From the Los Angeles Times

International human rights court blames Mexican army for torture

Mexico has been hit by another international human rights judgment against its army. In a long-awaited decision, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against Mexico and in favor of two peasant ecologists who had long claimed they were illegally detained and tortured by Mexican soldiers working at the behest of powerful logging companies.

It is the third such case to go against Mexico this year and was applauded by human rights organizations here and in the U.S. who called for Mexico to submit military abuses to civilian justice.

Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera were activists working to protect the mountainside forests in southern Mexico's Guerrero state from often illegal logging by local land barons. They staged disruptive demonstrations and blocked roads. The army arrested them in 1999 in a raid that killed a third member of the peasant movement. The men said they were held incommunicado and beaten on their legs, torsos and testicles until they signed false confessions.

"They threatened us, they said they had our families and would hurt them," Montiel told the Los Angeles Times in this report from August. Although the Mexican human rights commission determined they'd been tortured, a military prosecutor rejected the claims and signed off on the case. The men were convicted on what they say were trumped-up weapons and drug charges. They were released two years later under international pressure but never pardoned. (Montiel received political asylum from the U.S. and lives in California.)

In a 134-page ruling posted on its website Monday (link in Spanish), the court said the Mexican government had violated Montiel and Cabrera's "rights to liberty and personal integrity" as well as their rights to due process and judicial protection. It ordered Mexico to properly investigate the torture allegations and pay Montiel and Cabrera damages. Moreover, it said the military judiciary that handled the case was not the proper venue.

"The prosecution of those responsible [for human rights violations] always corresponds to ordinary [civilian] justice, and not just for cases of torture, forced disappearance and sexual violation but for all violations of human rights," the court said.

Allegations of serious human rights abuses by the military -- from robbery and illegal detention to rape and murder -- have skyrocketed in the last four years as the army took on the fight against powerful drug cartels. Three of the four international human rights cases that Mexico recently lost, including the Montiel-Cabrera matter, involve abuse by the military, but all pre-date the drug war, which activists say establishes a long pattern of impunity.

The most problematic issue, activists say, is that military abuses are investigated by a military tribunal, which almost always seems to clear the accused and has long raised serious questions of credibility. Although President Felipe Calderon recently moved to have some violations brought to civilian courts, the reform is too limited to be effective, human rights groups say.

The case of the ecologists "lays bare all of the reasons the military should not investigate its own soldiers for human rights abuses," Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "(T)he manipulation of evidence, the military's use of torture to elicit confessions, and the completely inadequate investigations into serious violations."

The Mexican Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center here in Mexico City, which represented Montiel and Cabrera, called on the Mexican government to "fully comply" with the ruling (link in Spanish), saying such action "is indispensable as unmistakable proof of the Mexican state's commitment to human rights."

Rulings by the court, which is based in San Jose, Costa Rica, and is an arm of the Organization of American States, are binding. The Mexican government has said it will abide by the ruling.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/12/human-rights-court-blames-mexican-army-for-torture.html

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Guatemala declares 'state of siege' to combat Mexican drug cartel, limiting rights

The brutal Mexican drug-trafficking organization known as the Zetas has made inroads in Guatemala, controlling territory near the Central American country's border with southern Mexico and prompting the Guatemalan government on Sunday to declare a "state of siege" aimed at curbing the gang's growing power.

The state of siege declaration for the northern Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz in turn prompted worry among human rights activists and the Guatemalan press. The declaration allows the government to detain suspects or conduct searches without warrants, and limits public gatherings and the news media.

President Alvaro Colom's government said the state of siege -- which is just below a declaration of war -- would be in place for at least a month and could be extended to the four departments, or provinces, along the Mexican border.

Cartels from Mexico are believed to be taking over established crime rings in Guatemala and recruiting among locals, including the country's poverty-stricken indigenous groups. The Zetas -- one of Mexico's fiercest cartels -- are reportedly attempting to wrestle control of the lucrative trafficking corridor through northern Guatemala from local groups , seizing rural farms to use as depots for drugs and weapons. Meanwhile, in western Guatemala, Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel is also setting up bases, reports have said.

Here's an in-depth report from 2009 by L.A. Times correspondent Ken Ellingwood detailing the rise of the Zetas in Guatemala.

Reliable figures on how many people have died in Guatemala in violence tied to Mexican cartels are hard to come by, but locals in hardest-hit Alta Verapaz told the Associated Press they've been asking for government reinforcements against "the people from outside" for at least two years.

One activist described the violence as "things that no one had seen since the 1980s," referring to Guatemala's long and bloody civil war.

The homicide rate in Guatemala is among the highest in the world, along with neighboring El Salvador and Honduras, countries with entrenched transnational gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha. In Guatemala, that rate was 52 intentional killings out of every 100,000 people in 2006, the last year reported in data collected by the United Nations. By contrast, in 2008, Mexico's rate was 11 homicides out of every 100,000 people.

Since Sunday, Guatemala has detained 10 suspected Zetas members and dismissed 300 police officers in Alta Verapaz, which sits across from a corner of Mexico's Chiapas state. The relatively high number of dismissed police officers suggests the Zetas have infiltrated and recruited among security forces.

Authorities have also seized a small plane in the city of Coban and about 500,000 Guatemalan quetzales, or $63,000. See a video report on the developments in Spanish here.

Congress is scheduled to modify and ratify Colom's declaration in a special session called for Wednesday, La Prensa reported (link in Spanish). In an editorial, the newspaper argued against the limits on press freedom allowed under the state of siege in Alta Verapaz.

"It is, at its core, a credibility problem that manifests, for example, in the possibility of not being able to publish reports on abusive actions against the human rights of those detained, particularly against people whose innocence is not in doubt," La Prensa said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/12/zetas-guatemala-drug-war-border-colom.html

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Hate crimes in L.A. County down overall, but anti-Jewish vandalism rises

Hate crimes were down in Los Angeles County in 2009 compared with the year before, but such crimes against Jews spiked almost 50%, according to a report released Tuesday.

Last year, there were 580 hate crimes, which can range from vandalism to violence, compared with 730 in 2008, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

The improved outlook came despite less rosy data on treatment of the county's Jewish population: almost 120 hate crimes targeted Jews in 2009, compared with fewer than 80 in 2008.

At least one Jewish group was not alarmed by the data. A statement from the Anti-Defamation League attributed the rise, at least partially, to a spate of “relatively minor” graffiti incidents, many of them perpetrated by serial vandals.

Organization officials pointed to a series of incidents in the Fairfax area in which the word “Jew” or some variance was sprayed onto a number of buildings and trash cans.

Race remained the top motivator for hate crimes, comprising more than half of all incidents, with African Americans still the largest target.

The report, which comes out annually, described several hate crimes in the county, some of which were detailed publicly for the first time.

In one incident, a black woman in the Ramona Gardens housing complex was taking out the trash when she was confronted by two Latino men, one of whom used a racial slur and told her they kill blacks “for…fun.” She grabbed her 5-year-old daughter and ran into her unit, according to the report.

In another incident, an elderly Iranian couple in Westwood was driving out of a parking lot and cut off another driver, a white man. He pulled up to their car, and despite an apology from the couple, shouted “Camel jockey, go back to your own country!”

The man followed the couple, spat and eventually tried to open their driver's side door, fleeing only when the woman called police.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/hate-crimes-in-la-county-down-overall-anti-jewish-vandalism-rises.html#more

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DNA and justice denied

We are a long way from a system that grants fair access to DNA testing for convicted criminals.

By Sheldon Krimsky and Tania Simoncelli

December 22, 2010

We have seen repeatedly that DNA can shed light on wrongful convictions. To date, about 250 people who were wrongly convicted have been exonerated because of DNA evidence that was reexamined after they were pronounced guilty. But we are a long way from a system that grants fair access to DNA testing.

One primary constraint on the use of DNA in response to a claim of innocence is the availability of the relevant crime scene evidence. According to the Innocence Project in New York, 22% of the cases that its team investigated from 2004 to 2008 had to be terminated because the crime scene DNA evidence was no longer available. At least 24 states either lack laws requiring preservation of DNA evidence or have inadequate ones.

The recent movie "Conviction" was based on the true story of a falsely convicted man, Kenny Waters, who was ultimately freed only because his sister successfully pressed for crime scene DNA to be analyzed. In Waters' case, it was pure luck that the court hadn't discarded the evidence file containing the bloodstains that ultimately cleared him. Calvin Johnson, who was wrongfully convicted of rape in Georgia, was exonerated thanks to serendipity: An astute district attorney happened to notice boxes of evidence in a parking lot dumpster outside the courthouse and decided they should be saved. But there are almost certainly other innocent men and women sitting in prison because DNA evidence that could establish their innocence has been destroyed or discarded.

Even when crime scene evidence is available, some states severely restrict inmates' access to it. Though 48 states have enacted post-conviction DNA testing statutes, many of them have set up nearly insurmountable hurdles for those seeking access to testing. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the case of Henry Skinner, a Texas death row inmate who petitioned the court for the right to DNA testing of all evidence found at the crime scene where his girlfriend and her two sons were murdered. Skinner was within one hour of being executed in March when the Supreme Court issued a stay and decided to hear his case.

In a 2009 case involving a convicted rapist who had requested DNA testing, the Supreme Court held that the man had "no constitutional right to obtain post-conviction access to the state's evidence for DNA testing."

A third constraint in achieving exoneration by DNA is economic: Many prisoners lack the human resources and funds to investigate. Public defenders are typically overburdened and understaffed and rarely take on post-conviction claims of innocence. The lawyers and legal staff who do so depend on philanthropy and are unable to take on all the cases that come to their attention.

Even when evidence is available and testing is done that shows a defendant's DNA profile does not match that of the perpetrator, authorities are often reluctant to free those who were wrongly convicted. In the case of Darryl Hunt, who was convicted in 1984 for the rape and murder of a female reporter in North Carolina, DNA testing proved that Hunt's sperm did not match that found on the victim's body. Nonetheless, the North Carolina Supreme Court argued that the burden for a new trial based on post-conviction evidence — even DNA — requires a "truly persuasive demonstration of actual innocence." Hunt's legal team was forced to begin conducting surreptitious DNA tests in search of the real perpetrator. Eventually, through Hunt's legal team's findings and police cooperation, the real perpetrator was found, and he confessed to the crime. Hunt was released after spending 18 years in prison.

Forensic DNA profiling has certainly revolutionized criminal investigations. But the full potential of forensic DNA testing to uncover wrongful convictions will not be realized until barriers to providing convicted felons access to crime scene evidence are removed, until laws are widely implemented requiring the preservation of evidence, and until resources for post-conviction testing are made available to those with a claim of innocence.

Sheldon Krimsky is a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University. Tania Simoncelli has been a science advisor to a civil rights group. They are the coauthors of the book " Genetic Justice: DNA Databanks, Criminal Investigation, and Civil Liberties."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-krimsky-dna-20101222,0,676272,print.story

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From the New York Times

Lapse in Use of Border Documents

HOUSTON — A year and a half after the federal government strengthened rules on the documents needed to enter the country, millions of people are still being allowed to enter without passports or other hard-to-forge identification cards, a government audit has found.

The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security estimated this week that about 3.6 million people a year were still passing through customs without the required documents, and that about half of those were coming through the border crossings in Texas.

The audit noted that overall compliance with the law was relatively high; about 96 percent of travelers entering the country's 39 land ports of entry along the Mexican and Canadian borders now follow the new rules, presenting, for instance, a passport, a border-crossing card or a birth certificate.

But the auditors found that hundreds of thousands of people were still being waved through by customs officers without being referred for a secondary inspection. They also warned that if all the people who flouted the rules were sent for an extended second interview, it would overload customs officers.

The audit also said the guidelines for reviewing those people sent for a second inspection needed to be tightened and made uniform.

A spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection, Stephanie Malin, said the agency agreed with the audit and planned to follow its recommendations.

Critics said the audit proved that the Obama administration had failed to fully carry out the stricter identification requirements mandated by Congress in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“If you are just letting them through without asking questions, then you are not implementing the program,” said Janice Kephart, a former counsel for the Sept. 11 commission who is now with the Center for Immigration Studies. “That's a big security risk.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/us/22border.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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From Google News

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Vigilantism discouraged in Philly strangler search

(AP)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A serial killer who police say sexually assaulted and strangled three women, and possibly attacked three others, in a neighborhood rife with drugs and prostitution might want to hope that authorities find him before the neighbors do.

Residents of Kensington, who once severely beat a suspected rapist based on a police photo, have posted hundreds of comments and theories about the case on a Facebook page titled "Catch the Kensington Strangler, before he catches someone you love."

One post that falsely identified a suspect led to an angry crowd outside the man's home. Fearing vigilantes, he called police — who later cleared him, and then scolded residents.

"We will not tolerate anyone taking vigilante action," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey warned. "If you see someone suspicious, call 911. We will get there. We will handle."

Police on Tuesday linked a third slaying to a predator who they say raped, beat and strangled two women over the past few weeks. Three other women have reported being sexually assaulted; two of them said they were choked into unconsciousness.

So far, police only have a composite sketch and grainy surveillance photo of a possible suspect; $37,000 in reward money is being offered.

Once a middle-class neighborhood of rowhomes a few miles northeast of downtown, Kensington has become a high-crime area with a culture of open-air drugs and prostitution. But it also boasts a nascent gentrification effort as young homeowners and artists move in, attracted by the affordable prices.

Lifelong resident Edward Neisser, 62, angrily blamed the neighborhood's ills on too many halfway houses and abandoned, overgrown properties.

"It's a disgrace what's going on around here," Neisser said. "The city could turn around and clean up these lots so none of this stuff happens."

But Jayme Guokas, a relative newcomer, said he was unwilling to write off the neighborhood where he has spent the past six years.

"It's one person who's doing these things," Guokas, a 35-year-old carpenter, said of the strangler. "That's counteracted by a lot of working people who are trying to invest in the neighborhood and make it better."

Guokas lives a few doors down from where police found the body of 35-year-old Nicole Piacentini of Philadelphia on Nov. 13. Twenty-one-year-old Elaine Goldberg of Philadelphia had met the same fate 10 days earlier; the body of Casey Mahoney, 27, of East Stroudsburg, was found Dec. 15.

The women, all of whom have been described as struggling with drug addiction, were found within 10 blocks of each other.

And yet even with the murders, police said drug sales and prostitution continue unabated.

"It is somewhat disturbing that, in light of all this information, all of this warning, that women and men are still frequenting this area and engaging in high-risk behavior," Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn said.

Authorities have arrested 120 people involved in prostitution in Kensington since Nov. 19 and obtained DNA swabs from many of them, Blackburn said. More than 40 have been cleared, and tests are pending on the rest.

Police stressed that neighbors who see something suspicious should call 911 and not take matters into their own hands. In another Kensington case last year, a man suspected of raping an 11-year-old girl was severely beaten by angry neighbors who recognized him from a police photo. He was later charged and pleaded guilty.

Mayor Michael Nutter, speaking on Tuesday just steps from where Piacentini's body was found, pleaded for information from residents who might be keeping quiet out of fear or loyalty.

He offered $30,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. Separately, the local Fraternal Order of Police and Councilman Frank DiCicco have offered $7,000 for help simply leading to an arrest with a DNA match.

"We strongly believe that someone — possibly in the neighborhood — someone, somewhere in the city of Philadelphia knows who this person is, or knows about them," Nutter said. "We are serious about getting this psycho off the streets."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_UF-nW3ul4SJAc3LwMPaur3zhOw?docId=7ab281d5ea334213875dd4f362b29256

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Al Qaeda group contemplated poisoning food in U.S., officials say

But U.S. officials sought to downplay the threat -- first reported by CBS News -- saying it was months old, and that it was more in the nature of a discussion of "tactics" than an actual plot. Officials implied the tactic is beyond the capabilities of the terrorist organization, which is based in the Middle East.

The United States has received information the group -- al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- was considering the tactic of placing ricin and cyanide poisons into food supplies, Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed to CNN.

In response to that information, U.S. officials met through regular channels with representatives of the hotel and restaurant businesses to discuss the possibility that terrorists could target the food supply, and to reiterate "best practices" to ensure the food supply is safe.

Officials, however, likened the threat to numerous others discussed in jihadist publications such as the online magazine Inspire, where al Qaeda members and sympathizers discuss various ways to attack Western countries.

"We're talking months, not weeks (ago), that this came into the threat stream," one official said.

Earlier this year, the federal government staged a tabletop exercise, or role-playing drill, in which the government and industry practiced responses to a fictional incident involving "intentional contamination" of food. A Homeland Security Department official said the drill was not a direct response to the threat information, but that the threat from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP, helped define the scenario and add to its authenticity.

The group that held the exercise -- the Food and Agriculture Sector Coordinating Council -- declined to discuss the threat, referring CNN's calls to the Department of Homeland Security.

The CBS report quoted an unnamed intelligence source saying the threat was "credible."

But officials told CNN they did not believe the threat was in any advanced stage of planning.

"We're aware that terrorists have been interested in doing this kind of thing for a long time," one U.S. official told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. "They've said as much and, as a result, we take all of this very seriously. But we don't know of any current plotting along these lines."

Homeland Security Department's only official comment came in response to the CBS report.

"We are not going to comment on reports of specific terrorist planning. However, the counterterrorism and homeland security communities have engaged in extensive efforts for many years to guard against all types of terrorist attacks, including unconventional attacks using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials," spokesman Sean Smith said in a prepared statement.

"Indeed, (al Qaeda) has publicly stated its intention to try to carry out unconventional attacks for well over a decade, and AQAP propaganda in the past year has made similar reference. Finally, we get reports about the different kinds of attacks terrorists would like to carry out that frequently are beyond their assessed capability," the statement said.

Some terror experts said food poisoning may be within al Qaeda's capabilities.

It's "easier to do this than get a bomb on a plane or make a sophisticated biological weapon that you would spray in the air," said Randall Larsen, a homeland security expert. "This is very crude, it's very simple, and with knowledge you get in a high school biology class, you could produce something that would cause a problem."

"It's good that the word is out there, because people in public health departments really need to know about this, so if they start seeing something coming into emergency rooms, they're kind of ready to look for it and to watch for it," Larsen said. "And ... restaurant owners and people like that (need) to know about this if there's a potential threat."

While ricin and cyanide can sicken or even kill people, neither is considered a weapon of mass destruction, Larsen said.

Experts say terrorists have long considered the possibility of contaminating water and food supplies with chemical or biological substances, and that both ricin and cyanide have been in the terrorists playbook. Ricin, a natural, highly toxic compound, is extracted from castor beans.

In 1978, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was shot with a ricin-tipped dart fired from an umbrella while waiting for a bus in London. He died four days later. And in 2004, ricin was found in a letter in Sen. Bill Frist's mailroom in a letter demanding changes in truckers' sleep/work schedule rules.

The idea of contaminating salad bars also is not original. In 1984 members of an Oregon cult contaminated salad bars with salmonella, sickening hundreds of people in an attempt to influence a local election that day.

But if AQAP is contemplating such an attack, it would be a shift in direction.

CNN National Security Contributor Frances Fragos Townsend said AQAP "seems very focused on (creating) an improvised explosive device, preferably involving aviation."

AQAP, was behind the October attack on two cargo planes. The group created bombs out of printer toner cartridges, but the devices were discovered and disarmed before they detonated. AQAP also has claimed credit for the September 6 crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai, but U.S. authorities say there is no evidence they played a role in the crash.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/21/al.qaeda.poison.plot/?hpt=T2

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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Secretary Napolitano Highlights DHS' Major Accomplishments in 2010

Washington, D.C. — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today highlighted the Department's 2010 accomplishments in an address to employees - emphasizing the major steps the Department has taken this year to enhance America's capabilities to guard against terrorism; secure the nation's borders; engage in smart enforcement of our immigration laws; safeguard and secure cyberspace; prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters; and unify and mature the Department.

“Over the past year, our efforts have been guided by one simple yet powerful idea: homeland security begins with hometown security,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Working hand in hand with first responders, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, community groups, our international partners and the private sector, we have made great strides in protecting our nation from terrorism and other threats while building a culture of resiliency and preparedness in our communities.”

To prevent terrorism and enhance security, Secretary Napolitano led a global initiative to strengthen the international aviation system through partnerships with governments and industry, investments in new technology, and enhanced targeting measures. Secretary Napolitano also launched the nationwide expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign—a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats and emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities. The campaign was launched in conjunction with the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative, an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to specific threats and terrorism-related crime and report and share information on suspicious incidents or activity nationally so it can be analyzed to identify broader trends. DHS also continued to strengthen the national network of fusion centers.

To secure and manage our borders, DHS has continued to deploy historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources to the Southwest border, including Predator Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) coverage along the entire Southwest border for the first time—from the El Centro Sector in California to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas—and new agreements with international partners to increase information sharing and bolster cooperative efforts to crack down on transnational threats while facilitating travel and trade.

To enforce and administer our immigration laws, DHS set a record for overall removals of illegal aliens, prioritizing the identification, apprehension and removal of criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety; announced new initiatives to strengthen the efficiency and accuracy of the E-Verify system; formalized a longstanding Departmental policy to expedite and streamline the citizenship process for men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces; launched the Blue Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking; and continued major reforms of the immigration detention system.

To safeguard and secure cyberspace Secretary Napolitano signed a landmark agreement with the Department of Defense to enhance America's capabilities to protect against threats to critical civilian and military computer systems and networks; launched the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Challenge and the “Stop. Think. Connect.” national public cybersecurity awareness campaign; hosted Cyber Storm III, an exercise that brought together participants from 13 countries, 11 states and seven Cabinet-level federal agencies to simulate a large-scale cyber attack on critical infrastructure, testing the federal government's full suite of cybersecurity response capabilities; and has launched an early warning system for intrusions to federal executive branch civilian networks at 13 Departments and agencies to date.

To ensure resilience to disasters DHS played a key role in the Obama administration's response to the BP oil spill, the largest spill in our nation's history, leading the federal government's efforts to leverage resources from across the country and around the world to mitigate the impact of the oil on the environment, the economy and public health; mobilized the Department's extensive operational capabilities in response to the earthquake in Haiti; announced nearly $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2010 Preparedness Grants for nine federal programs to assist state, local and tribal governments and the private sector in strengthening preparedness for acts of terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies; and signed bilateral international agreements to strengthen emergency management cooperation. In addition, the Department, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency has supported 79 major disaster declarations, 18 fire management assistance declarations and nine emergency declarations, to date, including historic flooding in Tennessee and Rhode Island and severe weather related to Hurricanes Alex and Earl, and Tropical Storms Nicole, Otto and Tomas.

To mature and strengthen the homeland security enterprise DHS unveiled a Department-wide plan for increased consultation and coordination with tribes; launched the Department's Open Government Plan to enhance transparency, public participation and collaboration; delivered the first ever Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and Bottom Up Review reports to Congress; instituted an ambitious series of management integration reforms to ensure the Department has the proper management structures and acquisition strategies necessary to succeed and attract and retain top talent; and announced new Efficiency Review initiatives, which build upon the 20 initiatives launched in 2009, to cut costs, streamline operations and enhance the Department's ability to fulfill its security mission.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1292971482908.shtm

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From the Department of Justice

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Outlaws Motorcycle Gang Members Found Guilty National President

Other Leaders Convicted of Racketeering and Other Violent Crimes

WASHINGTON – The national president and three members of the American Outlaw Association (Outlaws) motorcycle gang have been found guilty of participating in a violent criminal organization by a federal jury in the Eastern District of Virginia.

U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; and Edgar A. Domenech, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) Washington Field Division announced the verdict after it was accepted by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.

“Today's conviction of the Outlaw's national president strikes a crippling blow to his violent motorcycle gang,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Riding a Harley doesn't make you a criminal – but you cross the line when your motorcycle gang engages in violent criminal activity as a way of doing business. Virginia is a safe place today because ATF agents put their lives on the line to bring this case. Thanks to their sacrifice, the leadership of this gang has been brought to justice, along with the enforcers who carried out his orders.”

“Today, a Virginia jury struck back against the violence that the Outlaws motorcycle gang has been spreading in our communities,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  “In obtaining convictions against the gang's national president and other members, the Justice Department is sending a strong message to organized criminal enterprises of all stripes that we will not allow them to operate without repercussion.  We are committed to bringing significant prosecutions against the leaders of the country's most notorious and violent groups.”

“This investigation would not have been a success without the dedicated and hard working agents and prosecutors that devoted several years to this undercover operation,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Edgar Domenech.  “This is another example of how our agents work day in and day out to build cases against violent criminals.”

Today, the jury found Jack Rosga, aka “Milwaukee Jack,” 53, guilty of conspiring to engage in racketeering activities and conspiring to commit violence in aid of racketeering. Rosga is the national president of the Outlaws organization and is also a member of the Gold Region, Milwaukee Chapter. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the racketeering charge and a maximum of three years in prison for the violence charge.

The other members of the Outlaws who were convicted today include:

• Mark Jason Fiel, aka “Jason,” 37, a former Outlaws member in the Copper Region and a former leader in the Manassas/Shenandoah Valley Chapter. Fiel was convicted of conspiring to engage in racketeering activities and conspiring to commit violence in aid of racketeering.
  
  
• Harry Rhyne McCall, 53, an Outlaws member in the Copper Region, Lexington, N.C., Chapter. McCall was convicted of conspiring to engage in racketeering activities, conspiring to commit violence in aid of racketeering, violence in aid of racketeering, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence. The violence in aid of racketeering charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the firearm charge carries a consecutive sentence of five years up to life in prison.
  
  
• Christopher Timbers, aka “Alibi,” 38, an Outlaws member in the Manassas/Shenandoah Valley Chapter of the Copper Region. Timbers was convicted of conspiring to engage in racketeering activities, conspiring to commit violence in aid of racketeering, and violence in aid of racketeering. Timbers was acquitted of one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Also today, Dennis Haldermann, aka “Chew Chew,” 46, a member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club from Chesterfield, Va., was acquitted of a violence in aid of racketeering charge.

Sentencing for Rosga, Fiel, McCall and Timbers is scheduled for April 8, 2011.

Evidence at trial showed that the Outlaws motorcycle gang is a highly organized criminal enterprise with a defined, multi-level chain of command that is ultimately overseen by Rosga, the national president. Leaders and members of the Outlaws in multiple states including Wisconsin, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia are charged in a June 2010 indictment. Under Rosga's leadership, the enterprise is alleged to have engaged in violent racketeering activities with the intent to expand its influence and to control various parts of the country against rival motorcycle gangs, particularly the Hell's Angels.

According to evidence at trial, the Outlaws planned multiple acts of violence against rival motorcycle gangs, including shows of force at the Cycle Expo in Henrico County, Va., in 2006; Dinwiddie Racetrack in Virginia in 2008; the Cockades Bar in Petersburg, Va., in 2009; Daytona Bike Week in Florida in 2009; and the Easyrider Bike Expo in Charlotte, N.C., in 2010. The indictment alleges that in the Cockades Bar show of force, members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club joined the Outlaws in the assault against rival gangs.

In addition, the evidence at trial showed that in 2008, the Outlaws established a clubhouse in Rock Hill, S.C., in territory traditionally controlled by the Hell's Angels. The Outlaws understood that this act would create violent friction between the two organizations.

Evidence at trial also established that in September 2009, two members of the Outlaws were assaulted in Connecticut by members of the Hell's Angels. This caused the Outlaws to increase their already violent approach to the Hell's Angels in retaliation. In October 2009, this led to the alleged attempted murder of a Hell's Angels member outside the Hell's Angels' clubhouse in Canaan, Maine. The victim was seriously injured from gunshot wounds to his neck.

In addition, the evidence showed that on April 17, 2010, Outlaw members of the Milwaukee and other Wisconsin chapters in the Gold Region, participated in a charitable event known as the Flood Run, crossing from Wisconsin into Minnesota where they brutally beat members of the Hell's Angels and stole their club patches, also known as “colors.”

Witnesses at the trial also testified that the Outlaws regularly used and distributed narcotics and regularly used firearms or other dangers weapons.

The four men convicted today are among 27 individuals indicted in June 2010 as a result of a long-term investigation into criminal activities of the Outlaws motorcycle gang. To date, 17 of those indicted have pleaded guilty and one was previously convicted in an earlier trial.

The case was investigated by the ATF's Washington Field Division; the FBI's Washington Field Office; the Virginia State Police; the Chesterfield County Police Department; the Maine State Police, and numerous other law enforcement partners throughout the country. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis Fitzpatrick and Peter S. Duffey, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Kaplan, and Trial Attorney Theryn G. Gibbons of the Justice Department's Criminal Division's Gang Unit.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/December/10-crm-1470.html

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From the ATF

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Acting Director Announces Demand Letters for Multiple Sales of Specific Long Guns in Four Border States

Hello, I'm Ken Melson, the Acting Director of ATF .

A recent initiative by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has caught the attention of national media outlets. I wanted to make sure everyone heard from me about this law enforcement initiative so there isn't any confusion.

Recently, ATF announced through the Federal Register our intent to initiate a new Demand Letter requiring the reporting of multiple sales of certain long guns by Federal Firearms Licensees, known as FFLs, in the four Southwest Border States. We took this step as a way to help gain actionable law enforcement intelligence which we believe will help reduce criminal firearms trafficking along the Southwest border.

Before we can actually issue the Demand Letter we must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget for purposes of the paperwork reduction act. We expect to receive that approval in early January, 2011.

As many of you already know, the goals of ATF's Southwest border firearms trafficking strategy are:

• To prevent violent crime;

• Ensure the safety of the communities and law enforcement situated along the Southwest Border;

• And to disrupt and dismantle the firearms trafficking networks responsible for the diversion of firearms from lawful commerce into the hands of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs)

Since 2006, there has been a significant increase in drug and firearms-related violence in Mexico and along our Southwest border. In response to this increased violence, ATF has deployed focused resources nationally to prevent the firearms trafficking along the Southwest Border and into Mexico.

According to ATF trace data, investigative experience, and Mexican law enforcement officials, a large number of rifles are being used in violent crimes in Mexico and along the border. Our new Demand Letter will implement a limited reporting of multiple sales of certain long guns that functions similarly to the current practice of reporting on the multiple sales of handguns. Currently, all FFL s in the country are required to submit a report of multiple sales to the National Tracing Center when an FFL sells two or more handguns to the same purchaser within five consecutive business days.

The proposed Demand Letter, which is narrowly circumscribed to meet our objectives, will apply a similar reporting requirement to certain long guns, but with these distinct differences:

First, the reporting requirement will apply only to FFL s doing business in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, which are major source states for crime guns seized in Mexico and traced to federal firearms licensees.

Secondly, the reporting requirement applies only to those rifles having all of the following characteristics:

• A semi-automatic action;

• A caliber greater than .22; and

• The ability to accept a detachable magazine.

These specific characteristics subject a very narrow group of long guns that have been identified by ATF and the Government of Mexico as being involved in violent crimes in Mexico to the reporting requirement.

This reporting requirement would apply to the disposition of all rifles in the inventory of the FFLs exhibiting these characteristics, both new and used.

Third, we propose to implement this initiative as a pilot project for a period of one year.

Taken together, limiting the geographic scope, impacting a limited number of licensees, affecting a specific group of rifles, and limiting the duration of this reporting requirement, form a tailored, discreet, responsible and proactive response to a significant law enforcement issue.

Let me be absolutely clear. The purpose of requiring FFL s to report the specified multiple long gun sales in these four source states is to identify criminal firearms traffickers, not to prevent the full and free exercise of our Second Amendment rights, or to encumber the FFL s with burdensome paperwork.

These reports will give ATF real-time leads for the investigation of gun trafficking. ATF 's experience in these source states proves that multiple purchases of the described rifles are strong indicators of firearms trafficking to Mexico. By obtaining information about these multiple sales, ATF increases the likelihood of uncovering and disrupting trafficking schemes before the firearms make their way into Mexico.

I know that FFL s are good citizens who share ATF 's interest and commitment in keeping guns out of criminal hands. Working together we can do that without infringing on the rights of law abiding Americans.

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/12/122010-hdqrts-melson-webcast.html

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