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.

JUDGE FINDS PADILLA FIT FOR TRIAL, LEAVES QUESTION OF MISTREATMENT FOR ANOTHER DAY
A federal judge in Miami found Jose Padilla mentally competent to stand trial Wednesday but did not address the question of his treatment in a military brig. Padilla, an American citizen who was held as an "enemy combatant" without charges for more than three years, has said during that time he was kept isolated in a small cell, deprived of sleep and reading materials, and forced to maintain painful "stress positions." In hearings on Padilla's competency, his defense attorney argued such treatment had left Padilla unable to provide his lawyers with any useful information. The trial for Padilla, who is accused of providing support for terrorism operations abroad, is scheduled to begin in April. Human Rights First filed multiple amicus curiae briefs in support of Padilla, arguing the president does not have the authority to detain indefinitely a U.S. citizen captured on American soil.
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CANADIAN COURT, PARLIAMENT STRENTHEN RIGHTS FOR DEFENDANTS
Less than a week after Canada's high court struck down a government measure used to hold terror suspects based on secret evidence, the Canadian Parliament voted to let two additional counterterrorism laws expire. On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the nation's security certificate system, which allows the government to hold terror suspects indefinitely without charges, violates fundamental Canadian rights. The decision will not go into effect for a year so that the Parliament may draft new legislation to comply with the ruling. In a speech in Ottawa following the decision, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointed to the example of the U.S. Congress after the Supreme Court struck down the president's military commissions in a similar ruling last year. The American government was able to fashion new anti-terror laws to keep the country safe, Rice said. But unlike Congress, which sought to restrict the right of detainees to appeal their detentions, the Canadian Parliament on Friday moved to expand rights for the accused. The measures set to expire allow police to hold terror suspects for 72 hours without charges and allow courts to compel witnesses to testify at hearings similar to grand jury proceedings in America.
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BRITISH COURT CLEARS THE WAY FOR DEPORTATION OF TERROR SUSPECTS
The British government may deport a radical cleric to Jordan, a British court ruled Monday. British officials say they have obtained assurances from Jordan and other governments known to torture prisoners that terror suspects returned to those nations would not be abused. But human rights experts note that such assurances cannot be relied on, and say that the decision could open the door to abuses against other suspects. The case centers on Abu Qatada, a Jordanian citizen who has been convicted in absentia by Jordan on bombing and conspiracy charges. Meanwhile, The Guardian reported on Monday that two terror suspects deported to their native Algeria last month were arrested and charged with terrorist activities after Algerian officials in Britain told them they would face no criminal charges. Lawyers for one of the suspects said he now fears his client will face an unfair trial that could admit evidence obtained through torture.
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IN DATA MINING TEST, GOVERNMENT MAY BE MONITORING HABITS OF AMERICANS
The Department of Homeland Security is gathering information on the activities of Americans in efforts to test a data-mining project designed to detect possible terrorists, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Researchers testing the system are likely using Americans' private information such as flight and hotel reservations, according to reports. The program, now known by the acronym ADVISE, relies on vast amounts of information on American habits to spot suspicious patterns that could suggest terrorist activities. Congress rejected a similar plan in 2003 over privacy concerns. A forthcoming report from the Government Accountability Office is expected to detail multiple government programs that may violate Americans' privacy by monitoring their habits without their knowledge. Officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have said they will take measures to ensure Americans' privacy, but others have raised concerns that the program could entrap hundreds of innocent people
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U.S. WILL NOT TRANSFER CIA OPERATIVES FOR TRIAL IN ITALY
The United States will not extradite any of the 25 CIA operatives sought by Italian prosecutors in connection with the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric from Milan, a lawyer for the State Department said Monday, adding that the Italian probe is hurting anti-terrorism cooperation. In February an Italian court charged 25 CIA personnel, a U.S. Air Force officer, and five Italian security agents for their roles in the abduction of the cleric, known as Abu Omar. Following the abduction, Omar was transferred to an Egyptian prison, held for four years, and only recently released. In his first public statement, Omar said last week Egyptian security officials tortured him with electric shocks and other abuses during his imprisonment.
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U.S. BRINGS TERROR CHARGES AGAINST AUSTRALIAN DETAINEE
The U.S. government filed charges today against Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, in the first charges brought since Congress passed new military commission rules last year.  Hicks is suspected of aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, where he was captured in December 2001.  The Australian government has brought steady pressure on the United States to resolve the case against Hicks, who has been held for five years without trial.  The news comes as a group of leading Australian lawyers warned that the military commissions process set to prosecute Hicks is a kangaroo court with inadequate safeguards against abuses.  Under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the hearings for Hicks and other defendants may permit evidence obtained through coercion, deny the defendants adequate independent judicial review, and fail to provide other rights normally provided in court martial proceedings.
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MARCH 9: DISCUSSION ON DETAINEE TREATMENT
Human Rights First will host a lunch briefing and discussion on a paper published by the Bridging the Foreign Policy Divide project. The paper, "The Cost of Confusion: Resolving Ambiguities in Detainee Treatment," is written by Kenneth Anderson of American University's Washington College of Law and Elisa Massimino, Washington director of Human Rights First. The meeting will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at the Henry L. Stimson Center, 1111 19th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., on the 12th floor. RSVP to Sandra Hall in the Washington office of Human Rights First (acceptances only) at 202-547-5692 or at HallS@humanrightsfirst.org.

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© 2006 Human Rights First