Georgetown Security Law Brief

In Litvinenko case, secrecy wins out over inquiry

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports ever since Alexander V. Litvinenko died, his supporters have nurtured a hope of one day learning answers to two critical questions: Did the Kremlin plan his poisoning in central London in November 2006? And could British spymasters have prevented it? The answers would have weighty implications for both Moscow and London. Mr. Litvinenko, 43, was a turncoat KGB officer, a whistle-blower assailing organized crime and the Kremlin; he was a newly naturalized British citizen with ties to the late Russian oligarch Boris A. Berezovsky; and according to his widow, he was an employee of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. The toxin that killed him, moreover, was a rare radioactive isotope, polonium 210, the bulk of which is produced supposedly under strict safeguards in Russia. British prosecutors accused another former KGB officer, Andrei K. Lugovoi, of murder — a charge he denied. Last Friday, Robert Owen, the senior judge acting as the coroner at an oft-postponed inquest into Litvinenko's death, ruled in favor of a request from the British foreign secretary, William Hague, to exclude evidence relating to the “possible involvement of Russian state agencies” and to the British authorities’ “knowledge and/or assessment of threats to Mr. Litvinenko’s life.” With those words, the central questions — and the likelihood of answers — were removed from the inquiry.

Iran hangs two men for spying for Israel and US

05/19/13:  The BBC reports Iran has hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel and the US, the authorities there have said. Mohammad Heydari was found guilty of passing intelligence on "security issues and national secrets" to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for cash. Kourosh Ahmadi was convicted of providing intelligence to the CIA, Tehran's prosecutor's office said. Iran has repeatedly accused Israel and the US of carrying out covert intelligence operations. It comes amid continuing tension over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Western nations suspect is being used to build an atomic weapon. It is not clear when Heydari and Ahmadi were arrested or where they were tried. Their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court, Iran's Fars news agency reported. It said the two men were hanged at dawn. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence given to Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA. The judge found the verdict was "not complete" and ordered a retrial. Both Mr Hekmati and the US deny the spying allegations.

Soldier gets life without parole in Iraq killings

05/17/13:  The New York Times reports an Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.  A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release. The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court martial ended Saturday. The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental health problems for soldiers caused by repeated tours of duty. Russell's lawyers argued that he was deluded by depression and despair at the time. An Army mental health board found that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress. Russell had long sought help with sleep troubles and was stammering and crying for help in the days before the shooting. His commanders were so alarmed that they disarmed him and sent him for repeated visits to mental health clinics, said attorney James Culp. However, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to paint himself as mentally ill in an attempt to win early retirement — just as he was facing a sexual harassment complaint that could derail his career and his benefits.

Phone records of journalists seized by US

05/14/13:  The New York Times reports federal investigators secretly seized two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press in what the news organization said Monday was a “serious interference with A.P.’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.”  The A.P. said that the Justice Department informed it on Friday that law enforcement officials had obtained the records for more than 20 telephone lines of its offices and journalists, including their home phones and cellphones. It said the records were seized without notice sometime this year. The organization was not told the reason for the seizure. But the timing and the specific journalistic targets strongly suggested they are related to a continuing government investigation into the leaking of information a year ago about the Central Intelligence Agency’s disruption of a Yemen-based terrorist plot to bomb an airliner. The disclosures began with an Associated Press article on May 7, 2012, breaking the news of the foiled plot; the organization had held off publishing it for several days at the White House’s request because the intelligence operations were still unfolding. In an angry letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday, Gary Pruitt, the president and chief executive of The A.P., called the seizure, a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into its news gathering activities. Justice Department regulations call for subpoenas for journalists’ phone records to be undertaken as a last resort and narrowly focused, subject to the attorney general’s personal signoff. Under normal circumstances, the regulations call for notice and negotiations, giving the news organization a chance to challenge the subpoena in court.

Former leader of Guatemala is guilty of genocide against Mayan group

05/11/13:  The New York Times reports a Guatemalan court on Friday found Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, the former dictator who ruled Guatemala during one of the bloodiest periods of its long civil war, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Judge Yasmín Barrios sentenced General Ríos Montt, 86, to 80 years in prison. His co-defendant, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, who served as the director of intelligence under the general, was acquitted of the same two charges. “We are completely convinced of the intent to destroy the Ixil ethnic group,” Judge Barrios said as she read the hourlong summary of the ruling by the three-judge panel. Over five weeks, the tribunal heard more than 100 witnesses, including psychologists, military experts and Maya Ixil Indian survivors who told how General Ríos Montt’s soldiers had killed their families and wiped out their villages. The judge said that as the commander in chief of Guatemala’s armed forces, the general knew about the systematic massacres of Ixil villagers living in hillside hamlets in El Quiché department and did nothing to stop them or the aerial bombardment of the refugees who had fled to nearby mountains.

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's retrial starts

05/11/13:  The BBC reports the retrial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has opened at a court in Cairo. Mr Mubarak faces charges of complicity in the killings of protesters in the January 2011 uprising which overthrew him and of financial corruption. The trial has been adjourned until 8 June. Mr Mubarak was convicted in June 2012 but a retrial was ordered on appeal. State TV, which broadcast the trial live, said he entered court sitting on a stretcher. The retrial began amid a tense atmosphere and high emotions in court, as the judge urged lawyers to stop shouting, the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil reports. Mr Mubarak's first retrial collapsed in April amid chaotic scenes as the presiding judge referred the case to another court. Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah said he was referring the trial to the Cairo appeals court as he felt "unease" in reviewing the case. Mr Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six aides are also being retried on the charges relating to the killing of protesters in 2011. Mr Al-Adly also faces corruption charges. About 850 people were killed in the 2011 crackdown. Both men successfully appealed against their convictions at Egypt's Court of Cassation, which cited procedural failings in the original trial. Mr Mubarak's sons, Gamal and Alaa, are also being retried on corruption charges for which they were acquitted in June 2012, because of the expiry of a statute of limitations.

EMT at fertilizer plant blast faces charge of possessing bomb parts

05/11/13: The New York Times reports Texas authorities said on Friday that they had opened a criminal investigation into last month’s deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant that killed 14 people and injured some 200 others. The announcement came hours after a paramedic who responded to the explosion was arrested on a charge of possessing the components of a pipe bomb, though law enforcement officials declined to say whether the charge was related to the blast.  Earlier Friday, Bryce Reed, 31, an emergency medical technician who has said he helped evacuate people after the April 17 blast, was taken into federal custody, according to the United States attorney’s office. Mr. Reed appeared briefly in federal court in Waco on Friday but did not enter a plea, the authorities said. An affidavit sworn out by Douglas J. Kunze, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the authorities had found the parts of a pipe bomb, including potassium nitrate powder, which is used in fertilizers and gunpowder. Though Mr. Reed was not in possession of the materials, he admitted to having possessed them, according to the affadavit. Investigators have said the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate, which was being stored at the fertilizer plant, but have not said whether a fire that preceded the blast had ignited the chemical. Ammonium nitrate, which is commonly used as a fertilizer, is difficult to ignite if handled carefully and properly stored, but it has also been used in a number of terrorist attacks, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Guatemala ex-leader Rios Montt denies genocide

05/10/13:  The BBC reports the former military leader of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt, has protested his innocence at the end of his trial on genocide charges. It was the first time General Rios Montt, 86, had spoken during the court proceedings. He said there was no evidence he had ordered the extermination of the Ixil ethnic group during his time in office, in the early 1980s. Gen Rios Montt is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala's civil war, the vast majority of them indigenous Mayans. Gen Rios Montt has maintained a silence in the courtroom as the multiple charges have been laid out before him. However, the BBC's central America correspondent Will Grant says that as the closing arguments were being made, he was not going to leave the hearing without protesting his innocence himself. "I have never ordered genocide," he told the three-judge tribunal. "I am innocent. I never had the intent to destroy any national race, religion, or ethnic group." Speaking for nearly an hour, he argued that as president he was in charge of maintaining the integrity of the national territory of Guatemala rather than overseeing the civil war at a local level. "The commanding officer in charge of the units in the El Quiche region is accountable for the actions," he said.

 

Tunisian is accused of proposing contamination of water or air in US

05/10/13:  The New York Times reports a Tunisian man has been accused of seeking to develop a terrorist network in the United States and of proposing to poison the water or air to kill up to 100,000 people, federal prosecutors said in court papers unsealed on Thursday. The man, Ahmed Abassi, 26, who came to the United States from Canada in March and was arrested last month at Kennedy International Airport, told the authorities that he may also have “radicalized” one of two men arrested recently in Canada in an elleged Qaeda-linked plot to derail a passenger train. Mr. Abassi was arraigned on May 2 in a sealed court proceeding before a federal judge in Manhattan. A prosecutor asked at the time that the case remain secret for one week to determine whether Mr. Abassi would be “in a cooperative posture with the government,” a transcript shows. The government has not said whether Mr. Abassi agreed to cooperate, and Mr. Abassi’s lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment. She did say that her client “flatly denies the accusations in the indictment.” On Thursday, Mr. Abassi appeared again in court, this time in public, and the judge, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, had the court papers and transcript of the May 2 hearing unsealed.

Kenya asks UN to halt ICC charges against Kenyatta

05/09/13:  The BBC reports Kenya's government has asked the UN Security Council to halt the trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy at the International Criminal Court. The newly elected leaders deny allegations of orchestrating violence after the disputed 2007 election. The letter, sent last week, says the prosecutions are "neither impartial nor independent" and could destabilise Kenya. The UN Security Council is able to defer ICC cases for up to 12 months. The deferral can be renewed indefinitely, but the Security Council cannot order the court to drop a case. Mr Kenyatta, who won presidential elections in March with 50.07% of the vote, is due to appear at the ICC in July for his trial on charges of crimes against humanity. The trial of his deputy, William Ruto, who faces similar charges, was due to begin this month but it has been postponed. A new date has yet to be agreed. The men were on opposite sides in the 2007 election, after which some 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 people fled their homes. Analysts say the ICC prosecutions bolstered their campaign in the 2013 poll, as they presented it as foreign interference in Kenya's domestic affairs. The Kenyan petition, which was stamped "confidential", was sent to the UN Security Council ahead of a briefing by the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Tuesday.

 

Two Iranians found guilty of Kenya terror plot

05/04/13:  The BBC reports a Kenyan court has found two Iranian men guilty of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya. Ahmed Mohammed and Sayed Mansour were caught with 15 kilos (33 pounds) of explosives in the capital, Nairobi, last June. They are accused of belonging to a terror network planning to blow up British, US or Israeli targets in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa. The pair, who deny all charges, face up to 15 years in prison. Judges ruled that both men had been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all terror-related charges. Prosecutors said the suspects had explosives "in circumstances that indicated they were armed with the intent to commit a felony, namely, acts intended to cause grievous harm". Swift action by the Kenyan police in apprehending the men had averted mayhem and a massive number of deaths, the court magistrate said. The two Iranians arrived in Kenya on 12 June last year and travelled to Mombasa to pick up the powerful explosive RDX. They were arrested a week later in Nairobi. Officers discovered the explosives hidden at a golf course in Mombasa. Another accomplice was still at large, police said.

North Korea imposes term of 15 years on American

05/02/13:  The New York Times reports North Korea said Thursday that its Supreme Court had sentenced an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor for committing hostile acts against its government. The citizen, Kenneth Bae, 44, a Korean-American from Washington State who ran a tour business out of China, was arrested in the special economic zone of Rason in northeastern North Korea in November after leading a group of businessmen there from Yanji, China. On Saturday, the North said it was indicting him on charges that he tried to overthrow Pyongyang’s government. On Thursday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the Supreme Court had sentenced Mr. Bae during a hearing Tuesday. The court convicted him of “hostile acts,” a charge less grave than the original charge that prosecutors pressed. The crime of trying to overthrow the government could have resulted in the death penalty. Under North Korean law, Mr. Bae should be transferred to a labor camp within 10 days of the ruling. The ruling came amid high tensions between Pyongyang and Washington and could complicate Washington’s diplomatic balancing act as it tries to hold a tough line with North Korea over its nuclear program.

DOJ asks court to shut down suit over Afghan war memoir

05/01/13: The Blog of Legal Times reports the Justice Department has renewed its effort to shut down a lawsuit in Washington over the scope of information a former US defense intelligence officer can publish in a memoir about service in the war in Afghanistan.  DOJ lawyers said in court papers filed April 26 that the government has determined that some of the details in the book, Operation Dark Heart, written by Anthony Shaffer, are classified and cannot be publicly disclosed.  “[T]here is no First Amendment right to publish classified information,” DOJ lawyer Scott Risner wrote.  Shaffer’s book, DOJ said, reveals “intelligence activities, sources and methods, as well as information about military plans and the foreign activities of the United States that … could reasonably be expected to cause serious identifiable damage to our national security.”

US woman soldier Kimberly Rivera jailed for desertion

04/30/13:  The BBC reports a US woman soldier has been sentenced to 10 months in military prison after pleading guilty to desertion while on leave from a deployment in Iraq. Pte First Class Kimberly Rivera had been serving as a base guard in Baghdad when she fled to Canada in 2007 with her husband and children. The 30 year old said she had become disillusioned with the war. Canadian authorities denied her request for refugee status and in 2009 threatened her with deportation. Pte Rivera presented herself at the US border in September 2012 and was arrested and returned to her unit's base in Colorado. She pleaded guilty in a military court in Fort Carson on Monday. In addition to 10 months imprisonment, she will receive a bad conduct discharge. During the Vietnam War, more than 50,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid conscription and were welcomed by Canadian authorities. Most returned to the US following President Jimmy Carter's offer of amnesty to the so-called "draft dodgers". Canadian activist group War Resisters Support Campaign says about 200 US soldiers fled to Canada during the Iraq War. But Canada's Conservative government has argued the situation has changed since the Vietnam era because the US military is now an all-volunteer force.

Cairo court rejects Mubarak release request

04/28/13: Al Jazeera reports Cairo’s criminal court has rejected ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s second appeal calling for his release pending the investigation of illicit gain charges, granting the prosecution’s request to keep him detained.  The Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday ordered Mubarak to remain in jail for fifteen days while charges are probed; Mubarak can appeal the decision.  Mubarak is being detained pending the investigations of other corruption charges including taking funds allocated for maintenance of the presidential palaces for himself and his family.  The long-time autocrat was ousted during a 2011 public uprising and has spent more than two years in detention without a final verdict in the case, which alleges that he is responsible for the deaths of nearly 900 protesters during the uprising.

Bosnia: a President is arrested

04/27/13:  The New York Times reports the police on Friday arrested one of the country’s presidents and 18 other people in a corruption investigation in one of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s two main sections, a prosecution spokesman said. Zivko Budimir, a president of the Bosnian-Croat Federation, was among those suspected of “abuse of office, illegal intermediation, receiving and giving bribes, organized crime and drug trafficking,” the spokesman said.

Drone strikes turn allies into enemies, Yemeni says

04/25/13:  The New York Times reports a Yemeni man who studied at an American high school told Congress on Tuesday that a drone strike on his village in Yemen last week terrified his neighbors, turning them against the United States in a way that terrorist propaganda had failed to do. The man, Farea al-Muslimi, said his friends and neighbors used to know of the United States primarily through “my stories of the wonderful experiences I had” here. “Now, however, when they think of America, they think of the fear they feel at the drones over their heads. What the violent militants had failed to achieve, one drone strike accomplished in an instant.” A man killed in the strike was well known locally, Mr. Muslimi also asserted, and could easily have been arrested by Yemeni forces.   His testimony, before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, was part of a rare public hearing on the use of drones. The Obama administration did not send anyone to testify at the hearing, but witnesses included legal specialists, a retired Air Force colonel who formerly worked with drones, and retired Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The topics discussed included the number of civilians inadvertently killed in the strikes, whether there should be a secret court to approve who becomes a target, and legal issues raised by the killing of American citizens who are deemed to be terrorists. Several witnesses said the government should be more open and clear about the standards and procedures it uses in selecting who should be targeted. But some also stressed that legally, a drone strike is no different from other means of lethal force, like artillery, a commando raid or a cruise missile. 

Bolivia takes Chile sea dispute to international court

04/25/13:  The BBC reports Bolivia has filed a lawsuit against Chile at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to reclaim access to the Pacific Ocean. Bolivia lost access to the coastline in a 19th Century war with Chile, leaving it landlocked ever since. Chile says Bolivia's demand has no historical or legal basis. The two countries have had limited diplomatic relations since 1978, and previous attempts to negotiate the redrawing of the border have failed. Speaking in The Hague, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said his nation had demanded that Chile negotiate in good faith with Bolivia "a swift and effective agreement that grants it [Bolivia] fully sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean". Bolivian President Evo Morales said he had decided to file the suit after "listening to the Bolivian people". He had earlier expressed his confidence that Bolivia would regain its access to the sea, saying: "We're going to win this battle because we're right." The borders between the two neighbours date back to the 1904 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed after Bolivia lost 400km (250 miles) of coastline to Chile during the War of the Pacific (1879-1884). Bolivia has long tried to reclaim the territory and has repeatedly severed relations with Chile when those attempts failed. It still maintains a small navy and each year celebrates the Day of the Sea. President Morales had announced his intention to take the case to the International Court of Justice at this year's celebrations to mark the day.

Congress’s war crimes power at issue

04/25/13:  The SCOTUS Blog reports after pondering the issue for more than a month, the DC Circuit Court voted on Tuesday to review anew Congress’s power to create new war crimes that apply to alleged terrorist acts that occurred even before those laws were enacted.  In ordering en banc review in the case of a Yemeni national held at Guantanamo Bay, the Circuit Court nullified a Circuit panel decision in January overturning three war crimes convictions of that individual. The coming decision by the seven-judge Circuit Court almost certainly will be appealed to the Supreme Court, by whoever loses at the Circuit Court, and that could lead to a major new ruling on the powers of the special military commissions that have had a troubled seven-year history at the US military prison on the island of Cuba. The rehearing order came in the case of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul, who has been described by military prosecutors as a propagandist for the late terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden.  He was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted by a military tribunal of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and soliciting others to do so. Although the en banc Circuit Court will be reviewing the government case involving Bahlul, the actual target of its review will be a decision by a different panel of the Circuit Court last October, in the case of another Yemeni national — Salim Ahmed Hamdan, often described by prosecutors as a driver for Osama bin Laden.  It was in overturning Hamdan’s conviction on a “material support” charge that the Circuit Court narrowed the powers of military commissions to try crimes that did not exist in U.S. or international law at the time of the conduct charged as criminal.  It was on the basis of that ruling that the Circuit Court wiped out Bahlul’s convictions, leading the Obama administration to ask for en banc review in early March. In ordering further review of Congress’s power to define war crimes, the Circuit Court told lawyers not only to brief and argue the issues that had been decided by the Hamdan panel, but also two new issues: whether the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are protected by the Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause, which generally bars prosecuting someone for a crime when the act was not a crime at the time it occurred; and whether the crime of conspiracy allegedly committed by Bahlul did violate international law concept at the time of his conduct.

New York judge sentences bin Laden secretary to life

04/25/13:  The Miami Herald reports a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden got a strong rebuke from a judge on Tuesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for a second time after claiming the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy were "God's punishment" for injustice by the United States against him and others. "You, sir, in my judgment, are a committed terrorist who has betrayed his country," U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Wadih El-Hage after listening to the claims of the Lebanese-born man who became a US citizen. El-Hage said he was treated unjustly before his 2001 conviction in the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. The judge said a life sentence was necessary in part because El-Hage, 52, was "quite likely to engage in or further terrorist activities against this country in this district until your last breath, if you were ever released." He also re-imposed a $33.8 million restitution order, saying $7 million would go to the families of victims and the rest to the U.S. government. El-Hage was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison. A federal appeals court in Manhattan ordered a resentencing after El-Hage argued that the federal sentencing guidelines under which he was sentenced were no longer mandatory.

Boston bombing suspect faces civilian court, not ‘enemy combatant’ status

04/23/13:  The Washington Times reports federal prosecutors charged suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in the deadly attack on the Boston Marathon, as the Obama adminstration opted for a civilian court with a possible death sentence over dubbing him an “enemy combatant” for investigative reasons. Tsarnaev is conscious and responded to questions from authorities in writing, but the criminal complaint shed no light on the motive of the attack. An affidavit in the case by FBI agent Daniel R. Genck said Tsarnaev was seen using a cellphone after placing a knapsack on the ground at the second explosion site and that he was calm when the first explosion triggered chaos around him. The charges were filed exactly one week after the deadly explosions, which survivors, residents and state officials remembered with a moment of silence across Boston.  White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration had no choice but to charge Tsarnaev in federal court. He said US citizens cannot be tried by military tribunals, adding that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the federal court system has been used to convict and incarcerate hundreds of terrorists. Tsarnaev became a naturalized US citizen on Sept. 11 last year.  Mr. Grahan agrees that Tsarnaev isn’t eligible for a military tribunal because he was not caught on a foreign battlefield.

Boston bombs: Tsarnaev brothers 'planned more attacks'

04/23/13:  The BBC reports the brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon were probably planning further attacks, the city's police commissioner has said. Ed Davis told CBS News that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been carrying homemade bombs and grenades which they threw at police when cornered. A top US interrogation group is waiting to question Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in a serious condition in hospital. His elder brother died during a gunfight with police on Thursday night. Two women and an eight-year-old boy were killed in Monday's blasts, close to the finish line of the marathon. A police officer was killed and a transport officer shot in the thigh during the operation to track down the brothers. Speaking to CBS's Face the Nation, Mr Davis said: "We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene - the explosions, the explosive ordnance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had - that they were going to attack other individuals." He said more than 250 rounds of expended ammunition were found at the scene, and that the ground was "littered with unexploded improvised explosive devices that we had to point out to the arriving officers". Boston police chief Ed Davis said improvised devices were strewn around the area. Another device was found inside a car the brothers had earlier hijacked. Officials were now trying to trace all the weapons used by the brothers, he said, adding that this would be a "significant part of the investigation".

Analysis: Four reasons Senators Graham and McCain are wrong

04/20/13:  Lawfare posted, in an article by Benjamin Wittes, that Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain were quick out the box last night in declaring that the Obama administration should hold Dzhokar Tsarnaev in military detention: "Now that the suspect is in custody, the last thing we should want is for him to remain silent. It is absolutely vital the suspect be questioned for intelligence gathering purposes... Under the Law of War we can hold this suspect as a potential enemy combatant not entitled to Miranda warnings or the appointment of counsel. Our goal at this critical juncture should be to gather intelligence and protect our nation from further attacks." Bobby quickly explained why this is both unncessary and a bad idea; this very find Wall Street Jouranl blog sketches out why it would pose legal problems as well. But the idea has had legs on Twitter, so I want to bring together in one place  and explain the several distinct but overlapping reasons why it would be not merely ill-advised but absolutely nuts to try to treat Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant. First and most important, Tsarnaev may not be an enemy combatant.   Second, assuming for a moment that the facts as they emerge would support an enemy combatant designation, Tsarnaev is reportedly a naturalized American citizen, and the government’s appetite for the detention of American citizens under the laws of war has waned—and rightly so. This began under the Bush administration, which tried twice—in the early cases of Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla—to detain US citizens under the laws of war and ultimately backed down both times. The question of whether such detention is legally appropriate for a US citizen captured by law enforcement remains an open one.  He was certainly captured in the United States, and the military detention of domestic captures is problematic for many of the same reasons that the detention of the citizen poses difficulties. Fourth, military detention offers no clear advantages in this case and has several big disadvantages. 

Two US citizens found guilty in NY in Taliban case

04/20/13:  The Miami Herald reports two US citizens have been found guilty in New York of conspiring to provide material support to the Taliban and conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles. US Attorney Preet Bharara (buh-RAH'-ruh) says Friday Alwar Pouryan (AH'-wahr per-AHN') and Oded Orbach (OH'-ded OR'-bahk) face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison for the anti-aircraft missile count. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4. The two men were arrested in Bucharest, Romania, last February. Authorities say the men were approached by US government witnesses posing as representatives of the Taliban. They say the men thought they were arranging the sale in 2010 of lethal weapons to members of a dangerous drug organization with terrorism links. Lawyers for the men haven't returned calls seeking comment.

 

Musharraf placed in custody after brief freedom

04/19/13:  The New York Times reports a judge placed Pakistan’s former military leader, Pervez Musharraf, under arrest on Friday, as the country’s judiciary pursued its drive to hold him accountable for his actions during his nine years in power. Less than a day after Mr. Musharraf fled a courtroom in dramatic circumstances to his fortified villa on the edge of the city, the police escorted him back into central Islamabad where a magistrate placed him under arrest. Hours later, after being briefly released, he was brought to the city police headquarters where he was being held pending his next court appearance. The travails of the 69-year-old former army chief furthered the humiliation of a figure who enjoyed absolute power in Pakistan for much of his rule, from 1999 and 2008. But it also raised new questions about why he returned to the country in the first place.

Guinea-Bissau armed forces chief charged in NYC

04/19/13: The Miami Herald reports the armed forces chief of the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau has been charged in New York in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and aid a foreign terrorist organization. Federal authorities on Thursday announced the indictment of Antonio Indjai (ihn-JY'). They say a sting operation carried out by US drug enforcement agents resulted in the charges. Indjai has been subject to a United Nations travel ban since authorities say he participated in an April 2012 coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau. The indictment was unsealed two weeks after a former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau was brought to New York for trial following his arrest at sea by federal drug agents. Four others charged in the conspiracy were brought to the US for trial at the same time. Indjai isn't in custody.

Suspect denies mailing poisoned letter to Obama

04/19/13:  The New York Times reports a Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president and other officials was described Thursday as a good father, a quiet neighbor and an entertainer who impersonated Elvis at parties. Other accounts show a man who spiraled into emotional turmoil trying to get attention for his claims of uncovering a conspiracy to sell body parts on the black market. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, wrote numerous Web posts over the past several years describing the event that he said "changed my life forever": the chance discovery of body parts and organs wrapped in plastic in small refrigerator at a hospital where he worked as a janitor more than a decade ago. He tried to talk to officials and get the word out online, but he thought he was being railroaded by the government. Authorities say the efforts culminated in letters sent to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a judge in Mississippi. "Maybe I have your attention now even if that means someone must die," the letters read, according to an FBI affidavit.

Analysis: The Death of the ATS and the Rise of Transnational Tort Litigation

04/18/13:  Opinio Juris posted this analysis by Roger Alford concerning yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum: The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) as we know it is dead. The presumption against extraterritoriality, combined with a narrow interpretation of territoriality, means that the Filartiga human rights revolution is essentially over. Other posts this week will discuss whether the ATS has a future after Kiobel, but that is simply a search for a silver lining in what is, for plaintiffs, otherwise a dark and ominous thunderstorm that has destroyed an entire cottage industry. What now? Obviously there is the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), which may be sufficient for some causes of action. But per Mohamed v. Palestinian Authority, such causes of action are only available against natural persons. No corporate claims may be brought under the TVPA, and claims against corporate officers will struggle to overcome the Iqbal/Twombly pleading standards. Others will argue that the ATS survives as long as there is some territorial nexus. This may mean that the old American Banana and Sisal Sales standard applied in the antitrust context is now applicable to human rights litigation. The search is on for some constituent act that occurred within the forum to satisfy the territorial nexus. And if Alito’s standard for territoriality is required, then the constituent territorial act must violate an international law norm. Good luck finding that conduct. More promising than these options is transnational tort litigation.  Torture is assault and battery. Terrorism is wrongful death. Slavery is false imprisonment. In the quest to provide relief for victims of grave abuse, international human rights violations will now be reframed as transnational torts. Virtually every complaint pleading an ATS violation could allege a traditional domestic or foreign tort. What does this mean in practice? Now more than ever, human rights lawyers must become experts on choice of law and comparative tort law. It is a trend that already has been applied for over a decade in the terrorism context, but no one has been paying attention. Pursuant to the FSIA’s Flatow amendment, victims of international terrorism have secured billions (yes billions) of dollars in judgments against state sponsors of terrorism. They typically have done so by invoking choice of law principles to apply domestic tort laws to redress foreign terrorist attacks. In most cases the state tort law of the decedents’ domiciliary has controlled. Thus, when a suicide bomber kills Americans in Israel, or Lebanon, or Nigeria, it is Illinois, Louisiana, or Nebraska law that is applied to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Justices bar Nigerian human rights case from US courts

04/18/13:  The New York Times reports the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Nigerian plaintiffs who said foreign oil companies had been complicit in violating their human rights may not sue in American courts. The decision limited the sweep of a 1789 law that had been used to address human rights abuses abroad.  The decision was unanimous, but the justices divided along ideological lines in their reasoning.uman rights groups said the decision was a sharp blow.  Business groups said the ruling would help put an end to baseless lawsuits. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said a general presumption against the extraterritorial application of American law barred the suit. He added that even some minimal contact with the United States would not be sufficient to overcome the presumption. “Even where the claims touch and concern the territory of the United States, they must do so with sufficient force to displace the presumption against extraterritorial application.” He gave an example: “Corporations are often present in many countries, and it would reach too far to say mere corporate presence suffices.” The case involved a joint subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, based in the Netherlands, and the Shell Transport and Trading Company, based in England. The subsidiary, incorporated in Nigeria, was accused of aiding and abetting in atrocities by Nigerian military and police forces against Ogoni villagers. After being granted asylum in the United States, several Nigerians sued the parent companies under the 1789 law, the Alien Tort Statute, which is brief and cryptic. It allows federal courts to hear “any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” The law was largely ignored until the 1980s, when federal courts started to apply it in international human rights cases. A 2004 Supreme Court decision, Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, left the door open to some claims under the law, as long as they involved violations of international norms with “definite content and acceptance among civilized nations.” 

4 UK men jailed for discussing acts of terrorism

04/18/13:  The Miami Herald reports four men were jailed in Britain on Thursday for discussing terrorist attacks, including plans to blow up an army reserve center using a bomb-laden toy car. Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, Umar Arshad and Syed Farhan Hussain - aged between 22 and 31 - pleaded guilty in March to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism between January 2011 and April 2012. Prosecutors said the Britons downloaded files containing instructions for an attack, bought survival equipment and collected money for terrorist purposes. They also admitted "facilitating, planning and encouraging" overseas travel for terrorist purposes. The men were recorded discussing sending a remote-controlled toy car carrying a homemade bomb under the gates of an army reservist center and speaking of using instructions in an al-Qaida manual to make an improvised explosive device. The four were arrested a year ago in the town of Luton, north of London, after an operation by police and the MI5 intelligence service. They were sentenced Thursday at London's Woolwich Crown Court. Iqbal and Ahmed were jailed for 16 years and 3 months, while Arshad received a sentence of six years and nine months. Hussain was jailed for five years and three months.

Facing arrest, Musharraf flees courtroom in Pakistan

04/18/13:  The New York Times reports the former military ruler of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, fled a courtroom in the capital on Thursday, making a dramatic escape after a judge revoked his bail over a case dating to his nine years in power. Television footage showed Mr. Musharraf being jostled as his security detail pushed through the court precinct following the hearing, then quickly driving away in a convoy of SUVs as angry lawyers chased behind. The escape was the latest twist in Mr. Musharraf’s quixotic bid to return to Pakistani politics. It was the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief faced potential imprisonment, which analysts said could open a new rift between the courts and the military. After fleeing Thursday, Mr. Musharraf drove to his luxury farmhouse on the outskirts of the capital, where he has been living since returning from exile last month, and which is protected by retired commandos and soldiers still in the armed forces. At the hearing, the court refused to extend Mr. Musharraf’s bail in relation to his controversial decision to sack and imprison the country’s top judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007. Amid the confusion it was not immediately clear whether the court had issued an arrest warrant for the former military ruler, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Army policeman gets 16 years for trying to sell secrets to Russia

04/16/13:  The Washington Times reports a military policeman serving in the US Army was sentenced to 16 years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge for trying to sell secrets to an agent he believed was a Russian spy. Spc. William Colton Millay pleaded guilty to the spying charge last month, The Associated Press reported. A panel of eight military officials handed down the ruling Tuesday. Prosecutors said Millay was a white supremacist, sick and tired of the military and his country, and didn’t care that his sale of secrets would put his fellow soldiers in harm’s way, AP said. Defense lawyers countered that Millay was emotionally immature and that his attempt at espionage was aimed only at getting him some attention, AP reported. During testimony, an FBI official said Millay “expressed his disgust with the U.S. military” and offered to work for Russia. Millay said he could provide information on America’s Warlock Duke jamming system, which is used by the military to scan for roadside bombs, the agent testified, as AP reported.  Millay ultimately was arrested when he traded an envelope of information to the man he believed was a Russian official for $3,000, AP reported.

Egypt judge withdraws from Mubarak trial

04/13/13:  The BBC reports the judge presiding over the retrial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has withdrawn himself from the case as the trial opened in Cairo. There were chaotic scenes as the judge said he was referring the trial to another court. Mr Mubarak was convicted last June of conspiring to kill protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his rule. He was sentenced to life but a retrial was ordered in January after he appealed against the sentence. About 850 people were killed in the 2011 crackdown. Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah announced his decision at the start of the retrial at a police academy on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital. The judge said he was referring the case to the Cairo appeals court as he felt "unease" in reviewing the case. That court is then expected to appoint a new panel to hear the retrial.

Army judge raises burden in private’s trial on leaks

04/11/13:  The New York Times reports the military prosecutors seeking to have Pfc. Bradley Manning convicted of violating the Espionage Act over his release of secret government files to WikiLeaks will face an additional burden at his court-martial under a ruling on Wednesday by a military judge. The judge, Col. Denise Lind, ruled at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Private Manning had “reason to believe” that the files could be used to harm the United States or to aid a foreign power. Prosecutors had contended that they should be required to prove only that he willfully disclosed defense-related files to win a conviction under the spying law. Private Manning’s trial is scheduled to begin in June. During a hearing in February, he confessed to having provided to WikiLeaks videos of airstrikes in which civilians were killed, a quarter-million diplomatic cables, assessment files of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and logs of military incident reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. But he portrayed himself as having thought carefully about the information he was releasing to make sure it would not cause harm. Private Manning has already pleaded guilty to 10 charges, exposing himself to up to 20 years in prison. But the plea was not part of any deal with the government, and prosecutors are pressing forward with trying to win a conviction on more serious charges — including aiding the enemy and multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act — that could result in a sentence of life without parole. The Espionage Act outlaws giving military-related information to someone who is not authorized to receive it. The provision under which Private Manning was charged has two clauses. One covers documents, like code books, and requires only proof of willful disclosure. The other covers generic “information” and also requires proof that the person who released it had reason to believe that it could cause harm. The Espionage Act charge against Private Manning quotes the “reason to believe” language. Thus, Colonel Lind said, the “government elected to charge the communications” under the second provision, and so prosecutors must prove his awareness that his actions would result in harm. A military legal spokesman argued that the decision may make little difference because the judge previously ruled that Private Manning’s motive — whether he thought of himself as trying to help society — was irrelevant to whether he intentionally broke the law. The fact that many of the documents were classified, he said, was a reason for Private Manning to believe that their disclosure could cause harm.

Pentagon accused of data breach in Gitmo ship case

04/11/13:  The Miami Herald reports the lawyer for a man accused in an attack on a US warship said Wednesday that a Pentagon computer server failure resulted in the loss of a large cache of documents used by military tribunal defense lawyers. Richard Kammen, a member of the team representing an alleged senior al-Qaida figure facing a war crimes tribunal at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, also said officials mishandled more than 500,000 defense lawyer emails and appear to be monitoring their Internet searches as they prepare their cases. Kammen, an Indianapolis defense lawyer appointed to defend Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, has urged a military judge to cancel a hearing at Guantanamo next week because of the alleged breaches of attorney-client privilege and the server failure. The motion remains under seal until authorities review it for potential classified information. The lawyer said in an interview that the court needs to establish the extent of any breach of the attorney-client privilege. This is not the first time that tribunal defense teams have alleged improper monitoring. In February, proceedings in the case of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks were thrown into disarray after lawyers discovered microphones apparently disguised to look like smoke detectors in the rooms where they meet their clients. The military said it would disconnect the devices but said they had not been used to eavesdrop or record meetings between prisoners and their lawyers. Kammen said he was uncertain when the server failure occurred, but said it involved about 7 gigabytes of data, or many thousands of pages of documents. He said information pertaining to his case and others was recovered but defense teams still need time to review files to make sure nothing was lost or changed. The emails were turned over to prosecutors by mistake after the Court of Military Commissions Review asked for certain prosecution emails and hundreds of thousands from the defense were turned over as well, Kammen said. The defense cannot prepare their case if they suspect their work is being monitored by the prosecution, he added.

Judge rules against veteran who fought alongside Syrian rebels

04/09/13:  The New York Times reports in his brief but sensational sojourn in the Syrian civil war, Eric G. Harroun made a bit of a splash. He loaded Facebook and YouTube with scenes from the battlefield and gibes at the government of President Bashar al-Assad. In Web postings by both sides in the bloody conflict, he was “The American” — a former Army private from Arizona fighting with the Syrian opposition. But in federal court here on Monday, it was clear just how drastically Mr. Harroun’s luck had turned. Prosecutors said Mr. Harroun, 30, who is accused of firing a rocket-propelled grenade while fighting alongside a designated terrorist group, might ultimately face charges carrying a minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of the death penalty. A judge declined to release him to home detention in his mother’s custody in Arizona, as the defense sought and a pretrial investigation proposed. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis said Mr. Harroun had “actively and knowingly participated in fighting with a group the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization,” the Nusra Front, which the United States considers part of Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq. Even though he was fighting to oust Mr. Assad — a goal the United States fervently supports — his brief alliance with the Nusra Front “makes him a dangerous individual,” Judge Davis said. He noted prosecution claims that Mr. Harroun had said after leaving Syria that he wanted to go to Palestine and fight against the Israelis.

Amid criticism, Pentagon is seeking overhaul of the court-martial system

04/09/13:  The New York Times reports the Pentagon announced Monday that it would ask Congress to overhaul the court-martial system used to prosecute the nearly 5,000 service members annually accused of crimes, scaling back the power of senior commanders to overturn convictions and dismiss charges. The proposal comes amid sharp criticism from advocacy groups and Congress over how the military has handled a series of sexual assault cases, including a decision by an Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Craig A. Franklin, to dismiss the conviction of Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, who was found guilty in November of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to one year in military prison. “These changes, if enacted by Congress, would help ensure that our military justice system works fairly, ensures due process and is accountable,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “These changes would increase the confidence of service members and the public that the military justice system will do justice in every case.” Mr. Hagel said that the Pentagon would ask lawmakers to scale back the power of the convening authority — a commander who exercises significant control over courts-martial in a system that dates to the British Empire. The commanders decide whether to approve charges for trial, select the jury and negotiate plea deals, and they can overturn guilty verdicts or reduce recommended sentences. The proposal would eliminate commanders’ authority to overturn a guilty verdict by a court-martial in “serious” cases like sexual assault; minor offenses would be exempted from the change. Commanders who modify a sentence — or change the findings in minor offenses — would have to explain the decision in writing.

Italy Abu Omar rendition: Col Romano pardoned in CIA case

04/06/13:  The BBC reports Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has pardoned a US Air Force colonel convicted in absentia over the rendition of an Egyptian imam in 2003. Joseph Romano was one of 23 Americans tried and sentenced by Italian courts over the CIA-led operation to abduct a cleric known as Abu Omar. The Egyptian said he was flown to his home country and tortured there. Mr Napolitano's office cited what it said were changes to US security policy undertaken by President Barack Obama. It said Mr Obama had "immediately after his election, put an end to an approach to the challenges to national security... considered by Italy and the European Union not compatible with fundamental principles of rule of law". It added that the Italian president "hoped to provide a solution to an affair considered by the United States to be without precedent because of the conviction of a US military officer of Nato for deeds committed on Italian soil". The statement said the decision to pardon Col Romano was inspired by the same principle that Italy hoped to see used in the case of two Italian marines facing murder charges in India over the shooting of two fishermen.

Google takes on rare fight against national security letters

04/05/13:  Wired's Threat Level reports Google has filed a rare petition to challenge an ultra-secret national security letter issued by the government to obtain private data about one or more of its users. The extraordinary petition, which was filed under seal in the US District Court of Northern California on March 29, comes just days after a US District Judge in California ruled in a case brought by an unnamed company and the Electronic Frontier Foundation that so-called NSLs that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech. On March 14, US District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing NSLs and to cease enforcing the gag provision in cases where they have already been issued. Illston, however, stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal her ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The recent Google challenge has also been assigned to Judge Illston. It’s not known exactly when Google received the NSL or why it decided to fight back against this particular one, though the company was likely emboldened to act by the recent ruling.

US grows more helpful to International Criminal Court

04/04/13:  The New York Times reports shen a fugitive African warlord, Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, gave himself up in March to the US Embassy in Rwanda and asked to be sent to the Internaitonal Criminal Court here, American diplomats publicized the episode and swiftly brokered the transfer. Court officials were elated. “It was important that Washington was so upfront about cooperating,” one official said on the condition of anonymity because he was not an authorized spokesman. “It was a great boost for the court.” On Wednesday, Washington is expected to further bolster the decade-old court, an institution that it initially tried to sink and still has no intention of joining. As part of its Rewards for Justice program, the State Department plans to pay up to $5 million for information leading to the arrests of fugitives in atrocity cases. It will issue a list of names that for the first time will include some of the court’s most-wanted fugitives, the United States ambassador for global criminal justice said in an interview. The names will be broadcast on radio and appear on reward posters printed in the languages of the fugitives’ countries, he said. “The offer of rewards for ICC fugitives will be the biggest step we’ve taken toward engagement and support” for the court, he said. Under US law, no money can be paid directly to the court. But a law adopted by Congress in January allows for payments to third parties for crucial information leading to fugitive arrests. Similar payments were offered to track down fugitives from the courts investigating atrocities in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Washington can also help the court in more discreet, indirect ways, by, for example, protecting crucial witnesses, sharing DNA data and providing forensic assistance, he said, declining to give details. As the court has become better known and its approval rating has risen in American public opinion polls, the United States has replaced its outright hostility with a measure of cooperation.

Kenya Supreme Court upholds election victory of accused war criminal Kenyatta

03/31/13: The New York Times reports Kenya’s Supreme Court Saturday unanimously upheld the election victory of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country’s president, dismissing allegations that the vote had been rigged.  But almost immediately, protests erupted in some opposition strongholds, with stone-throwing mobs squaring off against Kalashnikov-toting police officers – and Kenyatta’s legal battles are hardly over.  As Kenya’s next president, Kenyatta will soon be summoned to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity, accused of using his vast family fortune to bankroll death squads during the chaos that exploded after Kenya’s last disputed election in 2007.  He says he is innocent and that the charges are based on gossip, but many Western officials believe otherwise.  Still, the US may now have little choice but to work with Kenyatta.

Egypt satirist arrested for insulting President, released on bail

03/31/13: Reuters reports Egyptian prosecutors questioned the country’s most prominent television satirist Sunday over allegations he insulted President Mohammed Morsi and Islam, a case that has increased opposition fears of a crackdown on dissent.  Bassem Youssef turned himself in after the prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for him on Saturday.  Youssef rose to fame after the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011, with a satirical online show.  His program, which has been compared the US Daily Show with Jon Stewart, is now broadcast on Egyptian TV.  The comedian is accused, among other things, of undermining the standing of the Islamist President Morsi.  The arrest warrant was issued after at least four legal complaints filed by Morsi supporters.

Ex-soldier is charged with aiding terrorist group

03/29/13:  The New York Times reports a former American soldier was charged Thursday with fighting alongside a terrorist group that is battling the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, whose ouster the United States has sought for nearly two years. The soldier, Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, who served in the United States Army from 2000 to 2003, is accused of entering Syria in January and participating in attacks on Assad forces led by the Al Nusra Front, which American officials say is part of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a designated terrorist group. Mr. Harroun, who posted reports about his time in Syria on Facebook and YouTube, was charged in Alexandria, Va., with “conspiring to use a destructive device outside the United States,” a crime that can carry a life sentence. He was arrested Wednesday after arriving at Dulles International Airport and made an initial appearance in Federal District Court on Thursday. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Mr. Harroun told an FBI agent, Paul Higginbotham, that he was part of an “RPGteam,” firing rocket-propelled grenades, which qualify as a “destructive device” under the law. The charge does not have any connection to terrorism, though more charges could be filed later.

Pakistani arrested in Germany, suspected of spying

03/28/13:  The Miami Herald reports German authorities have arrested a man suspected of trying to obtain information on military technology for a Pakistani intelligence agency. The Federal Prosecutor's Office said Thursday the 28-year-old Pakistani citizen, identified only as Umar R. because of German privacy rules, was arrested Wednesday in the northern city of Bremen. Prosecutors said in a statement he's suspected of working for Pakistani intelligence since at least October. They say that he worked as a student assistant at a research facility and is alleged to have tried to obtain information on technology that could be used for military purposes. A judge has ordered the man kept in custody pending formal charges.

Judges question the use of cell phone tracking devices

03/28/13:  The Wall Street Journal reports Judges in California have expressed concerns about the federal use of cellphone tracking devices known as “stingrays,” suggesting that investigators have been using the technology without explaining to judges exactly what they are doing, according to internal Justice Department emails. Stingrays are devices that simulate a cellphone tower and can locate a phone even if it isn’t making a call. Several federal judges across the country have now expressed concerns about similar cellphone location technology, particularly because federal officers have been using it after getting lower court orders that don’t meet the same standard as search warrants. In California, emails among several U.S. attorneys in 2011 indicate that this has become what they describe as a “problem” in that state as well.  The WSJ Blog also provides more details.

Justices limit use of drug-sniffing dogs

03/28/13:  The New York Times reports the Supreme Court on Tuesday limited the ability of the police to use drug-sniffing dogs outside homes. The case concerned Franky, a chocolate Labrador retriever who detected the smell of marijuana outside a Florida house used by Joelis Jardines. Based on Franky’s signal, the police obtained a warrant to search the house, and they found a marijuana-growing operation inside. Mr. Jardines moved to suppress the evidence, saying that using Franky to sniff around his residence was an unreasonable search barred by the Fourth Amendment. The Florida Supreme Court agreed, and so did a majority of the United States Supreme Court. The 5-to-4 decision in the case, Florida v. Jardines, No. 11-564, featured an unusual alignment of justices. Justice Antonin Scalia, a member of the court’s conservative wing, wrote the majority decision. He was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, a frequent ally, along with three of the court’s more liberal members, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Justice Scalia said the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches, is particularly concerned with the home and its immediate surroundings. Allowing a dog on a six-foot leash to roam outside a residence, he said, was “an unlicensed physical intrusion” that was different in kind from visits from, say, salesmen, Girl Scouts or trick-or-treaters.

Opinion: The appeal of the courts

03/26/13: Foreign Policy published an article by Phillip Carter and Deborah Pearlstein arguing we've already figured out how to win the legal war on terrorism. The Justice Department in fact has a far better record than the Defense Department in prosecuting and convicting terrorist suspects. Surveillance abroad by military and intelligence agencies, strong allied cooperation, coupled with US prosecution and incarceration -- has now been used successfully in a range of cases. This blended, postwar approach works precisely because the military plays a supporting, not a leading, role. A number of foreign intelligence and law enforcement agencies are far more likely to cooperate with their American intelligence and law enforcement counterparts than they are with the US military. This was true in the Abu Ghaith case for Turkey and Jordan, two key allies in the counterterrorism effort against al Qaeda, both of which cooperated with US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The same was true in the Harun case, in which Italian authorities gave the suspect to the United States upon assurances he would be prosecuted in civilian court -- and not transferred to Guantánamo Bay or charged before a military commission. Let's be clear: This is not a call for a law-enforcement-only approach. It is not a rejection of military force (including the power to detain) when a public case can be made that force is necessary to US national security and in keeping with our obligations under domestic and international law. The time has come for the United States to transition from its current war footing to a long-term, sustainable counterterrorism strategy

US jails Chinese engineer for exporting trade secrets

03/26/13:  The BBC reports a US court has sentenced a Chinese national to more than five years in prison for illegally exporting military trade secrets to China. Liu Sixing, who formerly worked in US company L-3 Communications, was accused of taking information on US missile, rocket and drone technology to China. He was convicted of exporting military information, possessing stolen trade secrets, and lying to the authorities. Liu says he did not break the law, or intend to pass secrets to China. Liu Sixing, who was also known as Steve Liu, worked in L-3 Communications' space and navigation unit in New Jersey from 2009-2010 as a senior engineer. Prosecutors say he stole thousands of computer files in 2010, and took them to China on his personal computer, where he gave presentations about the technology he was working on to universities and conferences linked to the Chinese government. Prosecutors say he transported the files, which included information on the performance and design of guidance systems for missiles, rockets and unmanned drones, in the hope that it would help him gain future employment in China. Technical military data covered by US export regulations cannot be taken out of the country without a license.

Terrorist has cooperated with US since secret guilty plea in 2011

03/26/13:  The New York Times reports a Somali terrorist with ties to Al Qaeda whose capture and interrogation aboard a United States naval ship in 2011 fueled debate about the Obama administration’s counterterrorism tactics secretly pleaded guilty in Manhattan and has been cooperating with the authorities, court documents released on Monday show. The terrorist, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, served as a military commander with the Shabab in Somalia and worked as a liaison with Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, including brokering a deal for the Shabab to buy weapons directly from the Qaeda group, the government has said. The newly unsealed court papers show Mr. Warsame pleaded guilty in a closed court proceeding in Manhattan in December 2011, about five months after he was brought to New York. After the plea, he met weekly with the government for hours at a time, disclosing intelligence information about his Shabab and Qaeda co-conspirators, who included “high-level international terrorist operatives,” prosecutors said in one highly redacted letter dated March 2012. In the letter, the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, asked a federal judge to keep Mr. Warsame’s plea confidential, noting that his information had opened new lines of investigation and developed new targets for the government. Since it was announced in July 2011, the Warsame case has been seen as a test of the administration’s approach in the use of the military and civilian court systems and its desire not to send a new prisoner to the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. Warsame, a Somali in his mid-20s, commanded hundreds of fighters in battle in Somalia, and in 2009 and was sent by senior Shabab leaders to Yemen to train with the Qaeda group there, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, a prosecutor, Benjamin Naftalis, said in a 2011 document

Zimbabwe High Court orders release of human rights lawyer

03/25/13: The Miami Herald reports Zimbabwe’s High Court Monday ordered the immediate release of a prominent human rights lawyer detained for eight days for obstructing justice.  Court officials said Beatrice Mtetwa was asked to post a $500 bail and her release papers will be prepared Monday.  High Court Judge Joseph Musakwa ruled that Mtetwa was following professional legal procedures when she demanded to see a search warrant from police at the offices of four officials in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.  Those officials are accused of illegally compiling information on high level corruption and will appeal for bail later Monday.  Mtetwa and the four officials deny any wrongdoing.  Lawyers’ groups have cited the arrests as intimidation against opponents of President Robert Mugabe by loyalist police and officials ahead of elections around July.