JAG CENTRAL

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (New York Times)

From the New York Times, International War-Crimes Prosecutor Gets List of 51 Sudan Suspects ("The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court received a list of 51 suspects in the ethnic killing campaign in the Darfur region of Sudan from Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday, opening the way for war crimes trials in The Hague. The confidential list, said to include the names of senior Sudanese government officials, militiamen, army officers and rebel commanders, was compiled by a United Nations commission in January. It reported then that war crimes "no less serious and heinous than genocide" had been committed in Darfur, and it recommended trial by the international court."); White House Has Tightly Restricted Oversight of C.I.A. Detentions:

The White House is maintaining extraordinary restrictions on information about the detention of high-level terror suspects, permitting only a small number of members of Congress to be briefed on how and where the prisoners are being held and interrogated, senior government officials say.

Some Democratic members of Congress say the restrictions are impeding effective oversight of the secret program, which is run by the Central Intelligence Agency and is believed to involve the detention of about three dozen senior Qaeda leaders at secret sites around the world.

By law, the White House is required to notify the House and Senate Intelligence Committees of all intelligence-gathering activities. But the White House has taken the stance that the secret detention program is too sensitive to be described to any members other than the top Republican and Democrat on each panel.

UPDATE: Phil Carter blogs about this trend of reigning in intelligence oversight, arguing that Congress hasn't been doing it's job in controlling the ultimate carrot and stick in this fight, the power of the purse.


Army SPC Wayne S. Grimm, Charged With Murder (Washington Post)

From the Washington Post, U.N. Gives Hague Court List of Suspects; Fairfax Defers to Army on Charge in Soldier's Killing:

An involuntary manslaughter case against a soldier charged with killing his roommate in Annandale has been dismissed so that the Army can pursue a murder charge against him, authorities said yesterday.

Spec. Wayne S. Grimm, 22, had been held without bond in the Fairfax County jail since the fatal shooting Feb. 13 of Spec. Michael Kenagy, 24.

But Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said yesterday that he received a letter from the Army, asking that Grimm be turned over to military authorities for prosecution on a murder charge. At Grimm's preliminary hearing Monday, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case, and Fairfax General District Court Judge William J. Minor threw out the manslaughter charge and released Grimm from jail.

"I was willing to defer to the Army," Horan said, "because they are dealing with service members, both the defendant and the victim. They certainly have a first-rate interest, and Virginia couldn't get any bigger penalty than they [the military] could get."