Georgetown Security Law Brief

Eight years after the torture memo, Obama should take a hard look back

07/31/10: The Washington Post has an opinion piece by Georgetown law professor and Center on National Security and the Law contributor David Cole discussing American policy following the torture memos crafted by Yoo and Bybee and arguing, "[u]nless we acknowledge that what the United States did was not just a bad idea, but illegal, we risk treating torture as simply another policy option."

Castro accuses US of torturing spy

07/31/10: CNN reports that Fidel Castro on Friday accused the United States of "torturing" a Cuban agent imprisoned there, saying Cuba is being pressured to release its spies. Castro said US authorities have put Gerardo Hernandez, one of five Cuban agents imprisoned in 1998, in an isolation "hole," even though Hernandez is ill.

Croatia high court upholds lawmaker's war crimes conviction

07/31/10: Jurist reports that the Supreme Court of Croatia on Friday upheld the conviction of former Parliament member Branimir Glavas, but reduced his sentence by two years. Glavas was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2009 for ordering the torture and death of Croatian Serbs in the town of Osijek in 1991 during the Serbo-Croatian War.

New trouble for terrorist who helped prosecutors

07/31/10: The New York Times reports that Abdel Ghani Meskini, who was charged in the failed “millennium plot” to blow up Los Angeles International Airport and pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan becoming the rare convicted Islamic terrorist to cooperate with the United States government, was recently rearrested, accused of violating the terms of his release by committing new offenses.

Forthcoming scholarship

07/30/10: National Security Advisors blog has published a list of forthcoming scholarship relating to national security law, including "Post-Human Humanitarian Law: The Law of War in the Age of Robotic Warfare" , and "Burdens of Proof and Evidentiary Standards in U.N. Weapons Inspections".

Bosnia ex-policeman indicted for war crimes

07/30/10: Jurist reports that the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday indicted former Serb policeman Srpko Pustivuk for allegedly committing crimes against civilians during the Bosnian civil war. Pustivuk was arrested on July 13 in Bijeljina and has been held in custody since. According to a statement by the Prosecutor's Office, Pustivuk is accused of taking part in a May and June 1992 "attack on civilians which resulted in the death and severe bodily injuries to civilians, some of whom were minors," as a member of the Bosnian Serb special police unit.

ACLU slams Obama's security policies

07/30/10: The Washington Times reports that the ACLU on Thursday excoriated President Obama for continuing the Bush administration's strictest national security policies, including indefinite detention, military commissions and a "targeted kill" program that authorizes the government to take out suspected terrorists anywhere.

Indonesian woman gets three years for harboring terrorists

07/29/10: CNN reports that an Indonesian woman was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for aiding and harboring terrorists accused of suicide bombings and other attacks. Putri Munawaroh was charged with harboring Noordin Top, the suspected mastermind of major strikes in Indonesia, and a few other suspected terrorists.

Russian president signs bill expanding secret police powers

07/29/10: Jurist reports that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed into law a bill that will grant controversial new powers to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian Federation's successor to the former USSR's KGB. The bill, which the Russian parliament approved earlier this month, will give the FSB authority to question citizens about actions that may create the conditions for a crime and issue warnings not to engage in unapproved acts.

Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for 3 US soldiers

07/29/10: CNN reports that a Spanish judge issued arrest warrants for three US soldiers on Thursday in connection with the death of a Spanish TV cameraman in Iraq in 2003, reopening a long-running legal battle. The judge, National Court Investigating Magistrate Santiago Pedraz, indicted the three US soldiers in April 2007, alleging they were linked to US tank fire directed against the Palestine Hotel in 2003, where Spanish cameraman Jose Couso was videotaping the US assault on Baghdad.

Rethinking “Formerly Restricted Data”

07/29/10: Secrecy News reports that Congress should eliminate the classification category known as “Formerly Restricted Data” in order to simplify and streamline classification policy, the Public Interest Declassification Board was told last week.

Scholarship: Criminal law forum

07/29/10: The latest issue of Criminal Law Forum is out. It is a special Issue on Bangladesh and the Prosecution of International Crimes from the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan. HT to International Law Reporter. 

US reveals Manas payments in Kyrgyzstan

07/29/10: Checkpoint Washington reports that the US Embassy in Bishkek has disclosed its payments to the Kyrgyzstan government for the year so far, as well as funds spent directly for use of the Manas air base, which plays a key role in support of the fighting in Afghanistan. The unusual public disclosures, posted on the embassy Web site, were prompted by allegations that money generated by US military's use of the air base was flowing to the families of the country's deposed last two presidents.

Scholarship: A role for preventive detention without charge in Canadian anti-terrorism law

07/28/10: Craig Forcese has published Catch and Release: A Role for Preventive Detention Without Charge in Canadian Anti-Terrorism Law. The article argues that there are legitimate uses of preventive detention that respect the legal principles of protection of civil liberties.

GE agrees to settle SEC complaint in oil-for-food scandal

07/28/10: Jurist reports that General Electric Co. on Tuesday agreed to a $23.5 million settlement after the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint accusing GE of bribing Iraqi officials to receive contracts under the UN Oil-for-Food program. The SEC claimed that, between 2000 and 2003, four of GE's subsidiaries gave millions of dollars worth of computer equipment, medical supplies and services to the Iraqi Health Ministry in exchange for contract deals.

Suspected Nazi indicted in Germany

07/28/10: The New York Times reports that a suspected former Nazi death camp guard has been charged with participating in the murder of 430,000 Jews and other crimes during the Third Reich, German prosecutors said Wednesday. Samuel Kunz, 88, was informed last week of his indictment on charges including participation in the murder of 430,000 Jews at the Belzec death camp in occupied Poland, where he allegedly served as a guard from January 1942 to July 1943, prosecutor Christoph Goeke in Dortmund said.

Texan charged with smuggling night vision scopes

07/28/10: The Miami Herald reports that just weeks after breaking up a Russian spy ring federal authorities have charged a Dallas-area woman with trying to smuggle three night-vision rifle sights to Russia. A federal court affidavit filed in New York accuses 24-year-old Anna Fermanova of suburban Plano of trying tried to move the scopes in March without the proper export licenses.

US battling militants from Turkey, its NATO ally

07/28/10: Wired reports that US troops in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan in 2007 were persistently attacked by militants identified as Turkish fighters, according to the trove of documents released Sunday by WikiLeaks.

Scholarship: Defender duties under International Law

07/27/10: Samuel Estreicher of NYU has published Privileging Asymmetric Warfare?: Defender Duties Under International Law. The article addresses the relatively neglected area of the duties of defenders, who are often in a better position to prevent or mitigate civilian casualties, in international humanitarian law. 

France at war with al Qaeda

07/27/10: The Washington Times reports that France is "at war" with al Qaeda and will step up efforts to fight the terrorist group's North African offshoot after it executed a French hostage in the Sahara, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday. Mr. Fillon acknowledged that the group may have killed 78-year-old hostage Michel Germaneau before -- not after -- a failed last-ditch raid to try to free him.

Scholarship: Higher care for CIA targeted killing

07/27/10: Afsheen John Radsan of William Mitchell and Richard W. Murphy of Texas Tech University have published Measure Twice, Shoot Once: Higher Care for CIA Targeted Killing.  The article assumes the application of international humanitarian law and develops specific regulations for the CIA’s targeted killing of active members of al Qaeda and the Taliban. HT to National Security Law.

Afghan intelligence contracts apply some limits

07/27/10: The Washington Post reports that after more than eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States and its NATO coalition partners continue to hire private contractors to support their intelligence and counterintelligence analyses and operations in that country. Earlier this month, NATO's International Security Assistance Force issued two solicitations for intelligence help, one to supply individuals with 14 specialties as part of a "multi-faceted intelligence operations support program" and the other to supply a 28-person team to work in Kabul inside the intelligence and operations division of the Afghan combined forces command.

Scholarship: Journal of international criminal justice

07/27/10: The latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice is out. This issue is a special Issue on Transnational Business and International Criminal Justice. HT to International Law Reporter.

Scholarship: Why public safety is not a special need

07/26/10: Ric Simmons of Ohio State University has published Searching for Terrorists: Why Public Safety is Not a Special Need. The article critically examines the courts’ application of the “special needs” exception to Fourth Amendment searches that are designed to prevent terrorist attacks. It concludes that the special needs doctrine cannot justify these search regimes, and offers a proposal to ensure that these searches comport with the Constitution. HT to National Security Law.

Kuman v. Obama

07/26/10: The US District Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion to dismiss a GTMO habeas petition based on counsel’s inability obtain authorization from the detainee to proceed with the petition.  In this instance, counsel had traveled to GTMO on seven occasions in an effort to get the authorization.  The detainee was willing to meet on only two of those occasions.  Judge Bates notes the possibility that in this circumstance the outcome might be different if there is evidence of mental incompetence, but there was no such evidence in this instance. HT to National Security Law.

Britain's secret rendition programme

07/26/10: The Independent (UK) reports that MI5 was directly involved in the rendition of a Moroccan national, illegally taken from a Belgian prison to work for Britain's Security Services in London. The man, now aged 29 and who cannot be named for his own safety, was secretly transferred from a Brussels jail in April 2004 and then further held and interrogated by senior MI5 officers at a secret base near London. HT to the Lift.

Mexican authorities disagree on whether man is suspect in car bombing

07/26/10: CNN reports that a man who local police believe was responsible for a fatal car bombing in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is in custody, a municipal police spokesman told CNN Sunday. But federal police, while confirming that the man is in custody after a shootout with the Mexican military, said they had nothing linking him to the bombing.

Scholarship: Gun control in counterinsurgency

07/25/10: Chad Machiela has posted Gun Control in Counterinsurgency: A Game Theory Analysis in the Small Wars Journal. The article examines how a battlespace commander’s attempts in Iraq’s Salah Din Province in 2006 to reduce the number of weapons available to insurgents actually caused residents otherwise uninvolved in insurgency to violate the law, while effectively ensuring that the population had no means to resist insurgent theft of supplies or forcible recruitment. The article uses game theory to analyze the options available to different actors in a conflict, and to help identify courses of action more beneficial to all.

US court awards terror victims $378 million against North Korea

07/25/10: The Terror Finance Blog reports that a United States federal court has handed down a historic decision finding the government of North Korea and its intelligence service, the Cabinet General Intelligence Bureau, liable for an infamous terrorist attack perpetrated in Israel in 1972.  The US District Court in San Juan, Puerto Rico has ordered the defendants to pay $378,000,000 in damages to two families. The case arises from a lawsuit brought by victims of the 1972 terror attack at the Lod Airport in Israel in which 26 people were killed and 80 injured. The plaintiffs alleged that the government of  North Korea trained and financed the terrorists who carried out this heinous massacre.

Honduras judge drops abuse of power charges against ousted leader Zelaya

07/25/10: Jurist reports that A Honduran judge on Friday dropped two abuse of power charges against ousted leader Manuel Zelaya. Judge Humberto Palacios dismissed the charges because of the amnesty granted to those involved in Zelaya's removal by the Honduran congress in January. Zelaya still faces other charges including fraud, usurping other institutions' authority and falsifying documents.

Turkish court issues 102 arrest warrants for alleged coup plot

07/24/10: Jurist reports that a Turkish court on Friday ordered the arrest of 102 people, including two serving and three retired military officers, in connection with an alleged coup plot. The 2003 Balyoz Security Operation Plan, or "Sledgehammer" plot, which included plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane in order to undermine the government, was revealed by the Taraf newspaper in January.

First steps toward arms trade treaty

07/24/10: The Miami Herald reports that the world's nations took the first steps at a conference that ended Friday toward a legally binding treaty that would try to regulate the multibillion dollar arms trade and prevent the transfer of weapons to armed groups fueling conflicts, terrorists and human rights violators.

Officials say little about raid on terrorist camp in Sahara

07/24/10: The Washington Post reports that Mauritanian commandos backed by the French military carried out the raid in the dead of night, guns blazing as they pounced on a small terrorist campsite in a desolate stretch of the Sahara Desert. The troops killed six members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Osama bin Laden's loosely organized North African affiliate, but four militants escaped into the surrounding wastelands, Mauritanian Interior Minister Mohamed Ould Boilil said Friday.

World reacts to ICJ advisory ruling on Kosovo

07/23/10: BalkanInsight reports that the ICJ's advisory opinion in favour of Kosovo’s declaration of independence has been welcomed by top US and EU officials, but several countries that have not recognised Kosovo have said they will maintain their stance, as this latest development in the Balkans continues to capture headlines around the world.

US to end ban on Indonesia's special forces, angering human rights groups

07/23/10: The Washington Post reports that the US military said Thursday that it will resume relations with Indonesia's special forces, an elite group blamed for atrocities and repression during the country's dark years of authoritarianism. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in a visit here, said the United States will end its 12-year prohibition on contacts and assistance to the special forces after the Obama administration concluded that the unit had cleaned up its ranks and is committed to human rights.

Uighurs convicted in East Turkestan Islamic movement plot in Dubai

07/23/10: The Jamestown Foundation reports that on June 29, a court in Dubai found two ethnic Uyghurs guilty of plotting to attack a massive shopping mall made up of 400 shops selling Chinese-made goods. This attempted attack was not only the first terrorist plot to be disrupted in Dubai, but also the first time that a cell tied to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement has taken aim at a Chinese target outside China and Central Asia.

Al Qaeda inmates escape days after US transferred jail

07/23/10: The Washington Times reports that four al Qaeda-linked detainees have escaped from a Baghdad area prison that was handed over by the US to Iraqi authorities a week ago, Iraq's justice minister said Thursday — a daring escape that embarrasses a government struggling to prove it is capable of operating without US oversight. Dara Noureddin said the four, awaiting trial on terrorism charges, escaped from the high security prison formerly known as Camp Cropper.

Spain takes in third captive, Guantánamo camps now at 177

07/22/10: The Miami Herald reports that the Interior Ministry said Spain has taken in for resettlement, but not travel beyond the country, a third freed captive from the US prison camps for terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay. The ministry said in a statement Thursday that the man was from Afghanistan and arrived in Spain late Wednesday. His name and age were not released. Spain has said it will accept up to five people from Guantánamo to help the United States in its bid to close the prison. The announcement meant the prison camps census had dropped to 177.

Yemeni psych patient ordered freed from Guantánamo

07/22/10: The Miami Herald reports that a federal judge ordered the immediate release of a Yemeni man who has spent long periods of captivity in the Guantánamo psych ward in split decisions Wednesday that upheld the indefinite detention of another Yemeni. Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. granted the petition of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, 34, in a single-page order that instructed the Obama administration to ``take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate Latif's release forthwith.'' In another court, Judge Reggie Walton ruled for the government that it can continue to hold Abdul-Rahman Sulayman, 31, picked up in Pakistan and handed over to US troops in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Iran now says nuclear scientist was double agent

07/22/10: The New York Times reports that Iran fired a new salvo on Wednesday in what is becoming a bizarre propaganda war over the supposed defection and later return of an Iranian nuclear scientist, with Iran’s semiofficial media suggesting that he was a covert operative who had provided “valuable information” about the Central Intelligence Agency’s inner workings. American officials have said that the scientist, Shahram Amiri, was a CIA informant for years in Iran, providing “significant” information about Iran’s nuclear program and voluntarily defecting to the United States in 2009. Mr. Amiri returned to Iran last week, saying he had been abducted and tortured by American authorities.

Alaska pair pleads guilty to lying about hit list

07/22/10: The Miami Herald reports that a National Weather Service employee and his British-born wife pleaded guilty Wednesday to domestic terrorism charges of lying to the FBI about a hit list of possible targets who the couple suspected were enemies of Islam. Paul Rockwood Jr. and his wife, Nadia Rockwood, of King Salmon, Alaska, were charged with lying about the list and making false statements about domestic terrorism during interviews with FBI agents in May. The FBI alleged that the list had about 15 targets. Its contents were not made public, but officials said none of those targeted lived in Alaska.

US lifts ban on Indonesian commando unit

07/22/10: The New York Times reports that the Defense Department said on Thursday that it was lifting a more than decade-old ban on contact with the elite Indonesian special forces, Kopassus, and would take beginning steps to train the commando unit which has been condemned by human rights groups for past killings of civilians and widespread abuses. Pentagon officials made the announcement as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Jakarta to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to officially inform him of the decision, reached after intensive internal debate among the Pentagon, the White House and the State Department.

Russia accuses US of kidnapping pilot in Liberia

07/22/10: The Washington Post reports that the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States on Wednesday of "kidnapping" a Russian pilot in the West African country of Liberia for alleged drug smuggling. Konstantin Yaroshenko, 41, was arrested in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, in late May -- by US agents, Russian officials said -- and extradited to New York. Yaroshenko was charged with smuggling "thousand-kilogram quantities of cocaine" throughout South America, Africa and Europe, the US Drug Enforcement Administration said in a statement Wednesday.

Retired CIA veteran will return to head clandestine service

07/22/10: The Washington Post reports that John D. Bennett, a CIA veteran who served as station chief in Pakistan until last year and who has had numerous other overseas postings, has been appointed head of the agency's National Clandestine Service, Director Leon E. Panetta announced Wednesday. Bennett, a former Marine and a Harvard graduate, had retired in May after a nearly 30-year career at the CIA, but was coaxed back to take charge of the service, which runs human intelligence and covert operations. Among other posts, Bennett previously served as chief of the Special Activities Division, the agency's covert paramilitary unit.

Legal showdowns set for Arizona immigration law

07/22/10: Politico reports that two major court hearings set to take place in Phoenix Thursday could be crucial to the future of Arizona's newly-passed law requiring local police and sheriffs to detain suspected illegal immigrants who can't prove that they're in the US legally. The first is between lawyers from the US Department of Justice and attorneys representing the State of Arizona. Earlier this month, the feds filed a suit seeking to block the Arizona statute on the grounds that it usurps federal authority over immigration. The state claims its law only parallels and complements federal immigration policy. The second face-off will feature lawyers for the state and for civil rights, labor, immigrant aid organizations, and private individuals who have filed suits over the law.

Rights group urges ICC to probe Zimbabwe pre-election rights violations

07/21/10: Jurist reports that Human rights organization AIDS-Free World on Wednesday renewed calls for an International Criminal Court investigation into allegations of rape and torture in Zimbabwe prior to the 2008 presidential elections. AIDS-Free World released a report last December, detailing the systematic rape of female supporters of Movement for Democratic Change candidate Morgan Tsvangirai by supporters of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party and President Robert Mugabe.

ICTY orders partial retrial of former Kosovo PM

07/21/10: BalkanInsight reports that the appellate chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has ordered a partial retrial of the case of Ramush Haradinaj and two other former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and the immediate detention of the three men.

Two killed in Russian power station attack

07/21/10: The Financial Times reports that two security guards were killed in a suspected “terrorist act” when an explosion struck a hydroelectric power station in the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia’s North Caucasus on Wednesday. Russia is trying to contain an upsurge of attacks by rebels in the mainly Muslim provinces on its southern flank who took their war to the Russian heartland in March with suicide bombings on the Moscow metro that killed at least 40 people.

European rights court rejects appeal of Saddam chemical weapons supplier

07/21/10: Jurist reports that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Tuesday rejected an appeal by a Dutch businessman convicted of selling chemicals used by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to create chemical weapons. Frans Van Anraat was convicted of war crimes in 2005 for selling 1,100 tons of thiodiglycol (TDG) to the Iraqi government in the 1980s, which was used to produce mustard gas used against Iraqis and Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War. Van Anraat appealed to the ECHR, arguing that because the Netherlands did not have jurisdiction over members of the Iraqi government who perpetrated the war crimes, including Saddam Hussein, he could not be convicted for his complicity in the war crimes.

Dallas man pleads guilty to Obama threat

07/21/10: The Miami Herald reports that a Dallas man has pleaded guilty to posting on the Internet a threat to kill President Barack Obama. Brian Dean Miller could be sentenced to up to five years in federal prison and fined up to $250,000 after entering his plea in a federal court in Dallas on Tuesday.