Georgetown Security Law Brief

FBI cuts back on GPS surveillance after Supreme Court ruling

02/07/12: USA Today reports that the FBI has begun cutting back GPS surveillance in an array of criminal and intelligence investigations following the Supreme Court ruling in US v. Jones, which restricted its use. The bureau began implementing the change the day after the January 23 ruling in which the court found that attaching such a device to a car amounted to a search covered by the Fourth Amendment, requiring police to seek warrants in many cases. An official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter, said the GPS directive was issued until further legal guidance is provided on the use of the technology.

New York Police Department document recommends intelligence collection at mosques

02/02/12: The Washington Times reports that a secret police document shows that the New York Police Department recommended increasing surveillance of thousands of Muslims and their mosques based solely on their religion. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a May 2006 NYPD intelligence report on Iran. It says police should expand clandestine operations at Shiite mosques and then lists mosques around the Northeast. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the NYPD never considers religion in its policing.

Nigerian police arrest terrorist group's spokesman

02/02/12: CNN reports that the spokesman for Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has been captured after a months-long surveillance operation, a spokesman for Nigerian police said Wednesday. Security services tracked Abu Qa Qa through his phone and are now trying to confirm his true identity, though they believe that he is a Nigerian citizen. Boko Haram has carried out multiple bombings and shootings across northern Nigeria in recent days.

Venezuela passes anti-terrorism law

02/02/12:  The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Venezuela's congress has approved a law aimed at fighting organized crime and terrorism, though opposition lawmakers say they fear it could be used to crack down on dissent. Lawmakers allied with President Hugo Chavez say the "Law Against Organized Crime and Terrorism Financing" will help combat crimes such as money laundering, bomb threats and airplane hijackings.

Iran and Syria aided bomb and assassination plot in Bahrain

02/01/12: ABC News reports that five men arrested in November in connection with a plot to blow up the only bridge connecting the island of Bahrain with Saudi Arabia and to assassinate Bahraini politicians are allegedly tied to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and reportedly received military training in Syria, according to information leaked to the media by Bahraini prosecutors. The charges are the latest salvo in a regional struggle for power between Iran and the Arab Gulf states.

Human Rights Watch urges India to prosecute border soldiers for torture

02/01/12: Jurist reports that Human Rights Watch is urging the Indian government to prosecute Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers that it has long implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings near the Bangladesh border. HRW's plea comes in response to the release of a YouTube video capturing BSF soldiers stripping, tying up and beating a Bangladeshi national caught smuggling cattle from Bangladesh into India. Although Indian law requires the BSF to hand over such lawbreakers to the police, HRW contends that the soldiers "illegally detained and tortured" the man, then left him to return to Bangladesh.

China sends thousands of police to restive Uighur region

01/31/12: The Voice of America reports that China says it will boost the police presence in northwestern Xinjiang province, in a push to manage the area's huge migrant population and crack down on what Beijing calls illegal religious activities. The official Xinnhua news agency says an additional 8,000 police officers will begin patrolling villages in the northwestern region. It quotes a regional Communist party official as saying the move is aimed at consolidating "the lasting peace and [social] stability in the region."

Ex-CIA officials assail ID of agents

01/31/12: The Washington Times reports that former intelligence officials use “reprehensible” and “egregious” to describe the alleged acts of a former CIA officer charged by the government with betraying his own when he revealed the identities of two overseas operatives to the media. These former officials reject the image of John Kiriakou as a high-minded “whistleblower” who sought to expose official wrongdoing or a botched intelligence operation.

Papua New Guinea's mutiny leader arrested

01/29/12: Reuters reports that an army officer who led a military revolt aimed at reinstating Papua New Guinea's ousted prime minister appeared in court on Sunday on mutiny charges, police said. Retired Colonel Yaura Sasa, who led last week's attempt to restore Sir Michael Somare to power, appeared in a court charged under the criminal code with incitement to mutiny following his arrest overnight. Police spotted Sasa by chance at a lodge away from the Taurama barracks, where his supporters have been holed up with weapons since last week's failed mutiny, police media spokesman Superintendant Dominic Kakas said.

Counter-terrorism chemical labs test for synthetic pot

01/29/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that Jeffery H. Moran, chief of the counter-terrorism laboratory at the Arkansas Department of Health — one of 62 such federally funded labs in the country — has been armed with $2 million worth of new equipment. Recently, Moran has given his staff a new task — helping police in half a dozen states identify "Spice," a chemical substance that produces a marijuana-like high and has sent hundreds of users to emergency rooms. Using a counter-terrorism lab to test for synthetic marijuana is the latest sign of how a multibillion-dollar national infrastructure built to detect or respond to chemical or biological attacks over the last decade has adapted to the lack of any actual attacks.

Vatican rewrites anti-money laundering, terror finance law

01/28/12: The Washington Post reports that the Vatican has rewritten its 2010 anti-money laundering law after European inspectors found that it didn’t fully meet their tough standards to combat the financing of terrorism. The new law requires the Vatican to create a list of terror organizations based on those issued by the United Nations and requires the Vatican enter into agreements with other countries to share financial information.

Justice Department turns over documents to Congress concerning Operation Fast and Furious

01/28/12: The Columbus Telegram reports that newly released Justice Department emails sent to Capitol Hill for a congressional inquiry into a gun-smuggling operation indicate that the head of the department's criminal division suggested letting some illicit "straw" weapons buyers in the US transport their guns across the border into Mexico where they could be arrested. According to the emails turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday night, the Justice official, Lanny Breuer, made the suggestion to Mexican officials because it "may send a strong message to arms traffickers."

Legal limbo for captured pirates

01/28/12: The New York Times reports that the many navies involved in counterpiracy patrols off Africa’s northeastern shore have learned the pirates’ habits and sharpened interdiction efforts. Hijackings have declined sharply in the past year. But where interdiction ends, an enduring problem begins: what to do with the pirates that foreign ships detain?  Vessels from several navies collaborating on counterpiracy are holding a total of 71 captured pirates, but no system has been developed for prosecuting their cases.

Irish may try IRA veteran over North Korean scam

01/27/12: The Omaha World Herald reports that an Irish Republican Army veteran long accused of laundering counterfeit US $100 bills on behalf of North Korea could face trial in Ireland. High Court Justice John Edwards said he has forwarded an evidence file to state prosecutors against Sean Garland, 76, who denies smuggling more than $250,000 worth of fake American banknotes from the North Korean embassy in Moscow in 1998. Edwards issued his follow-up statement one month after he rejected a 6-year-old US extradition warrant for Garland.

Justice Department takes on itself in probe of 2001 anthrax attacks

01/27/12: The Washington Post reports that since it began a decade ago, the federal government’s massive investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks has been plagued by missteps and complications. Investigators initially focused on the wrong man, then had to pay him a nearly $6 million settlement. In 2008, they accused another man, Bruce E. Ivins, who killed himself before he could go to trial. Now, in the latest twist, the government has argued Ivins was likely not the anthrax killer.

Maryland man pleads guilty to plotting attack on military recruiting center

01/27/12: The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that a Maryland man pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to blow up an Army recruiting center near Baltimore. Antonio Martinez, a Muslim convert who also goes by Muhammad Hussain, was arrested on December 8, 2010, in an FBI sting after he tried to detonate a car bomb at the Armed Forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland. The bomb, supplied by federal agents, was inert.

Shot-up image of president draws a Secret Service inquiry

01/27/12: The New York Times reports that the Secret Service says it is looking into a photograph posted on the Internet that showed a group of young Arizona men posing in the desert with guns while holding up what appeared to be a bullet-riddled image of President Obama’s face. The photograph showed seven casually dressed young men, four of whom clutched weapons and one of whom held up a T-shirt covered with small holes and gashes and bearing a likeness of Mr. Obama above the word “HOPE.” The weapons held aloft appeared to be a revolver, a bolt-action rifle and two assault rifles.

Accused Pentagon shooter Melaku pleads guilty

01/27/12: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that an ex-Marine from Virginia pleaded guilty Thursday and has agreed to serve a 25-year prison sentence on charges that he fired a series of overnight pot shots in 2010 at the Pentagon, the Marine Corps museum in Quantico and other military targets as part of what prosecutors called a campaign to strike fear throughout the region. Prosecutors revealed that Yonathan Melaku’s intended next target was Arlington National Cemetery, where he was arrested before he was able to carry out a plan to deface gravestones there.

Security contractors see opportunities, and limits, in Mexico

01/26/12: The Washington Post reports that with the Iraq war over and the American presence waning in Afghanistan, US security contractors are looking for new prospects in Mexico, where spreading criminal violence has created a growing demand for battle-ready professionals. However, Mexico’s restrictive gun laws mean that foreign contractors must enter the bloody drug war unarmed as they take jobs ranging from consulting and technical training for the Mexican military to guarding business executives from kidnapping gangs and extortionists.

Prosecution argues Reagan’s would-be assassin should not get more freedom

01/26/12: The Washington Post reports that prosecutors contend presidential assailant John W. Hinckley should not get more freedom from his psychiatric hospital, because of his pattern of deception, isolation and problematic relationships with women. Hinckley’s family and St. Elizabeths Hospital staff members say his mental health has improved and are asking a federal judge to expand his privileges.

Prosecutors ordered to identify NYC terror witness

01/26/12: The Albany Times Union reports that judge gave federal prosecutors until a week from Wednesday to give up the name of a witness they say was recruited for a chilling, al-Qaida-sanctioned plot for suicide bombers to attack the New York City subways with explosives made from beauty supplies. Lawyers for alleged plotter Adis Madunjanin had demanded to know the identity of the man, referred to only as John Doe in court papers, before Madunjanin goes to trial later this year.

UN rights chief says Iraq should stop all executions

01/25/12: Jurist reports that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday condemned Iraq's execution of 34 individuals, including two women, last week. All 34 executions occurred on a single day for crimes described as terrorism-related offenses. Iraq maintains the death penalty for even non-fatal crimes, but there has been no report of a single case in which the death penalty was pardoned, according to Pillay.

Serbian war criminal arrested after more than 4 years on the run

01/25/12: JURIST reports that  Convicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Stankovic was arrested Saturday in Bosnia and Herzegovina after being on the run since May 2007 when he escaped from a Bosnia prison. Stankovic was convicted of multiple war crimes in 2006, including rape, enslavement and torture. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed the arrest, saying it "is significant for the victims of the grave crimes he has been convicted for."

Two suspects in July terrorist attack on Mumbai arrested in India

01/24/12: The New York Times reports that authorities in Mumbai announced the arrest of two suspects in connection with a terrorist attack last July that killed 27 people in bombings across the city. Police investigators also blamed a domestic terrorist, Yasin Bhatkal, who remains at large and has been linked to a radical Islamic group known as the Indian Mujahedeen. Rakesh Maria, a top counterterrorism official in Mumbai, said the police had arrested two men from Bihar State, accused of being Mr. Bhatkal’s accomplices.

ICC charges four Kenyans over 2007 unrest

01/24/12: The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the International Criminal Court has charged four Kenyans, including two serious presidential contenders, with crimes against humanity for their alleged involvement in ethnic violence after a disputed presidential election in 2007. The charges raised the political stakes ahead of Kenya's next presidential vote, scheduled for later this year or early 2013, but they also offered hope among citizens for an end to impunity for a corrupt political elite.

US judge orders release of more IRA recordings

01/23/12: The Boston Globe reports that a federal judge has ordered Boston College to turn over more interview transcripts and recordings of former IRA members. In a five-page ruling, Judge William Young ordered the college to turn over transcripts of seven interview subjects in an oral history project to US prosecutors, who had subpoenaed them on behalf of British investigators. British police requested the information for their investigation into the 1972 slaying of a Belfast woman.

Israelis arrest two Hamas officials at Jerusalem’s Red Cross office

01/23/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that Israeli police on Monday arrested two Hamas officials who had been holed up in the Red Cross office in Jerusalem for the last 18 months. About two dozen police officers jumped over the back wall of the building and grabbed the two officials without any resistance, authorities said. The two officials -– Muhammad Totah, a member of the Palestinian Authority parliament, and Khaled abu Arafeh, a former Cabinet minister -– took refuge at the Red Cross building after it became evident that Israel was going to expel them from Jerusalem, their place of residence, to the West Bank.

Jewish paper's column catches Secret Service's eye

01/23/12: CNN reports that the US Secret Service is looking into a controversial column by an Atlanta Jewish newspaper publisher that mulled the assassination of an American president. Andrew Adler, owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, wrote a January 13 column about the threat of Iran to Israel. He posed three options for the Jewish state to counter the Iranian regime. One of them called for a "hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence."

Mali becomes first African state to enforce ICC sentences

01/23/12: Jurist reports that Mali signed an agreement with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to become the first African country to agree to enforce the ICC's sentences of imprisonment. Article 103 of the Rome Statute, which governs the ICC, states that "[a] sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a State designated by the Court from a list of States which have indicated to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons." Mali joins Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the UK and Austria as countries which have agreed to detain individuals convicted by the ICC.

Chilean generals convicted over 1991 Croatian arms deal

01/21/12: The BBC reports that Chile's Supreme Court has convicted two retired generals of selling weapons to Croatia 20 years ago, in breach of a UN arms embargo. The former generals Hector Letelier and Vicente Rodriguez were sentenced to three years house arrest. The shipment of weapons and ammunition - disguised as humanitarian aid - was intercepted in Hungary in 1991 during the war in the former Yugoslavia. Former ruler Augusto Pinochet was also implicated in the deal.

Three acquitted of murder plot against Swedish artist

01/21/12: ABC News reports that a Swedish court has acquitted three men accused of plotting to murder an artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog. In Friday's ruling, the Goteborg district court said the defendants lied about why they visited an art gallery where Lars Vilks was expected to make an appearance, and were armed with knives, but it hadn't been proved that they intended to kill him. The ruling was expected as the three men — of Somali and Iraqi origin — had been released pending the decision.

Five members of Islamist outfit arrested for Bangladesh coup attempt

01/21/12: The Times of India reports that Bangladesh's elite counter-terrorist force has arrested five members of the banned Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir in connection with a botched coup attempt by some serving and retired army officers. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five members of Hizb ut-Tahrir from the city yesterday, a day after the army said it had foiled a coup allegedly plotted by Maj Syed Mohammad Ziaul Huq, said to have links with the banned Islamist outfit.

Swede blames Mossad for Bangkok arrest

01/20/12: The Modesto Bee reports that a Lebanese-Swedish man detained in a terror probe in Thailand has told a Swedish newspaper that he's innocent and blamed Israel's Mossad spy agency for his arrest. The tabloid Aftonbladet on Friday said it spoke to 47-year-old Atris Hussein in a Bangkok prison where he's being held on allegations of illegally possessing explosive materials. Hussein was quoted as saying he is "100 percent innocent" and that "much of the material the police found in my warehouse had been placed there, probably by the Israeli security service Mossad." Police have said Hussein was storing 8,800 pounds of explosive materials in Bangkok before shipping them to another destination.

Senate set to take up major cyber legislation

01/20/12: The Washington Post reports that Congress is moving closer to taking up comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, and a Senate aide confirmed this week that Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a package to the floor before President’s Day. Meanwhile, eight former senior government officials sent a letter this week to Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging the Senate to approve legislation to better protect the nation’s critical computer networks from attack.  A senior aide to Reid, Tommy Ross, said that legislation could be on the floor as early as next week.

Feds shut down file-sharing website

01/20/12: The Washington Times reports that one of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said. An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy.

Split verdict in landmark Haiti prison riot trial

01/20/12: The Tuscaloosa News reports that a judge convicted eight police officers Thursday in a landmark trial for their role in a prison riot that saw at least 10 prisoners shot to death in the chaotic aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. The successful prosecution, concluding two years to the day after the uprising, was considered at least a small victory for the court system of an impoverished Caribbean nation where criminal cases seldom reach trial and law-breaking officials walk with impunity. Judge Ezekiel Vaval said six other police officers were innocent as he ended a three-month trial in the southwestern town of Les Cayes.

Verdict postponed in Frankfurt airport shooting

01/19/12: The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a German court says the verdict in the case of an alleged Islamic extremist who has admitted killing two US airmen at Frankfurt Airport last year is again being delayed to hear more evidence. At issue are allegations that suspect Arid Uka, a 21-year-old ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, was seen in 2010 in an Islamic fundamentalist prayer room in the Bosnian city of Zenica. A federal investigator cast doubt on that claim, however, testifying there was no evidence that he had crossed the border into Bosnia.

Police chiefs to discuss terrorism at White House

01/18/12: The Seattle Times reports that the Obama administration is providing senior state and local police officials with its analysis of homegrown terrorism incidents, including common signs law enforcement can use to identify violent extremists. The warning signs identified for police include someone joining a group advocating violence, receiving support from a network that plans attacks or seeking out charismatic leaders who encourage violence. The analysis was conducted by the Homeland Security Department, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center. An overview of the findings was shared with The Associated Press.

FBI agent admits deleting emails amid terror probe

01/13/12: The Miami Herald reports that an FBI agent testified Thursday that she deleted potentially sensitive emails covering several months when she was helping spearhead an investigation of a terror suspect. Defense attorneys have sought to examine FBI emails to see if they reveal agents skirted interrogation rules in the case of Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, an Eritrean man charged in Manhattan federal court with supporting terrorism. Ahmed's lawyers have asked US District Judge P. Kevin Castel to bar statements made by Ahmed while he was detained in Nigeria in 2009 before being turned over to US authorities.

Suspect arrested in plan to bomb Tampa-area sites

01/09/12: The Washington Post reports that a 25-year-old man from the former Yugoslavia was charged with plotting a radical Islamic attack on crowded locations around Tampa, including nightclubs and a sheriff’s office, with a car bomb, assault rifle and other explosives, federal authorities said Monday. The US Department of Justice said Sami Osmakac, a naturalized American citizen born in Kosovo, recorded an eight minute video shortly before his arrest explaining why he wanted to bring terror to his “victims’ hearts” in the Tampa Bay area.

Jordan upholds sentence for Al-Qaeda mentor

01/04/12: The Daily Star reports that Jordan's state security court has upheld a five-year prison sentence for a militant known as the mentor of slain Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Palestinian-born Isam Mohammad Taher al-Barqawi, better known as Sheik Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, was sentenced last July for "plotting terrorism" and recruiting militants in Jordan to join the Afghan Taliban. He was tried in a military court with three other Jordanian Palestinians. Maqdisi's lawyers had appealed the sentence but their motion was rejected.

3 Iranian guards face murder charges in Pakistan

01/04/12: CBS News reports that a Pakistani official says three Iranian border guards held here face murder charges after fatally shooting a man inside Pakistan's territory while chasing smugglers. Deputy commissioner Saeed Jamali said on Wednesday that the case against the three was registered at a police station the day before. This means the Iranians will have to go on trial, though no date for it has been set. Iran has said the three crossed the border unintentionally while chasing smugglers and has asked Pakistan to release them quickly. The incident occurred Sunday in Baluchistan province, a desolate, sparsely populated region where the border is not clearly marked.

Man arrested on hate crime charge in firebomb attack at New York City Islamic cultural center

01/04/12: The Duluth News Tribune reports that a man who confessed to a string of New Year's Day arson attacks at an Islamic cultural center and four other sites where he had personal grievances was arrested on a hate crime charge. Ray Lazier Lengend, a 40-year-old of Guyanese descent, hurled crude firebombs at the Islamic center in part because he wasn't allowed to use its bathrooms, a law enforcement official said. He was arrested Tuesday on charges including one count of arson as a hate crime, four counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Tunisia president sets conditions for handing over ex-Libyan premier to new rulers

01/03/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that the visiting Tunisian president is setting conditions for handing over a Libyan who was prime minister under ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Tunisia is holding the ex-prime minister, Baghdadi al-Mahmudi. Beginning his first state visit to Libya on Thursday, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said Tunisia would have to be assured that al-Mahmudi would get a fair trial and would not be harmed. Marzouki told a joint news conference with Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil that the ex-premier could be handed over for trial in Libya "after establishing a democratic state and civil institutions."

9/11 relatives who suspect hacking await answers

01/03/12: The New York Times reports that shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, relatives of some of the victims began suspecting that someone was eavesdropping on their telephones. Some heard mysterious clicking sounds on their home and mobile phones. The fiancée of one man who died at the World Trade Center remembers listening to snippets of someone else’s conversation on her line. A husband of another victim recalls hearing somebody remotely accessing his home answering machine, which still held the final, reassuring message left by his wife shortly before the crash of Flight 93.

Police report man carried loaded weapons in New York City subway

01/02/12: The Las Vegas Sun reports that a South Carolina man, Allen Reggie, who entered the New York City subway system with two loaded weapons has been arrested. The NYPD says a police officer stopped Reggie after seeing him go into in Manhattan subway station Sunday night without paying. The officer then noticed a handgun in the man's waistband. Police recovered a loaded Smith & Wesson .45-caliber handgun and a loaded Intratec Luger Tec-9 machine gun. Reggie is charged with criminal possession machine gun, criminal possession weapon loaded firearm and other charges.

Man arrested with explosives at Texas airport

01/02/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that a man was arrested at a Texas airport Saturday after attempting to make his way through security with explosives, authorities said. The man was apprehended at about 9:30 am after security officials noticed a suspicious item in a carry-on bag during an X-ray screening at Midland International Airport, the Transportation Security Agency said in a statement. Officials closed down the checkpoint for an hour while security officers removed the item.

Mexican federal police suspected of torture

01/02/12: ABC News reports that Mexican human rights authorities say five men detained in the killings of two agents and a car-bomb attack in Ciudad Juarez were tortured by federal police to confess their roles in the crimes. The National Human Rights Commission said Sunday the country must investigate six federal officers and a doctor who didn't report signs of severe beating. Police had accused one man of being a lookout in a July 2010 car-bomb attack. They had also accused the five men of killing two police officers.

Student arrested for bringing stun gun on plane

01/02/12: CBS News reports a that a college student from China was arrested trying to carry a combination stun gun and flashlight onto a plane in New York City. Sihui "Hannah" Xie said by phone Sunday that she pleaded not guilty and believes her weapons-possession case is on track to be resolved with a fine. Court records were not immediately available. The Transportation Security Administration said a checkpoint screener spotted the item in Xie's carry-on luggage as she headed for an Orlando, Florida-bound flight at Kennedy Airport.

Colorado mall bomber pleads guilty to one count

12/31/11: The Denver Post reports that a man has acknowledged planting a homemade bomb at a Colorado shopping mall on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Earl Albert Moore, 56, pleaded guilty in Denver federal court Friday to one count of using a destructive device in a crime of violence.  An April 20 fire at the Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton and the discovery of the bomb raised fears it was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the 1999 school shootings at nearby Columbine in which two students killed 13 people and then themselves.