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.

AUSTRALIAN DETAINEE ALLEGES ABUSES IN U.S. CUSTODY
Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks was repeatedly beaten during his years in U.S. custody and witnessed multiple abuses against other detainees, he alleged in a new court document supporting his bid for British citizenship. According to the affidavit, soldiers stomped on Hicks, beat him with a rifle butt, and injected him with drugs. The abuses began during interrogations in Afghanistan after he was captured in 2001 and continued until his transfer to Guantanamo in 2002, he said. The United States has denied the allegations. Hicks, the first detainee to be formally charged under the new military commissions rules, is appealing the British government's decision to deny him citizenship. Hicks said he believes that Britain would do more to secure his release than Australia has. On Monday Hicks will respond to charges of providing material support to terrorism at an arraignment before a military commission. Deputy Director of Human Rights First's Law and Security Program Hina Shamsi will report from the hearing at Guantanamo Bay.
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DETAINEES COMPLAIN OF MISTREATMENT IN SECRET CIA PRISONS
A group of 14 terror suspects deemed high-level detainees were held in secret under highly abusive conditions, according to a confidential new report issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross and based on conversations with the prisoners. The detainees complained techniques such as sleep deprivation and forced "stress positions" were used against them, according to the report. One of the 14, suspected al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed, claimed during his "enemy combatant" status hearing that he was abused in CIA custody. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Carl Levin (D-MI), who attended the hearing, called for an investigation into Mohammed's claims. During the proceedings, Mohammed claimed responsibility for more than 30 terrorism plots, including the Sept. 11 attacks and the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
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FBI INTERROGATED AMERICAN TERROR SUSPECT, LEFT HIM IN KENYAN CUSTODY
Federal officials who questioned an American citizen now detained by Ethiopian authorities may have violated U.S. and international laws that ban torture, human rights experts said this week. Amir Mohamed Meshal of Tinton, Falls, N.J. was arrested at the Somali-Kenyan border following clashes between the U.S.-backed Ethiopian army and the Islamist government in Somalia. FBI agents, who suspected Meshal had trained with al Qaeda in Somalia, reportedly questioned him last month while he was in Kenyan custody and left him with Kenyan authorities after determining they lacked the evidence to charge him with a crime in the United States. Meshal was then transferred to Somalia, and later to Ethiopia. Meshal's transfers may have violated the Convention Against Torture, experts said. The Convention prohibits the deportation of people to countries where they are likely to be tortured or abused. The FBI may also have violated Meshal's constitutional due process rights by leaving him with Kenyan authorities, legal experts said.
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INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS ABUSES IN FBI INFORMATION REQUESTS
The Justice Department's inspector general acknowledged Tuesday that the FBI may have violated U.S. law or government policies as many as 3,000 times in the last four years, by improperly requesting information such as phone, bank, or credit card records of people living in the United States. FBI records indicate the agency issued requests for personal and business data through the use of more than 900 national security letters per week in recent years. But officials cautioned that actual numbers of requests could be even higher because of the agency's poor recordkeeping. Agency errors included requesting information to which the FBI is not entitled, invoking emergency procedures when no emergencies existed, and failing to keep proper records, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine told lawmakers. He added that he believed the mistakes were motivated by carelessness and a desire to take shortcuts. In response, House Republicans and Democrats warned the FBI it could lose the power to demand these records unless it moved quickly to address the abuses.
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"WAR ON TERROR" LEADS TO CRACKDOWN ON MINORITIES, REPORT SAYS
Several nations, including Pakistan, Turkey, and Israel, have used the U.S.-led "war on terror" as an excuse to limit the rights of minorities within those nations, according to a new report by London-based Minority Rights Group International. The United States has aggravated the problem by ignoring its allies' human rights records to gain cooperation in counterterrorism, one of the authors said in a statement. The State of the World's Minorities, which examined the rights of minorities worldwide, also warned of a rise in Islamophobia in Europe. The group called on the United States to clarify that America will not excuse the persecution of minorities in states that cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The states with minorities most at risk are Somalia, Iraq, and Sudan, the report said.
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MARCH 26: HICKS HEARING AT GUANTANAMO BAY
Australian citizen David Hicks will respond to terrorism charges against him at an arraignment before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. Deputy Director of Human Rights First's Law and Security Program Hina Shamsi will blog on developments there on the HRF website and on the American Constitution Society's blog.
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MARCH 29: HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARING ON GUANTANAMO
Human Rights First Washington Director Elisa Massimino will testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the Military Commissions Act and the continued use of Guantanamo Bay as a detention facility. Testimony will begin at 10 a.m. in room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
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MARCH 29: DISCUSSION ON INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security will hold a breakfast program, featuring the National Counterintelligence Executive and Mission Manager for Counterintelligence, Joel F. Brenner. The breakfast will be held at the University Club, 1135 16th Street, NW in Washington, D.C. beginning at 8 a.m.
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MARCH 29: PANEL ON NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security will hold a panel on "Responding to the Department of Justice Inspector General's Report on the Use of National Security Letters." The panel will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at Arnold & Porter, 555 12th Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C.
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