International News

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British Human Rights Under Threat in Battle Over Terror (Scotsman) “Britain may have to suspend basic human rights in order to tighten up counter-terrorism laws,” Home Secretary “John Reid warned [on May 24] following the escape of three more suspected terrorists,” reports the Scotsman. “… The three men on the run”—Lamine Adam, Ibrahim Adam, and Cerie Bullivant, “who are believed to be trying to get to Pakistan, had been under control orders—government-imposed sanctions restricting their movements. Six of the 17 people subject to control orders in Britain are now on the run, and Mr Reid admitted the measures were not adequate to protect the” United Kingdom. (See last week’s newsletter.) [View article]

China Sentences Former Drug Regulator to Death (New York Times) “The former head of China’s top food and drug safety agency was sentenced to death on Tuesday after pleading guilty to corruption and accepting bribes …” reports the New York Times. “Zheng Xiaoyu, who was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration of China from its founding in 1998 until mid-2005, was detained last February in a government investigation into corruption at the agency.” He “received the unusually harsh sentence amid growing concerns about the quality and safety of China’s food and drug system following several scandals … involving tainted food and phony drugs. [See the May 11 newsletter.] China is also under mounting pressure to overhaul its food export controls.” [View article]

9 in Australia Plead Not Guilty of Terrorism (International Herald Tribune) “Nine men accused of stockpiling bomb-making chemicals and plotting to stage an attack to avenge perceived injustices against Muslims pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday in Australia’s largest alleged terrorist conspiracy,” reports the Associated Press. “The men, all Muslims, are charged with conspiring between June 2004 and November 2005 to carry out an attack with bombs or other weaponry to advance a ‘political, religious or ideological cause.’ They face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.” [View article]

80 Medical Clinics Opening in Iraq “More than 80 much-needed medical clinics are opening across Iraq in the next several months, part of the almost $376 million the U.S. has spent to jump-start health care initiatives there,” reports American Forces Press Service. “… Eight clinics are now open to the public and are seeing more than 250 patients a day … When finished, 138 primary health care clinics will be scattered across the country … Treatment at the clinics is free to Iraqis.… The necessary equipment and trained staff will be available when the hospitals and clinics are finished … The facilities then will be turned over to the Ministry of Health, which will operate, staff and supply them.” [View article]

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New this week in the Journal of Homeland Security In Blackwater: The Rise of The World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, Jeremy Scahill illuminates the reliance on “private contractors” as a main part of the Total Force during the Global War on Terror. In Iraq, a company called Blackwater is conducting missions that have been historically military-only missions, such as security and munitions training. Chris LeCron reviews the book.

United Nations News

UN Special Rapporteur Addresses U.S. Human Rights and Anti-Terror Policies After a ten-day fact-finding visit, Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, affirmed the continuing leadership role of the United States in security and human rights. However, he expressed concern over the holding of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq, Afghanistan, and classified locations and use of military tribunals and “enhanced interrogation techniques.” [View press release]

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National News

Traveler With Tuberculosis Freely Crossed Borders (Forbes) “The government is investigating how a globe-trotting tuberculosis patient drove back into the country even after his name was put on a no-fly list provided to border guards,” reports the Associated Press. “The failure exposed a major gap in a system that is supposed to keep the direst of diseases from crossing borders. But the communications breakdown at a U.S.-Canada border crossing was only one of a series of missed opportunities to catch the Atlanta man and his wife who seemed determined to elude health officials. And worried infection specialists say it shows how vulnerable the nation is, from outdated quarantine laws and the speed of international flight, to killer germs carried by travelers.… The man has a rare but exceptionally dangerous form of” tuberculosis. [View article]

Few Immigrants Deported on Terrorism-Related Charges (Denver Post) “U.S. immigration agencies say anti-terrorism is their primary mission, but they tried to deport only 12 people on terrorism-related charges from 2004 through 2006, according to a” study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, reports the Associated Press. During those three years “the government tried to remove” 814,073 people “from the country … no one knows how many terrorists are in the United States or tried to get in, [so] there is no way to say whether the figure of 12 is too low, too high or about right.” The Homeland Security Department “said the study failed to appreciate record-setting enforcement totals.” [View article]

Private Security Guards Weak Link in Homeland Security (Forbes) “Private security guards paid little more than janitors and restaurant cooks are guarding many of the critical security sites in the United States, usually with minimal or no anti-terrorist training, an Associated Press investigation found. The nation’s security industry found itself involuntarily transformed after Sept. 11, 2001, from an army of ‘rent-a-cops’ to protectors of the homeland. But cutthroat competition by security firms trying to win contracts with low bids has kept wages low and high-level training nonexistent.” The security “industry is governed by a maze of conflicting state rules, according to a nationwide survey by the AP. Wide chasms exist among states in requirements for training and background checks. Tens of thousands of guard applicants were found to have criminal backgrounds.… The security businesses’ own trade group”—the National Association of Security Companies—“representing the largest firms, acknowledges [that] the industry as a whole isn’t ready to recognize signs of terrorism and respond to an attack.” [View article]

IRS Fails to Link Tax-Exempt Groups, Terrorists (Government Executive) “The Internal Revenue Service does a poor job in identifying tax-exempt groups that may have links to terrorists, according to a report released” on May 25, reports the Associated Press. “IRS investigators look at paper documents and use a limited terrorist watch list to pinpoint possible ties between charitable and other nonprofit groups and terrorists, said the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which does independent oversight of the tax agency. As a result, it said, ‘There is a risk that these charities will not be reported to the federal government authorities fighting terrorism.’” [View article] [View report (357k PDF)]

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DHS News

DHS Begins New Procedures for Processing Iraqi Refugees The Homeland Security Department has developed enhanced security screening procedures for Iraqi refugees applying for resettlement in the United States. The Administration is committed to accepting up to 7,000 referrals of the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees, such as persons whose lives may be in jeopardy because they worked for coalition forces. [View press release]

Rejected by PBS, Film on Islam Revived by Customs (Washington Post) “In an [unprecedented] move, the agency that oversees public broadcasting has stepped in to arrange distribution for a TV documentary on Islam that” the Public Broadcasting Service “had rejected as unworthy,” reports the Washington Post. “The federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting helped find a new distributor for ‘Islam vs. Islamists: Voices From the Muslim Center’ after seven Republican members of Congress and one Democrat demanded that [Customs and Border Protection] ask PBS to air it or release it elsewhere. The 52-minute film contends that moderate Muslims are being intimidated by radical Islamists in several Western democracies, including the United States.” [View article]

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State and Local News

20 Nabbed in Phoenix Fake-ID Operations (Phoenix Arizona Republic) “Fraudulent ID and other documents can be made in as little as 30 minutes and purchased in the Phoenix area for $100,” reports the Arizona Republic. “Even, it turns out, if you’re seeking forged documents under the name of a most-wanted suspect or would-be terrorist. State and local authorities say that’s one of the lessons from a series of raids Wednesday that netted 20 arrests in the metro area.” [View article]

FEMA Warns of Trailer Scam Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Transitional Recovery Office in Biloxi, MS, are warning occupants of FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes that a scam associated with the sale of these temporary housing units may be under way. Reports have surfaced of occupants being contacted by persons posing as FEMA housing sales representatives. A caller has asked whether occupants were planning to purchase their unit and said they had 30 days to vacate. “This was absolutely not a FEMA representative,” said Dennis Kizziah, acting director of the office. [View press release]

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Private-Sector News

Brother of Iranian Terror Victim Can Collect Money Cubic Defense Owes Iran (San Francisco Chronicle) “The brother of an Iranian terrorism victim can collect $2.8 million from” Cubic Defense Systems, which “owes Iran for a canceled weapons shipment,” the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. “Dariush Elahi’s brother, Cyrus, was a leader in a France-based Iranian opposition movement who was assassinated in Paris in 1990.… In 2000, Dariush Elahi sued Iran in federal court … a judge awarded Elahi $11.7 million in compensatory and $300 million in punitive damages.” [View article]

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Dual-Benefit Solutions

Spectrometer Detects 92 Viruses, Including Bird Flu (Reuters AlertNet) A new mass spectrometer developed by Ibis Biosciences “can quickly detect 92 different viruses, including several strains of the feared H5N1 avian flu virus or other emerging new infections,” reports Reuters. It “can also be used in big hospitals to watch for outbreaks of dangerous drug-resistant infections.” [View article]

TSA Trains Amateur Radio Operators to Assist in Disasters On May 9, 30 volunteers from Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, and New York received Transportation Security Administration training in Pensacola, FL, in the use of emergency high-frequency radio equipment during disasters. They also qualified for amateur radio technician class operator licenses. High-frequency (“ham”) operators can be invaluable when telephones are inoperable, says the TSA. [View press release]

Dual-benefit news archive

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Education The Homeland Security Institute lists these education programs as a service to readers who may be interested; it does not endorse them or their courses. New education listings are posted for four weeks. Identifying and Controlling Human Infections and Illness Associated With Avian Influenza (online) This three-day training course sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists provides a standardized curriculum to state and local public-health responders. [View press release] [View course website] Mirror Image (June 17-22; Moyock, NC) Mirror Image is an intensive classroom and field training program, designed to realistically simulate terrorist recruiting, training techniques, and operational tactics. Participants will receive insight into the mindset and rationale of terrorists through hands-on experience with the methods and means they use, plus education about the ideologies that motivate them and cultural dimensions that influence their decision making. [View course website] C-TPAT Enrollment Seminar (June 27-29; Mexico City) U.S. Customs and Border Protection will hold a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Enrollment Seminar at the Camino Real Hotel. [View seminar website]

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Book Announcements

Emergency Management: The American Experience, 1900-2005 This new book from the Public Entity Risk Institute delves into a century of historic major disasters in the United States, covering earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, a pandemic, and an explosion, as well as the immediate government response and the longer-term changes in federal and local emergency management programs. [View announcement]

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