by TChris

Just days after journalists were allowed to report on the administrative review board hearings provided to detainees at Guantanamo, the "military has temporarily stopped providing the specific allegations against individual" detainees.

Previously, the military readily provided "fact summaries" detailing the accusations against individual detainees and whether they allegedly had links to al-Qaida terror network or the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Navy Lt. Terry Green, a spokesman at Guantanamo, declined to explain why the military decided to limit the information it would make public. "Green said he could only provide information about whether hearings had taken place, the detainees' ages and how long they have been at Guantanamo."

by TChris

John Kerry did his best to persuade the public that President Bush dropped the ball by "outsourcing" the capture of Osama bin Laden, allowing his escape from Tora Bora while the president focused on the invasion of Iraq. The president denied the charge, but new evidence belies the denial.

A commander for Osama bin Laden during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union who helped the al-Qaida leader escape American forces at Tora Bora is being held by U.S. authorities, a government document says. The document represents the first definitive statement from the Pentagon that bin Laden, the mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was at Tora Bora and evaded his pursuers.

The ACLU has joined with such unlikely bedfellows as the Americans for Tax Reform, the American Conservative Union in forming a new coaliton, Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, to oppose the Patriot Act. The group will be chaired by former Congressman Bob Barr:

The new organization is urging Congress to thoroughly review the most intrusive and constitutionally suspect provisions of the Patriot Act. Specifically, the act allows federal agents to gather highly personal information -- including library, medical and gun purchase records-- without criminal suspicion, permits secret searches of homes and businesses with indefinite notification, and expands the definition of domestic terrorism to potentially include political protest.

"Checks and balances are absolutely essential, even and especially during times of threat," Barr said. "Our message is universal: liberty is not divisible, even in the face of terrorism, and we must not allow any part of it to be sacrificed in our efforts to defeat acts of terrorism."

Here are some interesting numbers:

by TChris

After more than three years in detention, four Iranian brothers were released last night, subject to a requirement that they obtain permission to travel outside of three California counties.

The brothers have been held since October 2001. Federal authorities alleged they supported a Los Angeles-based cell of the Moujahedeen Khalk, or MEK, which opposes Iran's regime and is classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The brothers acknowledged attending protest events against Iran's current regime, but denied belonging to the MEK.

They never faced criminal charges. They were sent into detention to await deportation for allegedly lying in the 1990s on their applications seeking political asylum, and for their suspected ties to the MEK. Last August, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled evidence tying the brothers to terrorism was inconclusive. The board also upheld the decision of two immigration judges who said the Mirmehdis would be tortured or persecuted if returned to Iran.

Two of the brothers have been ordered deported, but the government has found no country willing to accept them. The other brothers are appealing similar orders.

The brothers' release occurred less than two weeks after an altercation in which the Mirmehdis allege that a guard beat Mohammed Mirmehdi after he intervened in an argument between the guard and one of his brothers.

by TChris

According to the AP, at least 108 people have died while held in U.S. custody in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Most deaths were violent and some 25% are being investigated as possible abuse by US personnel, the agency said.

At least 26 deaths have been investigated as homicides, a figure that calls into question the government's contention that only a few rogue soldiers are to blame for prisoner abuse.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was "unacceptable" that no-one at the highest levels of government had been held accountable for the abuses.

Names of the dead and causes of death are reported here.

The New York Times reports on a rule change made by Bush shortly after 9/11 that allowed the CIA to to freely send suspects abroad to jails in countries that allow torture.

In most instances in the past, the transfers of individual prisoners required review and approval by interagency groups led by the White House, and were usually authorized to bring prisoners to the United States or to other countries to face criminal charges.

As part of its broad new latitude, current and former government officials say, the C.I.A. has been authorized to transfer prisoners to other countries solely for the purpose of detention and interrogation.

....Since Sept. 11, however, it has been used much more widely and has had more expansive guidelines, because of the broad authorizations that the White House has granted to the C.I.A. under legal opinions and a series of amendments to Presidential Decision Directives that remain classified. T

How many prisoners have been moved so far? Between 100 and 150. They include:

The New York Times gives a glowing review to "Chatter," a new book by Patrick Radden Keefe. The name derives from the so-called "chatter" allegedly bantered by terrorists on the Internet that makes it way into elevated threat levels.

The Times says the book is "filled with anecdotes, colorful quotes and arresting statistics" and is "breezily aired," breaking down the complex subject matter into easily understandable terms. It sounds interesting, if these quotes are representative:

The United States has fewer than 5,000 spies operating around the world, for example, but 30,000 eavesdroppers. The National Security Agency employs more mathematicians than any other organization in the world, and every three hours its spy satellites gather enough information to fill the Library of Congress. Menwith Hill, the American listening station in North Yorkshire, England, has a staff as large as MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence service.

The New York terrorism trial of Yemini Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, who is accused of funneling money to Hamas and other militant organizations, took an interesting turn yesterday. Most Americans believe, in this post-9/11 world, that "jihad" means "holy war." But, as an expert witness testified at the trial yesterday, "jihad" has another meaning for Muslims. While on one hand, it can mean an armed struggle,

....it can also mean, as the defense prefers, the struggle for self-perfection and charitable work. "Anything that basically furthers the cause of Islam and is understood to be doing good," said the witness, Bernard Haykel, an associate professor of Islamic studies at New York University.

That was my understanding. I always thought the word Jihad had two meanings, one of which was synonymous with "effort" or "campaign"-- working hard for any good cause--as in a "jihad for mass education" or "jihad against Malaria." On a spiritual level, I thought Muslims viewed "jihad" as a concept having to do with an internal struggle against evil--the goal of which was self-purification.

The parents of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, jailed on terrorism charges in the U.S. (TChris outlines the case here and here and here)after his return from custody in Saudi Arabia where he claims he was tortured, are protesting the Justice Department's insistence that they sign a S.A.M. before being allowed to meet with him.

Had Lynne Stewart not signed a S.A.M., she might not be convicted and awaiting sentencing today. Civil Liberties expert Elaine Cassell writes:

by TChris

Believing it should be a government unto itself, unhindered by checks and balances, Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon "is promoting a global counterterrorism plan that would allow Special Operations forces to enter a foreign country to conduct military operations without explicit concurrence from the U.S. ambassador there, administration officials familiar with the plan said."

The plan would weaken the long-standing "chief of mission" authority under which the U.S. ambassador, as the president's top representative in a foreign country, decides whether to grant entry to U.S. government personnel based on political and diplomatic considerations. The Special Operations missions envisioned in the plan would largely be secret, known to only a handful of officials from the foreign country, if any.

The Pentagon hopes to avoid "time-consuming debates" about the advisability of transgressing the borders of a sovereign nation. To its dismay, the pesty State Department has been standing in the way of the Pentagon doing anything it pleases.

by TChris

We're all familiar with classified facts and secret warrants, but should there be such a thing as secret legal arguments? The Justice Department thinks so, but the Washington Post argues for transparency in the government's interaction with the legal system.

The question arises from the case of Ahmed Abu Ali, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia. Ali's family believes the United States engineered Ali's arrest and continuing detention. The family brought a lawsuit in federal district court, and the Justice Department moved to dismiss the suit -- but doesn't want to make its reasons public, or even share its theory with the lawyers representing Ali's family.

It has proposed adding to the facts at Judge Bates's disposal by submitting secret evidence that Mr. Abu Ali's attorneys would have no opportunity to challenge. Most recently, it urged that the case be dismissed on the basis, yet again, of secret evidence -- this time supplemented with what a Justice Department lawyer termed "legal argument [that] itself cannot be made public without disclosing the classified information that underlies it."

If lawyers fighting for Ali's freedom had access to the "secret evidence," they might be able to refute it. And if they knew the government's "secret arguments," they might be able to convince the judge that the arguments lacks merit. But if everything is kept secret, neither Ali's lawyers nor the public can act as a check against the administration's lawless behavior. The adversarial system of justice cannot function in Ali's case if the Justice Department gets its way.

In this case, the liberty of a U.S. citizen is at stake. ... What is clear is that Mr. Abu Ali has been held for 20 months without being charged and that, as Judge Bates wrote in December, his lawyers "have presented some unrebutted evidence that [his] detention is at the behest and ongoing direction of United States officials." It should be unthinkable that the courts would resolve this matter without hearing from both sides on key legal questions. It should have been unthinkable for the government to propose such a step.

Musician Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, has settled lawsuits with two British newspapers that alleged he had terrorist ties. He will donate the proceeds to charties helping the Tsunami orphans.

The singer, who changed his name after converting to Islam in the 1970's, was traveling last September on a flight from London to Washington when it was diverted to Bangor, Me. He was then deported from the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security said he was deported after his name turned up on lists of individuals prohibited from entering the United States because of activities the department said could be linked to terrorism.

The two newspapers suggested that the American authorities had been right to refuse Mr. Islam entry.