Showing posts with label Federal Bureau of Investigation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Bureau of Investigation. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
WikiLeaks: U.K. trained 'death squad' - U.S. news - WikiLeaks in Security - msnbc.com
WikiLeaks: U.K. trained 'death squad' - U.S. news - WikiLeaks in Security - msnbc.com
The British government has trained a paramilitary force accused of hundreds of killings in Bangladesh, according to leaked U.S. embassy cables.
The Guardian newspaper said the cables described training for members of the Rapid Action Battalion as being in "investigative interviewing techniques" and "rules of engagement."
One cable notes that U.S. training for the battalion in counterterrorism would be illegal under U.S. law because of human rights violations.
The newspaper said the battalion has been accused by human rights activists of being a "death squad" responsible for more than 1,000 extra-judicial killings since it was established in 2004. In March, the battalion's leader said it had killed 622 people in "crossfire."
The RAB's use of torture has also been exhaustively documented by human rights groups, the Guardian said. In addition, officers from the paramilitary force are alleged to have been involved in kidnap and extortion, and are frequently accused of taking large bribes in return for carrying out killings.
However, the cables reveal that British and Americans officials favor bolstering the force to strengthen counter-terrorism operations in Bangladesh. One cable describes U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty as saying the battalion is the "enforcement organization best positioned to one day become a Bangladeshi version of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation."
The British training began three years ago, The Guardian said, quoting the cables.
Asked by The Guardian about the training for the RAB, the Foreign Office said the UK government "provides a range of human rights assistance" in the country. However, the RAB's head of training, Mejbah Uddin, told the newspaper that he was unaware of any human rights training since he was appointed last summer.
In the most recent killings, the battalion reported that it had shot three men in separate incidents on Tuesday.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity
White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
The administration wants to add just four words -- "electronic communication transactional records" -- to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge's approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user's browser history. It does not include, the lawyers hasten to point out, the "content" of e-mail or other Internet communication.
But what officials portray as a technical clarification designed to remedy a legal ambiguity strikes industry lawyers and privacy advocates as an expansion of the power the government wields through so-called national security letters. These missives, which can be issued by an FBI field office on its own authority, require the recipient to provide the requested information and to keep the request secret. They are the mechanism the government would use to obtain the electronic records.
Stewart A. Baker, a former senior Bush administration Homeland Security official, said the proposed change would broaden the bureau's authority. "It'll be faster and easier to get the data," said Baker, who practices national security and surveillance law. "And for some Internet providers, it'll mean giving a lot more information to the FBI in response to an NSL."
Many Internet service providers have resisted the government's demands to turn over electronic records, arguing that surveillance law as written does not allow them to do so, industry lawyers say. One senior administration government official, who would discuss the proposed change only on condition of anonymity, countered that "most" Internet or e-mail providers do turn over such data.
To critics, the move is another example of an administration retreating from campaign pledges to enhance civil liberties in relation to national security. The proposal is "incredibly bold, given the amount of electronic data the government is already getting," said Michelle Richardson, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel.
The critics say its effect would be to greatly expand the amount and type of personal data the government can obtain without a court order. "You're bringing a big category of data -- records reflecting who someone is communicating with in the digital world, Web browsing history and potentially location information -- outside of judicial review," said Michael Sussmann, a Justice Department lawyer under President Bill Clinton who now represents Internet and other firms.
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