Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki denounced on April 26 a US military raid that morning as violating the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The agreement states that any military offensives by the US are to be performed in accordance with Iraqi laws and prior notice of any military operations is be given to the Joint Military Operations Coordination Committee (JMOCC). Al-Maliki asserted that the attack, which killed two people, was in violation of the SOFA and that he seeks to subject the responsible US forces to judicial proceedings. Under the SOFA, US military personnel may be subject to Iraqi jurisdiction for grave violations of the terms of the agreement. (Jurist, April 27)

The US Supreme Court April 20 heard oral arguments in Iraq v. Beaty and Iraq v. Simon, two cases that will determine whether Iraq has sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts in cases involving misdeeds that occurred during the Saddam Hussein regime. The plaintiffs in both cases sued the Iraqi government, alleging that they were detained and tortured during the 1990s Gulf War.

The New England Journal of Medicine is releasing a new study by the University of London based on data from Iraq Body Count, finding that sectarian militias were responsible for a full third of killings in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. The finding that 33% of civilian deaths since the US-led invasion are attributable to armed gangs contradicts previous assertions by the Iraqi government that foreign military operations were responsible for the majority of deaths.

US Army Master Sgt. John Hatley was convicted of murder and conspiracy in court-martial proceedings April 15 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Hatley was acquitted of obstruction of justice and also of murder for the separate death of a seriously wounded detainee in early January 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. He had requested six more months to complete his 20 years of service in the armed forces, but was denied.

US Army Sgt. John Hatley entered a plea of not guilty to murder charges at his court-martial April 13 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hatley also faces murder charges for a separate killing of a prisoner during early January 2007. The trial opened at a US military base in Germany, with a verdict expected later this week. If convicted, Hatley could face life in prison.

An appeals court in Baghdad April 7 reduced the sentence for the Iraqi journalist accused of throwing his shoe at former US president George W. Bush from three years to one year. Lawyers for Muntadar al-Zaidi based their appeal on an Iraqi law that provides a maximum two-year sentence for the public insult of a foreign head of state. This appeal followed last month's sentencing by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) on charges of assault, which carries with it a longer sentence than insult. The court's decision to reduce the sentence was based in part on the fact that al-Zaidi had no prior criminal record.

A jury of US Marines acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer April 9 of one count of murder and one count of dereliction of duty for his involvement in the shooting death of a detained Iraqi insurgent during a Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-Iraq) November 2004 offensive in Fallujah. Weemer's defense lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense. The jury deliberated for more than four hours before reaching their verdict. Weemer would have faced life in prison, had he been convicted of murder.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), March 17:

Under the slogan of "A Better World Can be Made by Workers," the First International Iraqi Labour Conference was held in Erbil in the Kurdish Region of Iraq on 13 and 14 of March. The event drew more than 200 delegates from unions and federations across Iraq and solidarity delegations from the US, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Iran.