Watching the Shadows

Italy: appeals court orders release of ex-Gitmo detainee

Jurist — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:04:20 -0600

The Court of Appeals in Milan on Feb. 6 announced the overturn of a lower court's verdict on Tunisian former Guantánamo Bay detainee Mohamed Riadh Ben Nasri. Nasri was convicted of terrorism association two years ago, after he was transferred from Guantánamo to stand trial in Italy. He was sentenced to six years in prison for recruiting martyrs to commit acts of terrorism. Nasri and his lawyer alleged that he was tortured extensively while being detained by US forces. It is unknown if this influenced the court's decision, as Nasri contended that he was beaten until he admitted he was part of al-Qaeda. The court also upheld the sentence of Tlili Lazar under similar charges. Reasoning behind the two decisions will be released in the next 30 days.

Neurosurgeons scream for more

Bill Weinberg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:15:38 -0600

From Huffington Post, Feb. 1:

Mind-Reading Advance Lets Brain Scientists 'Eavesdrop' On Thoughts
Scientists already know how to see into your mind's eye, and now they can hear the voices in your head. In a new paper published in PLoS [Public Library of Science] Biology, researchers present evidence showing that they can track the brain activity of a person listening to spoken words and use it to reconstruct the words.

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Obama's third year: a World War 4 Report scorecard

WW4 Report — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:10:21 -0600

World War 4 Report has been keeping a dispassionate record of Barack Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing and escalating (he has done all three) the oppressive apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) established by the Bush White House. On the third anniversary of his inauguration, we offer the following annotated assessment of which moves have been on balance positive, neutral and negative, and arrive at an overall score:

Protests mark tenth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay prison camp

WW4 Report — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:53:40 -0600

Protesters wearing orange jump-suits and black hoods marched in Washington DC Jan. 11 to mark 10 years since the opening of the military prison at Guantánamo Bay. The grimly attired demonstrators marched down Pennsylvania Ave. from the White House, past the Capitol building, before finishing at the Supreme Court. Thrity-seven members of Witness Against Torture were arrested in a civil disobedience action at the White House, refusing to move when ordered to clear the sidewalk by National Park police. The first detainees arrived at the Guantánamo facility on January 11, 2002—20 men seized as "enemy combatants" in Afghanistan. Nearly 800 prisoners were to pass through the military detention center over the next decade.

Obama signs NDAA with indefinite detention provisions —despite "reservations"

WW4 Report — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:34:12 -0600

President Barack Obama on Dec. 31 signed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012, with controversial provisions that codify into law indefinite detention of terror suspects. The act allows the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to detain any person, including US citizens, who "was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces, under the law of war until the end of hostilities" In a signing statement, Obama wrote: "The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it. I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists... My Administration will aggressively seek to mitigate those concerns through the design of implementation procedures and other authorities available to me as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, will oppose any attempt to extend or expand them in the future, and will seek the repeal of any provisions that undermine the policies and values that have guided my Administration throughout my time in office."

"Terrorism" conviction for translating agitprop

Bill Weinberg — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:02:13 -0600

The Reuters account on the latest highly specious "terrorism" conviction—of US citizen Tarek Mehanna—predictably leads with a sentence that portrays providential federal action against an imminent threat: "A jury on Tuesday found a Massachusetts man guilty of conspiring to support al Qaeda by translating Arabic messages and traveling to Yemen for terrorism training." You have to read several paragraphs in to find out that things weren't nearly so dire. Prosecutors "said he traveled to Yemen in 2004 to seek terrorism training, but never received it, and had planned to travel to Iraq to fight US troops." Emphasis added. Did you catch that? He never actually received any terrorism training. And that translation of "Arabic messages"—secret documents containing orders to launch an attack? Nope. Prosecutors "said he translated videos and texts from Arabic to English and distributed them online to further al Qaeda's cause." In other words, propaganda videos. Is this what constitutes "providing and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists" these days? And can anyone explain to us why this does not violate the First Amendment?

Flying robots to patrol Belfast (yes, really)

Bill Weinberg — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:15:27 -0600

This is the dawning of the age of the robots. From BBC News, Nov. 16:

Police in Northern Ireland consider using mini drones
Police aerial surveillance in Northern Ireland may be about to take on a whole new form—one that belongs more to the world of sci-fi and the future.

The PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] is considering the use of mini drones to combat crime and the dissident republican threat.

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Gitmo prisoner can be indefinitely detained despite acquittal: prosecutors

Jurist — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:58:53 -0500

US prosecutors argued Nov. 2 that even if suspected USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is acquitted by a military tribunal, the US government has the authority to detain him in Guantánamo Bay until the end of the hostilities in the US war on terror. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Reyes, al-Nashiri's defense attorney, argued that al-Nashiri's inevitable indefinite detention renders his trial merely a show, and that jurors have the right to be informed that they are simply playing a role in a pre-determined political decision. Prosecutors responded that a jury's potential to find al-Nashiri guilty and sentence him to death for war crimes is an issue separate from governmental authority to keep enemy combatants off the battlefield. Al-Nashiri's arraignment, scheduled for Nov. 9, will be the first time he has appeared in public since his capture in 2002, followed by a series of transfers among CIA prison systems. Al-Nashiri will also be the first Guantánamo prisoner to face a possible death sentence.

Gitmo detainee lawyers claim US policy violates attorney-client privilege

Jurist — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:10:48 -0500

Lawyers defending detainees at Guantánamo Bay said Nov. 1 that procedures and practices employed by the US government make it impossible for them to do their jobs. In a letter (PDF) directed to the attention of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, the attorneys allege that Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) staff seize, open, interpret, read and review attorney-client privileged communications—actions which the attorneys argue are unlawful. As a result of this practice by the JTF-GTMO, the attorneys find themselves in "an untenable position of having either to violate professional ethical standards in order to communicate with our clients, or cease communicating with our clients," and accordingly request that the practice be stopped immediately. Additionally, the attorneys, who represent six "high value detainees," address the refusal up to this point of the government to respond to their complaints or requests in spite of sending "multiple communications."

Rights groups urge Canada to arrest ex-US president Bush ahead of visit

Jurist — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:05:17 -0500

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) last week urged the Canadian government to investigate and arrest former US president George W. Bush for his role in torture, ahead of his travel to an economic summit in British Columbia. AI's submission to Canadian authorities emphasizes Bush's authorization of "enhanced interrogation techniques" including waterboarding, which Bush has admitted.