Holder begins review of detainee-abuse allegations

By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Amid revelations that U.S. interrogators threatened terror suspects with handguns and an electric drill, Attorney General Eric Holder opened a preliminary review Monday to determine whether criminal prosecutions are warranted in some detainee abuse cases.

The threats against the detainees, who were hooded, shackled and, in some cases, naked, were among new details included in a series of documents released by the Justice Department. The records included a 2004 report by the CIA's Office of Inspector General, which noted that some of the interrogation tactics used by the agency were "inconsistent with the public policy positions that the United States has taken regarding human rights."

The report notes that a CIA officer also threatened a detainee with the prospect that his wife and children would be brought in for questioning, leading the captive to believe he was in a Middle Eastern country where interrogators are known for sexually abusing the female relatives if their prisoners.

None of the threats was an authorized interrogation technique, the report says.

The new information, released to satisfy a court order in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, came as the Obama administration continues to struggle with how to handle continued fallout from the controversial detention and interrogation techniques sanctioned by the Bush administration for terror suspects.


Holder's preliminary review, which could lay the groundwork for criminal prosecutions, was announced just hours after the White House confirmed the creation of a new, interagency task force set up specifically to take over all interrogations of "high value" detainees linked to Al Qaida and other terror groups.

The FBI-based task force will "bring together all the different elements of the intelligence community to get the best intelligence possible based on scientifically proven methods," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. He noted that, per a previous order from Obama, all interrogations will be limited to techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual, which does not allow some of the more controversial "enhanced" tactics, such as "waterboarding," that were condoned during the Bush years.

The White House reiterated in a statement that Obama doesn't believe in prosecuting CIA personnel who used "enhanced" techniques "in good faith and within the scope of legal guidance" that was provided by Bush administration officials. But the statement noted that, "ultimately, determinations about whether someone broke the law are made independently by the Attorney General."

Civil Rights groups, including the ACLU, reiterated their call for prosecutions.

Criminal investigations should go beyond "rogue interrogators" to include higher-level Bush administration officials "who authorized torture or wrote the memos that were used to justify it," the ACLU said in a statement.

Holder assigned the preliminary review of potential criminal charges to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed in 2008 by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations, including sessions involving waterboarding. Holder echoed Obama's sentiment that interrogators who acted in accordance with Bush administration doctrine should not be prosecuted.

Nevertheless, he said, the information in the inspector general's report and other documents demand further investigation and the Justice Department "will follow its obligation to take this preliminary step to examine possible violations of law."

The inspector general's report found it "challenging" to assess whether the "enhanced" interrogation tactics were effective in gleaning intelligence that detainees might not have provided under more traditional questioning, particularly since the techniques were used on only a handful of suspected al-Qaeda leaders.

However, the report did note particular concerns about waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning and was used on three captives. Those concerns included "whether the risks of (waterboarding's) use were justified by the results (and) whether it has been unnecessarily used." The report also noted that questioners may have used the technique in ways that skirted legal limits set by the Bush administration.

One detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a suspected mastermind in the USS Cole bombing, became "compliant" after just two waterboarding sessions, the report found. But suspected al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, "an accomplished resistor," proved far more resistant: he was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003.

In a message to CIA employees, agency director Leon Panetta declined to enter the debate over whether waterboarding and other "enhanced" questioning techniques were legal or crossed the line into torture. But he vowed to defend employees who were acting under the legal guidance they were given at the time and noted that any review must consider the pressures that agency personnel were facing.

"This much is clear," Panetta said: "The CIA obtained intelligence from high-value detainees when inside information on al-Qaeda was in short supply."

Japan Airlines considers slashing 10% of workforce in 3 years

TOKYO —

Japan Airlines Corp is considering cutting about 5,000 employees, or around 10% of its group workforce, in three years to March 2012 through attrition and other steps such as encouraging early retirement, industry sources said Monday. The move would help the airline, which has been restructuring under state supervision, to reduce costs by more than 150 billion yen, the sources said.

JAL has included the plan in its management improvement program that the company hopes to compile and make public by the end of September in response to a request from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry for it to draw up a drastic restructuring program, they said. The airline has begun consultations with lenders on its personnel reduction plan with a view to securing additional funding from them by indicating it will implement large-scale corporate downsizing, the sources said.

The plan, however, is expected to meet objections from groups such as labor unions.

The JAL group had about 48,900 employees on a consolidated basis as of the end of April.

In addition to attrition and early retirement, JAL plans to encourage the use of its leave of absence system in which employees can temporarily take time away from work without pay for purposes such as studying abroad, the sources said.

The struggling airline is also considering selling minor group companies or realigning them as a way to cut down on the number of total employees in its group, they said.

In its management improvement program, JAL also intends to mention its plan to scrap or reduce numerous international and domestic flights, on top of its announcement earlier this month that it will suspend or cut 10 international routes and reduce domestic flights on six routes.

It will also work on switching to smaller and more fuel-efficient planes, as well as selling its surplus Boeing 747 jumbo jets as part of cost-cutting efforts, according to the sources.

Train driver ogles women at 120 kph

KANAZAWA--A West Japan Railway Co. driver secretly took photos of two female passengers with a cellphone while his train was running at 120 kph.

The 28-year-old driver turned his eyes away from the front for seven to eight seconds, during which the train ran about 200 meters.

JR West said Saturday it was considering disciplinary measures.

The driver, who belongs to the company's Kanazawa branch, took the photos through windowpanes Friday morning in Shiga Prefecture. He was quoted as saying the women were very attractive.(IHT/Asahi: August 24,2009)

2 billion people may get affected by swine flu: WHO

A third of the world could potentially become infected with the new H1N1 influenza virus, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official said Thursday.

"Looking at past pandemics, a third of the world's population could be infected," Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security, said.

That would roughly be equal to two billion people.

So far, the UN health agency reported the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 infections stood at 2,099 in 23 countries, with a death toll of 44.

The rising number mostly reflected confirmed cases of the virus that was dubbed swine flu after it was first detected in Mexico late last month.

Fukuda could not estimate how many people would become seriously ill or die from an infection of the new virus, saying WHO was still trying to understand the nature of H1N1.

"Our spectrum of understanding of the virus is evolving," he told reporters in Geneva.

WHO officials have said research was under way to create a vaccine for H1N1 and expected manufacturers could roll one out within four to six months. The number of doses that could be produced in the first year would likely be just above one billion.

WHO has maintained its pandemic influenza alert at phase 5, meaning human-to-human transmission at the community level was detected in two countries in one region, in this case North America.

Fukuda said he was not aware of any plans to raise the level to the highest, phase 6.

The WHO confirmed that Mexico had 42 deaths related to the disease. The US, which reported two deaths, was the only other country to report fatalities.

Mexico had 1,112 laboratory-confirmed cases, while the US had 642 such infections and Canada reported 201 instances, the WHO said.
In Europe, Spain remained hardest hit with 73 cases and Britain had 28 infections. Germany reported nine cases.

New Zealand had five cases and South Korea two. Israel, the only Middle Eastern country to report cases, had four confirmed infections.

Four more succumb, swine flu toll mounts to 74

Four persons, including an infant and a businessman, succumbed to the dreaded swine flu, pushing the countrywide death count from the H1NI pandemic to 74 even as 137 more contracted the infection since Sunday evening.

Two fatalities occurred in Karnataka and one each in Maharashtra and Gujarat as the number of those afflicted with disease topped the 2,900 mark.

A two-and-a-half-year-old child, who was admitted to a hospital in Pune, the worst-hit by the virus, on August 21 after she tested positive, died last night, health officials said.

With the infant's death, the toll mounted to 23 in Pune where educational institutions, malls and theatres, shut two weeks ago, reopened on Monday.

A 52-year-old businessman, Rajesh Udhad, was the latest swine flu victim in Gujarat taking the number of fatalities in the state to seven, state Principal Secretary (Health) Ravi Saxena said.

Two more succumbed to the illness in Karnataka where the death count climbed to 14 as nine more tested positive for the H1N1 virus, health officials in Bangalore said.

Fifty-year-old Sarojamma breathed his last at a private hospital in Bangalore while 22-year-old Shivu, hailing from Kodagehalli in Kolar district, succumbed at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases. .

Coroner rules Jackson’s death a homicide

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died.

The coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died June 25 in his rented Los Angeles mansion, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released. Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson’s death, the official said.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson’s personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston, Murray told investigators he administered a 25 mg dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. after spending the night injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to sleep.

The warrant, dated July 23, states that lethal levels of propofol were found in Jackson’s system. Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner’s toxicology report found other substances in Jackson’s system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer’s death, the official said.

Murray has spoken to police and last week released a video saying he “told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail.” His attorney, Edward Chernoff, had no immediate comment but has previously said Murray never administered anything that “should have” killed Jackson.

A call to the coroner’s office was not returned Monday.

Murray did not say anything about the drugs he gave to Jackson.

12-year-old boy charged with assault

Hate crimes cops are investigating the case of a 12-year-old boy accused of pushing a Toronto angler into the water in Kawartha Lakes, police said today.

A 46-year-old Asian Canadian man was fishing with his family from a bridge on Canal Lake when police say the boy came up from behind and pushed him into the water about five feet below Friday afternoon.

The boy was found by police nearby and charged with one count of assault.

He was released from custody pending a Sept. 22 court appearance in Lindsay.

But given the recent history of Asian anglers being pushed into the waters of Ontario, the case could have much deeper implications than a simple assault.

"Hate crime charges have not been laid, however, the matter is still under investigation," Ontario Provincial Police Const. Mark Boileau said this afternoon. "The Hate Crimes/Extremism Unit is assisting in this investigation, obviously, considering the motivating factors in regards to

the incident."

The Ontario Human Rights Commission dove into the issue over the last couple years after several similar incidents, many of them in York Region, came to light.

In a report released earlier this year, the Commission found that in "several disturbing incidents" in 2007, "Asian Canadians, or people fishing with Asian Canadians, appeared to be targeted, and a racist slur referring to Asian Canadians was associated with reports of assaults in some areas."

The report found a common complaint against — and misconception — of Asian Canadian anglers was that they over-fish, a claim for which the Commission found no evidence to support.

Cops in Kawartha Lakes have investigated five incidents of Asian Canadian anglers being pushed into the water since 2007, Boileau said.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, 12 is the youngest age a person can be charged with a criminal offence.

The 12-year-old charged Friday is the youngest of the accused arrested since 2007, Boileau said.

Killed Luke Mitchell's family's jail plea on gang bashings

THE family of good Samaritan murder victim Luke Mitchell wants mandatory jail sentences for people involved in gang attacks on Melbourne streets.

His brother, Shane, demanded politicians make those involved in vicious bashings serve a minimum three years in prison.

He said the same hardline penalty should apply to anybody who attacked police and to people convicted of carrying weapons.

Luke, 29, was bashed and stabbed to death outside a convenience store in Brunswick just minutes after intervening to


Shane Mitchell told the Herald Sun it was clear from events in the city since Luke's death that thugs would not get the message through any means other than mandatory prison sentences.

He said he was disheartened by a weekend attack that left police officer Brett Ward in hospital with head injuries.

"It's a real sad state . . . where we are as a community. We need to make some changes," Mr Mitchell said.

"In the short term, the judicial system needs to pull its finger out.

"It should be, 'Do not pass go -- straight in (to jail)'."

Mr Mitchell said a special court should be established to deal with gang bashings, hearing matters almost immediately and sentencing those convicted to a minimum three years in jail.

The community was sick of the "catch and release" method of dealing with street assaults, he said.

Mr Mitchell said it was awful to regularly read of violence on Melbourne's streets.

In the wake of Sunday's attack on Sgt Ward, the Police Association has called for a minimum one-month jail term for anyone who assaults a police officer.

Mr Mitchell said it was also time to examine whether Melbourne's licensed venues should be allowed to stay open beyond 1am.

"Someone once told me nothing good happens after 2am. Luke was killed at 2.30am," he said.

Mr Mitchell and his mother, Carol, spoke to the Herald Sun at a beach at Sanctuary Lakes, near Point Cook, where a memorial to Luke will be unveiled on Sunday.

It will be placed in the same spot, about 1km from his home, where Luke would relax and take photos.

The memorial, organised by the local community, will bear the words: "When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened."

Mrs Mitchell said the memorial was a wonderful gesture.

"We're devastated at his loss but it's an honour that they want to do it," she said.

Mrs Mitchell said she had been moved by the public reaction to her son's bravery, which ultimately cost his life.

"One lady we didn't even know said she was happy to know there were people who were still prepared to step in," she said.

"I think people have had enough of all this."

The family also called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to introduce a good Samaritan week to the Australian calendar.

Luke Mitchell died hours after being attacked during a night out on May 24.

Two men suspected of the killing fled to Thailand later that day.

They are still at large and it remains unclear when they will be returned to Australia.