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.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.): "Would waterboarding be torture if it was done to you?"
Attorney General Michael Mukasey: "I would feel that it was."

January 30, oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"If you're sitting at the 9/11 Commission, with all the high-powered lawyers on the Commission and on the staff, first you ask what happened rather than guess. Most people look at the 9/11 Commission Report as a trusted historical document.  If their conclusions were supported by information gained from torture, therefore their conclusions are suspect."

Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, NBC News investigation into the validity of information used to compile the 9/11 Commission's Final Report.

MUKASEY AGAIN REFUSES TO DECLARE WATERBOARDING ILLEGAL
Appearing for his first oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, January 30, Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused to declare waterboarding illegal. Mukasey's statements echoed comments he made during his October 2007 confirmation hearing, when he described the technique as "repugnant," but declined to call it torture in all circumstances. Mukasey argued in October that he needed access to classified Justice Department memos before determining waterboarding's legality. By Wednesday's hearing, Mukasey had still not reached a conclusion. He claimed that if waterboarding were done to him, he felt it would be torture. However, he refrained from denouncing the practice in all situations, stating that "[t]here are circumstances where waterboarding is clearly unlawful," but that "there may be circumstances in which that presents a difficult question." Mukasey confirmed that waterboarding is not part of the CIA's current interrogation program, but he left open the possibility that the technique could be used again in the future, leading Elisa Massimino, the Washington Director of Human Rights First, to conclude that "[t]he attorney general's evasive testimony" makes it impossible for the American people or the world to know what the United States means when it says that it does not torture." Read more.

MEETING HELD TO DISCUSS NEW RULES FOR PRIVATE CONTRACTORS
On Wednesday, January 30, top executives from 20 private security companies operating in Iraq attended a closed-door meeting with Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to discuss implementing new rules for security contractors.  Wednesday's meeting served as a follow-up to a December decision between the Defense and State Departments to give the U.S. military greater responsibility for managing private contractors.  Participants were expected to discuss the political environment in Iraq and ways to further ensure contractor accountability.  Jack Bell, a senior Pentagon official, informed a Senate subcommittee last week that parts of the December agreement have already been implemented, but other parts are still being worked on.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates has requested a report by February 28 detailing the progress made in implementing the new rules.  On January 16, Human Rights First issued a report entitled "Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity," detailing the Department of Justice's systematic failure to hold contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan criminally responsible for acts of abuse and excessive use of violence. Read more.

ICRC CRITICIZES LEGAL PROCEDURES AT GUANTANAMO
Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), met this week with top U.S. government officials to urge the government to provide "more robust procedural safeguards" for detainees in U.S. custody.  Kellenberger argued that the current system is insufficient and that the practices underway at detention facilities at Guantanamo Naval Base, the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and in South Carolina do not constitute a legal system.  "To this day - most detainees live in uncertainty about their fate," the ICRC said on its website.  This "has added to the mental and emotional strain experienced by many detainees and their families." The ICRC has been monitoring the Guantanamo facility since 2002. It is the only neutral agency with full access to the camp's detainees.  Its specific findings are kept confidential and discussed only with U.S. officials. The meeting with the ICRC occurred just days before scheduled military commission proceedings for Guantanamo detainees Omar Khadr and Salim Hamdan. Read more.

SENATE DELAYS EXPIRATION OF CURRENT SURVEILLANCE LAW
The House and Senate voted on Tuesday, January 29, to extend the Protect America Act for fifteen days to allow more time for debate on a new surveillance bill. The main divide over the bill involves whether to grant telecommunication companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits brought following their cooperation with the administration's warrantless wiretapping program.  The immunity clause would liberate the companies from nearly 40 lawsuits alleging violations of U.S. citizens' privacy rights.  President Bush had threatened to veto a proposed 30-day extension, explaining in his State of the Union address on Monday that Congress "had ample time for debate" and that "the time to act is now." Several Democratic congressional leaders urged both houses to resist pressure from the White House and to take the time needed to fully consider the legislation. On Thursday, President Bush conceded to Congress' request and signed off on a fifteen-day extension. Read more.

FEBRUARY 7: ROUNDTABLE ON TRYING TERRORISM CASES
Fordham Law School will host a discussion entitled "Trying Cases Related to Allegations of Terrorism: Judges' Roundtable." The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. at Fordham Law School, McNally Amphitheatre, 140 West 62nd Street, New York City. More information.

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© 2006 Human Rights First