Georgetown Security Law Brief

Complaints persist as US frees Afghan detainees

03/11/10: The Miami Herald reports that under a program started in January, local Afghan leaders can petition for and win release of Bagram prisoners not deemed a threat if area chiefs pledge to monitor them for signs they are aiding the insurgency. The policy is part of a transition for the Afghan government to take control of the controversial detention facility within a year. Since US Gen. Stanley McChrystal took over as the military alliance's commander last year, he's made it a priority to consult local representatives as part of a counterinsurgency policy to win hearts and minds away from the Taliban insurgency. But often, events held to build goodwill end up airing years' worth of pent-up grievances.

New war crime indictment in Belgrade

03/11/10: Balkan Insight reports that the Prosecution in Belgrade has indicted Darko Radivoje, nicknamed Gurgula, for war crimes committed in 1991 in Croatia. According to the indictment, Radivoje, 41, was a member of the Territorial defence in Tenja, Croatia who fought alongside Serb forces during the war. Radivoje, a Serbian national, allegedly killed Marjan Pletes, a member of the Croatian Army, on 20 November 1991. Radivoje allegedly took Pletes from the hospital where he had been brought after being wounded with the intention of taking him to the command headquarters in Boboti. According to the indictment, on the way to Boboti, Radivoje took Pletes out of the ambulance and killed him.

Hamas releases British journalist

03/11/10: The New York Times reports that a British journalist was freed in Gaza on Thursday after being held for 25 days by the Hamas authorities. The journalist, Paul Martin, was arrested Feb. 14 at the trial of a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel. Mr. Martin had planned to testify on behalf of the man, a former member of a rocket-firing squad and the subject of a documentary Mr. Martin made in 2008. Mr. Martin left Gaza immediately after his release, after the authorities warned him not to return.

Nigeria police to charge forty nine with murder over recent ethnic violence

03/11/10: JURIST reports that Nigerian police officials said Wednesday that 49 people, predominately Muslims, will be charged with murder following the recent killing of Christian villagers near the city of Jos. Reports have varied as to the number of people killed in the weekend attack, but police now put the number at 109. The attacks were apparently in retaliation for the January violence between Muslims and Christians which left more than 300, mostly Muslims, dead.

FBI looking into NJ man linked to attack in Yemen

03/11/10: The Miami Herald reports that the FBI is investigating the case of an alleged al-Qaida member raised in New Jersey who's accused of trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen. An FBI spokesman confirmed Thursday that the agency is looking into the case of 26-year-old Sharif Mobley of Buena. He is not commenting further.

UN says Myanmar election laws do not meet international standards

03/11/10: JURIST reports that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that recently announced election laws  in Myanmar do not meet international standards for an inclusive political process, in particular because they do not allow pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate.

Tight race in Iraq could mean weeks of horse-trading

03/11/10: The New York Times reports that early results in Iraq’s parliamentary elections on Thursday indicated that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s coalition was likely to win a plurality in an exceedingly close race. But even as the preliminary results were about to be broadcast, a coalition of Shiite parties called the vote-counting process into question, challenging both the transparency of the ballot counting and the computerized system being used to tabulate the votes. Counting so far from Sunday’s voting suggested a very tight three-way race involving Mr. al-Maliki’s coalition; Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and the leader of the Iraqiya coalition; and Ahmed Chalabi, a leader of the Shiite coalition known as the Iraqi National Alliance.

Bipartisan blowout blocks Afghanistan withdrawal

03/11/10: The Washington Times reports that in an overwhelming show of bipartisan support for President Obama's surge in Afghanistan, the House on Wednesday soundly defeated a resolution setting a timetable for withdrawal. The vote, which marked the first time the House has had a full debate on Afghanistan since Mr. Obama announced his surge last year, unleashed years of pent-up frustration from liberal Democrats and a few conservative Republicans angry over the direction the nine-year-old conflict has taken. But the 356-65 vote against withdrawal was a dominant endorsement to give Mr. Obama the time he's asked for to stabilize the troubled nation.

Spanish minister discusses Batko extradition

03/11/10: Balkan Insight reports that Veselin Vlahovic Batko will be tried in Spain and will serve his sentence in Spain if convicted, but there is a possibility that he could be temporarily extradited to Bosnia to face charges of war crimes, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Peres Rubalcalba said on a visit to Bosnia. Bosnia requested Batko's extradition based on accusations of crimes he allegedly committed during the Bosnian war in Grbavica, a neighborhood in Sarajevo that was controlled by the Republika Srpska Army. The Bosnian State Prosecution argues that he participated in a number of murders, rape, tortures, and forced detentions of Bosniaks and Croats who were living in Grbavica.

Rights group urges Afghanistan to repeal war crimes amnesty law

03/11/10: JURIST reports that Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Afghan government should retract a law granting amnesty for war crimes and human rights abuses committed prior to December 2001. The National Stability and Reconciliation Law was originally passed by the Afghan Parliament in 2007, but did not take effect until it was recently published in the official gazette. HRW claims that the law protects alleged war criminals and human rights abusers, many of whom remain in positions of power within the government.

Lawyers to depose Dallas bomb suspect's associates

03/11/10: The Miami Herald reports that lawyers for a Jordanian man charged with trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper plan to depose witnesses in Jordan who know the suspect. A federal judge in Dallas last month granted a motion from Hosam Smadi's attorneys that permits them to question their client's Jordanian relatives and associates. Defense lawyers say the witnesses will portray the 20-year-old as a mentally ill man entrapped by federal agents.

Russia makes arrests in fatal train bombing

03/11/10: The New York Times reports that a Moscow court on Wednesday approved the arrest of 10 suspects in the November 2009 bombing of the Nevsky Express passenger train, which derailed while en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg and killed 28 people. Nine of the suspects were arrested during a federal raid last week on a village outside Nazran, the capital of the republic of Ingushetia.

US seeks Saudis' help for UN sanctions on Iran

03/11/10: War on Terrorism reports that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Saudi King Abdallah today to use his country's influence to convince other nations to support United Nations sanctions on Iran, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here. Gates met with the Saudi monarch and Crown Prince Sultan, who also serves as minister of defense and aviation. Gates also met privately with Abdallah at a ranch outside Riyadh.

US envoy pushes for Darfur peace deal before Sudanese elections

03/11/10: The Washington Post reports that the US special envoy to Sudan warned Wednesday that efforts to bring peace to the country's troubled Darfur region could become less of a priority for the Obama administration if a full-fledged peace agreement is not reached before Sudanese elections scheduled for mid-April.

Bush intervened in Northern Ireland dispute

03/11/10: The New York Times reports that former President George W. Bush personally intervened last week in a dispute over the peace process in Northern Ireland in his first known direct involvement in a public policy debate since leaving the White House. Mr. Bush called David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives in Britain, to urge him to press allies in Northern Ireland to support the latest step in the peace process. But the effort proved unsuccessful, as Mr. Cameron’s allies in Belfast refused to go along in a vote on Tuesday.

Ganic released on bail

03/11/10: Balkan Insight reports that the High Court in London has decided to release Ejup Ganic on £200,000 bail. Lord Justice Laws granted the wartime member of Bosnia's presidency bail on "stringent" conditions. Serbia suspects Ganic, who was a member of the wartime presidency of Bosnia, of war crimes related to his alleged involvement in an attack on a convoy of the Yugoslav People's Army as it was leaving Sarajevo in May 1992. The Defense claims that the extradition is an "abuse of process" and they refer to “mistakes on the warrant of arrest, including the way in which the allegation of murder has been framed and how the court should deal with the allegation of a breach of the Geneva Convention.”

Bomb unit allowed into Gaza

03/11/10: The New York Times reports that Israel has allowed a United Nations bomb disposal unit into the Gaza Strip to defuse unexploded munitions left over from last year’s fighting. The Israeli military said that the unit entered Gaza on Wednesday and that it would work for several weeks.

Aid worker snatched by al Qaeda freed

03/10/10: CNN reports that a Spanish aid worker kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) last November in Mauritania has been freed unharmed, but the group continues to hold two other Spanish workers.

Supreme Court calls for the government’s view in suit against military contractor

03/10/10: SCOTUSblog reports that the Supreme Court called for the views of the Solicitor General in Carmichael v. Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, No. 09-683, a case arising from an auto accident in Iraq.  The petition raises an interesting question regarding application of the political question doctrine to tort suits against military contractors in a combat zone.

Karadzic files appeal for trial postponement

03/10/10: Balkan Insight reports that Radovan Karadzic has called on the Appellate Chamber of the Hague Tribunal to postpone the presentation of evidence against him until June 17 this year. Karadzic is appealing the Trial Chamber's decision not to postpone the start of the Prosecution's presentation of evidence. He argued that "the Defence team may be able to acquaint itself with the documents" by June 17 this year.

Feds indict 'JihadJane' in murder, terror plot

03/10/10: Politico reports that a Pennsylvania woman who identified herself online as "JihadJane" has been indicted for recruiting terrorists online, especially those who had passports that would permit them to travel freely in Europe, and for joining a plot to kill a Swedish artist. Colleen LaRose, who is about 47 and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs, allegedly joined with other would-be terrorists online and traveled to Europe to kill a Swedish resident. The indictment doesn't name the target of the plot, but news outlets in Ireland report that seven people were arrested there today in connection with a plot to kill a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks.

Opinion: A False Analogy: Detainee Lawyers and Torture Lawyers

03/10/10: Balkinization has a post by David Luban of the Georgetown University Law Center arguing that DoJ lawyers who represented detainees and DoJ lawyers who authored the torture memos are not equally worthy (or unworthy) of criticism.

With Biden in West Bank, settlements cloud talks

03/10/10: The New York Times reports that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived in the West Bank on Wednesday to meet with Palestinian leaders as the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, expressed dismay at Israel’s announcement a day earlier that it planned to build 1,600 new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. Hours after Mr. Biden vowed unyielding American support for Israel’s security here on Tuesday, . Mr. Biden condemned the announcement of the new housing as “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.”

Napolitano says suicide plane crash wasn't related to domestic terrorism

03/10/10: The Washington Post reports that a suicide plane crash that killed the pilot and an Internal Revenue Service worker at an office building in Austin on Feb. 18 was not a case of domestic terrorism, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday. The pilot, A. Joseph Stack, 53, "had his own personal issues and personal motives" and was carrying out a personal agenda, said Napolitano.

Ex-UK spy chief says US concealed torture from MI5

03/10/10: The Times (UK) reports that a former head of MI5 has claimed that US intelligence agencies deliberately concealed their mistreatment of terror suspects. Baroness Manningham-Buller said she learnt that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, had been waterboarded only after she retired from the Security Service in 2007.

Trial in torture deaths begins in Iran

03/10/10: The New York Times reports that twelve suspects accused of torturing to death three anti-government protesters during the widespread turmoil after the June presidential election went on trial on Tuesday. Iran’s judiciary last year charged 12 officials at the Kahrizak detention center in Tehran for involvement in the deaths of three protesters held there.

UN report says much of Somalia's food aid diverted

03/10/10: The Miami Herald reports that up to half the food aid intended for the millions of hungry people in Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local UN workers, according to a UN Security Council report. The report blames the problem on improper food distribution in the Horn of Africa nation, which has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for nearly two decades, according to a UN diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not yet been released.

Myanmar bars Suu Kyi's election participation

03/10/10: CNN reports that Myanmar's ruling junta has announced a new election law that disqualifies pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in upcoming national elections. The Political Parties Registration Law, announced in state-run newspapers Wednesday, excludes electoral participation by members of a political party if they have been convicted in court. A Myanmar court convicted Suu Kyi, 64, last August for breaching the terms of her house arrest after American John Yettaw swam uninvited to her lakeside house in Yangon and briefly stayed there. Her ongoing detention was extended to this November, and last month a court rejected her appeal for freedom.

UN rights experts urge civilian trials for 9/11 suspects

03/10/10: JURIST reports that UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to hold civilian trials for accused 9/11 conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Scheinin called the military commissions system "fatally flawed" and said that reforming the system would not help. Meanwhile, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak also argued that the suspects should face a civilian trial. A White House official said Tuesday that while a civilian trial for Mohammed may no longer be a realistic option, the Obama administration is working with lawmakers to allow for civilian trials for other suspected terrorists.

Delay on arms pact slows reset of US- Russia ties

03/10/10: The New York Times reports that negotiators are making a fresh effort this week to break the diplomatic logjam over an arms control treaty and finish by the end of the month, so they can showcase the new treaty at an international summit meeting on nuclear nonproliferation that President Obama will host in Washington in April. Underscoring his determination to seal the deal, he sent Ellen Tauscher, the under secretary of state for arms control, to Geneva to help resolve remaining differences, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to travel to Moscow next week.

Israel seeks a stronger stance on Iran from UN Security Council and US

03/10/10: The Washington Post reports that Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon will meet with senior US officials this week to emphasize Israel's growing displeasure with the slow pace of diplomacy on Iran at the UN Security Council, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivity. The Obama administration has signaled that after a year of outreach to Iran, it would get tough in 2010, promising "crippling sanctions."

03/10/10: The Miami Herald reports that the two "bad options" for Iran - letting the country develop nuclear weapons or using force to destroy its nuclear capabilities - are closer than they were a year ago, Israel's UN ambassador warned Tuesday. Gabriela Shalev told journalists at the UN Israel still hopes diplomatic engagement and sanctions will halt Iran's push to become a nuclear power, but warned: "our intelligence tells us ... that Iran is racing towards this kind of nuclear capability, and it's not a matter of years."

Japan finally confirms secret nukes pact with US

03/10/10: The Washington Times reports that Japan confirmed Tuesday secret Cold War-era pacts with Washington that tacitly allowed nuclear warships in Japanese ports in violation of a hallowed postwar principle, effectively acknowledging that previous governments had lied about them for decades. While the move was welcomed as a step toward greater government transparency, atomic bomb survivors expressed disgust that officials kept such agreements hidden for dozens of years.

Saddam Hussein weighed nuclear 'package' deal in 1990, documents show

03/10/10: The Washington Post reports that as troops massed on his border near the start of the Persian Gulf War, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein weighed the purchase of a $150 million nuclear "package" deal that included not only weapons designs but also production plants and foreign experts to supervise the building of a nuclear bomb, according to documents uncovered by a former UN weapons inspector. The offer, made in 1990 by an agent linked to disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, guaranteed Iraq a weapons-assembly line capable of producing nuclear warheads in as little as three years.

Experts urge keeping two options for terror trials

03/09/10: The New York Times reports that leading Congressional Republicans are arguing that getting tough on terrorism means trying all foreign terrorism suspects before military commissions. But national security officials who served in the Bush administration say that taking away the criminal justice option would weaken the government’s hand. Former counterterrorism officials are warning that the political debate has lost touch with the pragmatic advantages of keeping both the civilian and military systems available.

Interpol expands search for Dubai killing suspects

03/09/10: CNN reports that Interpol announced Monday it is issuing notices to help search for another 16 suspects believed linked to the January killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai. The organization will now help investigators in Dubai try to track down all 27 people suspected of links to the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel.

Sri Lanka parliament votes to extend state of emergency until after elections

03/09/10: JURIST reports that the Sri Lankan Parliament voted Tuesday to extend the country's current state of emergency until after next month's parliamentary elections. The measure, passed by a vote of 93-24, was opposed by the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana, the country's main opposition party. President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved parliament in February to prepare for the April elections. Rajapaksa announced last week that he would reconvene parliament to seek an extension of emergency powers, claiming that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elan still pose a threat, despite an end to the country's decades-long civil war last May.

Seven nabbed over Swedish cartoonist plot

03/09/10: The Washington Times reports that police in Ireland on Tuesday arrested seven people over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. Al Qaeda in Iraq put a $100,000 bounty on the cartoonist's head after a Swedish newspaper ran his picture of Muhammad's head on a dog's body in 2007.

ABA wants 9/11 trials in civilian courts

03/09/10: Politico reports that the American Bar Association is jumping into the fray over trials for five alleged 9/11 plotters, arguing that civilian federal courts are the "preferred" system for those accused in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

ICC postpones trial of Congo rebel leader Bemba until July

03/09/10: JURIST reports that the International Criminal Court on Monday postponed the trial of former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, originally set to begin April 27, until July 5. The trial was delayed to allow the court more time to consider the defense's motion on the admissibility of the case, filed in February. The prosecutor and the victims' legal representatives will have until March 29 to submit their observations. The court will hold a status conference on April 27 to hear arguments on the defense motion.

House liberals force vote on pullout from Afghanistan

03/09/10: The Washington Post reports that House leaders will allow three hours of formal debate on an antiwar resolution written by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), one of the leading antiwar voices in Congress. The resolution, which has 16 co-sponsors, calls for the United States to remove all of its troops from Afghanistan in 30 days, or by the end of the year, if it is determined that trying to do so in a month would be too dangerous. The resolution will invoke the 1973 War Powers Act, which Congress passed in protest of the escalation of the Vietnam War by a series of presidents without formal congressional authorization.

Brought to US, man is charged with aiding Somali terrorists

03/09/10: The New York Times reports that a man has been brought to the United States from Nigeria to face charges that he provided money to a Somali terrorist group and that he received military training from that group. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed an indictment on Monday accusing the man, Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Al Shabab, which has declared its intent to harm the United States. Mr. Ahmed, 35, is also charged with providing that support, conspiring to receive training from a foreign terrorist organization, and receiving the training.

Iraqi prime minister's coalition seen leading vote

03/09/10: The Washington Times reports that early estimates from a range of Iraqi parties on Monday predicted a coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would take the lead in the parliamentary election, though official results were not expected for a few days.

Abusive Congolese colonel got UN aid

03/09/10: The Washington Post reports that the United Nations peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo provided food, fuel and logistical support to a Congolese colonel overseeing soldiers accused of gang rapes, massacres and other abuses, months after UN human rights investigators included him on a list of the army's most abusive commanders and in further internal warnings.

Indonesian forces kill three terror suspects

03/09/10: The New York Times reports that Indonesian counterterrorism forces stormed an Internet cafe and a nearby house on the outskirts of Jakarta on Tuesday, killing three suspected terrorists and arresting two others. Counterterrorism officials said security forces were targeting Dulmatin, a senior operative for Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terrorist network with links to Al Qaeda responsible for a string of bombings in Indonesia, including the 2009 twin bombings of the Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels that killed seven people and injured 50.

Venezuela linked to terror groups

03/09/10:The Washington Times reports that accusations by Spanish authorities that Venezuela aided an alliance between Basque and Colombian terror groups that plotted joint attacks in Colombia and Spain have revived a debate over Venezuela's possible role as a state sponsor of terrorism. An indictment issued by Judge Eloy Velasco of Spain's anti-terrorism court specifically cites "Venezuelan governmental cooperation" with 12 members of the Basque separatist group ETA and guerrillas of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Uighur sentenced for spying in Sweden

03/09/10: The New York Times reports that Sweden sentenced a Uighur man to 16 months in prison on Monday for spying on a community of Uighur refugees and passing information to China. The man, Babur Maihesuti, 62, was convicted of handing information about the health, travels and political leanings of other Uighurs to a journalist and diplomat who was a Chinese intelligence officer.

UK justices hear detainees' torture appeal

03/08/10: The Associated Press reports that lawyers for six former Guantanamo detainees on Monday appealed a ruling that the British government can use secret evidence to fight a claim that it was complicit in their abuse. The former terror suspects, all British citizens or residents, are suing the government and intelligence agencies over their alleged mistreatment in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and elsewhere. They deny any involvement in terrorism and allege that British spy agencies abetted their unlawful imprisonment and extraordinary rendition to locations around the world where they were tortured. HT to How Appealing.

Republicans scold Liz Cheney

03/08/10: Politico reports that a group that includes leading conservative lawyers and policy experts, former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and several senior officials of the last Bush administration is denouncing as “shameful” Republican attacks on lawyers who came to the Obama Justice Department after representing suspected terrorists. HT to Opinio Juris.

Afghanistan’s president receives a mixed reception in a visit to newly won Marja

03/08/10: The New York Times reports that on his visit to Marja, President Karzai tried his best to play to the crowd, and appeared to win it over on occasion. But residents made it painfully clear that his government was despised for the corrupt, violent officials who preyed on Marja for much of the past decade before the Taliban arrived.

Obama praises Iraqi vote

03/08/10: The Miami Herald reports that President Barack Obama praised the Iraqi people for passing ``an important milestone'' Sunday, when millions turned out for national elections despite insurgent attacks that killed more than 30 people. No doubt relieved that violence was not worse, Obama said Iraqi security forces showed maturing capabilities as they protected Iraq through a day that was ripe for attacks by Sunni Muslim insurgents and al Qaeda in Iraq.

03/08/10: The New York Times reports that the scratchy loudspeakers of muezzins that once preached resistance to the American occupation implored Sunni Arabs to defy bombs and vote Sunday. They did, in a landmark election that demonstrated how far Iraq has come and perhaps how far it has to go. The droves of Sunni Arab residents casting ballots in towns like Falluja promised to redraw Iraq’s political landscape. The turnout delivered Sunnis their most articulated voice yet on the national stage, seven years after the American-led invasion ended their dominance.