

From NPR.com: On Friday, Rwandan lawmakers voted to abolish capital punishment. Once law, it could encourage the transfer of war crimes suspects to face trial back home in Rwanda.

The move comes as the international war crimes tribunal for Rwanda, sitting in neighboring Tanzania, nears the end of its mandate next year. As many as 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were massacred during Rwanda's 100-day genocide in 1994. The tribunal — which has been hearing most of the high-profile genocide cases, but has a huge backlog — is beginning to wrap up business.

The Rwandan government has been frustrated at the slow pace of genocide trial proceedings in Tanzania. But the existence of the death penalty on the statute books has been a major concern for the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, as well as for countries holding genocide suspects or fugitives, believed to be at large in North America, Europe and West Africa.

The decision by the Rwandan parliament to scrap capital punishment would also mean that death sentences on 800 death row suspects within the country would be automatically commuted to live imprisonment. Listen. . . [Mark Godsey]

University of Indonesia CrimProf Ali Hamzah Tries to Save Three Members of the Bali Nine

From news.com: Three members of the Bali Nine on death row should be spared the death penalty because the prosecutor in their case never requested the maximum penalty at trial, says University of Indonesia CrimProf and former prosecutor Ali Hamzah.

He testified yesterday in the Denpasar District Court that it was "not normal" under law for their sentences to be increased, under appeal, from 20 years to death.

The trio – Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen – were all convicted of their role in the 8.2kg heroin haul and sentenced originally to life behind bars.

On appeal the sentence was cut to 20 years but on a further prosecution appeal to the Supreme Court, the country's highest court, it was increased to the death penalty. Six members of the Bali Nine are on death row. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Guantanamo Detainees Charges Dismissed

From NPR.com: Charges against two Guantanamo detainees accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and allegedly killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan were dismissed Monday. In both cases, military judges ruled that only "unlawful" enemy combatants can be tried by the military trials. The ruling is a major setback for the Bush administration. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

CrimProf Michael Scharf and Students Assist in Prosecution of Former Liberian President

Case Western Reserve University School of Law CrimProf Michael Scharf and students have played a central role in the events leading to the international trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, which is set to start on June 4. Taylor will be tried by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (sitting at the International Criminal Court in The Hague) for his role in the commission of crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone, which were portrayed in the Academy Award-nominated film "Blood Diamond" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Shortly after the Special Court for Sierra Leone was established by an agreement between the United Nations and Sierra Leone in 2002, its chief prosecutor, David Crane, contacted Case law professor Michael Scharf requesting assistance. Scharf, a former U.S. State Department official who knew Crane from Crane's days as dean of the Army JAG School, runs the War Crimes Research Office at Case, which provides legal assistance to several international tribunals. Scharf has also provided training to the judges of the Rwanda Tribunal, the Iraqi High Tribunal that recently convicted the late former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and most recently the Cambodia Tribunal.

With a scant budget, small staff, and no library, Crane and his colleagues in Freetown relied on the students at Case to write lengthy research memoranda on the most difficult legal issues facing the Tribunal. Since then, the Case War Crimes Research Office has produced more than 30 memoranda for the Tribunal, including one that Crane has said "was absolutely critical to proving that the former Liberian president was not protected by the doctrine of Head of State Immunity."

Armed with the Case memo, Crane issued a controversial indictment of Taylor while Taylor was attending a peace negotiation in Ghana in June 2003. Citing the authorities that the Case students supplied, the Tribunal held that Taylor did not have immunity, setting the stage for his eventual arrest and trial. [Mark Godsey]

FBI Investigates 1997 Cuban Bombing

From NPR.com: FBI agents recently traveled to Havana to try to gather evidence about a 1997 hotel bombing in the Cuban capital that might be linked to Luis Posada Carriles — a Cuban exile and a former CIA informant.

Government sources say the unusual trip by FBI investigators was motivated by an investigation of Posada by a federal grand jury in New Jersey. Posada falls under the grand jury's jurisdiction because he is thought to be connected to two New Jersey men implicated in the 1997 bombing.

The 79-year-old Posada is the Leonard Zelig of U.S.-Cuban relations. It seems that wherever there have been turning points between Washington and Havana, Posada has been there. He is militantly opposed to Fidel Castro and has been trying to topple his regime — even trying to assassinate him — for more than 40 years. He was a Bay of Pigs veteran and a former CIA operative and, more recently, because of his anti-Castro activities, an international fugitive.

The Department of Justice has been torn about how to handle him. The Bush administration has been handling him with kid gloves, in part because of his past relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. He is also very popular in the influential Cuban-American community, which sees him as an anti-Castro crusader. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

United Nations Special Prosecutor Will Speak at Drake Law School

Stephen Rapp, LW'74, The Prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), will return to Drake Law School Thursday, April 12. He will meet with students and faculty and deliver a lecture titled "The Compact Model in International Criminal Justice: The Special Court for Sierra Leone," which is free and open to the public.

The Special Court, an independent tribunal established jointly by the United Nations and Sierra Leone, is tasked with bringing to justice those responsible for atrocities committed during a civil war in the west African country after November 1996. The Special Court has jurisdiction over the case against the notorious former Liberian President Charles Taylor, whose trial will be held at The Hague in the Netherlands.

Prior to joining the SCSL, Rapp served as chief of prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) from May 2005 until December 2006, supervising the prosecution of those accused of the worst crimes during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Rapp worked previously as a U.S. attorney in the state of Iowa for almost eight years. He also spent time as an elected member of the Iowa Legislature and as a lawyer for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Rapp is best known internationally for successfully prosecuting media executives who helped incite the Rwanda's extremist militia as well as broadcast the whereabouts of Tutsi sympathizers -- a conviction that scholars say sets important precedent for future cases before the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague.

"We’re thrilled Stephen Rapp is returning to Drake Law School," said Law School Dean David Walker. "His work is extraordinarily important, and we are immensely proud and grateful for the work he does and all that he has achieved." [Mark Godsey]

10 Iraqis' Clever Plan To Trick British Authorities: Switch Spots With a Visitor

From NYTimes.com: Ten Iraqis being held in a British military detention center in Basra carried out an audacious escape plan over the past several days: they switched places with visitors, British authorities said.

An 11th detainee was missing, but no one appeared to have been substituted for him, British authorities said. The detention center is at a British base on the outskirts of Basra.

The escape came to light on Thursday, when it became apparent that “one person was not who he said he was,” said a spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. The military began to investigate and found that nine other detainees were also substitutes. The real ones had walked out the door, apparently after swapping clothes with their willing stand-ins, British officials said.

The substitutions were carefully plotted, and the imposters “were remarkably well prepared,” the spokesman said. “They looked the same,” he said. “They knew the stories of the people they were substituting for. It was quite a sophisticated effort, very carefully planned.”

Because none of the detainees who escaped had yet been charged with a crime, the British military would not provide any details about their cases or the facility in which they were held, including its size or the length of time that they had been held there.

British officials said that security was now tighter, but that when detainees received visitors before, there had been little monitoring.“They are allowed a large number of visitors, and we are not allowed to stand over them when they are visiting them,” the spokesman said.

There has been no decision how to deal with the imposters, but they are likely to be charged with having assisted the escape, the military spokesman said. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

Police Brutality on the Streets of Zimbabwe

From NYTimes.com: Police assaulted and tortured Zimbabwe's most prominent opposition leader after breaking up a protest prayer meeting, leaving him with deep gashes on his head and shoulders, colleagues said Monday.

The organizers of the ''Save Zimbabwe'' meeting -- an alliance of opposition, civic, church leaders and student and anti-government groups -- said lawyers reported that Morgan Tsvangirai fainted three times after being beaten by police. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign also said another opposition leader, Lovemore Madhuku, was taken to the main Harare hospital early Monday after collapsing from police assaults. He was reported in serious condition.

At least four other opposition and civic leaders were beaten and tortured in custody, the campaign said.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said his wife was allowed to see him Monday in a suburban jail and reported the wounds. Susan Tsvangirai reported her husband was heavily bandaged, said his deputy, Movement for Democratic Change vice president Thoko Khupe. Some of the wounds were sutured and an eye was badly swollen.

''This is not consistent with the normal police brutality we have witnessed. The injuries were deliberate and an attempt to assassinate him,'' said Eliphas Mukonoweshure, another top opposition official. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]

France Abolishes the Death Penalty

From DPIC.com: The French parliament voted to amend the country's Constitution to include an explicit ban on the death penalty. In a special joint session held at the Palace of Versailles, France's National Assembly and Senate passed the amendment by a vote of 828-26. T

he death penalty has been outlawed in France since 1981, but the recently passed amendment officially inscribes the prohibition into the constitution.  "We are accomplishing the wish of Victor Hugo in 1848, the pure, simple, irreversible abolition" of the death penalty, former Justice Minister Robert Badinter told lawmakers. More. . . [Mark Godsey]

CrimProf Knut Amelung Will Represent Siblings Fighting German Incest Law

From ecanadanow.com: A German brother and sister who live together and have had four children have filed an urgent suit with Germany’s constitutional court demanding the “right” to incest and have retained retired University of Dresden CrimProf Knut Amelung as their legal counsel.

Patrick S, 30, has already received a suspended jail term for incest, followed by a 25-month actual jail term. He now faces a 30-month sentence because he has continued the relationship.

He and his s