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.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in a speech announcing the suspension of his run for president, February 7, Conservative Political Action Conference.

SMITH: Would you agree with me that 99 percent of the American people would probably endorse such techniques if they could be shown to save thousands of American lives and, again, to be conducted only on a known terrorist with the high expectation that such information could protect the American people?

MUKASEY: Regrettably, unlike the -- unlike the question posed by the chairman, I can't sit here and say what I think 99 percent of people would do. I have, kind of, an instinct, but...

SMITH: I can, but you cannot. I understand that.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, exchange on the use of waterboarding, February 7, House Judiciary Committee hearing.

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS WATERBOARDING DETAINEES
Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, February 5, CIA Director Michael Hayden announced that the agency waterboarded three terrorist suspects following the September 11 attacks. The statement marked the first public confirmation by a government official of the use of the simulated drowning practice. Hayden noted the usefulness of the technique on two detainees, stating that their interrogations accounted for one quarter of the CIA's intelligence reports on al Qaeda. The CIA banned waterboarding in 2006, though the practice has allegedly not been used in nearly five years. Hayden told the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday that he is not sure whether waterboarding would now be deemed legal, stating: " ...in my own view, the view of my lawyers and the Department of Justice, it is not certain that that technique would be considered to be lawful under current statute." However, on Wednesday, the White House defended the tactic and argued that it retains the authority to resume use of the technique under circumstances in which "an attack might be imminent." Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused on Thursday to begin a criminal investigation into the legality of the CIA's use of waterboarding, arguing that practices utilized in the past were deemed lawful by the Justice Department at the time of their usage. On Wednesday, Manfred Nowak, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, criticized the Bush administration's comments and argued that waterboarding is "absolutely unacceptable under international human rights law." Read more.

PRE-TRIAL HEARINGS HELD AT GUANTANAMO BAY
At a Monday, February 4 pre-trial hearing for detainee Omar Khadr, his lawyers questioned the reliability of evidence supporting the prosecution's case. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. But it was disclosed on Monday that a witness saw a second person - a combatant, who was alive and armed and fighting - in the house from which the grenade was thrown, raising doubts about whether Khadr was responsible for the death. Khadr's lawyers also argued that Khadr should not be charged as a war criminal because he was only fifteen at the time of his capture. "He is a victim of al Qaeda, not a member of al Qaeda," argued his lawyers. Another pre-trial hearing was held on Thursday, February 7, for detainee Salim Hamdan. Hamdan's lawyers filed a motion earlier in the week asking that tribunal proceedings halt until their client is transferred out of the maximum-security and isolation conditions in which he is held. A psychologist has diagnosed Hamdan with post-traumatic stress disorder and said that he is at risk for "suicidal thoughts and behavior." As a result, Hamdan's lawyers claim that their client is not able to assist in his own defense. Also on Thursday, Hamdan's lawyers requested interviews with three of the camp's "high-value detainees," whom they say may help prove Hamdan's innocence. Read more.

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE CONCERNS IN MOUSSAOUI TERROR TRIAL
Court documents filed in December in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui were made public yesterday, suggesting that the CIA may have obstructed justice by refusing to hand over interrogation tapes. According to the document, Judge Brinkema, who presided over Moussaoui's case, sought information about the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah as late as November 29, 2005. While other intelligence reports detailing Zubaydah's interrogations were provided to the court, the existence of the tapes and their destruction in November 2005 was never mentioned. This new information contradicts a December statement made by CIA Director Michael Hayden that the tapes had no bearing on the Moussaoui case. Another document released Wednesday, a letter from Chuck Rosenberg, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stated that a prosecutor in the case "may have been told in late February or early March 2006" about the destruction of the Zubaydah tapes, though the prosecutor "does not recall being told this information." Moussaoui was convicted in 2006 on terrorism-related charges. Lawyers for Moussaoui filed the papers released Wednesday in an appeal of the life sentence he received in May 2006. Read more.

BRITISH SURVEILLANCE ACTIONS UNDER SCRUTINY
The British Parliament expressed alarm on Monday, February 4, following a newspaper report alleging that the government had bugged conversations between a lawmaker and a terror suspect. The report claims that the government had placed a bug in a hollowed-out table in a prison visiting room to eavesdrop on two conversations between MP Sadiq Khan and Babar Ahmad, a terror suspect awaiting extradition to the U.S. According to Paul Kennedy, a former High Court judge who reviews wiretap warrants and wiretapping procedures, approximately 1,333 wiretaps were authorized in Britain in the last nine months of 2006 and by the end of the year 754 wiretaps were still in place. In addition, police and other authorities made 253,500 requests for data, including telephone numbers, call records and e-mails in 2006. However, the wiretapping of British legislators is prohibited under the 1966 Wilson doctrine. Kennedy believes the government should overturn the doctrine, arguing that "In times like these, it seems to me to be totally indefensible." Justice Secretary Jack Straw has opened an inquiry in the House of Commons to determine the validity of the bugging allegations. Ahmad's lawyer also asked investigators to look into FBI involvement in the eavesdropping order, arguing that Britain has no need to intercept her client's conversations since it has already been decided that Ahmad will face charges in the U.S. Read more.

FEBRUARY 12: DISCUSSION ON PRIVATE CONTRACTORS
Quinnipiac University School of Law will host a discussion entitled "Outsourcing War and Peace" with Professor Laura A. Dickinson of the University of Connecticut School of Law. The event will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the Quinnipiac University School of Law Faculty Commons, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT. More information.

FEBRUARY 19: DICUSSION ON GUANTANAMO DEVELOPMENTS
Columbia Law School will host a discussion entitled "Gitmo Tuesday: No Day is Super When You're Detained Indefinitely." The event will begin at 12:20 p.m. at Columbia Law School, Jerome L. Greene Hall, Lobby Level, Room 105, 435 W. 116 St., New York City. More information.

FEBRUARY 21: DISCUSSION ON CIVILIANS PARTICIPATING IN HOSTILITIES
The American Society of International Law will host a luncheon discussion entitled "Civilians on the Battlefield: Direct Participation in Hostilities under International Humanitarian Law." The event will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the American Society of International Law, 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Individuals interested in attending can register here.

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