Human Rights First's U.S. Law and Security Digest is a weekly report to help keep you up to date about developments in U.S. national security law and policy that have an impact on civil liberties and human rights.

COALITION OF EXPERTS SAY TORTURE ON TV CAN SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE
In response to concerns about the effects of TV depictions of torture on real-life interrogators, Human Rights First launched the Primetime Torture Project this week. The project includes the production of a military training video in which senior interrogators and television producers discuss the differences between effective battlefield interrogations and techniques that only work on TV. Torture scenes on American TV shows saw a spike after the Sept. 11 attacks, and in a departure from traditional plot lines, the Americans were now the ones carrying out the torture. Senior interrogators maintain that torture doesn't produce reliable information, but some young soldiers, who are often under-trained and under pressure to extract information quickly, say they have drawn from what they see on TV. To that end, Human Rights First and former interrogators and commanders have met with the producers of TV shows "24" and "Lost" to discuss the impact of torture scenes on real-life interrogations.
Read more.

NEW BILL SEEKS TO RESTORE RULE OF LAW TO DETENTIONS AND MILITARY COMMISSIONS
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced a bill Tuesday that would restore the right of detainees to challenge their imprisonment in court, narrow the term "enemy combatant," and allow detainees to invoke the Geneva Conventions in court. Clarifying the definition of "enemy combatants" in particular would help to remedy legal problems by spelling out the differences between armed conflict and the Bush Administration's ambiguous "war on terror," Human Rights First Washington Director Elisa Massimino told the Washington Post. The bill aims to reverse the rollback of rights brought through the Military Commissions Act passed last year. The proposed bill, titled the "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007," would also prohibit the admission in military commission trials of evidence obtained by coercion. Meanwhile the commanding general of seven Marine bases added to calls for reform Wednesday, urging the United States to resolve the legal status of the Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Read more.

CIA CONTRACTOR SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR BEATING DETAINEE
The only person working for the CIA to be prosecuted for the prisoner abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in prison for beating a detainee who died shortly after the assaults. Passaro, a former CIA contractor, was convicted in August of assaulting Afghan farmer Abdul Wali, who was detained on suspicions of setting off rocket attacks. Passaro deprived Wali of sleep, limited his access to food and water, and beat him severely in two consecutive interrogations. The prosecution of David Passaro was a positive development but just a first step, Human Rights First Associate Attorney Priti Patel told reporters, adding that the Justice Department should do more to address the systematic problem of abuses. At least 20 cases of CIA agents and civilians implicated in prisoner abuse have been referred to the Justice Department for prosecution, but so far the government has failed to take action in most cases.
Read more.

RENDITION VICTIM RELEASED FROM PRISON
An Egyptian cleric kidnapped and secretly transported by the CIA from the streets of Milan to Cairo has been freed, after lingering in prison for four years, his attorney said Monday. The prisoner, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar, says Egyptian guards tortured him with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats, and sexual assault. Meanwhile Italian prosecutors have charged 25 suspected CIA operatives and one Air Force officer with Nasr's abduction. But Nasr said Monday his imprisonment had left him a wreck, and he was too frightened to return to Italy to give evidence in the case. Separately on Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a report accusing 15 European nations and Turkey of complicity in more than 1,200 CIA-operated flights used to transfer terror suspects to secret locations.
Read more.

CANADIAN COUNTERTERRORISM LAWS TO EXPIRE NEXT WEEK
Two controversial counterterrorism measures set to expire next week in Canada have raised questions within the Canadian parliament over whether to renew them. The two provisions of Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks, allow the government to hold terror suspects without charges for 72 hours and authorize judges to compel witnesses to testify in terrorism cases. Liberal parliamentarians have acknowledged they are divided over whether to renew the provisions, while conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called for a three-year extension of the measures. The Harper government needs support from at least one liberal opposition party to push through the extensions. In the first high-profile arrests under Canada's new anti-terrorism laws, Canadian police arrested 18 men and teens last summer in connection with an alleged plot to set off truck bombs north of Toronto. The suspects' trials are pending.
Read more.

TRIAL BEGINS FOR 29 IN CONNECTION WITH MARCH 2004 MADRID ATTACKS
A Spanish court heard opening arguments today in the trial of 29 people charged with plotting Spain's deadliest terror attacks, which killed 191 and wounded 1,800 in Madrid in 2004. Italian investigators, who previously convicted one of the defendants in Milan of planning terror attacks, said the evidence suggests the defendants had ties across Europe and also to recruitment activities for suicide bombers in Iraq. The first suspect to take the stand, Egyptian citizen Rabei Osman, said he had no involvement in the plot. Prosecutors say police secretly taped phone calls in which Osman bragged about the bombings. The defendants are charged with a range of crimes in connection with the attacks, including terrorist murder and stealing dynamite from mines to sell to the bombers. All of the men have pleaded not guilty.
Read more.

COURT AFFIRMS HABEAS CORPUS RIGHTS OF U.S. CITIZEN HELD IN IRAQ
An American citizen held by U.S. forces in Iraq must be allowed to challenge his detention in U.S. court, a federal appeals court ruled Sunday. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia blocked the U.S. military from transferring Shawqi Omar, a dual American and Jordanian citizen, to the Iraqi government for trial in an Iraqi court. Omar was captured in a raid in Baghdad in 2004 and has been held since without formal charges or access to counsel, according to his family. Omar is suspected of supporting terrorists and insurgents in Iraq. In response to the decision, a Justice Department spokesman said he believed the ruling would interfere with the president's ability to wage war and keep commitments to allies. The case of a second American citizen detained in Iraq will be heard by another Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel on Friday. The prisoner, Mohammad Munaf, was arrested in Iraq and charged with planning to kidnap a group of Romanian journalists. He was convicted and sentenced to death in an Iraqi court, but a U.S. district court prevented his transfer to the Iraqi government before the sentence could be carried out.
Read more.

FEBRUARY 19: PROGRAM ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS
The National Institute of Military Justice and American University's Washington College of Law will hold a program on "The Future of Military Commissions." It will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in room 603 at the Washington College of Law, 4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
More information.

FEBRUARY 22: GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB ON HBO
A new documentary by Rory Kennedy will examine the psychological and political context of the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib. "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" will also look into the policies in place that allowed the abuses to flourish and what may have compelled ordinary soldiers to commit the abuses. The film will be shown February 22 on HBO.
More information.

FEBRUARY 23: SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL LAW
The University of Virginia School of Law will hold a symposium examining America's interpretation of international law in the context of the global "war on terror." Human Rights First Washington Director Elisa Massimino will speak on a panel addressing "Detainee Issues: Interrogation, Treatment, and Rendition" from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
More information.

back to top

© 2006 Human Rights First