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.

WHITE HOUSE WITHDRAWS CIA GENERAL COUNSEL NOMINATION
Amid growing criticism over John A. Rizzo's role in the formation of U.S. interrogation policies, the Bush administration announced on Monday, September 24, the withdrawal of Mr. Rizzo's nomination for general counsel of the CIA. The withdrawal came just one day before the Senate Intelligence Committee's scheduled vote on Mr. Rizzo's nomination. Senate Democrats seemed likely to block Mr. Rizzo's appointment due to criticism regarding the failure by Mr. Rizzo, as acting general counsel for the CIA, to object to the Justice Department's 2002 "torture memo" authorizing the use of harsh interrogation procedures such as waterboarding. On September 6, Human Rights First, with other human rights advocacy organizations, delivered a letter to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voicing concern over Mr. Rizzo's support of enhanced interrogation techniques and urging the Senate to reject his nomination. Although his nomination has been withdrawn, Mr. Rizzo continues in the role as acting general counsel for the CIA. Read more.

NEW MILITARY COMMISSIONS COURT'S RULING MAY ALLOW COMMISSIONS TO RESUME
On Monday, September 24, a three-judge panel of the new U.S. Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) ruled that military commission judges presiding over the cases of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the authority to declare prisoners "unlawful enemy combatants." The decision reversed Army Col. Peter E. Brownback III's June 4 ruling that military commissions have jurisdiction to hear only cases involving prisoners the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) have previously designated as "unlawful enemy combatants," and not cases involving detainees labeled by the CSRTs as merely "enemy combatants." Col. Brownback thus dismissed (without prejudice) all charges facing Omar Khadr, a twenty-one-year-old Canadian accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002. Later in June a second military commission judge in a different case applied Col. Brownback's reasoning to reach the same result, effectively shutting down the military commissions system until government appeals of the dismissals to the CMCR could be resolved. Military prosecutors hope that as a result of the Monday decision, commission cases will soon resume; Mr. Khadr's case is now expected to continue with Col. Brownback's consideration as to whether the detainee is indeed an "unlawful enemy combatant," although it is possible that Mr. Khadr's attorneys may first seek review of the CMCR's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Read more.

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS PROVOKE SCRUTINY OF PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS
After a traffic shooting incident on September 16 resulted in the deaths of at least eleven Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square, the State Department's largest private security firm contractor, Blackwater USA, is now the subject of several investigations into the role and oversight of U.S. military contractors. While the Iraqi Ministry of Interior accused the Blackwater guards of firing on innocent Iraqi drivers, the guards maintained that they were responding to an attack against a State Department convoy they were protecting. Some U.S. military officials have criticized the State Department for failing to supervise its contractors, and have expressed the concern that these private security contractors complicate Iraqi military objectives and damage U.S. military relations with Iraqi civilians. On Tuesday, following the conclusion of an Iraqi investigative report accusing Blackwater guards of firing without provocation, Iraq's Interior Ministry submitted a draft law that would hold all private security companies accountable to Iraqi law and Interior Ministry supervision. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a five-member team to Iraq to investigate the Pentagon's oversight procedures and to conduct its own investigation into the killings. Neither the Department of Defense or Department of State track – or know – the total number of private security contractors in Iraq; estimates range from 20,000 to 50,000. They are effectively immune from Iraqi law by force of a 2004 order issued by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority; there have been practically no efforts by US civilian or military law enforcement officials to hold these contractors accountable under U.S. law. Read more.

GERMANS DROP PURSUIT OF CIA AGENTS ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING
German authorities announced on Saturday plans to discontinue efforts to convince the U.S. government to extradite 13 CIA agents accused of using extraordinary rendition practices against an innocent German citizen. German prosecutors initially filed arrest warrants for the CIA agents in January, under allegations that the agents were responsible for the December 2003 kidnapping of Khaled el-Masri. After apprehending Mr. El-Masri, prosecutors argue that the CIA flew him to a secret prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was detained and abused. Mr. El-Masri claims that in May 2004 CIA agents explained that he had been captured because the CIA mistakenly identified him as a terrorist with the same name; the CIA subsequently released Mr. El-Masri in Albania. The CIA refused to respond to Mr. El-Masri's allegations, but the U.S. government confirmed that the case involved a false identification. Mr. El-Masri has pursued civil litigation in the U.S., although the federal courts have dismissed the claims in the face of U.S. government claims for the need to maintain state secrecy. A petition by Mr. El-Masri seeking review of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court remains pending.  Read more.

OCTOBER 4-5: SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION
Fordham Law School presents a symposium that will bring together scholars to discuss the relationship between international law and the Constitution and the impact of this relationship on human rights. The two-day event begins Thursday at 9:00 a.m. at Fordham Law School, 140 West 62nd Street, New York, NY. More information.

OCTOBER 8: DISCUSSION ON COUNTERING TERRORISM
The Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law will host a discussion entitled "Countering Terrorism: Blurred Focus, Halting Steps." The discussion will feature Richard A. Posner and will be moderated by Stephen Holmes. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Furman Hall, Room 212; 245 Sullivan Street, New York City. More information.

OCTOBER 8: SYMPOSIUM ON THE RULES OF WARFARE
The Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University presents a conference entitled: "New Battlefields, Old Laws: From the Hague Conventions to Asymmetric Warfare." The all-day event will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. More information.

OCTOBER 10: PROSECUTING TERRORISM CONFERENCE
The Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law presents "Prosecuting Terrorism: America's Challenge Then & Now." Gabor Rona, the International Legal Director at Human Rights First, will speak on a panel discussing alternative approaches to holding terrorists accountable for their crimes. Other discussion topics will include war vs. crime, terror investigations, the embassy bombings, and strategies for the future. The event will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South, New York City. More information.

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