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.

TOP INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS URGE COURT TO DENY ACCESS TO DETAINEE DATA
This week, five intelligence chiefs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that providing counsel for Guantanamo Bay detainees with all the information about the basis for their clients' designation as "enemy combatants" would imperil national security. On July 20, 2007, a three-judge panel of the court had ordered the government to disclose the information. The intelligence chiefs argued in support of the government's request that the full court reconsider the order. The officials, including the directors of the National Security Agency (NSA), the FBI and the CIA, said that disclosure of the information could cause "exceptionally grave damage" to U.S. national security, disrupt intelligence gathering efforts, and require excessive time to assemble. The directors of the CIA and NSA also filed secret versions of their arguments; the government has asked the court to permit only the judges, and not any other court personnel or the detainees' lawyers, to review those documents. Read more.

UNITED STATES NEEDS TO DO MORE TO THWART FUTURE ATTACKS
On Monday, four top U.S. counter-terrorism officials testified that six years after the September 11 attacks, the United States still has more to do to prevent a major attack on U.S. soil. Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the officials stated that U.S. intelligence agencies still lack enough personnel who speak key foreign languages and added that internal cultural issues impede the agencies' information sharing. Senators at the hearing raised additional concerns, including failure to track individuals who overstay their visa limits, the susceptibility of the nation's food supply, and the need to instate a national ID card system. The intelligence chiefs testified that there have been improvements, including in the areas of intelligence-gathering and in the government's ability to apprehend terror suspects and foil terror plots. Read more.

NEW SURVEILLANCE LAWS DID NOT HELP PREVENT GERMAN TERROR PLOT
On Wednesday, J. Michael McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, corrected his claim earlier in the week that expanded executive branch surveillance powers under the recently passed Protect America Act were critical in thwarting a suspected terrorist plot in Germany. McConnell made the claim during testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Monday. Congress hastily passed the Protect America Act, which amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in August, under pressure from the White House and McConnell, who told legislators that existing surveillance powers under FISA did not adequately protect against terrorist threats. Several lawmakers, including the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the chairwoman of the House Committee on Homeland Security's intelligence panel disputed McConnell's Monday statement and pressed for a correction. The revised FISA law will expire in five months, although the Bush administration has expressed a desire to make the new law permanent. Read more.

MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ALLEGEDLY ATTENDING TERRORIST CAMP
On Monday, a California federal district court judge sentenced Hamid Hayat to 24 years in prison following his April 2006 conviction for providing material support to terrorists and for lying to the FBI. Hayat was arrested in June 2005 upon his return to the United States from Pakistan, where he was alleged to have attended a terrorist training camp. Prosecutors also told the court that Hayat lied to the FBI about his involvement in terrorist training activities on three separate occasions. In his defense, Hayat's attorneys argued that he made admissions about training activities to FBI agents to appease them so he would be released. Defense counsel also questioned the prosecution's reliance on Naseem Khan, an FBI informer who was paid more than $200,000 by the U.S. government and who testified there was a connection between Hayat and top al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Read more.

SEPTEMBER 17: CONFERENCE ON INTERROGATION AND INTELLIGENCE GATHERING
Seton Hall Law School will host a Constitution Day Program entitled "Interrogation as a Means of Intelligence Gathering." Hina Shamsi, Deputy Director and Senior Counsel for the Law and Security Program at Human Rights First, will speak on the United States' international obligations with respect to interrogation. The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Seton Hall University School of Law, One Newark Center, Newark, NJ. More information.

SEPTEMBER 17: DISCUSSION ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE RULE OF LAW
The Constitution Project and the Law Library of Congress will host a discussion on national security and the rule of law. The lecture will begin at 12:00 p.m. in the Montpelier Room of the James Madison Building at 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. Individuals interested in attending should RSVP. More Information.

SEPTEMBER 20: ASSESSMENT OF TODAY'S TERRORIST THREAT
The Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law presents a discussion with Rand Beers, Michael Sheehan and Lawrence Wright. The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. in Lipton Hall, 108 W. 3rd Street, New York, NY. Those interested in attending should RSVP via email or phone. More information.

SEPTEMBER 21: HILL BRIEFING ON TORTURE AND INTERROGATION
Sen. Richard Durbin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law will host a briefing on torture and "enhanced interrogation techniques" based upon Human Rights First's recent joint report with Physicians for Human Rights, Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality. The briefing will be led by Lieutenant General Charles Otstott, USA (Ret.); Elisa Massimino, Washington Director, Human Rights First; John Bradshaw, Director of Public Policy, Physicians for Human Rights; and Scott Allen, MD, Physicians for Human Rights. The briefing will begin at 1:00pm at Dirksen Senate Building, Rm. 226, Washington, D.C.

SEPTEMBER 23: DISCUSSION ON PRE-EMPTION AND THE WAR ON TERROR
The Politics and Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse will host a reading with David Cole, co-author of the recently released book "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America is Losing the War on Terror." The event will begin at 1:00 p.m. at 5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

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© 2006 Human Rights First