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.

NEW MILITARY COMMISSIONS RULES PROVIDE INADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS FOR DEFENDANTS
Military commissions set up to try terror suspects may rely on testimony obtained through cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, coercion, and hearsay evidence, according to a new set of rules issued Thursday by the Defense Department.  Following last year's passage of the Military Commissions Act, which set forth initial procedures to prosecute detainees, Pentagon officials now say they are preparing to bring charges against 60 to 80 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.  The rest of Guantanamo's roughly 395 prisoners remain detained indefinitely.  "No civilized nation permits convictions to rest on coerced evidence, and reliance on such evidence has never been acceptable in military or civilian courts in this country," Human Rights First Washington Director Elisa Massimino said Thursday.  Administration officials have previously said that it makes little sense in a terrorism case to eliminate evidence because of how it was obtained.  But several senators have already proposed changes that could impact the new rules.  Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced Thursday he and other senators are working on legislation to uphold the independence of military judges and prohibit coerced evidence in military commissions. 
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REPORT FINDS NO EVIDENCE ABUSIVE INTERROGATIONS PRODUCE RELIABLE INFORMATION
Coercive interrogation techniques provide minimal, if any, intelligence value and are likely to erode intelligence-gathering in the long-run, according to a new report by a group that advises the director of national intelligence. In a broad study of interrogation methods, the Intelligence Science Board concluded that a lack of research into effective interrogation techniques has led to experimentation and to the kinds of abuses that have been documented at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and elsewhere. Abusive interrogation techniques also make intelligence-gathering harder by undermining U.S. legitimacy and support for counterterrorism actions, the report said. The government has taken steps to outlaw abusive interrogation techniques in recent months, but loopholes remain. A new Army field manual released in September requires all U.S. military personnel to abide by Geneva Conventions protections when interrogating detainees but does not apply to CIA interrogations in secret prisons.
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ADMINISTRATION AGREES TO CHECKS ON WIRETAPPING PROGRAM, QUESTIONS REMAIN
After more than a year of publicly defending a secret warantless surveillance program first revealed in December 2005, the Bush Administration reversed course Wednesday to say it had agreed to subject that program to review. The program, which authorizes the National Security Agency to monitor Americans and others inside the United States suspected of having ties to terrorism, will now be reviewed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was set up in 1978 to oversee surveillance related to national security concerns. But administration officials gave few details beyond a broad description of the program and declined to say whether the government would apply for warrants for each person it monitors. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), who serves on the House Intelligence committee and has examined the program, said she believed that under the revised program the Bush Administration could rely on a broad approval by the secret court instead of applying for individual warrants. On Thursday Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the program before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who asked why it took the administration five years to obtain court approval of the program.
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HEAD OF MILITARY DETAINEE OFFICE CRITICIZES LEGAL DEFENSE OF TERROR SUSPECTS
A senior Pentagon official provoked condemnation on Capitol Hill and within the legal community after suggesting on a radio program last week that corporations ought to boycott law firms that represent Guantanamo Bay detainees. In the interview, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said he was shocked that major U.S. law firms would provide assistance to terror suspects. Stimson later apologized for the comments in a letter to the Washington Post and asserted that the American legal system depends on competent legal counsel even in cases of unpopular defendants. Human Rights First welcomed Stimson's apology and urged the attorney general and secretary of defense to affirm the central role lawyers play in upholding constitutional and international human rights obligations. On Wednesday Attorney General Alberto Gonzales added another critique to the legal challenges over the president's counterterrorism policies by asserting that judges are unqualified to rule on issues related to terrorism.
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DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SEEKS FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN DOMESTIC PROBES
The Pentagon has been gathering information from banks and telecommunication companies on hundreds of Americans and others within the United States suspected of terrorism or espionage, The New York Times reported Saturday. The news has fueled concerns over the recent incursion of the Pentagon and CIA into domestic spying. Through "noncompulsory" versions of the national security letters used by the FBI to obtain personal records on Americans, both the Pentagon and CIA are now seeking information on U.S. citizens or residents as part of intelligence gathering operations. The Defense Department and CIA are prohibited from conducting domestic law enforcement, which is traditionally the realm of the FBI. Vice President Dick Cheney defended the operations Sunday, calling the letters a critical investigative tool to collect information. A Pentagon spokesman added that the letters often provide leads and corroborate other evidence in terrorism and espionage cases. But key members of Congress have expressed discomfort with the program, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) has said his panel will review any expansion of the Defense Department into intelligence collection in the United States.
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JANUARY 14-21: TERRORISM AND SECURITY CONFERENCE
The International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts (ISODARCO) is holding a conference on "Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Human Rights" in Andalo (Trento), Italy. Director of Human Rights First's Law and Security Program Deborah Pearlstein spoke about the search for effective constraints on U.S. counterterrorism powers.
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JANUARY 25: PANEL ON JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
The Supreme Court Fellows Program will hold a panel discussion on "Judicial Independence: Drawing Lessons from History." The discussion will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Federal Judicial Center Auditorium, Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, Washington, D.C.
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 JANUARY 25: TORTURE AND MORALITY
The Fordham Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer's Work; Auburn Theological Seminary; and the Louis Finkelstein Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary will hold a panel addressing "Torture: Is it Ever Moral?" The discussion will take place from 6 to 7:45 p.m. in room 430 B&C, Fordham Law School, New York City.
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JANUARY 26-27: INTELLIGENCE AND ETHICS CONFERENCE
The International Intelligence Ethics Association will hold a conference on ethics in the field of intelligence gathering. Devon Chaffee, Kroll Family Human Rights Fellow at Human Rights First, will attend. The conference will take place at the Springfield Hilton Hotel in Springfield, Virginia. It follows immediately after the International Military Ethics Symposium Conference, which will take place January 25 to 26 in Springfield, Virginia.
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