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.

NEARLY 60 NATIONS SIGN TREATY BANNING SECRET DETENTIONS, UNITED STATES ABSTAINS
Fifty-seven nations agreed to a treaty banning secret detentions Tuesday, but the United States and close allies, including Britain, Germany, Spain, and Italy, declined to sign. Human rights groups and family members of victims who were "disappeared" by various governments have been pushing for the treaty for nearly 25 years. The treaty covers the more recent practice of the United States and other nations to secretly abduct and detain terror suspects. President George Bush first acknowledged the use of secret, overseas prisons in September. The convention defines forced disappearances as the arrest, detention, kidnapping, or "any other form of deprivation of freedom" by state agents or affiliates, followed by denials or cover-ups about the detention and location of the missing person. Human Rights First reported on U.S.-run secret prisons in 2004 and 2005 and found that in addition to violating U.S. and international law, secret prisons inherently breed abuses.
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MILITARY CLEARS GUARDS OF ABUSES AT GUANTANAMO, PREPARES FOR MILITARY COMMISSIONS
Military investigators looking into allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay found no evidence of mistreatment, the military's Southern Command announced Wednesday, at the conclusion of an investigation that failed to interview any of the alleged victims. The probe came in response to a Marine sergeant's claims that she overheard Navy guards describing routinely beating detainees. The investigators collected information from 20 suspects and witnesses before determining they had all the necessary information. Last week the military's lead investigator in the case accused the sergeant of filing a false report, but later rejected taking action against her. Meanwhile, a military prosecutor drafted charges against three detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay last week, setting the stage for the resumption of military commissions to prosecute non-citizens the president has deemed "enemy combatants." Also, lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan said they hoped to bypass a lower court by asking the Supreme Court to review Hamdan's pending military commission trial. Hamdan's last hearing before the Supreme Court resulted in the court striking down the military commissions system in June.
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NEW MILITARY COMMAND TO FOCUS ON AFRICA
The president has approved a plan to establish a military command center for Africa, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday, calling the current arrangement of commands an outdated vestige of the Cold War. The new command center will initially be based in Stuttgart, Germany before it moves to a location in Africa. Analysts have expressed concerns that relocating the base could be difficult, since the base could be seen as a stigma for the host country or as a potential terrorist target. The United States has been increasingly wary of Africa's potential as a terrorist haven since the 1998 attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.  Earlier this year U.S. forces launched an air strike against suspected al Qaeda operatives in Somalia and are thought to have supplied Ethiopian and Somali government forces with intelligence to drive out the Islamic courts' militia from Mogadishu.
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SAUDI TERROR SUSPECTS ACTUALLY DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS, LAWYERS SAY
Ten men arrested by Saudi authorities for raising money to carry out terrorist acts included democracy activists, according to a lawyer for some of the men, who said the arrests were a pretense to stamp out calls for reform. The Saudi government has accused the men of raising money to carry out terrorist attacks abroad. They were part of a network to finance recruiters to fight outside the country, probably in Iraq, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry. But supporters say the accused, mostly lawyers and professors, were planning to form a civic rights group and intended to defend more than 40 prisoners without legal representation. The arrests are among the first Saudi Arabia has made in connection with the financing of terrorism, experts say.
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FEBRUARY 9-10: SYMPOSIUM ON INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AND THE LAW
The Michigan Journal of International Law will host a symposium on "State Intelligence Gathering and International Law." Washington Director of Human Rights First Elisa Massimino will speak February 10 at 2 p.m. on a panel addressing "Intelligence Gathering and Human Rights." The event will be held in 250 Hutchins Hall at the University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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FEBRUARY 13: DISCUSSION ON INTERROGATION AND DETENTION
Fordham Law School will hold a talk led by Hina Shamsi, deputy director of Human Rights First's Law and Security Program, on U.S. interrogation and detention policies and the Military Commissions Act. The discussion will count toward one Continuing Legal Education credit for attorneys. It will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in room 310 at Fordham Law School, New York City. Register before attending.
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FEBRUARY 13: SAMUEL DASH CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The Human Rights Institute at Georgetown Law will hold the second annual Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights, addressing "Constitutional Checks and Balances in the Post-9/11 Era: Revitalizing Congress's Role." Washington Director of Human Rights First Elisa Massimino will speak on a panel addressing what we should expect from Congress in terms of security, human rights, and war powers in the post-Sept. 11 era. The conference will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Georgetown University Law Center, McDonough Hall – Hart Auditorium, 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
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FEBRUARY 19: PROGRAM ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS
The National Institute of Military Justice and American University's Washington College of Law will hold a program on "The Future of Military Commissions." It will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in room 603 at the Washington College of Law, 4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
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