by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NEW YORK CITY, United States – The New York City Police Department said Tuesday that it has disbanded a special unit of plainclothes detectives tasked with mingling with Muslim communities to discover terror plots. The Zone Assessment Unit, developed with the aid of the CIA in the wake of 9/11, acknowledged that it monitored Muslim owned businesses and places of worship.

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis confirmed that detectives from the Zone Assessment Unit were reassigned to other operations in the department’s intelligence division.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio considered disbanding the unit a “critical step forward in easing tensions between the police and the communities they serve, so that our cops and our citizens can help one another go after the real bad guys.”

Disbanding the Zone Assessment Unit is just one of many anticipated rollbacks in post-9/11 intelligence gathering within the NYPD under new Police Commissioner William Bratton.  The new Commissioner will also consider scaling back overseas operations that deploys NYPD officers to stations in London, Paris, Tel Aviv and Amman.

NYPD officials stated that disbanding the controversial unit was part of a conclusion that information could be more easily gathered through direct interaction with the Muslim community.  One high-ranking NYPD official stated in a 2012 deposition that the unit never generated a single piece of actionable information during its six years of operation.

News of the Zone Assessment Unit’s work drew negative reactions in Washington.  34 members of Congress expressed the need for a federal investigation of the NYPD while Attorney General Eric Holder said he was disturbed by the news.  The Department of Justice is reviewing complaints received from the Muslim community.

Reporting on the unit also triggered an investigation by the Inspector General for the CIA, who was concerned about the involvement of a CIA operative in setting up this program.  The investigation ultimately concluded that the CIA did not violate its own policies prohibiting domestic spying.

Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, who helped set up the Zone Assessment Unit, has defended its use, saying his officer observed legal guidelines.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – NYC Police Rolling Back Some Counterterror Efforts – 16 April 2014

CNN – New York Police Department disbands unit that spied on Muslims – 16 April 2014

Fox News – NYPD ends Muslim surveillance program – 15 April 2014

The Guardian – NYPD disbands controversial Muslim surveillance unit – 15 April 2014

The New York Times – New York Drops Unit That Spied on Muslims – 15 April 2014

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The Obama administration said Friday that it would deny to issue a visa to Iran’s newly named ambassador, Hamid Aboutalebi, who participated in the 1979 taking of the American embassy in Tehran.  The White House statement came in response to pressure from the House and Senate which both voted in favor of a bill barring Aboutalebi from the US.

Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim Students Following the Imam’s Line, a group of militants responsible for taking the American embassy in 1979.  He served as a translator for the students, communicating with the 55 American hostages.
Aboutalebi is a veteran diplomat in Iran, having served as Iranian ambassador to Australia, Belgium, Italy and the European Union.  He is believed to be be close to the Iranian leader, President Hassan Rouhani, the moderate reformer who took office last year.

State Department officials have not offered any specific reasons for opposing Aboutalebi’s nomination, but appear adamantly against him. “We think this nomination would be extremely troubling,” said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, adding “We’re taking a close look at the case now and we’ve raised our serious concerns about this possible nomination with the government [of] Iran.”

While not expressly denying Aboutalebi’s visa, the White House has relayed that would not accept his application.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told the press core, “We have already told the U.N. and Iran that we will not issue a visa.”

Abbas Abdi, one of the leaders of the group that took the American hostages in 1979 said Aboutalebi had no “relation to the decision-making team, the group who invaded and those who continued the hostage captivity in Iran.”

Denying Aboutalebi a visa could create complications for the Obama Administration’s relationship with Iran.  President Obama has attempted to re-engage  with Iran on its nuclear program since the election of Rouhani.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – US refuses visa for Iran’s UN envoy choice Hamid Aboutalebi – 11 April 2014

Fox News – State Dept. says Iran’s pick for UN ambassador ‘troubling’ amid outrage over hostage crisis link – 2 April 2014

CNN – White House: U.S. won’t issue visa for Iran’s newly named U.N. envoy – 12 April 2014

Bloomberg News – White House Tells Iran That Hostage Taker ‘Not Viable’ – 8 April 2014

The New York Times – U.S. Says Iran’s Pick for U.N. Envoy Won’t Get a Visa – 11 April 2014

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee request records from the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Cuban operations Thursday.  This request came after evidence emerged that the US government funded ZunZuneo, dubbed the “Cuban Twitter” by reports.

The Associated Press reported early last week that the Twitter-like program, administered by USAID, provided social media service to Cuban citizens from 2009 to 2012 when federal grant money ran out.  The purpose of this “Cuban Twitter” was to promulgate information to undermine the communist government and gather demographic information on dissidents in Cuban.

The US government reportedly hid its involvement in ZunZuneo by creating a shell corporation in Spain to finance the operation.

Members of the Senates and House of Representative expressed concern about the program’s administration through USAID rather than an intelligence agency. “Why would we put that mission in USAID?” Republican Senator Mike Johanns asked, adding “Why wouldn’t you look at some other part of the federal government to place that mission? To me, it seems crazy.”

Documents obtained by AP show that the site’s early messages poked fun at the Castro government and were created by a satirist working for the social media project.  This conflicted with earlier statements by the Obama administration that the messages were not political in nature.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is Cuban-born, defended the pro-democracy operations carried out by USAID, saying the program was “so important to offer the other side of the story, the side that promotes American values: God-given values like freedom, justice or liberty.”

Other lawmakers were uncomfortable with the idea of USAID, an organization known for providing humanitarian aid without involving itself in political situations, conducting covert operations.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate panel, said he had no prior knowledge of the Twitter-like operation, contradicting claims by SAID Administrator Rajiv Shah that Congress was properly informed.

Leahy later clarified that he was notified generally of the program, but not of the program’s risks, its political nature or the extensive efforts to conceal Washington’s involvement.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Senate requests information on USAID internet projects – 10 April 2014

ABC News – Senator: Aid Agency Laudable for ‘Cuban Twitter’ – 9 April 2014

National Public Radio – Was ‘Cuban Twitter’ Program Political Or Not? – 9 April 2014

TIME – USAID Denies ‘Cuban Twitter’ Was Meant To Subvert – 8 April 2014

The Washington Post – U.S. secretly created ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest – 3 April 2014