National News

U.S. Drops Charges Against ‘20th Hijacker’ (Google News; Washington Post) “The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi [Mohammed al-Qahtani] at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called ‘20th Hijacker’ in the Sept. 11 attacks,” reports the Associated Press. “… al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks.… Al-Qahtani in October 2006 recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured and humiliated at Guantanamo.” (See the April 18 newsletter.) “Prosecutors had little evidence against him outside of his own coerced confessions,” reports the Washington Post. [View AP article] [View Post article]

Detained Immigrants Get Poor Health Care (Washington Post) In a four-part series, the Washington Post reports the “often shabby medical care within an unseen network of special prisons for foreign detainees across the country.” (See the Statistics of the Week and Quote of the Week.) “Some 33,000 people are crammed into these overcrowded compounds on a given day, waiting to be deported or for a judge to let them stay here.… Some 83 detainees have died in, or soon after, custody during the past five years.” (See last week’s newsletter.) “… Actions taken—or not taken—by medical staff members may have contributed to 30 of those deaths.” The suicide rate is high, and “the U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country.” [View series]

Army Says Condition of Levees Is Unknown (MSNBC) “The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that oversees levees, lacks an inventory of thousands of them and has no idea of their condition, … Eric Halpin, the corps’ special assistant for dam and levee safety,” told the Associated Press. “… about 2,000 levees are either operated by the corps or by local entities in partnership with the corps, generally protecting major population areas such as St. Louis and New Orleans.” [View article]

Checkpoint One Helps Those Who Helped U.S. (Christian Science Monitor) Army Lt. Jason Faler, with the Checkpoint One Foundation he has set up (see the Website of the Week), “has worked tirelessly to help Iraqi and Afghan military interpreters come to the United States …” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “‘It’s personal, but like I’m repaying a debt owed by this nation,’ says Faler.… Insurgents hunt down anyone working with the US military or government—calling them traitors—and regularly kill, kidnap, or attack them and their families.” Faler “doesn’t have nearly enough money for all the requests he receives.” [View article]

International News

U.S. Has Detained 2,500 Juveniles as Enemy Combatants (Washington Post) “The United States has detained approximately 2,500 people younger than 18 as illegal enemy combatants in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to a report filed by the Bush administration with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child,” reports the Washington Post. “Although 2,400 of the juveniles were captured in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, only 500 are still held in detention facilities in that country.… As of last month, 10 juveniles were still being held in Bagram, Afghanistan, out of 90 that had been captured in that country … Eight juveniles were brought to Guantanamo Bay since 2002, having been captured at ages ranging from 13 to 17. Although there are no juveniles at the prison in Cuba now, two people being held … were under 18 when they arrived.” [View article]

Quake in China Kills Tens of Thousands, Threatens Dams (London Times) “More than 42,000 people are reported dead or missing” after an earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province Monday, reports the London Times. “Rescuers finally reached some the worst hit of those areas” on Wednesday, and “the Chinese Government rushed 2,000 troops to a dam above the devastated town of Dujiangyan … in an emergency attempt to plug cracks caused by the earthquake.” [View article]

Chinese Quake Survivors Rely on Cell Phone Text Messaging (NPR) “The first word about the massive earthquake in China” came via cell phone text messaging—China’s “most popular form of communication,” reports National Public Radio. With phone systems disrupted and no way to recharge cell phone batteries, the Chinese have depended on “text messages because they require less energy than a phone call.… almost no one in China has voice mail.” [View article]

Seven Bombings in India Kill at Least 80 (Washington Post; Johannesburg, South Africa, Mail & Guardian) “At least 80” people were killed “and 200 injured” Tuesday when seven coordinated bomb blasts ripped through Jaipur in “India’s deadliest [attack] since [the] train bombings that killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai in July 2006,” reports the Washington Post. “A little-known militant group called the Indian Mujahedin claimed responsibility for setting off bombs” in Jaipur, reports Reuters. [View Post article] [View Reuters article]

Second Thai Counterfeit Passport Sting Nets Nearly 22,000 Passports (Counterterrorism Blog) Thai authorities have made “arrests in an enormous counterfeit passport ring,” reports the Counterterrorism Blog. “12 people were arrested and some 20,000 fake passports were seized. It was the second such arrest in the past month.” (See the May 2 newsletter.) The gang “included Thais, Burmese, and Indonesians. The 20,000 passports were from a diverse group of countries: Burma, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, Malaysia, Russia, Sweden and the United States.… 2,000 of the passports were ready to be used.” [View article]

Italy and Libya Arrest Hundreds of Illegal Migrants (Yahoo! News) “Italian police … arrested 383 people including 268 foreigners, with 53 immediately taken to the border for expulsion, in a week-long operation stretching from northern Italy to the Naples area,” reports Reuters. “… Those arrested came from Eastern Europe, Albania, Greece, North Africa and China and face charges ranging from illegal entry into Italy to prostitution, drug trafficking and robbery. In Libya, police have arrested 240 would-be illegal migrants from several African countries [this week] as they prepared to sail to Italy.” [View article]

Islamist Renegade Arrested on Terror Charges (London Guardian) “A former Islamist radical”—Hassan Butt—“who says he helped 200 British Muslims train for jihad has been arrested on terrorism charges” in Manchester, England, reports the Guardian. [View article]

Farc Set Up Cells Abroad (Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera) “The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has established undercover cells abroad in 17 countries,” the Spanish newspaper El Pais said, according to Al Jazeera. “El Pais said on Sunday that Farc was using a strategy involving setting up legal organisations. The report said that Farc was the central force behind a leftist group called the Bolivian Continental Co-ordinator, which had branches in 17 countries including Germany and Switzerland.” [View article]

NATO Opens New Center of Excellence on Cyber-Defense Seven North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations and the Allied Command Transformation have established a Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia. The center will conduct research and training on cyber-warfare and have a staff of 30, half of them specialists from the sponsoring countries: Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Spain. [View press release]

Scientists Working on Botulinum Antidote (BBC) “Scientists are on their way to developing an effective antidote for botulinum toxin—one of the world’s most feared biological weapons,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “… just one gram of the poison can kill hundreds of thousands of people.” The researchers’ “findings appear in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.” The antidote would act “on the most powerful of” seven neurotoxins, produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. “There is no medical treatment.” Preventive “vaccines for botulinum toxin” exist; the antidote would be used after exposure. [View article]

Multiple Drugs Needed to Stop Bird Flu Pandemic (MSNBC) “Governments need to stockpile different sorts of flu drugs … to counter the danger of resistance in a pandemic triggered by bird flu,” according to findings published in the journal Nature, reports Reuters. “‘Stockpiling any one drug to prepare for a potential H5N1 pandemic is unlikely to provide adequate cover,’ said Steve Gamblin of the National Institute for Medical Research in London.” [View article]

DHS News

GAO Rates TSA The Transportation Security Administration has taken many steps to secure the nation’s transport systems (mainly aviation), reports the Government Accountability Office: better managing the Transportation Security Officer workforce, improving screening, developing Secure Flight, and working toward a strategy for securing surface transportation. However, much work remains for the TSA in securing air cargo, deploying checkpoint technologies, and redress for passengers wrongly placed on watchlists. [View GAO summary]

DHS Purchases of Services Need Better Oversight, Says GAO “All service contracts for the eight major, complex” Homeland Security Department investments the Government Accountability Office “reviewed had outcome-oriented requirements; however, four of these contracts did not have well-defined requirements, a complete set of measurable performance standards, or both.… Contracts for two major investments with negative cost and schedule outcomes did not have the staff needed to adequately plan and execute the contracts.… DHS does not have reliable data to facilitate required reporting, informed decisions, and analyzing acquisition outcomes.” About half of 138 contracts that GAO analyzed “did not have … a performance work statement, measurable performance standards, and a quality assurance surveillance plan.” [View GAO summary]

DHS Brass Assess Tornado Damage On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison traveled to Picher, OK, and Seneca, MO, “to asses the damage caused by the recent storms,” writes Paulison. FEMA “are on site to support local emergency managers and officials.” [View blog]

United Nations News

UN Plans Myanmar Relief (International Herald Tribune) When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar two weeks ago (see last week’s newsletter) “Burmese farmers in the southern delta of Myanmar … lost their draft animals, their rice stocks and their planting seeds,” reports the International Herald Tribune. “And now they may have lost their harvest as well.… United Nations agencies and international relief groups held an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to plot strategies for getting the delta farmers back to their farms and back on their feet,” amid anger “at the reclusive military junta that has been reluctant to allow some aid shipments.” [View article]

More Than 40 Countries Seek Nuclear Power (Washington Post) “At least 40 developing countries” have approached the International Atomic Energy Agency “to signal interest in starting nuclear power programs,” reports the Washington Post. “… At least half a dozen countries … are specifically planning to conduct enrichment or reprocessing of nuclear fuel, a prospect that could dramatically expand the global supply of plutonium and enriched uranium.” [View article]

100+ Countries Work Toward Review of Non-Proliferation Treaty More than 100 UN member states took part in a two-week meeting that ended May 9; it was the second of three sessions of the Preparatory Committee of the Parties to the Treaty, and it paved the way for reviewing the treaty. Participants discussed nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, nuclear weapon-free zones, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The third session of the committee will be held in May 2009, and the Review Conference itself in April and May 2010. [View press release]

UN Praises Spanish Defense of Human Rights but Faults Treatment of Terror Suspects Spain has played an important role in the global fight against international terrorism by promoting human rights, but it should reform some of the ways it handles terrorism suspects domestically, according to Martin Scheinin, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms. He described Spain’s “active role” in safeguarding the human rights of suspects as a “best practice,” but also called for domestic legal reforms and expressed his concern at allegations of torture and ill-treatment of suspects held in Spanish jails. [View press release]

State and Local News

Local Police Swamp Federal Training for Immigration Enforcement (Stateline) “States and cities that want to speed up deportations of criminals and suspects who are illegal immigrants by using a popular but controversial federal program face waiting up to three years to join the enforcement effort, because the federal government can’t keep up with the demand,” reports Stateline. “… 47 police agencies in 17 states participate” in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s 287(g) program (see Kevin J. Fandl, “Immigration Posses: U.S. Immigration Law and Local Enforcement Practices,” Journal of Homeland Security, February 2008), “with 90 more waiting to sign up.” [View article]

Exercise Breaches Livermore Lab (Time) “One night several weeks ago, according to TIME’s sources, a commando team posing as terrorists attacked and penetrated” Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, “quickly overpowering its defenses to reach its ‘objective’—a mock payload of fissile material,” reports Time. “The exercise highlighted a number of serious security shortcomings at Livermore.” (See the May 11, 2007, newsletter.) [View article]

Hundreds Arrested in Iowa Immigration Raid (Des Moines Register) More than 300 people— “almost one-third of the plant’s 968 workers”—were arrested Monday in Postville at “Agriprocessors Inc., the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse,” reports the Des Moines Register. The “raid involved 16 local, state and federal agencies, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They executed search warrants related to criminal activity, as well as a civil search warrant for people believed to be in the United States illegally.” [View article]

Private-Sector News

Companies Have Emergency Plans but No Standard for Certification The majority of U.S. companies have a formal, written plan for emergency preparedness, according to the Conference Board, but a widely adopted certification standard for such plans does not exist yet. A voluntary certification process for preparedness was adopted as part of the 2007 homeland security legislation. [View press release]

Indian Embassy Outsources U.S. Visa Work (Washington Post) “The Indian Embassy … has outsourced all of its visa processing to” a Washington, D.C. firm, Travisa Outsourcing, reports the Washington Post. “It is the first time an embassy in the United States has outsourced its entire visa operation to a private company.” [View article]

Biotech Buys Rival’s Anthrax Vaccine (Forbes; Washington Post) VaxGen has sold its “anthrax vaccine product candidate and related technology to Emergent BioSolutions,” reports Thomson Financial. VaxGen, which had been “dropped in 2006” by the federal government, sold its vaccine “for $2 million,” reports the Washington Post. Emergent BioSolutions will “compete for millions of dollars under the Bush administration’s $5.6 billion Project BioShield program.… Emergent already sells an older version of the anthrax vaccine that is widely used in the military,” and “Emergent has newer vaccine candidates in development, but the research isn’t as far along as the VaxGen product.” [View Thomson Financial article] [View Post article] [View Focus on BioShield]

Dual-Benefit Solutions

London Police Use Airport-Type Scanners to Find Knives (International Herald Tribune) “A surge in violent knife crimes prompted London police to introduce a new program Thursday that will rely on mobile, airport-style scanners and hand-held metal detectors for use against people suspected of carrying concealed weapons,” reports the Associated Press. [View article]

Dual-benefit news archive

Education The Homeland Security Institute lists these education programs as a service to readers who may be interested; it does not endorse them or their courses. New education listings are posted for four weeks. Advanced Analytic Tools and Techniques (May 20-22; Reston, VA) This course teaches new approaches to data visualization and risk analysis; students practice new techniques such as quadrant crunching, the pre-mortem assessment, and collaborative ACH. [View course website] Applying Advanced Critical Thinking Skills (June 3-5; Reston, VA) Students apply critical thinking skills as they work their way through all phases of a major project or research paper. Preference is given to teams of analysts beginning a project. [View course website] Critical Thinking Skills (June 17-19; Reston, VA) Students learn how to use critical thinking skills in their work by framing their line of argument, developing hypotheses, visualizing data, and writing their final product with clarity and persuasiveness. [View course website] Basic Analytic Tools and Techniques (July 14-16; Reston, VA) This course explains what analysis is, why frameworks are important, and how to overcome mindsets and avoid surprise by using indicators, key assumptions checks, devil’s advocacy, and ACH. [View course website] Strategic Counterterrorism Issues and Practices (July 8-10; Reston, VA) Students explore the current thinking on strategic counterterrorism issues and research and practice, applying analytical tools to topics such as radicalization. [View course website] Threat and Vulnerability Assessment (July 15-18; Redmond, WA) This 40-hour course, certified by the Tennessee POST Commission and the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, teaches threat assessment methodologies to identify, recognize, assess, and prioritize vulnerabilities and threats. [View conference website] Advanced Briefing (July 22-25; Reston, VA) Students will review what makes for an effective presentation, prepare several briefings, practice delivering them, and review their presentations on videotape. [View course website] Advanced Writing (On request; Reston, VA) Students will hone their skills by writing six intelligence products and will receive personal, individualized feedback from instructors who are accomplished writers and editors in “the profession.” [View course website] Georgetown U. Master’s Programs in Microbiology and Immunology (Fall 2008; Washington, DC) Georgetown University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology is now accepting applications for its fall 2008 semester master of science degree programs in microbiology and immunology; biomedical science, policy, and advocacy; and biohazardous threat agents and emerging infectious diseases. [View course website]

New Upcoming Events (After four weeks, events are moved to the Upcoming Events page) Partnering for a Safer Nation: 2008 Homeland Security S&T Stakeholders Conference–East (June 2-5; Washington, DC) This conference is presented by the National Defense Industrial Association with subject matter support from the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. The agenda and training workshops will focus on the future of the directorate while highlighting the collaborations being built at home and around the world to secure America. [View conference website] Safety Act Workshop (June 3; Washington, DC) In parallel with the Homeland Security S&T Stakeholders Conference, DHS is presenting a workshop for producers, sellers, and users of antiterrorism technologies. It will offer an overview of the Safety Act, the application kit, and the application process. [View website] American Security Challenge (June 5; Washington, DC) In conjunction with the Homeland Security S&T Stakeholders Conference, the American Security Challenge will showcase emerging technologies as they compete for an award of $100,000. Six finalists will present their business plans, and Governor Tom Ridge will receive the 2008 Patriot Award. [View event website] Public Security Science and Technology Summer Symposium (June 9-12; Edmonton, Alberta) This symposium’s theme is “Enhancing Capability through Transition and Exploitation.” It will highlight the science and technology knowledge created by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Research Technology Initiative project partners and the new way forward for the Public Security Technical Program and Canadian Police Research Centre programs. It will also feature a Responder Day focusing on the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialized responder. [View conference website] Federal CBRN Detection Research and Development Opportunities (June 11-13; Arlington, VA) This event is designed to provide the most current information about the role that industry, research contractors, and universities can play in addressing the nation’s needs for new chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear detection technologies and diagnostic tools. It will focus on the research and development requirements of each of the funding departments and agencies. [View conference website] (June 15-18; Toronto) This year’s theme is “Resiliency—Individual, Community and Business.” The conference features presentations, networking, and learning about emergency management, business continuity, emergency response, risk management, information technology, disaster recovery, emergency health, and related disaster management disciplines. [View conference website] CBRN Resilience 2008 (July 8-9; London) Using an attack scenario, the conference will focus on civilian chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear resilience in the United Kingdom, emphasizing the transition from individual capabilities to readiness to respond. Each of the agencies and organizations with a part to play in response to the incident will contribute to improving interagency coordination. [View conference website] International Aviation and Maritime Security Conference (July 21-24; Washington, DC) Sponsored by the U.S. Airport and Seaport Police of the Americas Region and the International Association of Airport and Seaport Police, the conference will examine where the responsibilities lie, how to effectively build teams, tomorrow’s technology, best practices, and risk-mitigation tools. [View conference website] National Homeland Defense Foundation Symposium VI (October 27; Colorado Springs, CO) The theme of Symposium VI is “Securing Our Homelands Through International Collaboration; Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” The symposium fosters the exchange of ideas and technologies among government, industry, and the military. [View conference website] Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness (October 29-31; Chicago) The Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense departments will highlight the technology and training tools available and being developed for emergency responders and elicit responders’ technology requirements. The conference will bring together responders, business and industry, academia, and federal, state, tribal, and local stakeholders to network, exchange ideas, and collaboratively address critical incident technology and preparedness needs, protocols, and solutions. [View conference website]

Calls for Papers National Homeland Defense Foundation Symposium VI (October 27; Colorado Springs, CO) The theme of Symposium VI is “Securing Our Homelands Through International Collaboration; Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” Submissions must be emailed in PDF format by August 1 to librarian@nhdf.org. [View conference website] European Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (December 3-5; Copenhagen, Denmark) The conference welcomes papers on infrastructure protection and emergency responses and on terrorism informatics. Submissions are due by June 15. [View call for papers]