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.

STATE DEPARTMENT SURVEY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OMITS ABUSES BY U.S.
The State Department issued its annual review of human rights violations worldwide Tuesday but failed to acknowledge many abuses committed by the United States or with American support. The 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights neglected to mention ongoing investigations into several nations' practice of transferring prisoners to nations that engage in torture. Recent examples include Italy's indictment of Italian and U.S. officials for their role in the transfer of an Egyptian cleric to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured, and a German court's investigation into the rendition of a German citizen to Afghanistan. The report also omits the role of the United States in detaining hundreds of prisoners without due process in Afghanistan and thousands in Iraq. Although the State Department does not specifically ban drafters of the report from including actions taken at the request of the United States, experts note the annual report has generally steered clear of such criticism. The report did note that the Unites States' own human rights record on counterterrorism has been widely criticized. Read more.

NEW LEGISLATION SEEKS TO HALT PRACTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION
A senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee introduced a bill Tuesday that seeks to end the Bush Administration's practice of transferring terror suspects for interrogation or detention to nations where they could face torture. Rep. Edward Markey's (D-MA) bill, titled the "Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act," would prevent the transfer of detainees in U.S. control to any nation known to engage in torture and would also bar officials from relying on "diplomatic assurances" to verify that suspects would not be tortured. At the same time, the bill would allow legal extraditions of suspects to nations that do not practice torture. In a letter to Markey, Human Rights First welcomed the legislation as a step toward upholding human rights norms and reassuring allies they can cooperate with the United States without fear they may be aiding torture. Read more.

GOVERNMENT TO HOLD CLOSED HEARINGS FOR 14 DETAINEES
The Defense Department will hold the first hearings Friday for 14 "high-value detainees" following President Bush's September announcement of their transfer to Guantanamo Bay from secret overseas prisons. The hearings, known as Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs), will seek to determine whether the prisoners are "enemy combatants" and thus eligible for military trials. Unlike previous CSRTs, the hearings will be closed to reporters. The hearings do not allow detainees a lawyer, may deny detainees access to evidence and witnesses, and may rely on evidence obtained by torture. The 14 detainees allegedly have links to al Qaeda and include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Read more.

GUANTANAMO DETAINEES ASK FOR SUPREME COURT REVIEW
Lawyers for two groups of detainees held for five years without charges at Guantanamo Bay appealed to the Supreme Court Monday to challenge their cases in U.S. courts. The appeals seek to overturn last month's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholding the Military Commissions Act's removal of federal court jurisdiction over detainees' habeas claims. The detainees claim that they are entitled to habeas hearings, based in part on rights provided in the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department announced Tuesday it had completed a second round of Administrative Review Boards, an annual review used to determine whether Guantanamo Bay detainees represent security threats. Under the most recent round, 55 detainees were recommended for transfer, while 273 were slated for continued indefinite detention. Read more.

TORTURE DEFINITION TOO NARROW, PSYCHIATRISTS FIND
The line between torture and cruel treatment may be fuzzy if it exists at all, according to a new study published Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Based on interviews with people who were subjected to torture and abuses while imprisoned in the former Yugoslavia, the study found that those who suffer from cruel or degrading treatment display many of the same long-term symptoms of distress as do victims of more physically violent torture. The Justice Department has manipulated definitions of torture in recent years, initially defining it as conduct resulting in organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or death, before later broadening the definition. Even so, the Justice Department's current definition would exclude conduct causing mental pain and suffering that is not prolonged. However abuses such as humiliating treatment, verbal abuse, threats against a captive's family, and being forced to watch the torture of another can result in the same long-term mental distress as physical torture, the study found. Read more.

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.

MARCH 11: READING ON COMBATANT STATUS REVIEW TRIBUNALS
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School will hold a public reading on "Combatant Status Review Tribunals, pages 002954-003064," a five-hour public reading of transcripts from 15 Combatant Status Review Tribunals held at Guantanamo Bay. The reading will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. at the gym at Judson Memorial Church, 243 Thompson, just below Washington Square South in New York City.

MARCH 12: PRETRIAL HEARING FOR ABU GHRAIB OFFICER
A hearing on the pretrial motions of the case against Lt. Col. Steven Jordan will be held at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Jordan is the only officer to be charged with abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. More information.

MARCH 14-16: CIVIL SOCIETY AND PREVENTING TERRORISM
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the CIDOB Foundation will hold a working level meeting on "The Role of Civil Society in Preventing Terrorism" in Barcelona. Human Rights First International Legal Director Gabor Rona will participate in the meeting.

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© 2006 Human Rights First