Nuclear scientist on way home, Iran says

The whereabouts of Shahram Amiri had been a point of contention between Washington and Tehran since he vanished lat year. The details remain in question.

By Borzou Daragahi

July 14, 2010

Reporting from Beirut

– An Iranian nuclear scientist involved in a murky and clandestine tug-of-war between Tehran and Washington is on his way back to the Islamic Republic, a government spokesman said Wednesday morning.

Shahram Amiri, a 32- or 33-year-old scientist who was in the United States as a result of a defection or a kidnapping, has left America and is en route to Tehran, said the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry.

"Shahram Amiri left America with a convoy from the interest section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington a few minutes ago," Ramin Mehmanparast said in comments reported by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Another Foreign Ministry official, Hassan Qashqavi, told Iranian television that Amiri was scheduled to arrive in the Iranian capital Thursday morning via the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. A Qatari Airways flight arrives in Doha from Washington at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, and a flight to Tehran departs six hours later, arriving just before 6 a.m. Thursday.

Iran is steadily expanding its nuclear technology infrastructure and capabilities. The United States has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a goal Tehran denies it is pursuing.

Iran claims that Amiri was kidnapped during a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last year and subjected to extreme psychological pressure by U.S. officials hoping to extract nuclear secrets, a narrative Amiri himself has at various points rejected and embraced in a series of videos posted to the internet in recent weeks.

U.S. officials say Amiri voluntarily defected to the United States, then got cold feet, perhaps worried about his family in Tehran, and yearned to head back home, which he was allowed to do.

He showed up late Monday at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, voicing a desire to repatriate. Mostafa Rahmani, head of Iran's Washington consular office, told Iranian state television that he arrived at the storefront mission accompanied by "U.S. security forces."

It was unclear whether Amiri spent Monday and Tuesday nights at Iran's small storefront mission or at the Pakistani Embassy two miles away. Islamabad officially hosts the Iranian mission in the absence of formal relations between Washington and Tehran. Switzerland hosts a small U.S. outpost in Tehran.

In an interview recounted on the website of Iran's state-owned English-language Press TV channel, Amiri promised to disclose more details about his 14-month U.S. odyssey once he arrived home.

"I was in a unique situation: not completely free, not completely in jail," he was quoted as saying on Iranian state television Wednesday. "It is difficult to explain."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-nuclear-scientist-20100714,0,4165619,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swiss government's decision could hinder further efforts to extradite Polanski

Issues raised by Swiss justice officials over the handling of the case by L.A. County authorities could make other countries, even those with extradition treaties, reluctant to arrest him.

By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

July 14, 2010

The Swiss government's decision not to extradite Roman Polanski to Los Angeles means the famed director can travel freely in France, Switzerland, Poland and other countries without extradition agreements with the United States.

But some legal experts said the Swiss justice ministry's legal rationale for rejecting the extradition request could make even countries with extradition treaties think twice before arresting Polanski.

The Swiss government on Monday, in explaining its decision, cited the way Polanski's case was handled in 1977 when he had sex with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski served 42 days in a state prison — and the Swiss said that it's unclear whether that should have been his full sentence for pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor. Government officials said U.S. authorities didn't provide adequate paperwork to sort out the questions.

Experts say the Swiss raise a number of issues about how Polanski, 76, was treated three decades ago by the U.S. justice system — and those issues could easily be referenced if U.S. authorities ask another country to arrest and extradite Polanski.

"Switzerland apparently decided, 'We will not extradite someone back into this legal morass," said Robert Weisberg, a Stanford law professor. "It could be that the effort to bring him back to L.A. was hopeless from the start because, however carefully the extradition papers were prepared, they still would rest on the original proceedings of 1978, which contained a host of perhaps irresolvable issues."

Loyola Law professor Stan Goldman agreed, saying U.S. authorities would need address these questions if they are serious about going forward with additional extradition efforts against the director.

"What the Swiss government was saying was wait a minute, this strikes to the heart of the issue: Is he going to be sentenced to more time?" Goldman said.

Both L.A. County prosecutors and U.S. Justice Department officials expressed outrage at the Swiss decision and vowed to continue their pursuit of Polanski.

"The Swiss could not have found a smaller hook on which to hang their hat," Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said in a statement released Monday.

Polanski's legal team has cited back-room dealings between Polanski's judge, Laurence J. Rittenband, and the attorneys in the case that resulted in the director receiving unfair treatment. Those allegations were also made in a 2008 HBO documentary that suggested Rittenband acted inappropriately.

Rittenband ordered Polanski to undergo a 90-day psychiatric evaluation at a Chino state prison. The prosecutor and Polanski's attorney understood that his time in the prison would serve as the director's full punishment. He was released after 42 days. But Rittenband — in one of the private meetings with the attorneys — said he wanted Polanski to finish the 90 days — and then leave the country.

Polanski fled the U.S. before Rittenband handed down the sentence and has not set foot in this country since.

In a statement released Tuesday, Polanski's legal team in the United States called for a third-party investigation into what happened in Rittenband's courtroom three decades ago.

Goldman said Cooley and his team are forced to deal with a set of facts — and behavior — from decades ago over which they had no control.

"It is not the fault of the present district attorney, but the environment back then facilitated back-room deals," Goldman said. "These back-room shenanigans have finally come home to roost this week."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-polanski-20100714,0,7971353,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Microsoft says it employed Russian deported in connection with spy ring

Moscow's Foreign Ministry declines to comment on the e-mail about Alexey Karetnikov from the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

Bloomberg News

July 14, 2010

St. Petersburg, Russia

Microsoft Corp. said the 12th alleged member of a Russian spy ring operating in the U.S. was an employee at the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

The man, a Russian citizen in his early 20s named Alexey Karetnikov, worked for Microsoft as a software tester for about nine months, a spokeswoman for Microsoft in Moscow, who declined to be identified in line with company rules, said by e-mail today.

Russia's Foreign Ministry declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

Ten members of the spy ring pleaded guilty to conspiring to serve as unregistered foreign agents on June 8 in a U.S. federal court in Manhattan. They admitted to carrying money or coded messages, secretly communicating with Russian officials and instructing others on how to find information useful to Russia. Their objective was to infiltrate U.S. policy-making circles after constructing false American identities, prosecutors said.

Karetnikov was departed on charges of violating U.S. immigration laws, Itar-Tass reported, citing Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Karetnikov admitted to the violation and agreed to deportation to avoid court proceedings, the state-run news service said.

The Facebook page of a person identified as Alexey Karetnikov shows that he is married and graduated from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University in 2009. He worked for a company called "Neobit" in addition to Microsoft, according to the Facebook page.

A St. Petersburg-based software developer called OOO NeoBIT lists Katernikov's university among its partners and the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, among its clients, according to the company's website.

No one at NeoBIT's offices answered repeated calls from Bloomberg News.

Strategic Forecasting Inc. said yesterday another member of the ring tried to get the risk advisory group to install software he said his company had developed.

A man calling himself Donald Heathfield held five meetings with an employee of Austin, Texas-based Stratfor in an effort to get the firm to use his program, Chief Executive Officer George Friedman said in an e-mailed report. Heathfield, who later identified himself as Andrey Bezrukov, was one of 10 people U.S. authorities traded for four Russians on July 9 in Vienna.

"We suspect that had this been done, our servers would be outputting to Moscow," Friedman said. "We did not know at the time who he was. We have since reported the incident to the FBI."

Bezrukov and his partner in the network were sentenced to time served and deported after agreeing to give up their home on Trowbridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and all the funds in four bank accounts. Bezrukov's partner, who was identified as Tracey Foley at the time of her arrest, told the court her real name was Elena Vavilova.

Bezrukov, Vavilova and the other members of the spy ring are being debriefed at the Foreign Intelligence Service's compound in southern Moscow, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Russia's second-biggest newspaper by circulation, reported yesterday, citing unidentified Russian security officials. That process may last weeks, the Moscow-based daily said.

Some of the 10 agents may continue to work with the security service, while others will be free to pursue new careers, Moskovsky Komsomolets said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-microsoft-spy-20100715,0,2500876,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6 police officers charged in New Orleans Danziger Bridge shootings after Katrina

Six New Orleans police officers were charged in connection with the deadly confrontation on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans in turmoil, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

In the indictment unsealed on Tuesday, the government accused four officers of shooting unarmed people on the bridge. The four and two supervisors were accused of trying to cover up the incident. Two people died and four were wounded in the shootings.

“As our investigation of the Danziger Bridge incident shows, the Justice Department will vigorously pursue anyone who allegedly violated the law,” Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said in a prepared statement. “Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who have sworn to protect the public.”

According to the indictment, Sgts. Robert Gisevius and Kenneth Bowen, and officers Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon were charged in the shootings. They and Sgts. Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue were accused of helping to obstruct justice in the subsequent investigations.

Tensions were running high after Katrina hit New Orleans, causing massive flooding and dislocation. Civil order had frayed when the incident took place on Sept. 4, 2005.

According to the indictment, Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso open fire on an unarmed family on the east side of the bridge, killing 17-year-old James Brissette; and wounding Susan Bartholomew, 38, Leonard Bartholomew III, 44, the Bartholomews' daughter, Lesha, 17, and their nephew, Jose Holmes, 19. The Bartholomews' 14-year-old son ran away from the shooting and was fired at, but was not injured.

Minutes later a second shooting took place on the west side of the bridge, where police shot at brothers Lance and Ronald Madison, killing Ronald, a 40-year-old man with severe mental disabilities. The indictment alleges Faulcon shot Ronald Madison in the back as Ronald ran away. Bowen is charged with stomping and kicking Ronald Madison while Ronald was wounded, but not yet dead. Ronald later died at the scene.

 “In the days following Hurricane Katrina, the people of New Orleans were relying upon law enforcement to protect public safety. The officers indicted today are accused of abusing their power and violating their public trust." said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division.

The four officers charged with killing civilians face maximum penalties of life in prison or the death penalty. The officers face additional penalties for charges related to a conspiracy to cover up what had happened on the bridge, and conspiracies to file charges against two of the victims.

Kaufman faces a maximum of 120 years in prison, and Dugue faces a maximum 70 years in prison.

Tuesday's indictment follows guilty pleas from five former New Orleans Police Department officers who admitted that they participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and cover up what happened on the bridge.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dcnow/2010/07/6-police-officers-charged-in-new-orleans-danziger-bridge-shootings-after-katrina-.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Utah probes list of 1,300 people claimed to be illegal immigrants

An anonymous group sends the names to law enforcement agencies and media. It contains personal information, such as Social Security numbers.

The Associated Press

July 14, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY

State agencies are investigating whether any of their employees leaked Social Security numbers and other personal information after a list of 1,300 people who an anonymous group claims are illegal immigrants was circulated around Utah.

The anonymous group mailed the list to several media outlets, law enforcement agencies and others this week, frightening the state's Latino community. A letter accompanying the list demanded that those on it be deported immediately.

The list also contains highly detailed personal information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, workplaces, addresses and phone numbers. Names of children are included, along with due dates of pregnant women on the list.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert wrote in a tweet Tuesday that he has asked state agencies to investigate the list's origin.

"We've got some people in our technology department looking at it right now," said Dave Lewis, communication for the state Department of Workforce Services. "It's a high priority. We want to figure out the how's and why's."

Lewis noted his department is one of several with access to the information included in the list. He said his agency didn't receive a copy of the list from the governor's office until late Tuesday.

Most of the names on the list are of Latino origin.

"My phone has been ringing nonstop since this morning with people finding out they're on the list," said Tony Yapias, former director of the Utah Office of Hispanic Affairs. "They're feeling terrorized. They're very scared."

The letter says some names on the list were sent to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Salt Lake City in April. It says the new list includes new names, for a total of more than 1,300.

Included with the new letter is one dated April 4 addressed to "Customs and Immigration" and from "Concerned Citizens of the United States."

In the April letter, the writers say their group "observes these individuals in our neighborhoods, driving on our streets, working in our stores, attending our schools and entering our public welfare buildings."

"We then spend the time and effort needed to gather information along with legal Mexican nationals who infiltrate their social networks and help us obtain the necessary information we need to add them to our list," the letter says.

Agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said ICE received a copy of the list, but she declined to say whether it is investigating the immigration status of the people on it.

"As a matter of policy, we don't confirm we are investigating an allegation or possible violation unless the inquiry results in some type of public enforcement action," Kice said.

She noted that because ICE has finite resources, it focuses its efforts "first on those dangerous convicted criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, not sweeps or raids to target undocumented immigrants indiscriminately."

Kice added the agency has had a means for the public to report suspected criminal activity for several years -- a 24-hour tip line staffed by trained enforcement personnel.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-naw-utah-immigrant-list-20100715,0,5604143,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The FCC's decency dilemma

The latest court ruling shows the futility in trying to set, and enforce, what can and can't be said on broadcasts.

July 14, 2010

A federal appeals court has delivered another setback to the Federal Communications Commission's six-year crusade against expletives on broadcast television, declaring the commission's latest indecency rule to be unconstitutionally vague. Unless it's overturned on appeal, the ruling will force the FCC to try again to lay out clear boundaries for on-air programming. That's been an exercise in futility for the commission in recent years — not just because it's hard to regulate TV programs without violating the 1st Amendment, but because today's technologies render even constitutionally defensible regulation moot.

Federal law prohibits obscene, indecent and profane language on radio and television broadcasts, and the commission is under considerable political pressure to keep the public airwaves free from shockingly offensive material. But it went off the rails in 2004, holding that even fleeting use of selected profanities was verboten between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Congress also multiplied the maximum penalty for violating the indecency rule by an order of magnitude, turning a single transgression in a widely aired program into a potential multimillion-dollar fine.

The Supreme Court upheld the FCC's procedures last year, leaving the constitutional issues for a later day of reckoning. That day arrived Tuesday, and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals' opinion was blistering. The three-judge panel found that the rule has chilled protected speech, including live broadcasts and news programs. Broadcasters have "no way of knowing what the FCC will find offensive." More ominously, the court suggested that the way the rules were drawn, the FCC could use the policy to discriminate against programs it didn't like while absolving ones it did.

The 32-page opinion illuminates how difficult it is for the commission to enforce the statutory prohibition on broadcast indecency. In the late 1980s, the FCC shifted from a prohibition on specific profanities ( George Carlin's seven "filthy words") to a more flexible ban on "patently offensive" language. But according to the appeals panel, that flexibility has rendered the FCC's enforcement actions unpredictable and, potentially, prone to abuse. Under the commission's formulation, only it can know which words in our ever-evolving lexicon would be deemed "patently offensive," and in what context.

Rather than trying to justify such a highly subjective regulatory scheme, the commission should return to the restrained approach it took in previous decades. Broadcast networks are no longer dominant, inescapable media voices. Besides, the FCC can't shield children from inappropriate programs — it has no authority over cable TV channels, and it can't stop kids from using DVRs or the Internet to watch late-night programming in the middle of the day. Happily, parents now have better tools for blocking programs they don't want their children to see. The FCC would be better off promoting those tools than trying to micromanage what's said on the airwaves.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-indecency-20100714,0,3654141,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the New York Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair

GAZA CITY — The women were bleary-eyed, their voices weak, their hands red and calloused. How could they be expected to cook and clean without water or electricity? What could they do in homes that were dark and hot all day? How could they cope with husbands who had not worked for years and children who were angry and aimless?

Sitting with eight other women at a stress clinic, Jamalat Wadi, 28, tried to listen to the mental health worker. But she could not contain herself. She has eight children, and her unemployed husband spends his days on sedatives.

“Our husbands don't work, my kids are not in school, I get nervous, I yell at them, I cry, I fight with my husband,” she blurted. “My husband starts fighting with us and then he cries: ‘What am I going to do? What can I do?' ”

The others knew exactly what she meant.

The Palestinians of Gaza , most of them descended from refugees of the 1948 war that created Israel, have lived through decades of conflict and confrontation. Their scars have accumulated like layers of sedimentary rock, each marking a different crisis — homelessness, occupation, war, dependency.

Today, however, two developments have conspired to turn a difficult life into a new torment: a three-year blockade by Israel and Egypt that has locked them in the small enclave and crushed what there was of a formal local economy; and the bitter rivalry between Palestinian factions, which has undermined identity and purpose, divided families and caused a severe shortage of electricity in the middle of summer.

There are plenty of things to buy in Gaza; goods are brought over the border or smuggled through the tunnels with Egypt. That is not the problem.

In fact, talk about food and people here get angry because it implies that their struggle is over subsistence rather than quality of life. The issue is not hunger. It is idleness, uncertainty and despair.

Any discussion of Gaza's travails is part of a charged political debate. No humanitarian crisis? That is an Israeli talking point, people here will say, aimed at making the world forget Israel's misdeeds. Palestinians trapped with no future? They are worse off in Lebanon, others respond, where their “Arab brothers” bar them from buying property and working in most professions.

But the situation is certainly dire. Scores of interviews and hours spent in people's homes over a dozen consecutive days here produced a portrait of a fractured and despondent society unable to imagine a decent future for itself as it plunges into listless desperation and radicalization.

It seems most unlikely that either a Palestinian state or any kind of Middle East peace can emerge without substantial change here. Gaza, on almost every level, is stuck.

Disunity

A main road was blocked off and a stage set up for a rally protesting the electricity shortage. Speakers shook nearby windows with the anthems of Hamas , the Islamist party that has held power here for the past three years. Boys in military camouflage goose-stepped. Young men carried posters of a man with vampire teeth biting into a bloodied baby.

The vampire was not Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli prime minister. It was Salam Fayyad , prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

“We stand today in this furious night to express our intense anger toward this damned policy by the illegitimate so-called Fayyad government,” Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official, shouted.

As if the Palestinian people did not have enough trouble, they have not one government but two, the Fatah -dominated one in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Hamas one here. The antagonism between them offers a depth of rivalry and rage that shows no sign of abating.

Its latest victim is electricity for Gaza, part of which is supplied by Israel and paid for by the West Bank government, which is partly reimbursed by Hamas. But the West Bank says that Hamas is not paying enough so it has held off paying Israel, which has halted delivery.

“They are lining their pockets and they are part of the siege,” asserted Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader and a surgeon, speaking of the West Bank government. “There will be no reconciliation.”

John Ging, who heads the Gaza office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as U.N.R.W.A., says the latest electricity problem “is a sad reflection of the divide on the Palestinian side.”

He added, “They have no credibility in demanding anything from anybody if they show such disregard for the plight of their own people.”

Today Hamas has no rival here. It runs the schools, hospitals, courts, security services and — through smuggler tunnels from Egypt — the economy.

“We solved a lot of problems with the tunnels,” Dr. Zahar said with a satisfied smile.

Along with the leaders has come a new generation that has taken the reins of power. Momen al-Ghemri, 25, a nurse, and his wife, Iman, 24, an Arabic teacher, are members of it.

University educated, the grandchildren of refugees, still living in refugee camps, both of the Ghemris got their jobs when Hamas took over full control by force three years ago, a year after it won an election. Neither has ever left Gaza.

Mr. Ghemri works as a nurse for the security services, earning $500 a month, but is spending six months at the intensive care unit of Shifa Hospital.

Spare parts for equipment remain a problem because of the blockade. But on a recent shift, the I.C.U. was well staffed. In the office next door, there was a map on the wall of Palestine before Israel's creation.

Mr. Ghemri's grandparents' village, Aqer, is up there, along with 400 other villages that no longer exist. A wall in another office offered instructions on the Muslim way to help a bedridden patient pray.

Mr. Ghemri's wife greets visitors at home wearing the niqab , or face veil, only her eyes visible. She believes in Hamas and makes that clear to her pupils. But her husband sees the party more as a means toward an end.

“You can't go on your own to apply for a job,” he said. “For me, Hamas is about employment.”

He does like the fact that, as he put it, Hamas “refuses to kneel down to the Jews,” but like most Gazans, he is worried about Palestinian disunity and blames both factions.

In fact, there is a paradox at work in Gaza: while Hamas has no competition for power, it also has a surprisingly small following.

Dozens of interviews with all sorts of people found few willing to praise their government or that of its competitor.

“They're both liars,” Waleed Hassouna, a baker in Gaza City, said in a very common comment.

People here seem increasingly unable to imagine a political solution to their ills. Ask Gazans how to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — two states? One state? — and the answer is mostly a reflexive call to drive Israel out.

“Hamas and Fatah are two sides of the same coin,” Ramzi, a public school teacher from the city of Rafah, said in a widely expressed sentiment. “All the land is ours. We should turn the Jews into refugees and then let the international community take care of them.”

Dried-Up Fortunes

Hamza and Muhammad Ju'bas are brothers, ages 13 and 11. They sell chocolates and gum on the streets after school to add to their family income. Once they have pulled in 20 shekels, about $5, they go home and play.

On one steamy afternoon they were taking refuge in a cellphone service center. The center — where customers watch for their number on digital displays and smiling representatives wear ties, and the air-conditioning never quits — seems almost glamorous.

The boys were asked about their hopes.

“My dream is to be like these guys and work in a place that's cool,” Muhammad said.

“My dream is to be a worker,” Hamza said. He hears stories about the “good times” in the 1990s, when his father worked in Israel, as a house painter, making $85 a day. Later, their father, Emad Ju'bas, 45, said, “My children don't have much ambition.”

The family is typical. They live in Shujaiya, a packed eastern neighborhood of 70,000, a warren of narrow, winding alleys and main roads lined with small shops.

The air is heavy with dust and fumes from cars, scooters and horse-drawn carts. Every shop has a small generator chained down outside. Roaring generators and wailing children are the sounds of Shujaiya.

Families are big. From 1997 through 2007, the population increased almost 40 percent, to 1.5 million. Palestinians say that large families will help them cope as they age, and more children mean more fighters for their cause.

Mr. Ju'bas and his wife, Hiyam, have seven boys and three girls. Two of their children have cognitive disabilities. Since Israel's three-week war 18 months ago here aimed at stopping Hamas rockets, their children frequently wet the bed. Their youngest, Taj, 4, is aggressive, randomly punching anyone around him.

For six years Mr. Ju'bas worked in Israel, and with the money he bought a house with six rooms and two bathrooms. In 2000, when the uprising called the second intifada broke out, Israel closed the gates.

After that, Mr. Ju'bas found small jobs around Gaza, but with the blockade that dried up. His only source of work is at the United Nations relief agency, where two months a year he is a security guard.

He admits that at times he lashes out at his family. Domestic violence is on the rise. The strain is acute for women. Men can go out and sit in parks, in chairs right on the sidewalk or visit friends. Women are expected to stay off the streets.

The women at the stress clinic gathered about 10 a.m. They entered silently, wearing the ubiquitous hijab head scarf and ankle-length button-down overcoat known as the jilbab. Two wore the niqab over their faces.

They spoke of sending their children to work just to get them out of the house and of husbands who grew morose and violent.

They blamed Hamas for their misery, for seizing the Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit , which led to the blockade. But they also blamed Fatah for failing them.

“My own children tell me it is better to die,” Jamalat Wadi said to the group.

Ms. Wadi's home was next door and she ran over to check on the family. She found her eight children wandering aimlessly in an open paved area, a courtyard filled with piles of clothes and plastic containers. The house had one unfurnished room and her husband, Bahjat, 28, was on the floor, unconscious, his arm over his head, his mouth open.

“He sleeps all the time,” Ms. Wadi said, motioning as though throwing a pill in her mouth.

The Wadis are refugees, so they receive flour, rice, oil and sugar from U.N.R.W.A. Tens of thousands of others here receive salaries from the Ramallah government to stay away from their jobs in protest over Hamas rule. They wait, part of a literate society with nothing to do.

Ms. Wadi said that when she visited her mother, her two brothers fought bitterly because one backs Hamas and the other backs Fatah. Recently they threw bottles at each other. Her mother kicked them out.

In another meeting, Mr. Ju'bas was unshaven and unwashed. The previous night he had hit his wife, one of his children said. The washing machine had broken and he had no money to fix it.

He told his wife to use the neighbors'. But she was embarrassed. She stayed up all night cleaning clothes and crying.

“My only dream,” Mr. Ju'bas said, “is to have patience.”

Inside Looking Out

The waves were lapping the beach. It was night. Mahmoud Mesalem, 20, and a few of his friends were sitting at a restaurant.

University students or recent graduates, they were raised in a world circumscribed by narrow boundaries drawn hard by politics and geography. They all despaired from the lack of a horizon.

“We're here, we're going to die here, we're going to be buried here,” lamented Waleed Matar, 22.

Mr. Mesalem pointed at an Israeli ship on the horizon, then made his hand into a gun, pointed it at his head. “If we try to leave, they will shoot us,” he said.

There are posters around town with a drawing of a boot on an Israeli soldier, who is facedown, and the silhouette of a man hanging by his neck. The goal is to get alleged collaborators to turn themselves in. The campaign has put fear in the air.

Israel is never far from people's minds here. Its ships control the waters, its planes control the skies. Its whims, Gazans feel, control their fate.

And while most here view Israel as the enemy, they want trade ties and to work there. In their lives the main source of income has been from and through Israel.

Economists here say what is most needed now is not more goods coming in, as the easing of the blockade has permitted, but people and exports getting out.

That is not going to happen soon.

“Our position against the movement of people is unchanged,” said Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, the Israeli in charge of policy to Gaza's civilians. “As to exports, not now. Security is paramount, so that will have to wait.”

Direct contact between the peoples, common in the 1980s and '90s when Palestinians worked daily in Israel, is nonexistent.

Jamil Mahsan, 62, is a member of a dying breed. He worked for 35 years in Israel and believes in two states.

“There are two peoples in Palestine, not just one, and each deserves its rights,” he said, sitting in his son's house. He used to attend the weddings of his Israeli co-workers. He had friendships in Israel. Today nobody here does.

The young men sitting by the beach contemplating their lives were representative of the new Gaza. They have started a company to design advertisements, and they write and produce small plays.

Their first performance in front of several hundred people involved a recounting of the horrors of the last war with Israel, with children speaking about their own fears as video of the war played.

Their second play, which they are rehearsing, is a black comedy about the Palestinian plight. It assails the factions for fighting and the Arabs for selling out the Palestinians.

“Our play does not mean we hate Israel,” said Abdel Qader Ismail, 24, a former employee of the military intelligence service, with no trace of irony. “We believe in Israel's right to exist, but not on the land of Palestine. In France or in Russia, but not in Palestine. This is our home.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/middleeast/14gaza.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gaza-Bound Ship Diverts to Egypt, Averting Clash

JERUSALEM — A Libyan ship seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza seemed to have shifted course late Tuesday, with the intention of docking at an Egyptian port after Israel warned it and Egypt gave it permission to land there instead, apparently defusing a potential confrontation at sea, Egyptian and Israeli officials said.

Israeli officials said that the captain of the ship had been told he could not sail into Israeli-controlled Gazan waters and that he replied that he would therefore head for El Arish in the Egyptian Sinai next to Gaza. Israeli naval vessels continued to tail the boat, they added. The vessel appeared to be making slow progress, stopping often, perhaps because of engine trouble.

An official at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in Cairo confirmed that the ship, called the Amalthea, had asked to dock in El Arish. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press, said all humanitarian aid would be sorted and delivered according to Egypt's policy, which allows only medical supplies through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza.

The official also said that not all people aboard the ship would be allowed to go through to Gaza.

The concern that there might be a violent encounter at sea between the Israeli Navy and pro- Palestinian activists came six weeks after Israeli naval commandos boarded a Turkish flotilla that had sought to break Israel's blockade on Gaza and ended up killing nine men on board, although the Navy has stopped a number of other boats without incident.

The Amalthea, with about 15 activists, most of them Libyan, and a dozen crew members, is associated with the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation led by Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi . On its Web site, the foundation said the boat's destination was Gaza and that its goal was to deliver 2,000 tons of aid.

Israeli diplomats had been trying for days through Italy and other countries with ties to Libya to persuade the boat's crew not to attempt a breach of Israel's Gaza blockade.

Israel imposed the blockade several years ago to isolate Hamas , the militant anti-Israel group that won elections in Gaza in 2006 and seized complete control in 2007. But in the time since the Turkish flotilla episode, Israel eased the land blockade considerably.

Leaders of the European Union who had been highly critical of Israel's Gaza policy urged the Libyan boat's crew not to try to enter Gaza. In a statement on Monday, Catherine Ashton , the European Union's foreign affairs chief, called for restraint by all sides.

A number of European foreign ministers are planning to visit Gaza this month to assess the humanitarian situation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/middleeast/14flotilla.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a Brigade Returns Safe, Some Meet New Enemies

FORT BLISS, Tex. — The soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, First Armored Division, have been home from Iraq for three months now, the danger of snipers and roadside bombs no longer a threat, the war for them over.

But the odds that some of them will die violent deaths continues, so just as he did when his battalion was operating in Iraq, Command Sgt. Maj. Sa'eed Mustafa constantly warns his soldiers about the perils of letting their guard down where they are supposed to be safest — in their own homes.

“We talk about the enemy here, which is different from the enemy downrange, but which is just as deadly,” he said, using the military term used for a combat zone.

In fact, given the brigade's record at Fort Bliss of suicide, murder, assault, drunken driving and drug use, its troops are statistically at greater risk at home than while deployed in Iraq. During the past year, only one of the unit's soldiers died in combat, but in 2008, the last time the brigade was home from Iraq, seven soldiers were killed and six others committed crimes in which at least four civilians and soldiers from outside the brigade died in a little more than a year.

Drugs, including heroin and a methamphetamine lab, were discovered in the barracks, as was a homemade sex tape that had been circulating among soldiers and that featured one of the brigade's female lieutenants and five male sergeants.

“Being back in garrison is what we don't do well, because since 9/11 it seems we've spent more time deployed than at home,” Lt. Col. David Wilson said.

As the United States military continues to reduce the number of troops in Iraq — to 50,000 by Sept. 1 from about 85,000 now — it has begun to shift some focus to the home front in an effort to ensure a smooth transition for soldiers, a move prompted by lessons learned from returning veterans who have struggled to adjust to lives away from war.

Leaders of the Fourth Brigade said its problems had not only been deeply embarrassing, but had revealed institutional ignorance about combat stress and traumatic brain injury that forced the unit to use a holistic approach not typically associated with the military as it confronted its issues.

“They were leaving a war zone, coming back home and not getting the care and supervision necessary, which allowed them to stay in the Mosul mind-set,” said Sergeant Major Mustafa, referring to the violent northern Iraq city where the brigade had been stationed before it returned to Fort Bliss in 2008. “This is a group of people that had been fighting and killing and taking casualties for 14 months. You can't switch it on and off.”

The brigade is thought to have one of the worst criminal records among Army brigades, although no statistics are kept. Its leaders say that if it is successful in keeping its troops safe until its next deployment, its multifaceted approach may become a model for other units seeking to acclimate their own soldiers to peacetime.

So far, the strategy appears largely to be working: After spending nearly three months at Fort Bliss, Maj. Myles Caggins, a spokesman, said its soldiers had been involved in only a handful of cases, the most serious three arrests for drunken driving that had resulted in no injuries. The methods have ranged from the hard-nosed — kicking dozens of soldiers out of the Army and requiring groups of three or more troops to march, rather than walk, whenever they are on base — to the soft touch, including calling parents to tell them that their children had done an exemplary job in Iraq and bringing in a civilian social worker to counsel depressed soldiers.

The brigade also expanded its list of at-risk soldiers to include those the Army would not otherwise consider troubled, including troops with multiple traffic violations. Upon arrival at Fort Bliss, soldiers deemed to be at the highest risk of psychological problems were met on the landing strip and escorted to an interview with a counselor, sometimes with family members in tow.

Colonel Wilson said he had ordered his battalion's soldiers to read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson to help them handle change. Officers, he said, were assigned “Winning Every Day,” by the former college football coach Lou Holtz .

The unit has also trained its leaders in suicide prevention programs that exceed Army requirements, and its officers, including the brigade commander until last Friday, Col. Peter A. Newell, have dropped in to bars around Fort Worth to monitor their soldiers' behavior.

Sergeants are encouraged to pry into soldiers' personal lives by inquiring about the health of their marriages and the state of their finances. And before going on leave, each soldier with a car was required to undergo a vehicle inspection and to show proof of insurance and a driver's license.

“There is a burning desire to change the military,” Colonel Newell said. “We had to do something, or we would have bottomed out after eight years of war.”

A critical aspect of its approach has been to stagger those times when the unit's leadership was reassigned from the brigade so that the highest-ranking sergeants and officers are not transferred at the same time, which typically occurs in Army units within a few months after a brigade returns from war.

During a pre-departure briefing this spring to about 360 troops at Contingency Operating Base Adder in southern Iraq, Colonel Newell paced in front of them, saying he felt uncomfortable about their impending return to Fort Bliss.

“I have a little stress over sending a brigade home,” he said. “The sad truth is that it is safer for me to keep you in Iraq drawing combat pay with people trying to kill you than it is for me to take you back home.”

One by one, he ticked off cases in which one of the unit's soldiers had ruined his life at Fort Bliss before the brigade's deployment to Iraq last year: four suicides, a drug overdose, a murder committed with a baseball bat, fatal drunken-driving offenses, cases of domestic violence, and a shooting after an argument in a bar.

At least six of the unit's former soldiers are serving 15 years or more in prison for those crimes, and more trials are pending.

As part of a housecleaning, Colonel Newell dismissed more than 150 soldiers from the Army and brought formal disciplinary charges against more than 10 percent of the brigade's 3,500 troops. In one company, 39 of 150 soldiers were court-martialed.

Capt. Rolland Johnson, 26, a company commander, said the brigade's approach had required him to pay attention to his soldiers in ways unthinkable a few years ago.

“I can tell you everyone's full name and hometown,” he said, adding that he had recently installed a suggestion box for his troops fashioned out of a discarded ammunition tin. “It used to be that if you saw the captain coming around you were in trouble,” Captain Johnson said. “Things have changed a lot, but it's a new type of soldier, too, given all they've seen and how long they've been away.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us/14army.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Terror Suspect's Case

At the heart of the debate about where and how to prosecute the men accused of being terrorists who have been held at Guantánamo Bay has been the fear among many that the suspects, tried in a civilian court, would benefit from rights and protections they did not deserve.

The detainees, the concern was, would argue that they had been tortured, and that their cases should be dismissed.

One of them, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani , who last year became the first Guantánamo detainee to actually be moved into the civilian court system, has argued that his nearly five years in detention before that had deprived him of a fundamental protection afforded all defendants in a federal court: the right to a speedy trial .

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Manhattan rejected Mr. Ghailani's claim, and cleared the way for federal prosecutors to try him for his suspected role in Al Qaeda 's 1998 bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The judge's ruling is destined to further shape the debate about whether to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others accused of being 9/11 conspirators, in civilian court.

The debate stems from the government's policy since the Sept. 11 attacks to detain hundreds of terrorism suspects without trials, often for years.

But the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan, ruled that Mr. Ghailani's extended incarceration had no adverse impact on his ability to defend himself.

“There is no persuasive evidence that the delay in this prosecution has impaired Ghailani's ability to defend himself in any respect or significantly prejudiced him in any other way pertinent to the speedy trial analysis,” Judge Kaplan wrote.

And in a nod to the political debate about trying terrorists in civilian courts, the judge noted: “The court understands that there are those who object to alleged terrorists, especially noncitizens, being afforded rights that are enjoyed by U.S. citizens. Their anger at wanton terrorist attacks is understandable. Their conclusion, however, is unacceptable in a country that adheres to the rule of law.”

Mr. Ghailani is facing trial on Sept. 27 on charges he conspired in the two American embassy bombings. The authorities have said that he later trained with Al Qaeda and worked as a bodyguard and a document forger for Osama bin Laden .

After Mr. Ghailani was captured six years ago, he was held in secret overseas jails run by the C.I.A. , where he was interrogated in the belief he had important intelligence information about Al Qaeda, the judge noted. In 2006, he was transferred to Guantánamo, and last year, the Obama administration ordered him moved into the civilian system, and he was brought to New York.

“The government is entitled to attempt to hold Ghailani accountable in a court of law for his alleged complicity in the murder of 224 people and the injury of more than 1,000 others,” Judge Kaplan wrote.

The ruling comes two months after the judge rejected Mr. Ghailani's argument that his case should be dismissed on grounds of “outrageous” government conduct. Mr. Ghailani contends he was subjected to cruel interrogation techniques while in C.I.A. custody.

“The combined effect of the two rulings is to say that there is a way forward through the federal courts,” said Karen J. Greenberg, executive director of the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. “It's the green light,” she said.

Of course, lawyers for other detainees, if they are brought into civilian court, would most likely try to distinguish the circumstances of their cases in order to argue, for example, that a detainee was prejudiced by a delay in a way Mr. Ghailani was not.

In his ruling, Judge Kaplan weighed the factors used to assess speedy trial claims, like the length of and reason for a delay, and the prejudice caused to a defendant. While the delay in bringing Mr. Ghailani to trial was long, he said, it “did not materially infringe upon any interest protected by the right to a speedy trial.”

Mr. Ghailani's lawyers did not challenge the government's authority to detain him for intelligence gathering. But they said prosecuting him in civilian court so many years later on a 1998 indictment was “perhaps the most egregious violation in the history of speedy-trial jurisprudence.”

Federal prosecutors disagreed, contending Mr. Ghailani was a “longstanding Al Qaeda terrorist” who was believed to have “actionable intelligence” about terrorist plots. “This was done, simply put, to save lives,” wrote the office of Preet Bharara , the United States attorney in Manhattan.

Judge Kaplan noted that the specific interrogation techniques used on Mr. Ghailani in his two years of C.I.A. detention remain classified (he discusses them in a classified supplement to his decision). But those two years of delay, the judge said, “served compelling interests of national security.”

“Suffice it to say,” the judge added, citing the classified record, “the C.I.A. program was effective in obtaining useful intelligence from Ghailani throughout his time in C.I.A. custody.”

Neither prosecutors nor Mr. Ghailani's lawyers would comment on the ruling.

The judge noted that a factor weighing against Mr. Ghailani's claim was that he would have been held as an enemy combatant throughout the period of his detention. “None of the entire five-year delay of this prosecution subjected Ghailani to a single day of incarceration that he would not otherwise have suffered,” the judge wrote in his 46-page ruling.

Judge Kaplan also found that the government's decisions causing the delays “were not made for the purpose of gaining any advantage” over Mr. Ghailani in his civilian court prosecution.

Peter Margulies, a law professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island and an expert in national security law, said Judge Kaplan made clear he did not want to compel the government to have to choose upfront between detaining and trying suspected terrorists.

“Forcing a choice might actually discourage reliance on the criminal justice system,” Professor Margulies said.

He said by taking a “flexible, pragmatic approach,” the judge was saying that detentions and trials “are not mutually exclusive, and the criminal justice system is a viable option in terrorism cases.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14ghailani.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Barefoot Bandit' Deported to the U.S.

NASSAU, the Bahamas — Colton Harris-Moore , the teenage fugitive known as the Barefoot Bandit, was deported to the United States on Tuesday evening, hours after pleading guilty to a single count of illegally landing an airplane in this island nation, a State Department official said.

More than two years after he escaped from a halfway house in the Seattle suburbs and became a suspect in scores of burglaries and boat, plane and credit card thefts across the United States, Mr. Harris-Moore, 19, was captured in a boat chase here early Sunday after American authorities alerted local officials that he was wanted on a federal warrant and was believed to be in the Bahamas.

The police in the Bahamas had threatened to charge him with several crimes, including illegal possession of a firearm, but on Tuesday he was ordered only to pay a $300 fine for the single charge of illegally landing. A lawyer for Mr. Harris-Moore, Monique Gomez, said in an interview that the police here still could pursue other charges after he returned to the United States.

Mr. Harris-Moore faces many serious charges at home, including one federal charge of stealing an airplane in Idaho and transporting it across state lines, as well as state charges in dozens of other burglaries and thefts in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney's office in Seattle , said Mr. Harris-Moore would probably first have a hearing in South Florida, the closest jurisdiction to the Bahamas, and then would be transported to Washington.

“It can take a few days, it can take a few weeks,” she said.

In court here on Tuesday, Mr. Harris-Moore wore a clean pair of white sneakers, a “Bahamas” T-shirt and several fresh mosquito bites. He was met with amused approval by the crowd at the courthouse. Some spectators said he was “a smart young man” and urged him to hold his head up high rather than ducking it to avoid facing news cameras.

A courtroom orderly said in an interview that he had asked Mr. Harris-Moore how he taught himself to pilot the planes and boats that he reportedly stole during an escapade that took him from the Pacific Northwest to the Bahamas. Mr. Harris-Moore said he had known how since kindergarten, said the orderly, who was speaking without authorization.

Ms. Gomez told reporters that Mr. Harris-Moore had told her that he “didn't want all the media hype” and “just wanted to go home.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us/14barefoot.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Homeland Security

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Public Safety Minister Toews and Secretary Napolitano Announce New Cooperative Initiatives to Combat Threats and Expedite Travel and Trade

July 13, 2010

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Washington, D.C. - Today, Canada's Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, met to advance a strategic dialogue on developing a shared vision for border security for Canada and the United States - one that will enhance security and resilience against common threats, while bolstering competitiveness and job creation.

As part of that dialogue, Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews announced a first-ever plan to establish a comprehensive cross-border approach to critical infrastructure resilience - focused on the need for a strong partnership to share information and assess and manage risks to enhance both nations' ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

"Our mutual security extends beyond our borders and we must work together to mitigate threats before they reach either Canada or the U.S. while facilitating the legitimate mobility of people and goods between us," said Minister Toews. "Crystallizing a shared vision of border security that facilitates trade is a priority if we are to mitigate threats to our joint security and promote economic competitiveness."

"The security of the United States and Canada is uniquely linked by proximity and a long history of close collaboration between our two governments," said Secretary Napolitano. "Today's announcements reflect our commitment to cooperative action to protect and safeguard both nations' vital assets, networks and systems, as well as the shared responsibility to protect all citizens from cross-border crime and terrorism."

Recognizing the importance of critical infrastructure, both Canada and the United States have developed strategies (e.g. Canada's National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure and the U.S. National Infrastructure Protection Plan) to enhance resiliency in their respective countries. The Canada-United States Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure will support implementation of these strategies in Canada and the United States and will enable both countries to more effectively address a range of cross border critical infrastructure issues. The plan is available at www.dhs.gov and www.publicsafety.gc.ca .

Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews also announced the following joint initiatives that will play a critical role in the national and economic security of both nations:

Child Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking: Secretary Napolitano announced that six U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel will be deployed in the coming months to join a Canadian effort to further assist the Haitian National Police to prevent sexual exploitation of children and potential human trafficking in Haiti, complementing existing bi-national collaboration to address these issues. Following January's devastating earthquake in Haiti, which left many children orphaned and potentially vulnerable to exploitation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police victim identification specialists assisted the Haitian National Police in creating a database of these children to assist in their identification and rescue should they become exploited.

MOU on Cross Border Currency Seizure Information Sharing: Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews announced that the Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that will help to identify potential threats and assist in money-laundering and terrorist-financing investigations and prosecutions.

Secretary Napolitano and Minister Toews also discussed progress made on the development of an enhanced common understanding of shared threats through the Joint Border Threat and Risk Assessment, which outlines areas of concern along the U.S.-Canada border where there is the potential of terrorism and transnational organized crime. The assessment, which will be released later this summer, jointly addresses drug trafficking and illegal immigration, the illicit movement of prohibited or controlled goods, agricultural hazards, and the spread of infectious disease.

For more information, please visit the websites www.publicsafety.gc.ca or www.dhs.gov .

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1279040142979.shtm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Justice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today marks an important step forward in administering justice, in healing community wounds, in improving public safety, and in restoring public trust in this city's police department.

The indictments that Jim just outlined are the result of an intensive, and ongoing, investigation by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office here in the Eastern District of Louisiana. I want to applaud the great work that's been led by Jim and by Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez. And I want to thank our outstanding FBI partners, who are represented here today by Kevin Perkins.

As our investigation of the Danziger Bridge incident shows, the Justice Department will vigorously pursue anyone who allegedly violated the law. Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who have sworn to protect the public. We will hold offenders accountable.

But while accountability is a vital part of the reform process, it will take more than this investigation to renew the New Orleans Police Department and allow it to thrive. That is why the Justice Department is committed to using our civil statutes, technical expertise, and other tools to implement sustainable reforms and address the systemic problems that have challenged this Department. As we do so, the Justice Department will continue to include community leaders and residents in our reform efforts. This work is already underway and the Mayor and the City of New Orleans have been, and will continue to be, critical partners.

I want to recognize the outstanding leadership and partnership that Mayor Landrieu is providing. During his first days on the job, Mayor Landrieu reached out to the Justice Department to ask for our help. And in a personal letter to me, the Mayor noted – and I quote – that "the police force, the community and the citizens of New Orleans are desperate for positive change." Over the last few months, the Mayor and the New Orleans Police Department have partnered with the Justice Department to identify problems, implement reforms, and make the improvements that the people of New Orleans have demanded and that they deserve. And today, almost a month after the Mayor and I discussed our shared public safety goals during my last visit to the Gulf Coast, we are working together to build a stronger police force and a safer New Orleans and to ensure that a tragedy like the incident on Danziger Bridge never happens again.

The Civil Rights Division, with the full cooperation of local law enforcement officials, is working to determine whether there are systemic problems in the police department's procedures – problems that have resulted or might result in the violation of Constitutional rights. Above all, we are jointly focused on identifying and implementing the reforms necessary to reduce crime, protect the rule of law, and restore public confidence in work of the New Orleans police force.

That said, it is clear that the vast majority of the law enforcement officers here in New Orleans – and all around the country – serve their communities, their departments, and their profession with honor and integrity. And we should all be encouraged that local officers have called for, and are fully cooperating with, efforts to assess current practices and improve operations.

These reform efforts work. Over the past 15 years, our Civil Rights Division experts have worked with police departments and communities across the country to address problems and implement comprehensive solutions. We've seen positive transformations in cities like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. And I have every expectation that similar success will be achieved here in New Orleans.

Making sure that this city's Police Department is the best that it can be is our sacred obligation. It's also our shared responsibility. That's why – in addition to our work with the Mayor's new administration, with Chief Serpas and the Police Department, and with stakeholders in the criminal justice system – we've created opportunities for community involvement. We look forward to hearing from community members and will be relying on your input as we continue our reform efforts.

This process is far from over. And I want leaders and residents of New Orleans to know that the Justice Department is committed to providing whatever assistance this city, its police department, and its people need. You have, and deserve, nothing less that my full and ongoing support.

Thank you all. And, now, I'd like to turn things over to Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez.

http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-1007131.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's good to be with you and, as always, it's great to be in New Orleans. I want to thank Jim Letten for welcoming me back to his hometown. And I want to echo what he and Mayor Landrieu said to you all at this morning's opening session: This conference is an important opportunity. The next few days provide the chance to build on all that's been achieved, by the very people in this room, through Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Let me also thank our organizers for their work in developing an excellent program and bringing us all together. And, most importantly, I want to thank each of you for your participation – and for everything that you do, and all that you have sacrificed, in the name of public and community safety.

It's fitting that we've gathered here in New Orleans – a city that's defined by its resilience, its resolve and its optimism – to discuss the work and the goals that we share, the challenges that we must face, and the responsibilities that, together, we must fulfill.

This conversation, and your ongoing engagement, will be vital in assessing and advancing the progress that's been achieved since PSN was launched in 2001. All of you – the prosecutors, the federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, the community leaders and advocates gathered here – are innovators in the administration of justice. And I'm proud to count each of you as partners.

Now, nearly a decade since PSN was created, we've reached an important point for updating our goals, for modernizing and refocusing our strategies, and for compiling the latest and best thinking we have on the most effective, and most economically viable, ways to reduce violent crime and to build safe, vibrant and productive communities.

Our future progress, I believe, will depend on our ability to bring innovative, evidence-based solutions to the work of addressing our most overwhelming and intractable challenges – namely, the prevalence and consequences of gun-, gang-, and drug-related violence, as well as the devastating impact of childhood exposure to violence.

You understand what we're up against – no matter where you serve. And I'm grateful that this conference brings together such diverse partners. PSN has proven that, to succeed in protecting the safety of our neighborhoods, we need a variety of perspectives; we need to test multiple strategies; and, above all, we need a comprehensive, collaborative approach.

Your commitment to this approach has paid dividends, which can be measured in real terms. Across the country, crime is down. Over the past year, violent crime has decreased by more than five percent. This reduction is proof that the federal government's investment in PSN – which now totals more than $3 billion – has had a positive impact in communities across the country. It's also proof that targeted support of prosecutors, investigators, training programs, juvenile crime initiatives, community outreach efforts, and other gun- and gang- violence reduction strategies works.

Although no two PSN initiatives are the same, each one has the power to bring together law enforcement strategies, community-based policing, strategic prosecution and anti-crime initiatives with the resources of social service providers, our educational system and charitable foundations. Such collaboration has helped to create peace in some of our most dangerous and divided communities. And as you've created new programs and field-tested new strategies, you've shown that – despite budget and infrastructure challenges – solutions are possible.

In cities across the country, PSN initiatives are making a difference – helping to substantially reduce gun homicides in Richmond and in Boston; to lower drug-related violent crime in High Point, North Carolina; to decrease repeat gun offenses in Chicago; to dismantle one of Washington, D.C.'s most dangerous gangs; and to decrease the threat of border-area violence perpetrated by Mexican drug cartels.

These and many other examples of progress are certainly worth celebrating. But we cannot yet be satisfied or become complacent. And we cannot ignore the unfortunate fact that threats to our people and to our neighborhoods remain a significant problem.

Yes, national violent crime rates have dipped. But there are areas where the reduction numbers we celebrate mean nothing – where children are accustomed to the sounds of gunshots; where young people are lured into gangs; where funerals outnumber weddings. In recent years, the prevalence of youth gangs in all areas, especially rural and suburban counties, has grown significantly. There are now nearly 30,000 gangs, and approximately a quarter of a million gang members, active across the country – in all 50 States, and in cities of all sizes. Since 2002, gun-related homicides have increased slightly each year, in spite of a downward trend in murders overall. Young adults – our 18- to 24-year-olds – experience homicide rates 2 ½ times higher than any other demographic. And young people in our nation's most rural areas are now just as likely to die from gun violence as those living in our largest cities. This reminds us that gun violence is not just a big city problem; it is a concern for us all.

And while we have an important responsibility to victims, it is not just those assaulted or killed and their families who suffer. All across the country, far too many children are regularly exposed to violence. The Justice Department recently took the first comprehensive look at this problem. And the results of this National Survey on Children Exposed to Violence serve as a clear wake-up call. We found that the majority of our kids – more than 60 percent – have been exposed to crime, abuse and violence.

So how do we protect our children and our communities? How do we hold violent criminals accountable? How do we transform our most vulnerable and dangerous neighborhoods?

These questions can't be answered easily or quickly. But finding the solutions we need begins by updating the Justice Department's violent crime strategy – a critical initiative that's well underway. The development of this strategy is being led by our outstanding network of U.S. Attorneys. It is focused on three key areas: enforcement, prevention, and reentry. And its success will rely on the engagement and expertise of our law enforcement partners.

In designing and implementing this strategy, what we've learned through Project Safe Neighborhoods will allow us to build on the progress you've achieved. And these lessons will help us to turn the page on our approach to combating violent crime, to taking illegal guns and lethal criminals off our streets, and to reducing gang- and drug-related activity.

First, however, we must commit to being clear about what works, to being responsive to research and analysis, and to being pragmatic in determining how and where our resources can be used most effectively.

In understanding neighborhood problems, coordinating solutions and driving a renewed focus on enforcement, prevention and reentry, no one is better equipped than our U.S. Attorneys. I am counting on each one of you – and on the teams you lead.

Many of you have already stepped up and committed to this work. And all of us must understand that – in this time of growing demands and limited budgets – we cannot afford turf battles, duplicative investigations and disconnected approaches.

As you reaffirm your commitment to cooperation, I want to pledge my full and ongoing commitment to support your work. Meeting my goals for reducing violent crime begins by listening to you, by learning from you, and by ensuring that you have the resources necessary to do your jobs well.

I realize that each one of you is being asked to do more with less, that you are facing funding cuts and difficult decisions. However, despite the financial challenges before us, we can all be encouraged that the President's budget request reflects this administration's commitment to sustaining and replicating successful public safety efforts. For fiscal year 2011, the Budget includes an additional $37 million to help the Justice Department provide critical resources, research and services for communities to address children's exposure to violence. And $12 million in new funding has been requested specifically for gang and youth violence prevention efforts and programs. In the coming days, we will award close to $12 million in PSN grants. These grants, plus nearly $3 million in additional funds for training and technical assistance, will support your ongoing efforts to fight gun- and gang-related crime in your communities.

Later in this conference, you will hear from Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson and her Principal Deputy Mary Lou Leary, who will speak to you in greater detail about how the Department is working to support your efforts through our Office of Justice Programs.

Of course, money alone can't solve the complex and widespread challenges facing our communities. To succeed in reducing violent crime, there are several key steps we must take.

First, we must call attention, not only to the symptoms, but also to the sources of violence. Robust enforcement efforts must incorporate a focus on prevention and an effort to understand the root causes of violent crime. Specifically, this means our work must expand beyond arrests and prosecutions. Although PSN has helped to secure many important convictions, it's also shown that we can't simply arrest our way out of the problem of violent crime. Of course, incarceration is necessary for public safety. But it's only partially responsible for the declining crime rates we've seen. It's not a sole, economically sustainable, solution.

Over the last few decades, state spending on corrections has risen faster than nearly any other budget item.  Yet, at a cost of $60 billion a year, our prisons and jails do little to prepare prisoners to get jobs and “go straight” after they're released.  People who have been incarcerated are often barred from housing, shunned by potential employers and surrounded by others in similar circumstances.  This is a recipe for high recidivism.  And it's the reason that two-thirds of those released are rearrested within three years. It's time for a new approach.

As so many of you have pointed out, any real effort to contain spending on corrections, while ensuring public safety, must include a strong focus on preparing for reentry.  Effective reentry programs provide our best chance for safeguarding our neighborhoods and supporting people who have served their time and are also resolved to improve their lives.

I'm proud that, last year, the Justice Department distributed $28 million in reentry awards under the Second Chance Act.  And I'm pleased that we have another $100 million available for reentry programs this year.  But we must complement reentry programs with smart and sound policy changes at every level of government. 

That's why I established a Sentencing and Corrections Working Group – to take a fresh look at federal sentencing practices and determine how we can better prepare federal prisoners to transition back into their communities.  I am also convening an interagency working group to focus exclusively on reentry issues – everything from housing and job training needs to policy recommendations – and to enhance coordination at the federal level. But we also need more information about state and local crime trends, corrections policies, and neighborhood challenges – the insights many of you can provide.

Second, we must address the problem of violent crime holistically – by building on existing partnerships and bringing in different perspectives. Federal prosecutors must become neighborhood problem solvers, not simply case processors. They must partner with all levels of law enforcement and with all sorts of community partners. Just as surely as U.S. Attorneys, law enforcement officials and leaders across the Justice Department must come together, we must also include more community leaders, teachers, coaches, principals and – above all – parents in our work.

Finally, we must meet this problem with all the resources that sound science can bring to bear. Restoring scientific decision-making at the Justice Department is one of my highest priorities. And while research has told us much about the incidence and impact of violence, it hasn't yet told us everything. We need more information about what works – and what doesn't – so that we can make informed funding decisions and identify community-specific strategies.

As we take these steps and work to implement the solutions we need, there is – I believe – good cause for optimism. In fact, being with all of you today, in this great city, fills me with a sense of hope and excitement – excitement from the success you've achieved through Project Safe Neighborhoods, and hope for continued progress toward the goal we all share: safe, vibrant and productive communities.

I'm grateful to you all. I'm proud to count you as my colleagues. And I look forward to what we can, and will, accomplish in the days ahead for the people we serve and the communities we love.

Thank you.

http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100713.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ICE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Washoe County first in Nevada to benefit from ICE strategy to enhance the identification, removal of criminal aliens

Biometrics used to prioritize immigration enforcement actions against convicted criminal aliens

RENO, Nev. - On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new biometric information sharing capability in Washoe County that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement custody for a crime. The capability is part of Secure Communities, ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.

Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into local custody were checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that fingerprint information will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS's biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE, enabling federal authorities to prioritize immigration enforcement action against individuals who are potentially deportable based on their criminal convictions. Top priority is given to criminal aliens who pose the greatest threat to public safety, such as those convicted of major drug offenses, murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

"The Secure Communities strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to identify criminal aliens in local custody," said Secure Communities Executive Director David Venturella. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE's mission. Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners."

With the expansion of Secure Communities to Washoe County, the biometric information sharing capability is now being used in 448 jurisdictions in 25 states. ICE expects to make it available in jurisdictions nationwide by 2013.

"The Washoe County Sheriff's Office, through its relationship with ICE, is continuing its enforcement efforts against criminal aliens," said Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley. "This effort will aid Washoe County in keeping our community safe from those who would cause us harm."

Since its inception in October 2008, Secure Communities has led to the deportation of more than 9,800 criminal aliens nationwide who had convictions for Level 1 crimes, such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Additionally, the biometric information sharing capability has resulted in the removal of more than 24,800 criminal aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes, including burglary and serious property crimes, which account for the majority of crimes committed by aliens.

The IDENT system is maintained by DHS's US-VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS).

"US VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoperability of DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation."

"Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI's CJIS Division. "Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving its goals."

For more information, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100713reno.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First New Jersey business becomes IMAGE partner with ICE

ACCU Staffing Group in Cherry Hill signs agreement

NEWARK, N.J. - ACCU Staffing Group in Cherry Hill, N.J. is the first New Jersey business to become a member of the "IMAGE" program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Short for "ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers," IMAGE provides businesses an opportunity to partner with the agency to develop a more secure and stable workforce.

At the signing ceremony yesterday, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations in New Jersey, Peter T. Edge, said, "As a new partner in the IMAGE program, ACCU Staffing Services demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that the employees they provide to their clients are authorized to work in the United States. They will be using the numerous tools offered by the program to ensure their staff is trained in the proper procedures for completing I-9s and processing E-Verify."

Undocumented workers create vulnerabilities in the marketplace by presenting false documents to gain employment, completing applications for fraudulent benefits, and stealing identifies of legal workers. The IMAGE program provides employers with screening tools to prevent unauthorized workers from being hired.

"Our acceptance into the IMAGE Program not only fortifies our position as a responsible corporate citizen, it reaffirms our pride in the diversity of our compliant workforce. Their contributions strengthen our economy and embody the American ideal of hard work," said Edward J. Damm, executive vice president of ACCU Staffing Services.

The IMAGE program was initiated in 2007 with partners from around the United State and a wide range of industries, including: employment services, aviation, transportation, construction, high technology, shipping and manufacturing. By signing the IMAGE contract for full membership, businesses establish a formal partnership with law enforcement to follow the best hiring practices recommended by the program, train their staff to uphold the high standards required by the program, and use the tools offered by the federal government to screen employees and ensure they are lawfully authorized to work.

Associate IMAGE members work with ICE to meet the standards set by the program. In addition, they partner with ICE officials to assess their business practices and improve the way they hire, process I-9 forms, maintain employment records, and otherwise comply with U.S. laws on employment.

The "E-Verify" program is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Through this program, employers can verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States. This Internet-based program is available in all 50 states and is free to employers. E-verify provides an automated link to the Social Security Administration database and Department of Homeland Security immigration records.

New Jersey-area employers interested in the IMAGE program may contact the local IMAGE coordinator at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100713newark.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the FBI

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS No Safe Haven in the U.S. 07/13/10 As the commander of a paramilitary security force in the West African nation of Liberia, he led a reign of terror from 1999 to 2003. Along with his associates, he tortured a series of victims in the most horrific ways: burning them with cigarettes, scalding water, candle wax, and an iron…severely beating them with firearms…cutting and stabbing them…and shocking them with an electric device. Roy Belfast, Jr., aka Chuckie Taylor, was brought to justice for his human rights crimes…in a federal court in Miami, where he was sentenced to 97 years in prison.

How did he end up in an American courtroom? Because U.S. law says that if human rights violators are U.S. nationals, commit offenses against U.S. citizens, or are present in this country, they can be charged here. In Taylor's case, he was born in America, and he was arrested in 2006 while trying to enter the country illegally.

The FBI takes the lead in investigating human rights violations falling under U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction , but we work closely with our partner agencies, in particular Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

Since 1988, Congress has enacted laws that have expanded our authority over human rights violations—genocide, torture, war crimes, and the recruitment or use of child soldiers.

Our primary mission today? To identify violators in the U.S. and bring them to justice for crimes committed within or outside this nation. We investigate individuals for both specific humans right violations—like in Chuckie Taylor's case—and more traditional crimes—like the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in Iraq and the murder of both the girl and her family, which led to the conviction of an American soldier .

Human Rights Offenses Program . Recently, with additional funding from Congress, we expanded our efforts in the area of human rights enforcement. As part of our new program, we use four key strategies:

• Continue to investigate priority human rights cases with our domestic and international law enforcement partners;
  
  
• Training our own personnel and those of our foreign counterparts to ensure that human rights investigations are conducted with the “rule of law” principles;
  
  
• Collecting domestic and international intelligence on human rights violators and violations through our field offices, our legal attaché offices overseas, our network of sources inside and outside the country, and our relationships with domestic and international law enforcement partners; and
  
  
• In response to requests from international and foreign investigative bodies, providing training and other assistance to their personnel.

Domestic prosecution of serious human rights violations committed abroad is a critical way to ensure that our country doesn't serve as a safe haven to those who commit these crimes. But even when domestic prosecutions aren't possible, there are other avenues to pursue—such as extraditing a criminal subject to stand trial in another country, offering U.S. assistance to an international tribunal, or deporting a suspect.

A footnote to the Chuckie Taylor case : the apple apparently didn't fall far from the tree—his father is former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, currently standing trial for human rights crimes in an international court at The Hague.

Resources:
- FBI testimony on human rights enforcement
- DOJ Human Rights/Special Prosecutions Section

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/july10/rights_071310.html

.