Author: JURIST – Paper Chase

[JURIST] Swedish Police on Wednesday arrested a Kosovo war crimes suspect. The suspect is accused of committing war crimes during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war in the small village of Cuska in May 1999. A Swedish police spokesperson did not release the man’s full name because of Swedish privacy laws but did state that the suspect is a Serbian man in his 30s. The Swedish Prosecution Authority will request on Friday that the suspect remain in custody until trial. It is not clear where the suspect will face charges.
In March, a spokesperson for Serbia’s Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor announced the arrest of nine individuals suspected of committing war crimes during the Kosovo war. In June, Amnesty International (AI) marked the 10-year anniversary of the conflict’s end by reporting that many human rights abuses that occurred during the war in Kosovo have gone uninvestigated and unpunished. Prosecutors have nonetheless secured several convictions. A week after AI’s report, a Serbian court convicted four former paramilitary officers of killing 14 Albanians in northern Kosovo. In April 2009, four Serbian ex-policemen were convicted of killing of 48 Albanian civilians in Suva Reka.

[JURIST] A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Wednesday convicted 29 members of the paramilitary group Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on charges relating to their involvement in last year’s border guard mutiny. The military-run court in Panchagarh district sentenced those convicted to jail terms ranging from four months to seven years. The sentences are the first of dozens of cases against approximately 3,500 alleged mutiny participants who are being tried throughout Bangladesh. Civilian courts are hearing more serious charges related to the mutiny, such as murder, arson, and rape, and may impose the death penalty on those found guilty.
In September, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court recommended against military court-martial trials for BDR members who took part in the mutiny, which killed dozens of BDR officers, including the force’s commander. President Zillur Rahman asked for the court’s opinion to determine whether the accused should be tried under the Army Act of 1952 or whether they should face civilian trials. The court took into account the advice of 10 top lawyers and legal experts, seven of whom opposed the use of military trials.

[JURIST] Several visual artist organizations filed a class action suit Wednesday against Google alleging copyright infringement resulting from the company’s book scanning project. The plaintiffs include the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the Graphic Artists Guild, the Picture Archive Council of America, the North American Nature Photography Association, Professional Photographers of America, as well as individual photographers and illustrators. The visual artists’ class action is being brought in the US District for the Southern District of New York, the same court where an earlier class action was brought against Google by text authors. According to lawyers for the plaintiffs, ASMP and the other visual artists decided to bring a separate suit when they were prevented from joining the earlier action.
Last month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) urged a federal court to reject the proposed class action settlement in the copyright suit between text authors and Google due to copyright and antitrust concerns. In February, a federal judge heard arguments on the proposed settlement but did not indicate when a ruling can be expected. The case originated when two lawsuits were brought against Google by the Authors Guild, a group seeking to preserve copyright protection for authors, and by other plaintiffs including the Association of American Publishers (AAP), McGraw-Hill, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster. Under the terms of the original settlement agreement, which was reached in October 2008, Google would pay $125 million to authors and publishers of copyrighted works. In return, Google would be allowed to display online up to 20 percent of the total pages of a copyrighted book, and would offer users an opportunity to purchase the remainder of any viewed book.

[JURIST] Anti-government protesters in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday set fire to the prosecutor-general’s office amid violent demonstrations that have led to the death of the interior minister, the arrest of several opposition leaders, and the deaths of dozens of protesters. The protests against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, which appear prompted in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, began late Tuesday night in the city Talas then spread throughout the country Wednesday. Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev was killed during an attack by protesters in Talas. Former prime minister and presidential candidate Almazbek Atambayev and former parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev were among the many opposition leaders arrested as a result of the protests. Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency throughout the country, urging citizens to remain indoors. The protesters have also taken control of the country’s television station, and approximately a thousand people surrounded the prosecutor-general’s office, reportedly setting it on fire. Reports vary as to the number of citizens that have been killed during the protests, with news organizations reporting as many as 50. Kyrgyz police used bullets and tear gas to protect the presidential office in Bishkek.
The protests come a week after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Kyrgyzstan to protect all forms of human rights, including “free speech and freedom of the media.” The statements follow recent events in the country that include the shutdown of an opposition newspaper, a police raid on a local television station that resulted in the station being taken off the air, and the confiscation of computers from a video web portal based on allegations of pirated software use. Opposition members gathered in support of Ban’s comments. Kyrgyzstan was once hailed as a model for democracy in the Central Asian countries that made up the former Soviet Union. It is believed that much of the media pressure is the result of the election of Bakiyev following the Tulip revolution that removed Askar Akayev from power in 2005. Last year, the US State Department (DOS) criticized Kyrgyzstan over its treatment of journalists in its 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.3:00 PM ET – Kyrgyz opposition leaders claim to have taken power, having forced the government to resign.

[JURIST] The Spanish Supreme Court on Wednesday charged National Court judge Baltasar Garzon with abuse of power for the investigation of war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. In 2008, Garzon ordered the exhumation of 19 mass graves in Spain in order to assemble a definitive national registry of Civil War victims, despite a 1977 amnesty law. Investigating magistrate Luciano Varela ruled that it is likely Garzon committed abuse of power by conducting the investigation. Garzon’s lawyer plans to challenge the charges on appeal and has described the proceedings as “contaminated.” No trial date has been set. If convicted, Garzon could be removed from the bench.
After a February ruling that Garzon may have exceeded his jurisdictional authority by launching the investigation, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled last month that he could be formally charged. Garzon has consistently defended the validity of the investigation by insisting that he acted within the bounds of the law and appropriately applied the law at all times. The Supreme Court agreed to review Garzon’s actions last May in response to a complaint filed by Manos Limpias, a union of public servants in Spain, which alleged that Garzon did not have the requisite jurisdictional authority to launch the investigation. Just one month after Garzon launched the investigation in 2008, Spanish prosecutors and other political figures voiced their concern by challenging the validity of the investigation. Garzon is widely known for using universal jurisdiction extensively in the past to bring several high-profile cases, including those against Osama bin Laden and former Latin American dictator Augusto Pinochet.

[JURIST] Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and several nearby provinces in response to escalating political protests. The state of emergency was declared after protesters, known as red shirts, broke into Parliament earlier Wednesday, causing government officials to evacuate. Under the state of emergency, which took effect immediately, public gatherings are banned, police are given broader powers to arrest and detain, curfews can be instituted, the government may censor media reports, and detainees can be held for 30 days without access to legal counsel. Abhisit stated his goals during the institution of the state of emergency include putting an end to escalating violence and restoring normalcy.
The declaration comes just days after a Thai court dismissed the government’s application for an injunction against protesters gathered in Bangkok’s business district. The injunction would have ordered protest organizers to lead the group out of the area and would have banned rallies in 11 other areas. The court denied the request stating that the Internal Security Act, approved by the Thai Cabinet in March, already gave the government eviction powers. The red shirts are supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed from power in 2006 following a coup. The group is demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament and call new elections. Last April, Abhisit declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and several provinces following a similar outbreak of protests calling for his resignation.

[JURIST] A North Korean court sentenced a US citizen to eight years in prison on Wednesday for illegally entering the country. Aijalon Mahli Gomes was arrested in January for illegally crossing the border and was charged with illegal entry and unspecified hostile acts. Gomes’s sentence includes eight years of hard labor and a fine equivalent to USD $700,000. The imprisonment of an American citizen is seen as a significant bargaining chip for North Korea, as the resumption of multilateral negotiations involving the US over the status of North Korea’s nuclear program increases in likelihood. Gomes is the fourth American to be detained for illegal entry into North Korea in the past 13 months, but none of those past detentions continued for longer than five months.
North Korea’s detention and treatment of prisoners has been the subject of criticism from numerous world governments and activist groups. In February, US rights activist Robert Park was released after a two-month detention for illegally entering North Korea in December. In August, North Korea pardoned two American journalists for their illegal entry, after negotiations with former US president Bill Clinton. The journalists had been detained in March for allegedly crossing the North Korean border with China.

[JURIST] Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Monday submitted a new version of their proposed Constitutional amendments to the Grand National Assembly. The draft differs only slightly in substance from the previous version that the party submitted. One of the new additions is a proposal to alter Article 157 of the Constitution so that judges of the Military Supreme Administrative Court would have judicial immunity and be shielded from spurious claims. Perhaps the most significant difference between the old and new versions is the signatures. The new version has signatures from 265 AKP representatives excluding Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Shahin. Some controversy arose after Shahin signed the first version because of his obligation to remain impartial as speaker. As a result, there was a strong likelihood that the proposed changes would have been dismissed for technical reasons. In light of the new proposal packet from AKP, a parliamentary committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the previous version of the amendments was postponed.
The first version of AKP’s proposed amendments was submitted to parliament last Tuesday, despite warnings from Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the party should take more precautions before amending the constitution. The reform package contains seven revisions from the original amendments unveiled at the end of March, including a highly-disputed reform to the judiciary system that would allow military and government officials to be tried in civilian court. The reform would also make it harder for the government to disband political parties that challenge the country’s nationalist establishment and would ban the prosecution of the 1980 coup leaders. AKP says it created the amendments to promote democracy in Turkey and support its bid into the European Union (EU). The proposed amendments have been met with opposition by Turkey’s Supreme Court. In an interview in late March, the president of the court Hasan Gerceker declared that the proposed amendments threaten separation of power and judicial independence.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks authority to require broadband providers to treat all Internet traffic equally. The appeal was brought by cable giant Comcast to review whether the FCC has the authority to enforce its newly-developed “net neutrality” regulations. The concept of net neutrality, supported unanimously by the FCC commissioners, is to allow for the open flow of information over the Internet, regardless of the amount of revenue generated by the information. The present case stems from an FCC sanction on Comcast for blocking customers’ access to peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, which allows Internet users to share large files directly, potentially using a lot of bandwidth. The commission ruled that Comcast had “significantly impeded consumers’ ability to access the content and use the applications of their choice.” Comcast argued that its method of traffic flow management was used to prevent the degradation of Internet quality for its customers as a whole. The appeals agreed with Comcast, holding that the FCC failed to show that it had the authority to impose “net neutrality” restrictions on broadband providers: relies principally on several congressional statements of policy, but under Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit case law statements of policy, by themselves, do not create ‘statutorily mandated responsibilities. … The commission also relies on various provisions of the Communications Act that do create such responsibilities, but for a variety of substantive and procedural reasons those provisions cannot support its exercise of ancillary authority over Comcast’s network management practices.The FCC responded that it “is firmly committed to promoting an open Internet and to policies that will bring the enormous benefits of broadband to all Americans.”The ruling could be a major setback for the FCC, which released a major broadband expansion plan last month. The FCC’s National Broadband Plan was sent to Congress for approval and seeks to enact regulations to update the communications infrastructure in the US and to make broadband service available to millions of Americans. The plan is mandated by provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Notable goals of the plan include providing 100 million households with affordable 100-megabits-per-second Internet service, making 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum available for licensed and unlicensed use by mobile applications, and ensuring that all children are literate in digital technology by the time they leave high school.

[JURIST] An Equatorial Guinea court on Monday sentenced seven Nigerians to 12 years in prison for a 2009 attack on the presidential palace. Court president Antonio Pascual Ojo Ebobo found the Nigerians guilty of terrorism and said they would be fined 149 million CFA francs (USD $310,000). The Nigerians, along with 11 Equatorial Guineans, were arrested after a February 2009 attack on Equatorial Guinea’s presidential palace in Malabo. Security forces stopped the Nigerian gunmen, alleged members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger River Delta (MEND), who were supposedly guided by locals on mobile phones. The court also released four additional Equatorial Guineans, all members of the opposition People’s Union Party, after freeing seven last month for a lack of evidence.
Equatorial Guinea has a history of coups. Last year, former British military officer with the elite Special Air Service, Simon Mann, convicted in 2008 of involvement in a 2004 coup attempt, was released from prison after being pardoned by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Mann was arrested in 2004 after a plane carrying him and approximately 60 mercenaries landed in Zimbabwe. Admitting his involvement in planning the coup, Mann was sentenced in 2004 in Zimbabwe for weapons charges, and was deported to Equatorial Guinea in secret in February 2007. At his trial, Mann testified that Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was involved in the plot to overthrow Mbasogo. Thatcher pleaded guilty in South Africa in 2005 to charges related to the failed coup. The last successful coup in Equatorial Guinea was when the current president Mbasogo toppled his uncle in 1979.

[JURIST] Turkish police on Monday detained 19 retired military officers, including four generals, in connection with an alleged 2003 coup plot, before the chief prosecutor intervened. Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin stopped police from arresting up to 90 suspects, replacing two lower-level prosecutors. The alleged coup plot, known as the Balyoz Security Operation Plan, or the “Sledgehammer plot,” was originally revealed in January by the newspaper Taraf. The plot included detailed plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane as part of an effort by the military to undermine the government. The most recent arrests could increase existing tensions between military forces and the Turkish government.
The investigation into the alleged coup plot has led to heightened political unease and conflicting judicial results. In late February, Turkish officials brought charges against 11 military officials in connection with the coup just one day after three high ranking military officials were released. The release came after Turkey’s prime minister and president met with the head of the armed forces, General Ilker Basbug, to discuss potential resolutions to the increased political strain. In response to the initial exposure of the plot in January, Turkish officials detained more than 40 people and 12 military officers were charged in connection with the alleged coup plot. After the most recent round of arrests, almost 70 military officials have been detained in connection with the alleged plot.

[JURIST] A Paris judge has charged French oil company Total with bribery and complicity in connection with a scandal involving the UN’s Iraq Oil-for-Food program, the company’s lawyer confirmed Tuesday. Total announced the court’s decision in its annual report last week but maintained that the company followed UN policy and acted lawfully. Total CEO Christophe de Margerie claimed that the 2005 Volcker report, published by a UN-appointed Independent Inquiry Committee investigating corruption in the oil-for-food scandal, had eliminated all bribery complaints related to the UN program. The investigation found that oil companies like Total allegedly paid Iraqi officials over $1.5 billion in illegal kickbacks in exchange for being selected as oil purchasers. The oil-for-food program allowed the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, under UN sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War, to sell limited stocks of oil in return for foodstuffs and other humanitarian supplies.
The charges are the latest legal problems facing Total. Last week, the Paris Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s 2008 decision finding Total and several other defendants criminally liable for an oil spill that occurred of the coast of Brittany in 1999. The court also increased the fine against the defendants from 192 million euros to 200 million euros. Over 20,000 tons of oil seeped from an oil tanker called Erika, which Total chartered from an Italian company, decimating 400 kilometers of coastline and causing harm to wildlife. Total said Tuesday that it plans to appeal the judgment.

[JURIST] Former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Tuesday took the stand at his trial and called for the case against him to be dismissed for lack of evidence. Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev are charged with embezzling USD $25 billion worth of oil produced by their Yukos oil company. Defense lawyers for Khodorkovsky contend that prosecutors have no evidence to support the charges and that they have failed to show how the men could have embezzled the profits but continued covering company expenses and expanding oil production. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are currently serving eight-year prison sentences after being convicted in 2005 on fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from an attempt to embezzle and strip Yukos of valuable assets. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have pleaded not guilty to the current charges, and they face up to 20 additional years in prison if convicted.
Some critics of the Russian government have argued that the charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are politically motivated due to Khodorkovsky’s opposition to former Russian president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Last month Khodorkovsky criticized Russia’s justice system as an “assembly line” that inevitably finds the government’s political enemies to be guilty. The statement echoed concerns Khodorkovsky had previously expressed about the fairness of Russian trials and the need for widespread reform of the Russian court system.

[JURIST] Two separate court-martial proceedings against former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka were adjourned Tuesday. The trials, originally set to resume Tuesday, were postponed due to an ongoing case in the Sri Lankan Court of Appeals, which is examining the legality of the court-martials. Fonseka faces two separate court-martials, charging him with participating in politics while in uniform and with improperly awarding army procurement contracts. Fonseka maintains that the allegations are a politically motivated effort to bar him from participating in the nation’s upcoming elections. Fonseka is scheduled for a hearing before the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on April 26, where he will challenge his detention.
Fonseka was arrested by the military in February after losing presidential elections held the previous month. In March, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court criticized the government’s treatment of the general. Sarath Nanda Silva, who retired from the Sri Lankan Supreme Court last year, accused the government of using the military justice system to prevent Fonseka from participating in the upcoming elections, and of violating Fonseka’s civil rights. Silva also said that Fonseka’s arrest was made in violation of the country’s constitution.

[JURIST] The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will seek a record civil penalty of $16.375 million against Toyota Motor Corporation for a four-month delay in notifying the agency about a problem with “sticky” gas pedals in various car models, US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Monday. The fine, which would become the largest ever assessed against a car maker, was announced based on a preliminary review of extensive corporate documents attained through an investigation launched by the NHTSA in February. Toyota will have two weeks to appeal the fine, but, if further defect-related violations are discovered, the NHTSA may increase the fine. NHTSA statutes require that a vehicle manufacturer notify the NHTSA within five days of discovering a safety defect and launch a recall. The NHTSA has evidence that Toyota knew of the defect in late September, but notification and a recall were not launched until January.
Toyota has been under federal scrutiny since December, and has conducted three recalls. The automaker has recalled more than eight million vehicles and is facing hundreds of private lawsuits. In March, the NHTSA enlisted the help of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and NASA to conduct a 15-month investigation into the sources of recent safety defects. The agency has faced a hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and strong criticism regarding the effectiveness of its recent investigations into car safety defects. Previously, the largest fine assessed by the NHTSA was of $1 million against General Motors for failing to conduct a timely recall in 2004. At the time, the NHTSA was also criticized for appearing to be lenient on the American vehicle manufacturer.

[JURIST] Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed three anti-abortion bills into law Monday. The first bill prohibits abortions performed because of the gender of the fetus. The second bill creates the Freedom of Conscience Act and protects medical employees who refuse to participate in procedures such as abortion based on religious beliefs. The third bill regulates the use of RU-486, or mifepristone, a chemical used in abortion procedures. State Senator Todd Lamb (R), a sponsor of one of the bills, explained the purpose of the new measures:
These bills were each approved previously by the Legislature, but were prevented from taking effect due to a court ruling that they violated Oklahoma’s Constitution regarding single-subjects for legislation. … We believed then and believe now these provisions reflect the values of our state, and have successfully reaffirmed them in the Senate as individual measures.The bills contain emergency clauses, causing them to take effect immediately.The measures signed by the governor Monday were included in previous bills that were struck down by Oklahoma courts. In March, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a broad abortion law that included the RU-486 restrictions. In February, a state court struck down another multi-part law that included the prohibition on abortion based on the gender of a fetus. The Oklahoma Constitution requires each piece of legislation to address only one subject. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which initially filed lawsuits against the bills, has indicated that it will challenge the constitutionality of the separated bills. Staff Attorney Stephanie Toti criticized the laws, arguing that “they violate a myriad of constitutional principles, from freedom of speech to due process to equal protection of the law.”

[JURIST] Lawyers for an Algerian national detained at Guantanamo Bay on Monday filed an emergency motion in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block the detainee’s transfer to his home country. Petitioner Ahmed Belbacha renewed his request for an administrative stay of a February court order mandating the transfer. The motion alleges that flaws in an earlier court order and new circumstances in the case motivate a ruling in favor of Belbacha:
With respect, the Court seriously misapprehended Mr. Belbacha’s earlier request for an administrative stay. In addition, a fresh development – an announcement on Friday that the Attorney General will meet this week with the Algerian Minister of Justice – underscores the need for an administrative stay. As this Court recently recognized, the “potential harm” that Mr. Belbacha faces if he is transferred to Algeria is “significant” and “substantial.” The case for an administrative stay is especially strong because there is substantial question as to the Court’s jurisdiction to issue the February 4 Order.Belbacha has argued that he will be subjected to abuse and criminal prosecution if returned to Algeria, a situation that his counsel argues necessitates the emergency court order. Belbacha relies on the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush that Guantanamo detainees have a right to challenge their imprisonment, which resulted in a spate of detainee suits against the federal government. Last month, the US Supreme Court declined to rule in the case known as Kiyemba II, in which the court was asked to consider issues surrounding the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Lawyers for four Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo were appealing an April ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Columbia Circuit, which held that US courts cannot prevent the government from transferring Guantanamo detainees to foreign countries on the grounds that detainees may face prosecution or torture in the foreign country. The case is separate from a case the court remanded to the DC circuit court earlier last month, known as Kiyemba I. The US government has prevailed in 12 of the 46 habeas corpus cases decided in the DC District Court since the Boumediene ruling.

[JURIST] An Egyptian criminal court on Sunday ordered 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) released on bail, including deputy chairman Mahmoud Ezzat and spokesperson Essam al-Erian. The members of MB, which has been banned in Egypt, were arrested in February and charged with plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government. The MB has called those charges “concocted.” The Egyptian government has often used the country’s emergency laws to arrest and indefinitely detain individuals it considered a threat to state security. This includes the MB, which the Egyptian government has accused of trying to create an Islamic theocracy through violence. There has been no indication of when the 16 individuals will be released.
In the past, Egypt has also used the emergency laws extensively against other opposition parties. In July, the trial of 26 individuals with alleged ties to Hezbollah was transferred to a court established under the emergency laws. In February 2009, a military court utilized the laws during a trial in which it sentenced opposition leader Magdy Ahmed Hussein to two years in prison. The emergency laws have been in effect continuously since the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and were renewed most recently in May 2008. Human Rights Watch sharply criticized the renewal, saying the move showed “contempt for the rule of law.”

[JURIST] Australia confirmed Monday that it will accept three Cuban asylum seekers currently held at the Guantanamo Bay Migrations Operation Center. The center, utilized by the US military after the recent Haitian earthquake to house mainly Haitian asylum seekers, is not affiliated with the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Upon the announcement, Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, denied any connection between Australia’s acceptance of the Cuban asylum seekers and US acceptance of Tamil asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian Customs Service in October and denied entrance into Australia. All 78 asylum seekers aboard an Australian Customs Service vessel have been declared refugees by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHRC). The Australian government has been actively seeking resettlement of the refugees in countries other than Australia.
Australia has been criticized for its Immigration Detention Policy, which requires any non-citizen seeking entrance into Australia to be detained. In 2006, the High Court of Australia held that a “holder of a temporary protection visa is not entitled to further protection in Australia if they are no longer in danger in the country from which they fled” and that the person may not remain a refugee. The UNHCR criticized Australia for its strict policy of detaining illegal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. A representative of the UNHCR said that detention of asylum seekers and refugees is inherently undesirable and should only be used while authorities checked identities, where travel and identification papers had been lost or destroyed, or to protect public security.

[JURIST] The US Customs and Border Protection has arrested 115 Haitians who have crossed the boarder illegally since the January 12 earthquake, according to Sunday reports. Mark Henry, operations officer for the Border Patrol’s Swanton sector, which covers 261 miles of the US-Canada border from New Hampshire through Vermont to New York said that 114 Haitians have been arrested in Vermont and one in New York. Many of the Haitians, previously deported from the US and seeking refugee status in Canada, returned to reconnect with remaining relatives in the US after losing family in the earthquake. Additionally, it is suspected that the illegal entrants are returning to the US with hopes that the 18-month Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will allow them to reestablish themselves and strengthen their case for citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) granted TPS and placed a ban on deportation and removal proceedings of Haitian nationals in order to provide a temporary refuge for those already present in the US on January 12, regardless of their immigration status.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in January that Haitians who arrived illegally after the earthquake would be sent back to Haiti. Napolitano told a news conference that Haitians should not view the earthquake as an open opportunity to migrate to the US, but should remain in their country to help rebuild. Additionally, the DHS announced that the US would allow Haitian orphans into the country to receive needed care in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that caused massive damage to property and infrastructure in Haiti. The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti has said that up to 50 percent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including the presidential palace, the UN Mission headquarters, and the main prison, allowing nearly 4,000 inmates to escape. Thousands of US military troops have been deployed to assist the Haitian police and international peacekeepers as they confront rising lawlessness in the country. UN officials say the death toll may never be known, but Haitian officials have estimated that between 100,000 to 200,000 have died as a result of the earthquake.