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.

CONGRESS HOLDS PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS ACCOUNTABLE FOR IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS
On Thursday, October 4, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill to formally hold armed private contractors working overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and similar military theatres of operation accountable under United States law. The current lack of accountability impeding criminal prosecution of private security contractors has come under intense scrutiny following the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square by heavily armed Blackwater USA contractors. On Tuesday, October 2, Blackwater president Erik Prince testified before a House Committee, defending the actions of the contractors and contesting a congressional report that found Blackwater responsible for an unparalleled high number of violent incidents in Iraq. A joint letter by Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch strongly encouraged Congress to support the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007. The Senate is expected to consider similar legislation. Read more.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET APPROVAL OF BANNED HARSH CIA INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES
The existence of two secret legal opinions issued by the Department of Justice in 2005 were revealed on Thursday, October 4, and reportedly authorize the harshest interrogation techniques yet – including simulated drowning and naked exposure to frigid temperatures – characterizing these techniques as neither cruel nor inhuman. The opinions, issued under then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, seemingly responded to the ban on "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" that Congress passed in 2005, and contradict the Justice Department's public statement in 2004 that torture is "abhorrent" to American law. Officials also reported that the CIA had reinstated secret "black sites" to hold detainees after President Bush issued a July 2007 Executive Order authorizing "enhanced" interrogation techniques. Human Rights First called this development troubling, since a 2006 Supreme Court ruling confirmed that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions applies to detainees. The White House has confirmed the existence of the documents but denies that they permit torture. Congressional officials are demanding copies of all secret legal opinions issued since 2004. According to administrative officials, the opinions still remain in effect. Read more.

DETAINEES RELEASED FROM GUANTANAMO MILITARY PRISON
The Department of Defense announced on Sunday, September 30, the release of eight detainees who had long been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. The freed detainees, who were transferred to their native countries, included six Afghans, a Libyan and a Yemeni. They are all believed to have been processed through the 2004 military review panels that the Supreme Court later deemed to be unconstitutional. On Tuesday, October 2, another detainee was released to Mauritania and claimed to have been subjected to physical and psychological torture at Guantanamo, where he had been held for four years. Pentagon documents recently obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request suggest that decisions to hold, transfer, and release Guantanamo prisoners have been made arbitrarily, inconsistently, and independently of the military Administrative Review Boards hearings formally held for that purpose. The recent releases are seen in some quarters as part of a gradual move to close the Guantanamo facility. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently aired his frustration with Bush administration officials over their objections to closing the prison. Read more.

PAROLE GRANTED FOR HIGHEST-RANKING ABU GHRAIB SOLDIER CONVICTED OF DETAINEE ABUSE
On Monday, October 1, former Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick, Jr. was paroled from a military prison after serving three years of an eight-year sentence for his role in the torture of Abu Ghraib prison detainees. Frederick was the highest-ranking U.S. soldier convicted in the incident. At his 2004 court martial, he plead guilty to charges including dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, and assault, after admitting he personally abused detainees in various ways, including threatening electrocution, forcing detainees to perform indecent acts, and stomping on piled detainees. His release was due in part to the testimony he provided to prosecutors at the trial of Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, the only officer charged in connection with the abuse at Abu Ghraib. (Jordan was ultimately acquitted on charges of failing to properly train and supervise soldiers involved in detainee interrogations.) Attorneys for both men claimed their clients were scapegoats to deflect attention from those at the highest levels of national security policymaking, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. On Wednesday, October 3, two civilian defense contractors, Titan and CACI International, went on trial for their alleged involvement in abuses at Abu Ghraib, on claims of conspiracy to torture, rape, and kill Iraqi prisoners, in a civil racketeering lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in California by Iraqis who were detained at the time by Coalition forces in the notorious prison. The Justice Department has never initiated criminal prosecutions of any of the civilian contractors involved in the Abu Ghraib abuses, in contrast to the courts-martial of at least some military personnel implicated in the scandal. Read more.

OCTOBER 8: DISCUSSION ON COUNTERING TERRORISM
The Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law will host a discussion entitled "Countering Terrorism: Blurred Focus, Halting Steps." The discussion will feature Richard A. Posner and will be moderated by Stephen Holmes. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Furman Hall, Room 212; 245 Sullivan Street, New York City. More information.

OCTOBER 8: SYMPOSIUM ON THE RULES OF WARFARE
The Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University presents a conference entitled: "New Battlefields, Old Laws: From the Hague Conventions to Asymmetric Warfare." The all-day event will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. More information.

OCTOBER 10: PROSECUTING TERRORISM CONFERENCE
The Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law presents "Prosecuting Terrorism: America's Challenge Then & Now." Gabor Rona, the International Legal Director at Human Rights First, will speak on a panel discussing alternative approaches to holding terrorists accountable for their crimes. Other discussion topics will include war vs. crime, terror investigations, the embassy bombings, and strategies for the future. The event will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, New York City. More information.

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© 2006 Human Rights First