Georgetown Security Law Brief

German Interior Ministry plans to expand the powers of the secret police

09/30/09: Intelligence Daily reports that the German Interior Ministry, currently headed by Wolfgang Schäuble, plans to expand the authority of the German state to spy on its own citizens. The domestic secret service will be given far-reaching powers and the separation of the police and secret services will be largely abolished.

UK-Ethiopia agreement on deportations puts suspects at risk of torture

09/30/09:  The Lift reports that Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns that the UK's policy of relying on "diplomatic assurances” against torture to deport national security suspects to Ethiopia is unreliable and could lead to human rights violations.

Scientists decry "flawed" and "horrifying" nationality tests

09/30/09:  Science Insider reports that British scientists are greeting with surprise and dismay a UK Border Agency pilot project to use DNA and isotope analysis of tissue from asylum seekers to evaluate their nationality and help decide who can enter the UK. 

Draft DoD policy would OK troops’ tweets

09/30/09: Wired reports that the Defense Department announced a draft policy that would allow troops and military employees to freely access social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Federal appeals court upholds mandatory anthrax vaccinations

09/30/09: The Blog of Legal Times reports that in an unanimous ruling, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the dismissal of a suit filed by eight servicemembers who challenged a Food and Drug Administration order that found the vaccine effective. The plaintiffs also sought to block the Defense Department from administering the vaccine.

Transparency directives transform DHS

09/29/09: Homeland Security Today reports that new policies from the Obama administration have changed the way that the Department of Homeland Security enforces privacy protections outside and inside its components, according to an annual DHS privacy report. HT to Security Debrief.

Marine faces court-martial in Fallujah killing

09/29/09: The Miami Herald reports that a court-martial is scheduled to begin Tuesday at Camp Pendleton for Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, who has pleaded not guilty to unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the November 2004 death of unarmed detainees in Fallujah, Iraq.

Secret Service probing Obama Facebook threat

9/29/09: The Washington Post reports that on Sunday the Secret Service asked Facebook to remove a "third-party" poll asking whether the president should be assassinated.  Threats against the president carry up to five years in prison.

Court says it can't stop transfer of American to Iraqi authority

09/29/09: The Blog of Legal Times reports that more than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the case should be dismissed, a federal judge today finally rejected US citizen Shawqi Ahmad Omar's attempt to stop the American military from transferring him into Iraqi custody.  In October 2004, US soldiers arrested Omar in Iraq, accusing him of aiding insurgents there.

Court ends terrorism case against Zimbabwe activist

09/29/09: The New York Times reports that Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court tossed out terrorism charges against the prominent human rights activist Jestina Mukoko on Monday, ruling that she herself had been terrorized when state security agents abducted and tortured her.

Former detainees claim secret CIA prison still open until end of 2008

09/28/09:  The Lift reports that former Iraqi detainees claimed in daily pan-arabic newspaper Al Hayat that they spent about a month in a secret CIA-run detention facility in Musayib, 40 miles south of Baghdad, which was allegedly open until the end of 2008. 

Fewer terrorism suspects going to trial

09/28/09:  The Miami Herald reports that the US government completes prosecution in only about one out of four of those charged in connection with terrorism, according to a TRAC study that suggests federal agencies don't agree on who is a terrorist. Since 2002, the percentage of terrorism cases that federal prosecutors declined to pursue has grown from 31 percent to 73 percent.

British terror suspect freed after home secretary revokes second control order

09/28/09: The Lift reports that the British home secretary, Alan Johnson, has decided to revoke a second control order on a terrorism suspect known only as "AE" rather than disclose the secret evidence in the case.

Three Guantánamo prisoners transferred to Ireland, Yemen

09/27/09: The Miami Herald reports that on Saturday the Justice Department announced the transfer of Guantánamo detainee Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, a Yemen native, back to Yemen, and two unnamed Uzbek detainees to Ireland.

Newly declassified files detail massive FBI data-mining project

09/27/09: Wired reports that a fast-growing data-mining system run by the FBI’s National Security Branch Analysis Center (NSAC), and billed as a tool for hunting terrorists, is being used in hacker and domestic criminal investigations, and now contains tens of thousands of records from private corporate databases, including car-rental companies, large hotel chains and at least one national department store.

UN Secretary General suggests the UN engage with rebels to protect humanitarian law

09/27/09: The Miami Herald reports that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that the world body must engage more with insurgent groups in conflicts around the world to ensure they too are respecting the Geneva Conventions.  He urged national governments involved in such conflicts to accept the necessity of the UN talking to "non-state armed groups."

Australian sentenced for writing how-to jihad book

09/26/09:  The New York Times reports that an Australian court sentenced Belal Khazaal, a former Qantas Airways baggage handler, on Friday to 12 years in prison for publishing a do-it-yourself jihad book on the Internet.   The 110-page book contained instructions on detonating bombs, shooting down planes and assassinating senior officials of the United States and Australian governments.

Army to allow Iraq war objector to resign

09/26/09: The Miami Herald reports that the US Army is allowing Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq, to resign from the service.  Watada was charged with missing his unit's deployment and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war. His court martial ended in a mistrial in 2007.

Iraq detains 109 in jail break investigation

09/25/09: The Washington Times reports that more than 100 prison officials and guards have been detained after 16 prisoners, including five al-Qaeda-linked inmates awaiting execution, made a stunning jailbreak in Saddam Hussein's hometown, a police commander said Friday.

Scholarship: Criminalizing humanitarian intervention

09/25/09: Sean D. Murphy (George Washington Univ. Law) has published Criminalizing Humanitarian Intervention (Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Vol. 41, nos. 2-3, p. 341, 2009). The article describes the potential implications for humanitarian interventions after the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) vote on whether to amend the Rome Statute to allow the ICC to prosecute the crime of aggression. HT to International Law Reporter.

An Albanian accused in US of helping terrorists

09/25/09: Balkan Insight reports that a US citizen of Kosovo Albanian origin is charged with conspiracy of committing murder in a foreign country and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, Kosovo media report. Betim Kaziu, 21, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, was arrested in Kosovo last August by Kosovo police and extradited to the United States this week.

FBI pays wrongly detained Egyptian man $250,000

09/25/09: The Miami Herald reports that the FBI paid $250,000 this week to an Egyptian man, Abdallah Higazy, detained when a pilot's aviation radio was found after the Sept. 11 attacks in his hotel room overlooking the World Trade Center.

Rwanda tribunal begins genocide trial of former senior official

09/24/09: Jurist reports that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on Wednesday began the trial of former Rwandan minister of planning Augustin Ngirabatware for his alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Scholarship: A liberal theory of international justice

09/24/09: Andrew Altman of Georgia State University and Christopher Heath Wellman of Washington University, St. Louis have published A Liberal Theory of International Justice. The book advances a novel theory of international justice that combines the orthodox liberal notion that the lives of individuals are what ultimately matter morally with the putatively antiliberal idea of an irreducibly collective right of self-governance. Exploring the implications of these ideas, the book addresses issues pertaining to democracy, secession, international criminal law, armed intervention, political assassination, global distributive justice, and immigration. HT to International Law Reporter.

Inmates linked to Al-Qaeda escape from Iraqi prison

09/24/09: The Washington Post reports that five inmates awaiting execution and 11 others accused of belonging to al-Qaeda in Iraq escaped from a makeshift prison built near a former palace of Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq, and authorities suggested Thursday that guards there may have helped them.

More delays, torture claims at Guantánamo war court

09/24/09: The Miami Herald reports that the chief war court judge at Guantánamo yielded Wednesday to an Obama administration request and postponed until next year the terror trial of Ahmed al Darbi, a Saudi Arabian captive who claims he was subjected to a string of abuses in U.S. captivity.

Democrats seek to tighten oversight of surveillance methods

09/24/09: The Washington Post reports that democratic lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration to strengthen civil liberties protections against surveillance methods used in counterterrorism investigations, but senior Justice Department officials this week declined to endorse or reject their calls.

Ex-Air Force contractor sentenced for obstructing justice

09/23/09: The Miami Herald reports that Theodore Sumrall, a former defense contractor for Eglin Air Force Base, was sentenced to four years' probation Tuesday for obstructing justice as part of wider fraud scheme by contractors and defense lobbyists with ties to US Rep. John Murtha, a powerful Pennsylvania congressman.

Experts wary of "shoe bomber" communication with family

09/22/09: CNN reports that convicted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid was given permission to correspond from prison with members of his family this summer, after the Justice Department allowed restrictions on him to expire, but several homeland security experts say that even with wardens screening every letter, they'd prefer to see imprisoned terrorists held completely incommunicado.

NYC trains raise security after terrorism warning

09/22/09: The Miami Herald reports that New York City's transit agency says it has increased police presence at "key locations" in light of a continuing terrorism probe, although the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says there's no credible threat to the city's subway system and commuter trains. 

Event: Integrating disciplines, cyber security, law, and policy

09/22/09: The Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics and the Lawrence Livermore National Library are co-hosting a panel discussion on cyber security, law, and policy. The event will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm on October 1, 2009 at the ICC Auditorium on the Georgetown University main campus. See the calendar for details.

CIA interrogations informed by bad science

09/22/09: The Houston Chronicle reports that prolonged stress from the CIA's harsh interrogations could have impaired the memories of terrorist suspects, diminishing their ability to recall and provide the detailed information the spy agency sought, according to a scientific paper published Monday. 

Swiss confirm officials visited Guantánamo camps

09/20/09: The Miami Herald reports that Swiss officials visited the US detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, last month to gather information on captives the Alpine country is considering for resettlement once they are released, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday.  

Spanish judge indicts alleged Nazi guards

09/19/09: Jurist reports that a Spanish judge on Thursday indicted three alleged former Nazi guards for crimes against humanity and genocide. Judge Ismael Moreno issued arrest warrants for US residents Johann Leprich and Anton Tittjung and Austrian resident Josias Kumpf, all of whom allegedly participated in the torture and disappearance of more than 4,300 Spaniards at the Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Flossenburg concentration camps.

Intelligence oversight bill faces obstacles

09/18/09: The Washington Post reports that the Senate has approved intelligence oversight legislation, deferring discussion of rules for interrogation and detention of terrorism suspects that have derailed previous proposals. But the nation's top intelligence official says he may recommend that President Obama veto the oversight proposals because they broaden traditional congressional briefings on covert activities.

War court annual reports released

09/18/09: The annual reports of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia have been released. HT to the International Law Reporter.

NY transportation hub likely target of terror plot

09/18/09: CNN reports that a terror plot that came to light this week following raids in New York may have been targeting a major transportation center, sources close to the investigation said on Thursday. There was planning and preparation for an attack, presumably in the New York area, where there would be a large number of people and where security screening is lax such as a large railroad or subway station, essentially where there is no airport-style screening.

Employment: Law and Security Program Director, Human Rights First

09/18/09: Human Rights First is seeking applications for a Director of their Law and Security Program. Details are available here.

Event: Integrating Disciplines: Cyber Security, Law, and Policy

09/18/09: The Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are hosting a panel discussion on the integration of cyber security law and policy. Panelists include: Siobhan Gorman, National Security Correspondent of the Street Journal; Gen. (Ret.) Michael Hayden, former Director of the NSA and CIA; James Lewis, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Wes Spain, Program Director for Intelligence at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Suzanne Spaulding, Principal of the Bingham McCutchen Consulting Group; and Amit Yoran, CEO of Netwitness and former Director of US Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The event will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm on October 1, 2009 at the ICC Auditorium on the Main Georgetown Campus.

FBI director reports on terrorism interrogations at Senate Judiciary hearing

09/18/09: JURIST reports that FBI Director Robert Mueller addressed the FBI's role in leading the new specialized interrogation group to question top terrorist suspects as well as many other topics in a wide ranging oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mueller said that the new interrogation panel will be a "joint effort" between the FBI and the CIA.

Border construction projects halted

09/18/09: The New York Times reports that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she would not start any new border construction projects while the department reviewed how projects were selected. Ms. Napolitano has faced questions since The Associated Press reported last month that Department of Homeland Security officials did not follow their internal priority lists when choosing which border checkpoints would get money for renovations.

Berlusconi seeking Afghan exit for Italian troops

09/18/09: CNN reports that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible after six were killed in a car bombing in Kabul. Berlusconi, speaking to reporters Thursday, gave no timeline for a withdrawal and said any pullout would have to be coordinated with Italy's allies.

US military closes detention camp in Iraq

09/17/09: CNN reports that the US military closed its detention facility in southern Iraq on Thursday after a plane carried the last remaining prisoners to another facility in Baghdad. Camp Bucca, in the southern port city of Basra, was one of three prisons operated by U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

Indonesia's top terror suspect killed in raid

09/17/09: CNN reports that Indonesian forces killed the country's most-wanted terror suspect in an overnight raid, dealing a major blow to Noordin Top's terror network. His terror network is blamed for nearly every major terror attack in the southeast Asian nation over the past decade, which have claimed the lives of more than 200 people.

DNI cites $75 billion intelligence tab

09/17/09: The Washington Post reports that the United States spent $75 billion over the past year to finance worldwide intelligence operations that employ 200,000 people, according to an unprecedented disclosure by the nation's top intelligence official.

Western envoys defend bosnian war victims

09/17/09: Balkan Insight reports that three senior international envoys have strongly condemned Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for accusing Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) of staging civilian massacres. “Any attempt to change the established historical record of war crimes is unacceptable and inexcusable,” High Representative Valentin Inzko, the head of the Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Caroline Ravaud, and the chief of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, mission in Bosnia, Gary Robbins, said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.

Four war crimes suspects arrested

09/16/09: Balkan Insight reports that acting on a warrant issued by the State Prosecution, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, with members of the Special Support Unit, arrested four men who are suspected of participating in war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war. The arrests took place in several towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The arrested men are: Nedzad Hodzic, also known as John Wayne; Mensur Memic, known as Menta; Dzevad Salcin, nicknamed Struja; and Senad Hakalovic.

Contractor's rape case can go to trial

09/16/09: The Miami Herald reports that a federal appeals court says a Texas woman's lawsuit alleging she was raped by military contractor co-workers in Iraq can go to court. A three-judge panel from the New Orleans court ruled Tuesday that Jamie Leigh Jones' claims against Halliburton Co. and its former subsidiary KBR can go to trial.

NATO chief calls for closer ties with Russia

09/16/09: The Financial Times reports that NATO’s top diplomat has called for an “open-minded and unprecedented dialogue” with Russia to reduce security tensions in Europe and confront common threats. As he prepares for an effort to engage Moscow on European security, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who took over as secretary-general a month ago, said he wanted to begin an “open and frank conversation [with the Kremlin] that creates a new atmosphere”.

Opinion: Who's afraid of a terrorist haven?

09/16/09: The Washington Post has an opinion piece by Paul Pillar, former deputy chief of the counterterrorist center at the CIA, who writes that "in the past couple of decades, international terrorist groups have thrived by exploiting globalization and information technology, which has lessened their dependence on physical havens" and that although "these trends have been familiar to counterterrorist cognoscenti for years [they] have gone mostly unmentioned in discussion of Afghanistan."