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.

CIA'S SECRET PRISONS RAISE CONCERN
A recent news report indicating the CIA held a detainee in the fall of 2006 in secret without informing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or allowing it access to the detainee is raising significant human rights concerns. In April the Pentagon reported that Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, one of Osama bin Laden's top advisors, was in military custody at Guantanamo Bay, but only then was the ICRC provided notice of his detention and permitted to visit him. The new details about the secrecy of al-Hadi's detention raise concerns about the greater likelihood of the use of torture and other abusive interrogation methods in the CIA's facilities. Hina Shamsi, deputy director of the Law and Security program at Human Rights First, stated that "[t]here is a concern that a different set of standards and rules are being applied to the CIA as opposed to the military." Human Rights First has called for CIA interrogations to be conducted in accordance with the Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations, which was published last September. The Bush administration maintains that secret detentions and extreme interrogations have been useful in preventing terrorist attacks. Read more.

SURVEILLANCE TAPES TO BE INTRODUCED AGAINST PADILLA
During the second week of the Jose Padilla trial prosecutors explained that they would produce tapes of phone calls that demonstrate Padilla's involvement in a North American terrorist cell. Until he was criminally charged along with two other men in early 2005, Padilla had been held in military custody for three and a half years as an "enemy combatant." The charges do not reference the initial allegation against him that he planned to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States. The taped calls are part of over 300,000 phone converstaions intercepted as part of the FBI's ten-year investigation into the cell Padilla allegedly joined. Prosecutors claim Padilla's voice can be heard on seven of the calls. The tapes will be translated and heard in court in the next few days. In other news, the Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI's investigation into the Ft. Dix terrorist plot may indicate a return to a more methodical pre-9/11 approach that emphasizes longer-term development of intelligence on terrorist groups and may raise less civil rights concerns than did the post-9/11 more aggressive route. Read more.

SENATE JUDICIARY HEARS ARGUMENTS ON RESTORING HABEAS FOR DETAINEES
On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on reinstating the statutory right to habeas corpus for detainees designated "unlawful enemy combatants." Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), committee chairman, stated that the suspension of habeas permits the government to "lock someone away without meaningful judicial review of its actions" and puts a "stain on America's reputation". The result is the detention of hundreds of suspected terrorists without charge or trial. Retired Navy Rear Admiral, and former chief Judge Advocate of the Navy, Donald J. Guter said in his testimony on Tuesday that habeas is "the basis for a civilized legal system," and decried its suspension. The Military Commissions Act, passed by Congress last September, and signed into law by President Bush, denies detainees the right to challenge their detention through habeas, allowing them to make challenges solely through Combatant Status Review Tribunals, which deny the detainee counsel, are presided over by military officers in the chain of command, may permit evidence obtained by torture, generally do not permit the detainees access to evidence or witnesses, and provide for a narrowly circumscribed hearing on issues and facts. Read more.

PAKISTANI MAN DIES AFTER RELEASE FROM DETENTION
A middle-aged Pakistani cloth merchant thought to have been detained by American and Pakistani authorities in connection with the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl died last week. Saud Memon's death came less than a month after neighbors found him lying unconscious outside of his home. Memon was arrested in 2003, held by the FBI, and then transferred to Guantanamo Bay, his family said. Some military officials have suggested Memon may have been held in another U.S.-operated prison. Last year Memon was transferred to Pakistani authorities, according to a non-governmental organization that monitors missing people. The case has raised questions over the safety of detainees as they are released from U.S. custody. The United States has come under increased pressure to close Guantanamo Bay and to ensure that its prisoners are not transferred to governments who may torture or otherwise abuse them. Read more.

DETAINED TERROR SUSPECTS MAY ACTUALLY BE REFORMERS, EXPERTS SAY
Recent arrests by the Saudi government may have been prompted by political activities of the accused rather than by any genuine links to terrorism, observers told the Washington Post this week.  In February the Saudi government arrested ten people it accused of raising money to send Saudis to fight in Iraq.  Critics have challenged the timing of the arrests; they came the day before the detainees planned to announce the formation of a civic rights group.  The accused, who include a prominent political activist, have not been charged.  Bassim Alim, a lawyer for several of the arrested, said he has not been allowed to meet with them.  While some analysts have suggested the Saudi government is legitimately clamping down on terrorist financing, Alim maintains his clients have only been involved with humanitarian and civic causes. Read more.

JUNE 4: ARRAIGNMENT FOR GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
Military Commission proceedings will begin at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay for Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver, and Omar Khadr, a Canadian accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Associate attorney Priti Patel of Human Rights First will attend the hearings and provide daily blog updates from Guantanamo. More information

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© 2006 Human Rights First