Georgetown Security Law Brief

US, NATO will seek to end Afghan combat mission next year

02/20/12: The Washington Post reports that the United States hopes to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, more than a year earlier than scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday. His remarks reflected a growing sentiment within the Obama administration that its approach to Iraq, where the official end of combat operations came 16 months before the final US troop withdrawal in December, may provide a useful model for winding down operations in Afghanistan.

Lawmakers warn of outcry against Taliban transfer

02/02/12: Reuters reports that US lawmakers are steeling for a public battle against the possible transfer of Taliban detainees out of Guantanamo Bay prison, a key step in the Obama administration's bid to broker a peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan. Congressional opposition is gaining steam, especially among Republicans but also among some senior Democrats, to the potential transfer to Qatar of five senior Taliban prisoners, a good-faith move that could set the stage for eventual political talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.

Diplomats say progress made in UN talks on Syria

02/20/12: The BBC reports that diplomats at the United Nations Security Council have said progress has been made in discussions over a resolution on the crisis in Syria. Western nations have been pushing for the Security Council to endorse an Arab League peace plan. Russia has been critical of the Arab plan, but its ambassador also said Wednesday's session had been positive. "I think we have a much better understanding of what we need to do to reach consensus," Vitaly Churkin said.

German intelligence agency criticized for spying on lawmakers

02/02/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that that Germany’s intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is in a bad spot. First, the office came under fire after the revelation that a group of neo-Nazis had allegedly committed at least 10 killings, despite decades of intelligence monitoring. Then, the newsweekly Der Spiegel reported last month that 27 members of Parliament, all with a left-wing party, have been under observation by the intelligence service.

North Korea demands preconditions for talks with South Korea

02/02/12: ABC News reports that  North Korea on Thursday demanded several tough preconditions for resuming talks with rival South Korea. South Korea quickly called the demands made in a statement by the Policy Department of the North's powerful National Defense Commission "unreasonable." But the timing of the statement, which follows comments Wednesday by a senior US diplomat that Washington is open to diplomacy if Pyongyang improves ties with Seoul, and the change in tone after weeks of refusal to talk with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak could signal a willingness to ease tensions.

Taliban captives dispute US view on Afghanistan war

02/02/12:  The New York Times reports that more Taliban insurgents are being killed or captured than ever before, yet when the captives are interrogated by the American military, they remain convinced that they are winning the war. The Taliban captives tell their interrogators that their hearts-and-minds campaign is converting a growing number of Afghan government officials and soldiers. This is one of the findings of a NATO report, “State of the Taliban 2012,” based on 27,000 interrogations of 4,000 Taliban and other captives that portrays a Taliban insurgency that is far from vanquished or demoralized even as the United States and its allies enter what they hope will be the final phase of the war.

US No-Fly list doubles in one year

02/02/12: The Washington Times reports that the size of the government’s secret list of suspected terrorists who are banned from flying to or within the United States has more than doubled in the past year, the Associated Press has learned. The no-fly list jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected terrorists one year ago to about 21,000, according to government figures provided to the AP. Most people on the list are from other countries; about 500 are Americans.

Nigerian police arrest terrorist group's spokesman

02/02/12: CNN reports that the spokesman for Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has been captured after a months-long surveillance operation, a spokesman for Nigerian police said Wednesday. Security services tracked Abu Qa Qa through his phone and are now trying to confirm his true identity, though they believe that he is a Nigerian citizen. Boko Haram has carried out multiple bombings and shootings across northern Nigeria in recent days.

Venezuela passes anti-terrorism law

02/02/12:  The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Venezuela's congress has approved a law aimed at fighting organized crime and terrorism, though opposition lawmakers say they fear it could be used to crack down on dissent. Lawmakers allied with President Hugo Chavez say the "Law Against Organized Crime and Terrorism Financing" will help combat crimes such as money laundering, bomb threats and airplane hijackings.

Some Arab League monitors thought Syria trip was for 'pleasure'

02/01/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that some of the Arab League observers tasked with monitoring whether Syria had stopped its bloody crackdown on protesters “thought that their visit to Syria was for pleasure,” according to a report leaked to Foreign Policy magazine. The report, purportedly signed by the chief who oversaw the monitors, laid out a number of problems that prevented the observers from being effective, from health problems to inexperience to “personal agendas,” according to the document posted by reporter Colum Lynch.

Commentary: Gitmo’s prying eyes

02/01/12: The American Conservative features an opinion piece by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos alleging that Department of Defense actions have deprived Guantanamo detainees of the attorney client privilege.  Vlahos notes that the Office of Chief Defense Counsel for Military Commissions, whose clients are incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay, is engaged in a standoff. They’ve refused to sign the user agreement required by the Department of Defense that consents to “the routine monitoring, interception and search” of “all communications using or data stored on” the Pentagon’s global computer network, which all DoD personnel—including the attorneys—use every day. HT to Neal R. Sonnett.

ACLU sues to force release of drone attack records

02/01/12: The Washington Post reports that the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal court Wednesday to force the Obama administration to release legal and intelligence records related to the killing of three US citizens in drone attacks in Yemen last year. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, charged the Justice and Defense departments and the CIA with illegally failing to respond to requests made in October under the Freedom of Information Act.

UN chief urges Israel to halt settlements

02/01/12: CBS News reports that UN chief Ban Ki-moon pressed Israel on Wednesday to do more to get flagging Mideast peace efforts back on track, calling for a halt in West Bank settlement construction and urging the Israelis to submit concrete proposals on the key issues of borders and security ties with a future Palestine. Ban is visiting Israel and the Palestinian areas on a mission to salvage the latest efforts to restart peace talks. A month of low-level discussions between Israel and the Palestinians ended last week without any breakthroughs, and it remains unclear whether they will resume the dialogue.

Iran and Syria aided bomb and assassination plot in Bahrain

02/01/12: ABC News reports that five men arrested in November in connection with a plot to blow up the only bridge connecting the island of Bahrain with Saudi Arabia and to assassinate Bahraini politicians are allegedly tied to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and reportedly received military training in Syria, according to information leaked to the media by Bahraini prosecutors. The charges are the latest salvo in a regional struggle for power between Iran and the Arab Gulf states.

Alleged bomber's lawyer wants to question Yemeni President

02/01/12: The Miami Herald reports that Guantánamo defense lawyers for an alleged al Qaida bomber asked an Army judge on Tuesday to order Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to undergo war court questioning at a New York hospital. Navy Lieutenant Commander Stephen Reyes wouldn’t say what he wants to ask the former Yemeni strongman on behalf of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who faces a death penalty trial at Guantánamo next year. He did said he believed the chief military commissions judge could issue a subpoena that “would compel the Yemeni president to be deposed” — despite a US State Department declaration that the 69-year-old Yemeni would receive diplomatic immunity as head of state.

Afghan Taliban Guantanamo Bay detainees may be released

02/01/12: The Huffington Post reports that US intelligence officials acknowledged Tuesday that the United States may release several Afghan Taliban prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an incentive to bring the Taliban to peace talks. Meanwhile, Afghan officials told The Associated Press that a plan to give Afghanistan a form of legal custody over the men if they are released satisfied their earlier objection to sending the prisoners to a third country.

Human Rights Watch urges India to prosecute border soldiers for torture

02/01/12: Jurist reports that Human Rights Watch is urging the Indian government to prosecute Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers that it has long implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings near the Bangladesh border. HRW's plea comes in response to the release of a YouTube video capturing BSF soldiers stripping, tying up and beating a Bangladeshi national caught smuggling cattle from Bangladesh into India. Although Indian law requires the BSF to hand over such lawbreakers to the police, HRW contends that the soldiers "illegally detained and tortured" the man, then left him to return to Bangladesh.

Indicted Colorado refugee an Uzbekistan freedom fighter or terrorist?

02/01/12: The Denver Post reports that the Uzbek refugee facing terrorism charges in Denver was a merchant turned human-rights activist who tried to defend farmers, opposed Uzbekistan's dictator after a 2005 massacre, endured a detention that left him bloody, saw his sister arrested on a false murder charge, then fled by night to neighboring Kyrgyzstan dressed as a woman. The plight of Jamshid Muhtorov, 35, looked so bleak that the United Nations and US government rescued him, along with his wife and two small children.

Iran calls meeting with UN nuclear team a positive step

02/01/12: CNN reports that the Iranian foreign minister called talks with the United Nations nuclear team "a positive forward step" after the delegations' visit to the country, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency team "had some questions and we had very good meetings," Ali Akbar Salehi told the news agency. The team did not ask to inspect nuclear facilities, Salehi said.

US Muslims seek clemency for condemned US-Iranian

02/01/12: The Helena Independent Record reports that an American Muslim group appealed Tuesday to Iran's supreme leader to show clemency for an ex-US military translator with dual citizenship condemned to death on accusations of being a CIA spy. A letter Tuesday from the Council on American-Islamic Relations asks Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to spare the life of Amir Hekmati.

After Obama’s remarks on drones, White House rebuffs security questions

02/01/12: The Washington Post reports that White House spokesman Jay Carney rebuffed questions Tuesday about whether President Obama had violated intelligence restrictions on the secret US drone program in Pakistan when he openly discussed the subject the day before. He suggested that nothing Obama had said could be a security violation: “He’s the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. He’s the president of the United States.”

Militants admit to plan to bomb London Stock Exchange

02/01/12: The New York Times reports that a group of four Islamic militants, all of them British citizens, admitted involvement on Wednesday in a conspiracy inspired by Al Qaeda to place a bomb in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange, part of a plot that, prosecutors said, was foiled after undercover counterterrorism officers tailed them as they surveyed London tourist attractions. The four were among a group of nine men who had been set to plead not guilty to terrorism charges but changed their plea to guilty when they learned of the likely sentences, Britain’s Press Association news agency reported.

US report says Pakistan still backs Taliban

02/01/12: The Financial Times reports that a leaked US military report that says Pakistan still supports the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan has overshadowed a high-level visit by Pakistani officials seeking to repair ties with Kabul. The secret document, based on interrogations of thousands of captured fighters, says Pakistan’s intelligence agencies continue to help direct Taliban attacks, according to the BBC and The Times, which obtained copies.

High-level offensive launched on Syria at UN

01/31/12: The Associated Press reports that Western and Arab diplomats launched a major offensive at the UN on Tuesday in hopes of overcoming Russia's opposition to a draft resolution demanding that Syrian President Bashar Assad relinquish power. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British and French foreign ministers were traveling to New York for the afternoon Security Council session on the situation in Syria. It was unclear if the high-level push would succeed.

Al Shabaab kicks Red Cross out of regions in Somalia

01/31/12: CNN reports that the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab says it has banned the International Committee of the Red Cross from operating in the regions it controls, accusing the organization of distributing expired food. In a statement on Twitter Monday the group said it "has decided to terminate the contract of ICRC permanently... Following the repeated distribution of expired food and false accusations," that the organization is hindering food distribution.

Algerian re-imprisoned after Guantanamo extradition

01/31/12: The Daily Star reports that a legal charity supporting detainees in Guantanamo has condemned the conviction and sentencing of an Algerian after he was forcibly repatriated after eight years in the US Guantanamo detention center. Naji was sent back to Algeria in July 2010. He was convicted on January 16 of "belonging to a terrorist group abroad" and sentenced to three years in prison, according to the state news agency.

Intelligence chief sees Al Qaeda likely to continue fragmenting

01/31/12: The New York Times reports that the nation’s top intelligence official said on Tuesday that continued pressure from the United States and its allies will likely reduce Al Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan to “largely symbolic importance” over the next two to three years as the terrorist organization fragments into more regionally focused groups and homegrown extremists. The assessment by the official, James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, was contained in prepared remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee at the panel’s annual hearing to review global threats to the United States.

Libyan detainees sue former MI6 chief over their rendition

01/31/12: The Huffington Post reports that two former Libyan detainees, Sami Al Saadi and Abdel Hakim Belhadj, at the center of claims that British spies were involved in rendition and torture, are launching legal proceedings against the former director of counter-terrorism at MI6. The two men claim that evidence of the UK's role in the couple's rendition is detailed in a number of documents held by the Libyan security services, which came to light after the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

China sends thousands of police to restive Uighur region

01/31/12: The Voice of America reports that China says it will boost the police presence in northwestern Xinjiang province, in a push to manage the area's huge migrant population and crack down on what Beijing calls illegal religious activities. The official Xinnhua news agency says an additional 8,000 police officers will begin patrolling villages in the northwestern region. It quotes a regional Communist party official as saying the move is aimed at consolidating "the lasting peace and [social] stability in the region."

Can you be a pirate on land?

01/31/12: Slate reports that two days after US special operations forces rescued a pair of aid workers from Somali abductors, news surfaced that another American, surfing journalist Michael Scott Moore, had been “kidnapped by Somali pirates.” But the crime didn’t happen anywhere near the surf. Moore was on land, driving to a Somali airport, and his captors were described as 15 men in two SUVs. Can you commit piracy on dry land? Not as it’s defined in international law.

Opinion: Drones for human rights?

01/31/12: The New York Times features an opinion piece by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Mark Hanis, in which the authors contend drones are not just for firing missiles in Pakistan. In Iraq, the State Department is using them to watch for threats to Americans. Snider and Hanis believe it’s time we used the revolution in military affairs to serve human rights advocacy.  With drones, they say, we could take clear pictures and videos of human rights abuses, and we could start with Syria.

Ex-CIA officials assail ID of agents

01/31/12: The Washington Times reports that former intelligence officials use “reprehensible” and “egregious” to describe the alleged acts of a former CIA officer charged by the government with betraying his own when he revealed the identities of two overseas operatives to the media. These former officials reject the image of John Kiriakou as a high-minded “whistleblower” who sought to expose official wrongdoing or a botched intelligence operation.

Commentary: Questions for the intelligence community

01/31/12: The Washington Post suggests that there are some questions that members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence should ask the heads of the intelligence community when the panel meets Tuesday morning for Congress’ first public assessment in 2012 of worldwide threats. Afghanistan is the only country where substantial numbers of US forces are fighting. President Obama and the NATO coalition have set 2014 as the date for all foreign combat forces to withdraw and the Afghan army and police to take over security responsibilities.

Obama opens up about drone strikes in Pakistan

01/31/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that President Obama offered a vigorous defense of using unmanned aircraft to kill Al Qaeda operatives and other militants in Pakistan's tribal areas and, in the process, officially acknowledged the highly classified CIA drone program that US officials had refused to discuss in public until now. "I think that we have to be judicious in how we use drones," Obama said, adding that they have been used for "very precise, precision strikes against Al Qaeda and their affiliates."

UK Court upholds extradition in Iran missle case

01/31/12: ABC News reports that Britain's High Court says a retired businessman who allegedly plotted to sell missile components to Iran cannot appeal against his extradition to the United States. Two judges said Tuesday that Christopher Tappin could not take his fight against extradition to Britain's Supreme Court. US authorities allege Tappin offered in 2006 to sell Iranians specialized batteries for Hawk missiles for $25,000, not knowing that his contacts were undercover US agents.

Scholarship: Special issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy released

01/30/12: The Journal of National Security Law & Policy (JNSLP) is pleased to announce the publication of its special issue, Vol. 5:2, examining “Shadow Wars.” Articles examine the law and policy regarding US  paramilitary operations, including use of drones, payment of contractors to spy, and training of local operatives to chase terrorists in what The New York Times has described as a “shadow war against Al Qaeda and its allies.”

Opinion: With its deadly drones, the US is fighting a coward's war

01/30/12: The Guardian features an opinion piece by George Monboit. He argues that if, as the US air force says, a drone’s missiles are less likely to kill civilians than those launched from a piloted plane, it must also be true that such easier and less risky deployments are more frequent.  Monboit notes that this danger is acknowledged in a remarkably candid assessment published by the UK's Ministry of Defence, which maintains that the undeclared air war in Pakistan and Yemen "is totally a function of the existence of an unmanned capability – it is unlikely a similar scale of force would be used if this capability were not available."

Afghan officials, Taliban may hold talks in Saudi Arabia

01/30/12: CNN reports that the Afghan government plans to hold talks with Taliban representatives in Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks, in a move that threatens to cloud already delicate and fragile steps to negotiate an end to the United States' longest war. An anonymous senior official said the plans were at such an early stage that it was not clear who -- including American officials -- would attend or when any talks would be held. The US has acknowledged that it has held discussions about opening a Taliban office in Doha, Qatar, as well as the possibility of transferring some Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay as part of American support for Afghan reconciliation efforts.

FDA surveillance lawsuit raises complex issues

01/30/12: The Washington Post reports that the lawsuit that six Food and Drug Administration employees filed last week alleging improper monitoring of their personal e-mail is the latest in a series of efforts to test the scope of the government’s authority to track the digital activity of its employees. Privacy experts say the courts can expect a surge of similar cases as the lines between home and work increasingly blur in the federal workplace and beyond. Many say court guidance is needed to help federal agencies and employees navigate a complex area of the law.

US tries to steady oil-rich but restive Nigeria

01/30/12: The Washington Times reports that US officials are monitoring developments in Nigeria, where massive protests and a series of bombings by a shadowy Islamist group have rocked the West African nation, a key US oil supplier. Concerns about the security situation facing President Goodluck Jonathan mounted after a series of coordinated suicide car bombings targeted police stations in the northern city of Kano this month. State Department officials and regional analysts are downplaying the likelihood that the violence will interrupt crude oil exports.

Pakistan yet to decide on charges against doctor in bin Laden raid

01/30/12: CNN reports that Pakistan has not yet decided whether to try a Pakistani doctor for high treason for assisting the US in gathering intelligence ahead of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, a senior Pakistani government official said Monday. "It's the federal government who will decide whether to try the doctor for high treason or not." "At this stage, the decision hasn't been taken to try the doctor." After the raid, Pakistani officials took into custody several people who are suspected of helping the CIA. The doctor was one of them. Since then, the US has asked for the doctor's release and did so again Sunday.

Syria says terrorists blew up gas pipeline

01/30/12: CBC News reports that an "armed terrorist group" in Syria blew up a gas pipeline at dawn Monday, the state-run media said, as activists reported gunfire and explosions in the suburbs of Damascus. The pipeline carries gas from the central province of Homs to an area near the border with Lebanon. SANA news agency reported that the blast happened in Tal Hosh, which is about eight kilometres from Talkalakh, along the border with Lebanon. There have been several pipeline attacks since the Syrian uprising began in mid-March, but it is not clear who is behind them.

NATO allies grapple with shrinking defense budgets

01/30/12: The Washington Post reports that NATO allies are confronting a sustained weakening of the military alliance as ailing economies are forcing nearly all members, including the United States, to accelerate cuts to their defense budgets at the same time.The Pentagon’s recent decision to eliminate two of the Army's four brigades in Europe is the latest blow to NATO’s military capabilities. It extends a year of grim announcements from members of the alliance that they can no longer afford their security commitments and that a long period of austerity is in the offing.

Ex-Pakistani envoy to US wins court victory

01/30/12: The Miami Herald reports that Pakistan's former ambassador to the US said Monday that a travel ban imposed on him during the investigation of a controversial memo sent to Washington has been lifted. The decision suggests that a scandal that at one point looked as though it could lead to the downfall of Pakistan's government may be losing steam. Husain Haqqani said in a statement that the court commission investigating what the Pakistani media calls "memogate" removed the ban. The commission could not immediately be reached for comment.

Norway court convicts men in al Qaeda-linked bomb plot

01/30/12: Reuters reports that a Norwegian of Chinese Muslim origin with alleged links to al Qaeda was convicted on Monday of plotting to blow up a Danish newspaper that had printed cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Mikael Davud, who was accused of leading a bomb plot, had admitted he intended some day to attack Chinese interests like the Chinese embassy in Oslo but he was charged only with plotting to bomb the Danish newspaper. Prosecutors had earlier recommended an 11-year prison sentence for Davud.

US drones patrolling its skies provoke outrage in Iraq

01/30/12: The New York Times reports that a month after the last American troops left Iraq, the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones here to help protect the US Embassy and consulates, as well as American personnel. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty. The program was described by the department’s diplomatic security branch in a little-noticed section of its most recent annual report and outlined in broad terms in a two-page online prospectus for companies that might bid on a contract to manage the program.

India won't cut back on Iran oil imports

01/30/12: CBS News reports that India will not cut back on oil imports from Iran, its finance minister said, despite stiff new US and European sanctions designed to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program. "It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the import from Iran drastically because, after all, the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economy, Iran is an important country amongst them." Iran exports 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, about 3 percent of world supplies. About 500,000 barrels go to Europe and most of the rest goes to China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Libya to take control of makeshift prisons

01/30/12: JURIST reports that in response to international criticism the Libya Ministry of Justice announced on Sunday that it will be commandeering "makeshift prisons" around the country to prevent further prisoner torture. Deputy Minister Khalifa Ashour acknowledged that primarily loyalists to former dictator Muammar Gaddafi have been tortured in unregulated prisons. Other detainees are citizens under arrest for murder or drug and alcohol possession. Ashour also stated that the Ministry has taken control of two prisons already, one in Tripoli and one in Misrata. 

TSA rail, subway spot-checks raise privacy issues

01/29/12: CNN reports that at a time when TSA airport searches are unpopular among many air travelers, civil liberties groups say the joint participation of special TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams (VIPRS) with local police in "warrantless" searches have been "flying under the radar" in violation of constitutional protections. Transit police say it helps them better guard against attacks like those that have hit Madrid, London and Moscow since 2004. VIPRS are tasked with performing random, unpredictable baggage and security checks at passenger train, subway and bus stations as well as trucking weigh stations across the nation.

Papua New Guinea's mutiny leader arrested

01/29/12: Reuters reports that an army officer who led a military revolt aimed at reinstating Papua New Guinea's ousted prime minister appeared in court on Sunday on mutiny charges, police said. Retired Colonel Yaura Sasa, who led last week's attempt to restore Sir Michael Somare to power, appeared in a court charged under the criminal code with incitement to mutiny following his arrest overnight. Police spotted Sasa by chance at a lodge away from the Taurama barracks, where his supporters have been holed up with weapons since last week's failed mutiny, police media spokesman Superintendant Dominic Kakas said.