House Intelligence Committee’s NSA Talking Points Revealed
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North America & Oceania
Edward Snowden to Remain in Hong Kong
By Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON D.C., United States – Former CIA employee Edward Snowden exploded into news headlines Sunday after the Guardian revealed him to be the party responsible for declassifying the NSA program code-named PRISM. Snowden, who more recently worked as a contractor for the NSA, revealed that the NSA obtained phone meta data from Verizon customers and has “direct access” to the server contents of service providers like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
Snowden worked at Booz Allen Hamilton where he contracted with the NSA as a system administrator. After three months, Snowden left his position, and, on May 20, traveled to Hong Kong to seek asylum. It was there that, on June 6, Snowden contacted the Washington Post and the UK-based Guardian to provide details about PRISM as well as general information about US espionage operations.
Since releasing the classified materials, Snowden has remained in Hong Kong to give interviews to a select group of media outlets. Fox News reported that Snowden chose to travel to Hong Kong because of its “strong tradition of free speech.” While Hong Kong does have an extradition treaty with the US, it makes exceptions for political asylum seekers.
If Snowden is returned the US, however, he may not face the long prison sentence one might expect. According to a Reuters article, only nine people have been tried for crimes similar to those of which Snowden is accused (six of which were prosecuted under the Obama administration). Of the six who have been sentenced, the maximum jail sentence was approximately two years, with two receiving no jail sentences at all. The remaining three still have legal action pending.
In an interview given Wednesday to The South China Morning Post (“SCMP”), Snowden said he would not flee Hong Kong, opting instead to leave his fate to the semi-autonomous city’s justice system. Snowden went on to state that he believed the NSA to be responsible for 61,000 hacking operations worldwide, including many in China and Hong Kong.
Snowden went on to explain that by using “network backbones – [which are] like huge internet routers,” the NSA was able to access communications between hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack them individually. According to the SCMP, Snowden said, “‘Last week the American government happily operated in the shadows with no respect for the consent of the governed, but no longer.'”
Since Snowden leaked classified NSA materials, members of Congress have been split into two camps: those angry at Snowden for leaking information, and those angry at the Obama administration for allowing the NSA to conduct such a sweeping surveillance program.
For further information, please see:
ABC News – Edward Snowden Claims NSA Documents Show U.S. Hacks China: Report – 12 June 2013
CBS News – Edward Snowden: “I am not here to hide” – 12 June 2013
Fox News – I’m ‘not a traitor,’ NSA leaker Edward Snowden tells Hong Kong newspaper – 12 June 2013
South China Morning Post – Edward Snowden: US government has been hacking Hong Kong and China for years – 12 June 2013
The Washington Post – Here’s everything we know about PRISM to date – 12 June 2013
Reuters – If past is indicator, ex-NSA contractor may escape long jail term – 10 June 2013
The Guardian – Edward Snowden’s explosive NSA leaks have US in damage control mode – 10 June 2013
NSA Surveillance Programs Come to Light
By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Managing Editor, News
WASHINGTON D.C., United States — This week, news came to light that the National Surveillance Agency (NSA) had siphoned personal data from the main computer servers of nine major US internet providers, including Google and YouTube, and collected the phone records of millions of Verizon customers.
In an initiative code named PRISM, the FBI and NSA was granted access to “audio, video, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple company servers.” It was also reported that many companies did not know that the FBI and NSA had direct access to their servers. Google, Apple, Yahoo, and Facebook immediately denied that the government had direct access, while Microsoft said that it “did not voluntarily participate in any government data collection,” and only complied with specific requests.
The Guardian first reported that Microsoft was the first of the nine companies to participate in PRISM in December 2007. It reported that Yahoo then joined in 2008; Google, Facebook, and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple last year.
It was also revealed earlier this week that the NSA had access to to Verizon customer phone records under a secret court order. Under this court order, labeled “Top Secret,” Verizon must disclose “all call detail records” of its customers to the NSA, including all local and long-distance calls within the US, and calls made between the US and overseas. This program and PRISM were initiated in 2007 during George W. Bush’s presidency.
President Obama, defended the surveillance program on Friday, saying that his administration struck “the right balance” between security and privacy, and that US citizens and residents were not being targeted. President Obama said that both NSA programs were repeatedly authorized by Congress and are subject to continual oversight by both congressional oversight committees and secret intelligence courts. Claiming to be skeptic about the NSA programs when he was sworn into office, President Obama said that it was necessary to preserve them for the sake of national security. “You can’t have 100% security, and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience,” said President Obama.
In a statement made late-night on Thursday, Director of National Intelligence Jams Clapper denounced the leaks, and said that “Americans would suffer.” “The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret US court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation,” said Clapper.
For further information, please see:
ABC — US Declassifies NSA Program Details After Uproar Over Verizon Phone Records — 7 June 2013
BBC News — Barack Obama Defends US Surveillance Tactics — 7 June 2013
The Independent — Obama Defends Spying Tactics of Prism Programme Mining Private Data from Google, Apple, YouTube, and Facebook — 7 June 2013
Policymic — NSA Phone Records: A Look at the Courts That let the Feds Tap our Phones — 7 June 2013
USA Today — NSA Taps Data from 9 Major Net Firms — 7 June 2013
Engadget — Washington Post: NSA, FBI Tapping Directly into Servers of 9 Leading Internet Companies (Updates) — 6 June 2013
Wall Street Journal — Government is Tracking Verizon Customers’ Records — 6 June 2013
American Jailed in Cuba Loses Suit Against US Government
By Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
HAVANA, Cuba – A federal district judge in Washington dismissed a case brought by Alan Gross against the United States government on Tuesday. Gross, a contractor for the State Department, was detained by Cuban authorities in 2009 for distributing communication devices to Jewish communities in Cuba as part of a democracy building program.
Gross was convicted of using communications technology to undermine the Cuban government in March 2011 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The US government made attempts to negotiate Gross’s release. However, the Cuban government attempted to tie the release of Cuban spies held in the US into negotiations. When diplomatic efforts to free Gross failed, Gross’s wife brought suit against the US government and Developer Alternatives, Inc., the private contractor that hired him.
Developer Alternatives has since settled with Gross; however, his legal battle with the US government is far from over. One of Gross’s attorneys, Scott Gilbert told the Washington Post that Gross “plan[s] to file promptly a notice of appeal”.
Legal experts expressed little surprise that the district court dismissed Gross’s complaint, citing a rule barring lawsuits against the US government under the Federal Tort Claims Act for harms suffered in foreign countries. Gross argued against the exception, reasoning that the alleged negligence of the State Department took place within the US. However, the district judge disagreed, noting that Gross’s injury – being imprisoned – took place in Cuba.
While Gross’s legal prospects look grim, his suit has illuminated embarrassing details of the democracy building programs run by the State Department and Developer Alternatives.
In his suit, Gross alleged that he was sent to Cuba on five separate occasions without proper training, protection, or knowledge of relevant Cuban laws. Gross further claimed that he wrote memos after returning from each trip that expressed concern about the high risk involved in the trips.
Gross asserted in his complaint that the State Department and Developer Alternatives were aware of the growing risk to his safety and ignored the danger.
Gross’s legal battle may have stalled for the moment. However, as Peter Phillips, founder of the Cuba Research Center, notes, the “bigger battle is trying to get him free.”
For further information, please see:
Washington Post – Lawyers for American imprisoned in Cuba appeal ruling dismissing case against US government – 31 May 2013
ABC – Alan Gross, lawsuit against U.S. dismissed – 29 May 2013
Global Post – American jailed in Cuba loses lawsuit against US – 29 May 2013
The Blog of LegalTimes – Court: American Jailed in Cuba Can’t Sue U.S. Government – 29 May 2013
The New York Times – American Contractor Held in Cuba Loses a Lawsuit – 29 May 2013
Guatemalan High Court Overturns Rios Montt’s Genocide Conviction
By Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The trial of former Guatemalan dictator General Efrain Rios Montt took a surprising turn on Monday when the Constitutional Court overturned Montt’s 80-year sentence for genocide. Citing illegal proceedings at the trial level, the Constitutional Court struck all proceedings in the trial subsequent to April 19.
Trial judges dismissed Rios Montt’s attorney, Francisco Garcia, multiple times throughout the trial for attempting to have the judges recused “for bias”. The Constitutional Court noted that the trial should have been suspended to hear appeals rather than delaying them until after a conviction. Following the Court’s decision, Rios Montt’s attorney told a Washington Post reporter that he would be seeking his client’s freedom on Tuesday.
Rios Montt was on trial for the deaths of 1,771 Ixil Mayans during his 18-month rule as dictator from 1982-83. He originally gained power after a military coup during the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War. Over 100 witnesses came forward to testify at trial about rapes, killing of women and children, and other human rights violations committed by government forces during the period when Rios Montt was in power. The Civil War is estimated to have resulted in more than 200,000 deaths and over a million refugees. However, Rios Montt’s time in power is believed to have been the most violent of the War.
Rios Montt’s conviction marked the first time in history that a head of state was tried and convicted of genocide in a domestic court. His trial was met with heavy opposition from the Foundation Against Terrorism and the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF). Both groups ran advertisements denouncing both the trial and it supporters. The Foundation also brought hundreds of supporters from the Ixil region, including former military and indigenous people, to protest the trial.
Mario Polancko, director of a Guatemalan human rights group, told CNN that the Constitutional Court’s decision had “served the interests of those in power, and when it is one of the representatives of those in power who is on trial, they will resort to any means.” Polancko added, “I think there has been an abuse in the interpretation of the law.”
The Constitutional Court’s ruling does not signal the end of Rios Montt’s legal battle, however. The Court’s Secretary, Martin Guzman, told the Washington Post that the trial must be rolled back to April 19 to address the numerous appeals. Both sides will now have to return to court to redo the final weeks of the trial.
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Guatemala annuls Rios Montt’s genocide conviction – 21 May 2013
CNN – Guatemala genocide conviction overturned – 21 May 2013
The Washington Post – Guatemala’s top court overturns genocide conviction of former leader Efrain Rios Montt – 21 May 2013
Al Jazeera – Guatemala: Rios Montt genocide trial ends with historic verdict – 15 May 2013