Current News

5/7, Adrian Chen, Gawker, Newly Declassified Memo Shows CIA Shaped Zero Dark Thirty’s Narrative

5/7, Paul Rosenzweig, Lawfare, CISPA – An Assessment

5/7, Greg Miller, Washington Post, CIA selects new head of clandestine service, passing over officer tied to interrogation program

5/6, Eyder Peralta, NPR, Prisoner Points To Quran Search For Gitmo Hunger Strike

5/6, CBS Staff, CBS (LA), Civil Rights Groups Sue LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department Over Automatic License Plate Readers

As the hunger strike at Guantánamo has widened to include all of the men held there, President Obama recently announced that he would renew a push on Congress to close the prison and examine his administrative options. However, the implication that Congress is preventing the closure of Guantánamo is at best disingenuous.

Obama has the power to transfer prisoners from Guantánamo right now.  The president himself has placed a uniform ban on transferring any prisoners to Yemen, a collective punishment policy that he could reverse immediately. He could also release prisoners by issuing a certification through the Department of Defense and State that the administration has steps to assure the secure release and monitoring of the prisoners.

Moreover, President Obama’s seemingly newfound rhetorical opposition to indefinite detention runs counter to the policies of his administration. While he may have tried to move the prisoners to the United States, he still wanted them indefinitely detained, in violation of the Constitution and International Law. This has left even supporters of his detention policy befuddled.

The Guantánamo hunger strike can only be ended by the administration taking meaningful steps to close the prison. Those steps can begin immediately by releasing the 86 men who have been cleared for release by the government itself. The remaining men should either be given a speedy and fair trial or released as well.

The men at Guantánamo are resolute to peacefully protest through a hunger strike until they receive justice. One of them, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi put it this way:

I do not want to kill myself. My religion prohibits suicide. But I will not eat or drink until I die, if necessary, to protest the injustice of this place. We want to get out of this place. It is as though this government wishes to smother us in this injustice, to kill us slowly here, indirectly, without trying us or executing us.

Currently, 21 of the men, including Mr. al-Alwi, are bring force-fed in violation of medical ethics. The force-feeding process is brutal, as was described by one prisoner in an New York Times op-ed and can constitute torture, if undertaken as a form of punishment.

As the hunger strike continues, people across the world are pushing for the closure of Guantánamo and an end to indefinite detention. A change.org petition started by a former Guantánamo prosecutor, calling for the prison’s closure, has gained over 100,000 signers in less that two days. From May 17-19, people of conscience will stand together to demand that President Obama close the United States’ forever prison.

Joe Scarry is a grassroots activist and organizer from Chicago, Illinois.  He describes himself as “IT consultant by day, culture consumer by night, anti-war activist all the time.” Scarry is very involved with national efforts to combat domestic surveillance drones and the more local Chicago movement to free the NATO 5.

The NATO 5 are five individuals with three different cases, but all of which were targeted by undercover police at Occupy Chicago events for politically motivated arrests prior to the May 2012 NATO summit in Chicago. Scarry has been instrumental in the grassroots campaign protesting the incarceration of the NATO 5, attending trial hearings and organizing a New Year’s Eve march outside Cook County Jail chanting “Free them all!”

Scarry has drawn parallels between wrongful imprisonment in Chicago and the Obama administration’s use of drones, arguing that far from being irrelevant to one another, they are intimately linked manifestations of national and systemic violence. He uses this connection to draw more support between the grassroots groups in Chicago, also engaging his church community to use the power of faith to strengthen local and national struggles.

Beyond drones and the NATO 5, Scarry has a long history of grassroots activism addressing civil liberties, including serving as a Producer of The Response, a short film dramatizing the Combatant Status Review Tribunals at Guantánamo Bay based on real events. The film was produced in cooperation with The University of Maryland School of Law and Venable LLP.

Finally, Joe played an invaluable role bringing together grassroots allies from across Chicago—including Amnesty International (Midwest), the Arab American Action Network, CAIR (Chicago), Center for Constitutional Rights, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, Immigrant Youth Justice League, National Lawyers Guild, No Drones Illinois, and more—during a pair of coalition meetings in late 2012 building a Local Civil Rights Restoration campaign.

BORDC is proud to present Joe Scarry with the April 2013 Patriot Award in recognition of his unerring commitment to grassroots organization. His work illustrates the power available when multiple organizations with potentially disparate goals join together. Scarry has fostered the strength of these movements by drawing connections and support between them, and anyone concerned about civil liberties would do well to follow his lead.

April 2013, Vol. 12 No. 04

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/04

In this issue:

BORDC releases model legislation to address domestic surveillance drones

BORDC News

• BORDC holds convening for grassroots organizers in Boston, MA
• BORDC’s Shahid Buttar speaks in Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; and Washington, DC
• BORDC legal fellow Nadia Kayyali speaks to community members and sheriff in San Juan County
• BORDC legal fellow speaks in Redmond, WA
• BORDC hosts celebration reception in San Francisco on May 5
• BORDC hosts reception in Washington, DC on May 19
• BORDC welcomes spring 2013 interns
• Summer 2013 internships available with BORDC
• BORDC announces 2013-2014 legal fellowships
• BORDC in the news
• Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution

Highlights from the past month include:

• Is there hope for the rule of law? by Nadia Kayyali
• ICE under fire: public hearing held for Connecticut’s TRUST Act by Alok Bhatt
• Report reveals impact of NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims by Michael Figura
• Kimani Gray and state-sanctioned terrorism by Kyla Kuvach
• Surveillance a profitable business in NYC by Rebecca Palermo
• Montana Senate passes anti-NDAA bill 43-7, heads to Governor with vet-proof majority by Nick Sibilla
• CIA and NSA data collection programs by Yiqian Wang
• Son’s battle for records from 1960′s sheds light on today’s secrecy state by Dave Mitchell

Grassroots News

• April 2013 Patriot Award: Joe Scarry
• ICE raid detains 27 on day of immigration march in Connecticut
• Las Vegas, NV, rejects indefinite detention under NDAA
• Grassroots Updates
  • New York, NY: Community calls for broad profiling ban, protections against unlawful searches, and more
  • Charlotte, NC: Area residents call on City Council for increased transparency, examination into Review Board’s power
  • Asheville, NC: April 29 meeting will reflect on progress of grassroots organizing in Asheville
  • Chicago, IL: Community events shine light on civil liberties actions across the city
  • Los Angeles, CA: StopLAPD Spying coalition released “People’s Audit of the Los Angeles Police”
  • California: Assembly Public Safety Committee approves TRUST Act

Law and Policy

• #NYPDonTrial continues
• Hunger Strike at Guantánamo Continues, National Day to promote awareness
• Multiple state assemblies consider bills to stop indefinite detention
• House approves Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
• Week of action urges CFAA reform

New Resources and Opportunities

• Micro-grants offer opportunities for grassroots action
• BORDC to host grassroots convening in San Francisco this May

Now entering its third month, the hunger strike among prisoners at Guantánamo Bay continues, as the men there continue to risk their lives to protest their indefinite detention. According to defense lawyers, almost all of the men in Camp 6, a communal living area for more “cooperative” prisoners, are participating in the hunger strike.

Prisoners who have stopped eating have lost more than 30 pounds. Medical experts confirm that the consequences of extended fasting can be extreme:

irreversible cognitive impairment and physiological damage such as loss of hearing, blindness, and hemorrhage may begin to occur by the 40th day of a hunger strike, and death follows thereafter.

The hunger strike presents in stark terms the criminal nature of our government’s detention policy.  The government has cleared over half of the men at the prison for release, but still keeps then locked away from their families and contact with the outside world, with no end in sight.  That these men are willing to risk their lives to protest their confinement, despite the fact that they have been cleared for release highlights the emptiness of President Obama’s promise to close the prison.

Even the military has recognized that the administration’s failure to close the prison has triggered this desperate protest.

Gen. John Kelly, the head of U.S. Southern Command, explained to the House Armed Services Committee last week, detainees “had great optimism that Guantanamo would be closed. They were devastated . . . when the president backed off. . . . He said nothing about it in his inauguration speech. . . . He said nothing about it in his State of the Union speech. . . . He’s not restaffing the office that . . . looks at closing the facility.”

In solidarity with the hunger strikers, organizations, including Witness Against Torture, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International and World Can’t Wait are calling for an emergency National Day of Action on April 11 to demand the closure of Guantánamo and an end to indefinite detention.The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently echoed these calls, noting that the imprisonment of many of the prisoners without charge or trial is a violation of international law.  A number of groups, including BORDC, sent a letter to President Obama to ask that he begin to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo and appoint a high level official to take responsibility for closing the prison.

People of conscience can take action to call for the forever prison’s closure:

Raise your voice! Join the Day of Action!  You can:

Organize a local demonstration demanding the closure of Guantánamo. Ideal locations are Federal buildings, congressional offices, and U.S. military sites like recruitment centers. We can help you plan a rally.  Write to witnesstorture@gmail.com.

Call the White House comment line at 202.456.1111 or switchboard at 202.456.1414 and say, “President Obama, there is a humanitarian crisis at Guantánamo. I urge you to swiftly close the prison by releasing the men you will not charge and by giving fair trials to those you will.” You can also e-mail the White House from www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Twitter Storm President @BarackObama @WhiteHouse Keep your promise: #closegitmo #GitmoHungerStrike

President Obama’s 2009 promise to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, infamous for its flagrant denial of human rights, was met with much support throughout the United States and the world.  Human rights advocates throughout the world felt justice would finally be served by transferring and releasing detainees from the Guantanamo detention facility.  Individuals within the U.S. hoped that Obama’s promise to close the facility would re-solidify the country’s position as the self-proclaimed exemplar of moral and ethical leadership.

Unfortunately, four years later, Guantanamo remains open, still imprisoning detainees who are held without charge, and without access to judge or lawyer.  In January of 2012, several retired generals and admirals drafted a letter to President Obama urging the transfer of Guantanamo detainees cleared by the Task Force, under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Security Waver.  They write:

We recognize the political opposition you have faced in attempting to honor your commitment. Congress has repeatedly restricted your ability to transfer detainees held there who have been cleared for release. Congress has also restricted your authority to bring criminal suspects held at Guantanamo to justice in our time-honored federal criminal courts. However, despite these restrictions, we are asking you to act within the discretion available to you to move our nation forward in closing Guantanamo once and for all.

Political opposition (particularly in the House of Representatives) has been one of the defining challenges of Obama’s presidency, and while it is a legitimate hurdle, it does not excuse Obama’s unfulfilled promise to close Guantanamo.  The President must be held accountable as well.

(more…)

• 3/28, Editorial, The Press-Enterprise, Put restraints on FBI ‘security letters’
• 3/27, Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, Let’s Make Drone Strikes Safe, Legal, and Rare
• 3/27, The Associated Press, Sacramento (CA) Bee, Anti-drone protesters arrested outside Nevada base
• 3/27, John R. Quain, Fox News, Cars that squeal (on you)
• 3/27, Susan Crabtree, Washington Times, White House ‘closely monitoring’ Gitmo hunger strikes
• 3/27, Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, Here’s What Frank Bruni Gets Wrong About Rand Paul’s Senate Record
• 3/27, Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, Little-known surveillance tool raises concerns by judges, privacy activists

As we wrote about recently, the Supreme Court’s decision in Clapper vs Amnesty Int’l  has now made it nearly impossibly to review through civil lawsuits many of the government’s most egregious tactics in the war on terror. While the decision in Clapper is new, it reflects a continuing saga of a war not on terror, but on the rule of law. Another part of that saga has involved our government’s treatment of, and denial of due process to, those accused of terrorism.

The prison at Guantánamo Bay has been plagued both by the continued specter of mistreatment of prisoners and the major deficiencies in the legal process afforded prisoners, namely military commission proceedings. Only months after the prison’s November 13, 2001 creation, the government faced a habeas corpus legal challenge for failure to provide access to attorneys, or even charge detainees, in Rasul vs Bush.

Since then, legal justifications for torture have surfaced, public outrage has waxed and waned, and President Obama has failed to fulfill his campaign promise to close Guantánamo. In fact, he has made it clear that there will be no prosecution for those who justified and committed torture at the camp.

At the same time, prisoners have been subjected to military commissions rather than civilian trials, and many of the procedures related to those commissions have faced challenges.

Most recently, in filings submitted to the Court of Military Commissions Review, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins agreed that the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit had the right to hear the challenge to the military court’s practices. Yet Martins defended a security regime in military commission hearings at Guantánamo challenged by fourteen media organizations and the ACLU, who argue that military restrictions amount to censorship.

This comes after a major struggle among military lawyers last year over an order issued by the commanding officer at Guantánamo, Rear Admiral D. B. Woods, which created a regime for screening of confidential attorney-client communications.

(more…)

March 2013, Vol. 12 No. 03

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/03/

March 2013, Vol. 12 No. 03

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/03/

Paul leads filibuster of Brennan nomination to lead CIA

On March 6, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced a long overdue conversation in Washington about checks and balances on executive power by leading a bipartisan filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination to lead the CIA.

BORDC News

BORDC in the news

In the last month, BORDC and coalitions we support across the nation have appeared in various press outlets to promote concerns about constitutional rights and the powers of police and intelligence agencies that abuse them.

Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution

Have you read BORDC’s blog lately? The People’s Blog for the Constitution has attracted a growing audience that has tripled over the past year. Featuring news & analysis beyond the headlines on a daily basis, it offers a great way to stay up-to-date and informed.

Highlights from the past month include:

• Strict immigration enforcement both wasteful and harmful by Munazza Fairooz Khan
• Virginia joins growing list of states to stand against drones by Michael Figura
• Berkeley community groups protest Kayla Moore’s death by Emily Walsh
• February 2013 Patriot Award: Peggy Littleton by Imad Khan
• Massachusetts legislature to consider drone privacy bills by Yiqian Wang
• Brown liars and the rise of ‘Warrior Academics’ by Kyla Kuvach
• San Francisco says no to indefinite military detention by Nadia Kayyali
• A promising step against domestic drones by Dave Mitchell
• Supreme Court ruling goes to the dogs by Rebecca Palermo
• BORDC in the News: March 4-11, 2013 by Alok Bhatt
• Killing us softly by Shahid Buttar

BORDC’s Shahid Buttar speaks in Austin, TX

On Tuesday, March 5, BORDC’s Shahid Buttar spoke at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Hosted by the American Constitution Society, his talk, which was videotaped and is available online, addressed “Power and Accountability in the Post-9/11 era: torture, targeted killing, and domestic drone surveillance.”

BORDC hosts reception to celebrate recent Bay Area organizing victories

On Sunday, May 5, BORDC will host a reception in San Francisco celebrating the organization’s first decade of grassroots organizing to restore civil liberties, and several recent policy victories across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Grassroots News

March 2013 Patriot Award: Mary Madden

Every month, BORDC honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her community to the movement to restore civil liberties and the rule of law. This month, the Patriot Award goes to Mary Madden for her extraordinary and committed activism and organizing.

Grassroots updates

To view campaigns supported by BORDC at a glance, visit our interactive campaign maps for local coalitions addressing surveillance and profiling by local law enforcement, or military detention under the NDAA. To get involved in any of these efforts, please email the BORDC Organizing Team at organizing (at) bordc (dot) org. We’re eager to hear from you and help support your activism!

• Nationwide: Campaigns emerge to address domestic surveillance drones
• Boston and Cambridge, MA: Diverse coalition takes action in several ways
• Hartford, CT: Public education on how immigration enforcement could undermine civil liberties
• New York City, NY: Residents gather to challenge drones and detention, while lawsuit proceeds vs. NYPD stop-and-frisk profiling
• Annapolis, MD: Statewide coalition challenges NDAA, plans upcoming discussion event
• Asheville, NC: Coalition mobilizes to support proposed Civil Liberties Ordinance
• Cleveland, OH: Coalition launches monthly vigils, bus tour, and petitions
• Chicago, IL: Coalition mobilizes to challenge suppression of dissent, anti-immigrant profiling
• Madison, WI: New coalition initiates public education campaign
• Helena, MT: House votes unanimously to approve bill vs. NDAA
• Los Angeles, CA: Coalition plans community mobilization for upcoming Police Commission meeting
• San Francisco, CA: The 18th city to say “No!” to indefinite detention under the NDAA
• Seattle, WA: Community considers racial profiling and drones
• Friday Harbor, WA: Coalition organizes educational forum

Law and Policy

Bipartisan legislation introduced to curtail domestic surveillance drones

Earlier this month, Representatives Ted Poe (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Preserving American Privacy Act of 2013 (HR 637), a bipartisan bill that would establish basic legal ground rules for the domestic use of unmanned drone aircraft. The principles now governing searches by this new technology are vague, and the clarity of this bill would greatly benefit both police and the public.

CISPA threatens military control of domestic cybersecurity

The Cyber Information and Sharing Act (CISPA) was first introduced last year by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). It prompted widespread opposition, including a veto threat from President Obama, in addition to a petition with over 800,000 signatures, and a widespread online campaign dubbed “Stop Cyber Spying Week.” Nonetheless, CISPA is back.

Immigration enforcement: a Trojan horse?

Calls for comprehensive reform of federal immigration law have prompted a bipartisan debate on Capitol Hill. Most observers, however, have overlooked how stronger immigration enforcement could undermine the rights of not only immigrants, but also US citizens.

DC Circuit Court forces CIA to at least acknowledge documents about drones

On March 15, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the CIA must respond to a FOIA request by the ACLU seeking information about the targeted killing program using drone aircraft. While the decision does not require the actual disclosure of the documents, which the lawsuit will now move on to address, it does represent a rare example of the federal judiciary standing up to government secrecy and asserting an independent check and balance.

National Security Letters held unconstitutional

On March 15, a federal judge in California struck down National Security Letters (NSLs) as unconstitutional violations of free speech. US District Judge Susan Illston ordered the Justice Department and FBI to stop issuing NSLs, which are unilateral demands for private information unsupported by a judicial warrant, and also ordered them to stop enforcing gag orders attached to NSLs in other cases.

US Supreme Court places NSA above the law in Clapper v. Amnesty

On February 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow warrantless wiretapping to continue. The controversial decision places the National Security Agency (NSA) above the law and insulates it from judicial review.

New Resources and Opportunities

Join the struggle for Due Process vs. domestic military detention under NDAA

The transpartisan grassroots movement against the domestic detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is growing. Nearly 20 cities have passed resolutions supporting Due Process, and organizers are using Facebook to help build statewide campaigns in several states.

BORDC to host spring convenings in the Northeast and Bay Area

BORDC supports grassroots organizers as they build diverse coalitions seeking local protections and civil rights and civil liberties. A pair of upcoming convenings offer opportunities for organizers to travel to the Northeast in April, or Bay Area in May, to share skills and case studies with allies from other cities.

Micro-grants offer opportunities for grassroots action

To help encourage outreach, public education, and grassroots mobilization, BORDC has provided micro-grants to coalitions that have participated in one of BORDC’s anchor convenings, such as the May 2012 convening in Chicago. Grants of $300 to $500 are available to help active coalitions expand their local visibility, host events, or build capacity.

• 3/8, Jeremy Herb and Justin Sink, The Hill, Obama faces turning point on administration drone policy
• 3/8, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Laura Litvan and Greg Stohr, Bloomberg, Obama Faces Bipartisan Pressure on Drone Big Brother Fear
• 3/8, Michael Isikoff, NBC News, ‘Non-lethal round’ fired at Gitmo detainees in soccer field incident, US military confirms
• 3/8, Editor, Arab American News, New report shows impact of NYPD’s spying program on American Muslims
• 3/7, Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, Rand Paul Gets a Letter from Eric Holder
• 3/7, Matt Sledge, Huffington Post, Online Privacy Bill Introduced In House Of Representatives
• 3/7, Mark Flatten, Washington Examiner, Congressmen demand investigation of EPA selectively blocking FOIAs