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New Data Reveal Paris Police Discriminate Against Minorities

Police officers in Paris consistently stop people on the basis of ethnicity and dress rather than on the basis of suspicious individual behavior, according to a new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative.

The report documents over 500 police stops during a one-year period and across five locations in and around the Gare du Nord train station and Châtelet-Les Halles commuter rail station.

The data show that blacks were between 3.3 and 11.5 times more likely than whites to be stopped, while Arabs were between 1.8 and 14.8 times more likely to be stopped than whites. The study also found a strong relationship between people’s ethnicity, particular styles of clothing worn by young people, and the likelihood that they would be stopped.

Click here to download or order the 84-page book.

New Evidence Reveals Police in Europe Target Minorities Excessively

Pervasive use of ethnic and religious stereotypes by law enforcement across Europe is harming efforts to combat crime and terrorism, according to a new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Ethnic Profiling in the European Union examines the scope of ethnic profiling, showing how police officers in the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands routinely use generalizations about race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin when deciding whom to target for stops, searches, raids, and surveillance.

The report analyzes ethnic profiling both in ordinary policing and in counterterrorism, and finds that it is not just a violation of European laws and international human rights norms—it is also an ineffective use of police resources that leaves the public less safe.

Click here to download or order the 200 page book.

Forced Migration Review Focuses on Statelessness
The April 2009 issue of Forced Migration Review (FMR), a leading international journal on migration and citizenship, is dedicated to statelessness and includes an article by the Justice Initiative on the right to nationality, “Statelessness: What It Is and Why It Matters.” Justice Initiative staff worked with FMR editorial staff to select articles for the issue, which is available in English, Spanish and Arabic. The full contents of the issue are available here.

New Report Provides Background on Duch Trial and Khmer Rouge Court
With the first trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) beginning at the end of March, the Open Society Justice Initiative released a primer intended to help journalists better understand the court, its first trial, and the many challenges it faces. The Duch Trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia provides information on the structure and operation of the court, the trial of Duch (formally known as Kaing Guek Eav), and some of the pressing issues the court must confront. The 14-page report addresses questions including:
• Why was the ECCC created;
• Why is Duch’s trial so important;
• Why is transparency so critical for this trial; and
• How does the ECCC work.
Click here to download The Duch Trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and other Justice Initiative reports on the ECCC.

UN Adopts Human Rights Approach to Statelessness
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on human rights and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality at its March 2009 meeting. The resolution approaches statelessness as a human rights issue and reaffirms that the right to a nationality of every human person is a fundamental human right; calls upon all states to refrain from taking discriminatory measures and from enacting or maintaining legislation that would arbitrarily deprive persons of their nationality on grounds of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, especially if such measures and legislation render a person stateless; and urges all states to adopt and implement nationality legislation with a view to avoiding statelessness. The Justice Initiative engaged in advocacy related to the new resolution and views it as a significant improvement over previous iterations because it now includes explicit references to the vulnerability of minorities and the special needs of children, as well as a call for effective remedies, “including, but not limited to, restoration of nationality.” Click here to read more about the Justice Initiative’s work on statelessness and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality.

First Legal Clinic Opens in Lebanon
Lebanon’s first legal clinic, based at University of the Holy Spirit in Kaslik (USEK), opened its doors on March 14, 2009. Fifteen law students have been selected for the clinic’s course on practical human rights issues and public interest advocacy. The students will first receive a three-month training on human rights standards and lawyering for social justice. They will then begin to provide legal assistance on human rights and public interest cases selected by several leading attorneys affiliated with the Public Interest Advocacy Center in Beirut. The clinic will offer practical experience to USEK’s law students while providing legal assistance to underserved clients. Click here to read more about the Justice Initiative’s work in clinical legal education.

Justice Initiative Intervenes in Naomi Campbell Case
In March, the Justice Initiative and other human rights NGOs intervened as a third party in a case before the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Naomi Campbell’s libel suit against The Mirror newspaper. Campbell sued The Mirror for libel and was awarded £3,500 in damages (approx. $7,000). The newspaper had to pay her legal costs, including a “success fee” surcharge, which in total amounted to nearly £1.1 million (approx. $2,000,000). Such massive costs have a chilling effect on NGOs and small publishers which prevents them from publishing important stories. The third party brief, filed jointly by the Justice Initiative, Human Rights Watch, the Media Legal Defence Initiative, Global Witness, Index on Censorship, and the English PEN highlights the effect of English libel law’s conditional fee arrangement system on small newspapers and nongovernmental organizations. Click here to read more about the case, including the Justice Initiative’s brief.

Experts’ Meeting Seeks Progress on Defense Rights
The Justice Initiative advocated for a series of European Commission framework decisions protecting the rights of criminal defendants at an experts’ meeting held in March. The framework decisions would cover important procedural rights for criminal defendants, including the right to translation and interpretation and the right to legal aid. The Justice Initiative was joined by Amnesty International and JUSTICE in arguing that the European Union has a legal basis for legislating on criminal defense rights. Reports on the inadequate protection of defendants’ procedural rights in Belgium, England and Wales, and Hungary are available here.

In February Report, Justice Initiative Warns of Corruption, Interference at ECCC
The Justice Initiative’s monthly report on the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) warned that the Cambodian government and international actors must immediately address grave flaws in the tribunal set up to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity. The report focuses on five major challenges confronting the court as it prepared for its first trial:
• Relying on law and facts, not politics, in deciding how many suspects will be investigated;
• addressing corruption complaints;
• raising additional funds;
• strengthening the Victims Unit; and
• bolstering outreach efforts.
The report urges donors to condition the release of their funds on the:
• Prompt and transparent resolution of the dispute between the Cambodian and international co-prosecutors over whether to investigate and charge additional suspects.
• Implementation of genuine efforts to address existing and any future corruption allegations, including protection of those who report improper practices, and publication of the details of this procedure. In addition, donors should maintain their freeze on funds held by UNDP for the Cambodian side of the court until corruption allegations are addressed.
• Direction of a more substantial share of budgetary resources and institutional attention to the Victims Unit and to outreach efforts, to ensure that Cambodians are aware of, and where appropriate able to participate in, the work of the ECCC.
The full report is available here.

Victims of Police Abuse in Nigeria Speak Out
Victims of abuses by the Nigeria Police Force testified at a public hearing organized by the Justice Initiative and the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) in February. Eighteen victims spoke of alleged acts of torture, unlawful arrest and detention, attempted murder, and rape by police officers. The National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC), the Public Complaints Commission, and the Enugu State government also participated in the hearing, held in Enugu State, in southeastern Nigeria. Police abuse in Nigeria is the topic of the upcoming book Criminal Force: Torture, Abuse, and Extrajudicial Killings by the Nigeria Police Force, to be published by the Justice Initiative in June.

New Website Tracks Lubanga Trial
A new website, www.LubangaTrial.org was launched on January 27, 2009 to provide news and expert analysis on the war crimes trial of former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. LubangaTrial.org features daily updates direct from the courtroom, as well as expert commentary, legal analysis, videos, background information, and other resources. The site is a joint project of the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and WITNESS. Lubanga, who is charged with conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is the first person to be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague. With the trial taking place so far from the location of the conflict, LubangaTrial.org will enable journalists from the Great Lakes region of Africa, as well as those who suffered in the conflict, to follow developments in the courtroom.
The site’s daily reports, essays, and analyses are available in English and French.

Victim of CIA Abduction Files Lawsuit against Macedonian Government
New information pointing to Macedonia’s role in the wrongful kidnapping of a U.S. rendition victim provides added weight to legal challenges against the government, the Open Society Justice Initiative announced on January 26, 2009. On January 24, Khaled El Masri, a German citizen, filed a damages lawsuit against the government of Macedonia for its role in his unlawful abduction and detention five years ago. Macedonian security forces in December 2003 seized El Masri at a border crossing with Serbia, and held him—incommunicado—for 23 days. El Masri was handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention center in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and tortured. After several months, El Masri was finally released and dumped on a roadside in Albania. He was never charged with a crime. Despite overwhelming evidence, Macedonia has denied that El Masri was held illegally on its territory. Filip Medarski, El Masri’s lawyer in Macedonia, and the Justice Initiative recently uncovered, through freedom of information requests, a flight log that strongly suggests the involvement of Macedonian authorities in El Masri’s rendition from Macedonia to Kabul. The log is the first document obtained from official Macedonian sources to confirm specific information about the CIA “ghost plane” involved in this case.
More information is available here.

As Lubanga Trial Begins, Goldston Cites ICC Progress
In an op-ed published on January 21, 2009, Open Society Justice Initiative Executive Director James A. Goldston praises progress made at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and argues that the “new system of international justice is working.” The op-ed, “World Justice on Trial,” published by Project Syndicate, is available on the Guardian website http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/21/law-sudan-international-criminal-court; and has been printed in newspapers as disparate as the Daily Times (Pakistan) and the Guatemala Times. Goldston notes this week’s opening of the ICC’s first trial (against former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo) and the court’s consideration of an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and writes: “Five years after the world’s first permanent criminal tribunal commenced operations, it has made its mark.” Goldston also rebuts three common criticisms of the ICC: that the court’s involvement in ongoing conflicts impedes the peace process, that the court has allowed itself to be used by national political leaders, and that the court is focused too much on prosecutions in Africa.

Reports Find Inadequate Protection of Defendant Rights in the EU
The European Union (EU) must do more to protect the rights of criminal defendants, according to three recent studies. The reports found six areas in which adequate guarantees of defendants’ procedural rights are lacking, including:
• Informing defendants and their counsel about the criminal charge, particularly during the suspect’s first interrogation.
• Granting the defense sufficient access to evidence collected by police and prosecution.
• Guaranteeing that legal representation is available from the early stages of the proceedings, including before and during the suspect’s first interrogation.
• Providing high quality, independent interpretation and translation services for defendants who do not understand the language of the proceedings, at no cost for them and to the extent necessary to exercise their rights effectively.
These findings are contained in reports on criminal defense in Belgium, England and Wales, and Hungary, available here. The findings show the need for legislation to establish a common minimum standard for defendants’ procedural rights across the EU. To date, no single legislative instrument has been passed by the EU to protect the rights of defendants. The reports are part of a joint project of Maastricht University, the University of the West of England, JUSTICE, and the Open Society Justice Initiative. In 2009, similar research will be carried out in Germany, France, Finland, Italy, Poland, and Turkey.

Rights Groups Press Czech Government on Roma Education
Despite changes in legislation and a landmark ruling from Europe’s highest court, racial segregation of Roma children remains a fixture of education in the Czech Republic, a coalition of rights groups said in September. The Czech government must take significant steps, including enacting new legislation, to desegregate the country’s schools, the groups said in an official communication to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The statement was signed by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the Roma Education Fund, the Open Society Justice Initiative, and the Open Society Institute. The Czech Republic’s School Law of 2005, curriculum modification of 2007, and the European Court of Human Rights’ landmark decision in D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic have all failed to end a segregated education system in which the vast majority of Roma students are still assigned to “special” schools with sub-standard curricula. Click here to read more.

AIDS Conference Looks at Pretrial Detention as a Public Health Issue
The role of pretrial detention in spreading disease was the focus of two sessions at the XVII International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City in August. Experts from the fields of human rights and public health — including staff from the Open Society Justice Initiative — examined the global over-use of pretrial detention as a threat to public health in two conference sessions: “HIV/AIDS in Prisons and Pretrial Detention Centers: A Public Health and Human Rights Disaster,” and “Sentenced to HIV, HCV and TB? Prisons and Pretrial Detention Centers.” The appearance of pretrial detention on the agenda of the 20,000-person conference is an important milestone in the process of reforming and reducing the use of pretrial detention. Click here for the Justice Initiative’s conference presentation, “The Scale and Health Consequences of Pretrial Detention around the World”.

Justice Initiative Intensifies West African Engagement with Taylor Trial
As part of its efforts to promote greater media coverage and public awareness of Charles Taylor’s trial in The Hague, the Justice Initiative intensified its work with Sierra Leonean journalists and civil society during the court’s judicial recess in August. Among other activities, the Justice Initiative provided training to Sierra Leonean journalists in the use of the www.CharlesTaylorTrial.org website as a resource for developing news stories and engaging in outreach efforts to inform local communities about the trial. For more information on the Taylor trial and Special Court in Sierra Leone click here.

Justice Initiative Helps Push Investigation of CIA “Black Sites” in Poland
Poland’s chief prosecutor, in early August, opened an investigation into the existence of secret CIA “black sites” in Poland and the possible complicity of Polish agents in torture and other abuses. The investigation—which top officials of the Council of Europe and the European Union have been calling for since 2007—was hailed by human rights groups as a major step in pursuit of accountability for abuses committed in the U.S. “war on terror.” The Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights had been calling for such an investigation—and seeking information about Polish knowledge of CIA violations— since March 2006. In January of 2008 the Polish Helsinki Foundation, with input from the Justice Initiative and pursuant to Poland’s 2001 Access to Information Law, filed requests for information regarding Polish collaboration with the CIA’s rendition program. In response, in March, the Polish government released some information, the first time that the law had been used to obtain information considered by some to constitute state secrets. In addition, the Polish Helsinki Foundation helped a journalist from a leading Polish weekly to prepare an extensive article about CIA flights. Shortly after this article appeared, the prosecutor finally took action. Click here for a BBC News account of the investigation.

Justice Initiative Intervenes in Bosnian Constitution Case
In August, the Justice Initiative submitted to the European Court of Human Rights an amicus brief challenging provisions in the Constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina that restrict eligibility for high-level political office to certain ethnic groups. According to the constitution, only ethnic Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks can serve in the Bosnian legislature or as the country’s president. The provision excludes members of Bosnia’s other ethnic groups, as well as individuals who refuse to be classified by ethnicity. The Justice Initiative’s brief, filed in the case of Finci and Sedjic v. Bosnia, argues that the provision is ethnically discriminatory because it privileges dominant ethnic groups while barring ethnic minorities. Click here to read the brief.

Chile Adopts Historic Law on Transparency and Access to Information
President Michelle Bachelet of Chile promulgated the Law on Transparency and Access to Information in August, culminating a four-year campaign led by long time Justice Initiative partner Pro Acceso. The law recognizes the right to information held by public bodies, significantly narrows areas of exception, obliges public bodies to respond to citizen requests within 20 days and creates a four-person Council for Transparency to implement and interpret the law. Chile now has arguably the strongest access to information law in South America and will be the first country to establish an implementation body. The Justice Initiative provided technical assistance to support Pro Acceso’s campaign, which included colloquia, analyses of legislative drafts, forceful advocacy in the mass media, participation in parliamentary discussions, and organization of a British Council-supported study mission to England for legislators and government officials. Of particular importance was the 2006 decision of the Inter-American Court in the landmark case of Claude Reyes, in which the court—citing a joint Pro Acceso-Justice Initiative study—ruled that Chile was in violation of the American Convention on Human Rights’ guarantee of the right to information. The court called on Chile’s government not only to pass a law but also to train government officers in its implementation. For more on the Claude Reyes case, click here.

Inter-American Commission Orders Protective Measures for Victim of Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality
In August, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted the Justice Initiative’s request for precautionary measures in the case of Emildo Bueno, a Dominican citizen of Haitian descent whose public fight against arbitrary deprivation of his nationality resulted in threats and physical harm to him and his family. The commission granted the request of the Justice Initiative and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to order the government of the Dominican Republic to investigate thoroughly attacks on the Bueno family and to provide them with security protection. The commission’s agreement to extend precautionary measures is the latest indication of international human rights bodies’ growing concern about discrimination in access to nationality in the Dominican Republic. Click here for more information, in Spanish.

Karadžić Arrest Hailed as a Triumph for Victims and for Justice
The arrest in July of one of the world’s most notorious fugitives, Radovan Karadžić, on genocide and other charges, is a milestone in international justice and signifies major if long overdue progress by Serbia, the Justice Initiative said. But Serbia must still move quickly to arrest Karadžić's wartime ally, Ratko Mladić , to fully stake its claim in the new Europe. “Karadžić’s arrest is a historic event, which indicates a sea-change in Serbia’s commitment to joining its neighbors as a full member of the European Union,” said Robert O. Varenik, then acting executive director of the Justice Initiative. “Serbia took a great leap forward but now must follow through with the immediate arrest of Mladić.” Karadžić and Mladić were indicted 13 years ago by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for their roles as alleged architects of crimes committed during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. With the ICTY set to shut down by 2011, time is running out to bring the men to justice. Click here to read more.

German Employment Case Focuses on Religious and Ethnic Discrimination
In July, the Open Society Justice Initiative challenged religious and ethnic discrimination in a brief the organization filed in an employment case in Hamburg, Germany.
The case concerns a Christian charity, Diakonisches Werk Hamburg (DWK), which refused to hire a non-Christian woman unless she converted to Christianity. The applicant, a German citizen of Turkish ethnic origin, does not observe or practice any religion and refused to convert. The woman was applying for a non-religious position counseling immigrants, as part of a secular advice service that DWK provides on behalf of the German state. DWK acknowledges that the applicant met all substantive requirements for the job. Under German and European Union antidiscrimination law, religious institutions may treat individuals differently on the basis of religion only when religious faith is a genuine occupational requirement for a job, such as that of a pastor or a religious teacher. But this exception clearly does not apply in the DWK case, the Justice Initiative asserted in its filing. Click here to read the Justice Initiative’s brief, available in English or German.

U.S. Senate Hears Justice Initiative Testimony on Crimes against Humanity
In June, Justice Initiative Special Counsel Diane Orentlicher provided expert testimony on crimes against humanity to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. Noting that “United States law does not yet proscribe crimes against humanity,” Orentlicher stated: “I urge this subcommittee to produce legislation making crimes against humanity a federal crime and establishing a jurisdiction to prosecute such crimes.” Orentlicher’s full testimony, which examines American leadership in defining the concept of crimes against humanity and explores recent and current examples of such crimes, is available here.

Justice Initiative Calls for Investigation of Torture Allegations in Kazakhstan
The Open Society Justice Initiative in June called for a government investigation into recent allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Kazakhstan. The victim, Denis Polienko, alleges that he was illegally detained by police and tortured into confessing to the murder of his neighbor. According to Polienko, he was severely beaten, suffocated with a plastic bag, and threatened with rape and harm to his wife. As a result, he sustained facial fractures, damage to his eyesight, and now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to statements submitted by Polienko, he was seized by police on Nov. 21, 2006 and held for more than 36 hours at the Schuchinsk Department of Internal Affairs, where he was tortured into confessing to murder. His confession was then used as evidence of his guilt in a criminal trial. Although a court halted the trial—citing “gaps in the investigation”—and returned the case to prosecutors for additional investigation, Polienko still faces charges. Click here to read more about the case.

Rights Groups Demand Investigation of CIA's Extraordinary Rendition Program
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Open Society Justice Initiative, met in Berlin in June with lawyers from Germany, Macedonia, and the United Kingdom to discuss the latest developments in the CIA rendition case of German citizen Khaled El Masri.
El Masri was seized by Macedonian authorities on December 31, 2003. He was detained incommunicado for 23 days, then handed over by the Macedonians to CIA agents who videotaped, blindfolded, and injected him with drugs, then flew him in chains to Kabul, Afghanistan. In Kabul he was tortured in a prison that his lawyers believe was the infamous CIA-run "Salt Pit" detention center. The CIA soon realized they were holding an innocent man, yet El Masri was held for more than four months before being released without charge. On May 28th, 2004, El Masri was flown by the CIA to Albania and dumped on an isolated roadside in the middle of the night. Albanian authorities thereafter placed him on a return flight to Germany. At the meeting, participating attorneys presented further legal actions already filed or being prepared in the USA, Macedonia and Albania. In addition to the lawsuit against Germany filed today, these include a petition against the United States at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an upcoming criminal complaint in Macedonia, and freedom of information requests in Albania and Macedonia. Click here to learn more.

Latest Khmer Rouge Tribunal Report Covers New Crime Site and Progress on the Five Cases
The Open Society Justice Initiative released in May its latest report on current challenges and progress at the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the court established to try surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The 25-page report provides an overview of recent developments in the cases of all five defendants now in the court’s custody: Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Kaing Guek Eav, and Ieng Thirith. The report also looks at developments outside the courtroom, including the appointment of a UN expert advisor to help revise the court’s budget and streamline administrative operations of the UN’s side of the court. The report is available here.

New Book Examines the Global Cost of Pretrial Detention and Efforts to Reform and Reduce the Practice Worldwide
The Open Society Justice Initiative in April released a new publication examining pretrial detention—the practice of jailing criminal suspects, sometimes for years, before trial—and efforts to reform its use. Justice Initiatives: Pretrial Detention examines the global costs of the practice, as well as efforts to reduce its use. The excessive and irrational use of pretrial detention wastes public resources, undermines the rule of law, disrupts families and communities, and endangers public health. By definition, pretrial detention only affects people who have not yet been judged and are presumed innocent. In 2006, an estimated 7.4 million people around the world were held in pretrial detention, yet it remains an overlooked area of criminal justice. Abuses are common: conditions are often worse for pretrial detainees than for sentenced prisoners and torture more widespread. Fortunately, innovative approaches to reform, documented in the publication, are beginning to emerge. Click here to download or order a copy of the book.

New Report from Turkey Finds Accused Lack Legal Representation
Only ten percent of criminal defendants in Istanbul are represented by a lawyer, according to a report released by the Justice Initiative and Istanbul Bilgi University in April. The report, Alone in the Courtroom: Accessibility and Impact of Criminal Legal Aid before Istanbul Courts, presents astonishing results of an empirical study of legal aid in Istanbul, including:
• Although legal aid is free, less than two percent of defendants made use of it during their trials.
• Approximately 75% of defendants who were sentenced to prison were never represented by a lawyer.
• In only 7.3% of cases were lawyers present during police interrogations of suspects.
The study, which examined more than 600 case files opened in 2000-2001 and closed before 2005 and observed 173 court hearings in Istanbul courts, is available here.

Justice Initiative Commends Ruling on Prisoners’ Rights in Kazakhstan; Calls for Investigation of Torture
The Justice Initiative in March welcomed a ruling by Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council overturning a legal provision limiting the rights of prisoners who protested against widespread torture in prison. However, the group called on Kazakhstan's authorities to ensure a thorough investigation of complaints of widespread torture. The law criminalized self-mutilation as disruptive of prison operations. Two dozen inmates had been charged with violating it after nearly 100 cut themselves to protest torture and officials' failure to address their complaints. The Justice Initiative called on Kazakhstan's government to investigate fully the prisoners' claims of torture and demonstrate that it is improving its systems for preventing, investigating, and punishing torture. Click here to learn more about the case and read the Justice Initiative’s brief.

Justice Initiative Finds Racial Discrimination in Dutch Database
In March, the Justice Initiative urged the Dutch government to end its discriminatory gathering and processing of sensitive racial and ethnic data. The government-compiled database, known as the "Reference Index of Antilleans," violates both European and international legal norms, according to the Justice Initiative. The Justice Initiative's brief argues that the use of ethnic or racial data linked to a risk profile is a form of unlawful ethnic profiling amounting to racial discrimination. Click here to learn more about the case and read the brief.

Justice Initiative Highlights Progress, Promise in Mauritania
The progress and potential of Mauritania’s year-old, democratically-elected government was examined at a March 2008 colloquium organized by the Justice Initiative. The event, which featured Mauritania’s ambassador to the United States, a Mauritanian refugee, and anti-slavery activists, explored a new law criminalizing slavery, as well as efforts to repatriate thousands of black Mauritanians who were expelled in 1989. Audio highlights from the event, as well as excerpts from “Faces of Change,” a documentary about slavery in Mauritania, are available here.

Lawsuit Seeks Greater Freedom of Expression in Sierra Leone
In March, journalists in Sierra Leone challenged laws that criminalize free speech and authorize prison terms of up to seven years for those who criticize the government. Sierra Leone's criminal libel and false news laws allow prison sentences for expression that "excite(s) disaffection" against the government or "injure(s) the reputation" of the government or individual officials. The Justice Initiative, in partnership with West African groups, provided assistance with the suit. A brief filed in the case describes the repressive effect of the laws, which can provide severe criminal penalties even for true statements and entirely peaceful expression. Click here to read more or download the brief.

New Khmer Rouge Tribunal Report Gives Updates on Five Cases, Budget Needs, More
A new report on the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) covers several major events from January and February of 2008, including:
• The beginning of civil parties' participation in the ECCC;
• The announcement of a revised budget for the court, seeking an additional $113.7 million, amid reports that the Cambodian side of the court could exhaust its budget in a matter of months; and
• The participation of investigating judges in community outreach meetings held in Pailin, the former Khmer Rouge stronghold.
The 18-page report examines recent developments in the cases of all five defendants now in the court's custody and also looks at action outside the courtroom, including expansion of the Victims Unit, which will help victims become involved in the trials. Click here to read or download the report.

Rights Groups Applaud Torture Ruling
In February 2008, the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed the ban on deporting people to countries where they are at risk of being tortured. In Saadi v. Italy, the court ruled unanimously that no circumstances, including the threat of terrorism, can justify exposing an individual to the genuine risk of torture or ill-treatment. The Justice Initiative joined with 10 other human rights and anti-torture groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in hailing the ruling. Click here for the groups' press release or the full text of the court's judgment.

Justice Initiative Hails German Court Judgment on Religious Discrimination
In February, the Justice Initiative welcomed a judgment from Germany's Hamburg Labor Court that a Christian organization engaged in discrimination when it refused to hire a non-Christian. The case concerned a Christian charity, Diakonisches Werk Hamburg (DWK), which refused to hire a non-Christian. While DWK acknowledged that the applicant met all substantive requirements for the position, which had no religious component, DWK required the applicant to convert to Christianity before it would consider her eligible for the position. The Justice Initiative supported the plaintiff's German lawyer and will submit a brief on the plaintiff's behalf if, as expected, DWK appeals the Hamburg Labor Court judgment. Click here for more.

Rights Groups Denounce Greek Prosecutor’s Racist Statement
Human rights groups in February 2008 denounced as racist a statement by Greece's top prosecutor suggesting that certain ethnic groups are involved in crime. The Open Society Justice Initiative and Greek Helsinki Monitor reacted to a statement made by Supreme Court Prosecutor George Sanidas in December 2007. Sanidas, in describing crime in a section of Athens, singled out as perpetrators "foreign women of African and non-African origin" and "athinganoi." The latter term is a pejorative reference to Roma. Sanidas has not amended or retracted his statement in the weeks since he made it. Click here to read more.

Website Tracks Resumption of Taylor Trial
After a six month delay, the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor resumed in January 2008—as did coverage by the trial monitoring website, www.CharlesTaylorTrial.org. The website provides daily updates from the courtroom, as well as expert analysis and background information regarding Taylor’s trial on war crimes and crimes against humanity. With the trial taking place in The Hague, the website—established by the Justice Initiative, the International Senior Lawyers Project, and the law firm Clifford Chance—is intended to be especially valuable for audiences in West Africa. Click here to go to www.CharlesTaylorTrial.org.