Terrorism

Brief: Legal Protections for Gitmo Detainees Unsurpassed

The Bush administration argues in a U.S. Supreme Court brief (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) that detainees at Guantanamo Bay “enjoy more procedural protections than any other captured enemy combatants in the history of warfare.” The brief says the court should uphold a law barring habeas appeals in the federal courts…

Oct 11, 2007 1:36 PM CDT

Detainee’s Tunisian Transfer Blocked

A federal judge has barred the government from transferring a Guantanamo detainee to his home country of Tunisia, where he says he could be tortured or killed. Judge Gladys Kessler of Washington, D.C., issued an injunction barring the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Rahman until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in…

Oct 10, 2007 11:36 AM CDT

Supreme Court Rejects CIA Detention Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to grant review in a case that challenges the CIA’s “extraordinary renditions” program, in which it sends detainees abroad for harsh questioning, SCOTUSblog reports. Khaled el-Masri has been unable to get a court hearing because the government has invoked the state secrets privilege to…

Oct 9, 2007 2:14 PM CDT

New Terrorism Wiretap Law Likely to Pass

Democrats are likely to back a bill to extend the government’s wiretap authority in terrorism investigations. Administration officials told the New York Times that they believed a law would pass that authorizes the National Security Agency spy program for several more years. Democrats are willing to vote yes because they…

Oct 9, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

Leak of Bin Laden Video Harms Company

A government leak of an Osama bin Laden video secretly obtained by a company that monitors intelligence has alerted al-Qaida to the private surveillance operation. “Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless,” Rita Katz, the firm’s founder, told the Washington Post. Her company, the SITE Intelligence…

Oct 9, 2007 10:13 AM CDT

Second Officer Criticizes Gitmo Tribunals

A second Army officer has submitted a court affidavit questioning the fairness of the process used to decide whether detainees at Guantanamo Bay are enemy combatants. The sworn statement said the government failed to present evidence favorable to the detainees and the panels hearing the cases were pressured to side…

Oct 8, 2007 1:55 PM CDT

Chief Gitmo Prosecutor Resigns

The chief military prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay war tribunals has resigned, apparently over a lack of prosecutorial discretion. A Pentagon spokesman says Air Force Col. Moe Davis asked to be assigned to another post after losing a dispute over whether the higher-ranking officer responsible for holding the tribunals should…

Oct 5, 2007 11:12 PM CDT

CIA Director Details Interrogations

In another reaction to a lengthy New York Times article yesterday on secret Department of Justice legal opinions on interrogation tactics, the director of the CIA sent an internal memo to employees disputing the premise that the memos opened the door for harsher methods. In his memo, Michael Hayden describes…

Oct 5, 2007 10:40 PM CDT

Bush: No Torture; Senator: No Info

Reacting to controversy sparked by a New York Times article yesterday about two secret Department of Justice legal opinions in 2005 that at least arguably conflict with contemporaneous public administration statements about torture, President George W. Bush reiterated today that the U.S. doesn’t torture prisoners. Plus, the president insisted, the…

Oct 5, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: The Immoral is Mundane

Clive Stafford Smith is a lawyer who serves as the legal director of Reprieve, a British human rights agency that represents prisoners at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Not long ago, he made the news after being accused by military authorities of smuggling contraband briefs—that is to say,…

Oct 5, 2007 6:10 PM CDT

Judge: Moving Detainee Requires Notice

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler this week ordered the U.S. not to transfer a detainee in Afghanistan without giving his attorney at least 30 days’ notice. The ruling, considered a “milestone” in challenges to indefinite detention, comes on behalf of Haji Rohullah has been in U.S. custody since August 2006,…

Oct 5, 2007 11:16 AM CDT

Congress Probes Latest Torture Concerns

Congressional committees are launching investigations, after a New York Times article today revealed that two secret Department of Justice opinions in 2005 endorsed prisoner interrogation techniques some consider tantamount to torture. However, the White House has reiterated prior assertions that the U.S. doesn’t torture prisoners. The Democratic chairs of both…

Oct 4, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

Stubborn Juror Won’t Vote

“What do we do when a juror refuses to vote?” That was the handwritten note submitted yesterday to the federal judge overseeing the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, the Dallas Morning News reports. U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish of Dallas sent the jurors back for more deliberations with…

Oct 4, 2007 2:22 PM CDT

Congress Urged: Address Terrorism War Problems

The Washington Post is urging Congress to address judges’ concerns with two tools used by the Bush administration to gather evidence in its war on terror: national security letters and warrants issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. National security letters are used to gather customer information from telecommunications companies.…

Oct 3, 2007 6:40 PM CDT

Detainees Deemed a Threat Cleared for Release

Two dozen Guantanamo detainees are being allowed to return to their home countries even though military panels determined they posed a threat. The secretary of defense overrode findings of the military’s Administrative Review Boards in 24 out of 55 cases, the Associated Press reports. Forty-one out of the 55 detainees…

Oct 3, 2007 4:22 PM CDT