Human Rights Law

Open Thread and News: Wednesday

Posted on February 25, 2009
The day is filled with various bits of news today.  Much is happening in our world as the Obama administration continues to work to reverse the failures of the Bush administration.  Not all the news is good, but much is worthy of note today...

Obama to Support Bagram Expansion

Posted on February 23, 2009
In news of the weekend comes the story of a late Friday Justice Department announcement about Bagram Air Base and the detainees at the site.In a two-sentence filing late Friday, the Justice Department said that the new administration had reviewed its position in a case brought by prisoners at the United States Air Force base at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital...

Obama to Support Bagram Expansion

Posted on February 23, 2009
In news of the weekend comes the story of a late Friday Justice Department announcement about Bagram Air Base and the detainees at the site.In a two-sentence filing late Friday, the Justice Department said that the new administration had reviewed its position in a case brought by prisoners at the United States Air Force base at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital...

Minutes from a Torturers' Meeting at Guantanamo (w/Update)

Posted on February 22, 2009
Crossposted from Daily Kos What follows below was transcribed from a PDF of  the original document (or a copy of same), posted on the website of Senator Carl Levin, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. It, along with a wealth of other documentation, was used in preparing the SASC's highly critical report late last year on interrogations and detainee treatment, which concluded that high officials bore responsibility for the mistreatment and torture of prisoners under U...

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Minutes from a Torturers' Meeting at Guantanamo (w/Update)

Posted on February 22, 2009
Crossposted from Daily Kos What follows below was transcribed from a PDF of  the original document (or a copy of same), posted on the website of Senator Carl Levin, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. It, along with a wealth of other documentation, was used in preparing the SASC's highly critical report late last year on interrogations and detainee treatment, which concluded that high officials bore responsibility for the mistreatment and torture of prisoners under U...

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus

Posted on February 21, 2009
The resurrection of Jesus following his death by crucifixion is central to Christian belief today.Christianity is the name given to that definite system of religious belief and practice which was taught by Jesus Christ in the country of Palestine, during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius, and was promulgated, after its Founder's death, for the acceptance of the whole world, by certain chosen men among His followers...

Apocalypse Redux

Posted on February 21, 2009
The war in Afghanistan is being waged long-distance, by remote control:From their cockpit at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, the pilot and co-pilot are flying a pilotless Predator on a bombing mission over Afghanistan, 8,000 miles away. A forward air controller in another unmanned drone spots the target and the Predator bomber takes off under local control from Kandahar in Afghanistan...

Petition: Stop Land Run Re - Enactments

Posted on February 21, 2009
Stop Land Run Re - Enactments in Oklahoma Public Schools WHEREAS, S.P.I.R.I.T is working for the rights of Oklahoma Indians, all American Indians, Indigenous people and the peaceful solution to all differences; and WHEREAS, the Oklahoma History and US History does not provide the whole and true history of Oklahoma Indians or American Indians (Native Americans), and WHEREAS, re-enacting the Land Run in public schools and in communities in Oklahoma is demeaning and humiliating to Oklahoma Indians, and - snip - NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned and S...

Petition: Stop Land Run Re - Enactments

Posted on February 21, 2009
Stop Land Run Re - Enactments in Oklahoma Public Schools WHEREAS, S.P.I.R.I.T is working for the rights of Oklahoma Indians, all American Indians, Indigenous people and the peaceful solution to all differences; and WHEREAS, the Oklahoma History and US History does not provide the whole and true history of Oklahoma Indians or American Indians (Native Americans), and WHEREAS, re-enacting the Land Run in public schools and in communities in Oklahoma is demeaning and humiliating to Oklahoma Indians, and - snip - NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned and S...

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus

Posted on February 21, 2009
The resurrection of Jesus following his death by crucifixion is central to Christian belief today.Christianity is the name given to that definite system of religious belief and practice which was taught by Jesus Christ in the country of Palestine, during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius, and was promulgated, after its Founder's death, for the acceptance of the whole world, by certain chosen men among His followers...

Science Tidbits

Posted on February 20, 2009
Once again the time has come to gather around for a day of new and exciting, tantalizing news in the realm of science.  New discoveries.  New takes on old knowledge.  The base of information and knowledge grows at a rate much too fast to keep up with all that is available...

Guantanamo: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Posted on February 19, 2009
Andy Worthington is always a worthy read at his website but this week at least one of his postings is superlative.  Read the whole article.   Worthington begins with reminders of Obama's January 22 signing of a Presidential order closing Guantanamo within a year...

Republicans Attempting to Block Detainee Transfer to Their Districts

Posted on February 18, 2009
Several Republican Party members in Congress have introduced legislation intended to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees into their legislative districts.Congressional Republicans have introduced bills that would bar the government from moving any of the 250 inmates to some of the most prominent military and civilian detention centres in the US, including a "supermax" high-security federal prison in Florence, Colorado, which holds at least 16 convicted international terrorists, and a South Carolina naval brig that holds the only enemy combatant jailed in America...

Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'

Posted on February 17, 2009
The International Commission of Jurists has released the findings of their three year study of international action to combat terrorism.It concluded that many measures introduced to fight terrorism were illegal and counter-productive.The panel of eminent lawyers and judges concluded that the framework of international law that existed before the 9/11 attacks on the US was robust and effective...

Guantanamo Guard: "The Stuff I Did And The Stuff I Saw Was Just Wrong"

Posted on February 15, 2009
Army Specialist Brandon Neely arrived in Guantanamo on January 7, 2002, "while the cages of Camp X-Ray were still being welded." For the next six months, Neely witnessed "the arrival of the detainees in full sensory-deprivation garb, sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse, restriction of recreation, the behavior of mentally ill detainees, possible isolation regime of the first six children in GTMO, [and] utter lack of preparation for guarding individuals detained during the War on Terror...

Documents Confirm DOD and CIA Cooperation on Secret Prisons

Posted on February 14, 2009
As a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing by three human rights groups, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), nearly a thousand pages of documents were gathered and then released to the public...

Previously Classified Reports Confirm Prisoners Tortured To Death In War On Terra

Posted on February 13, 2009
Previously classified government documents newly released to the American Civil Liberties Union confirm that official investigators have determined that prisoners have been tortured to death by American agents in the War on Terra. While proposing a truth and reconciliation commission for exposure of BushCo crimes, Alexa wrote here last December 27 of the many witnesses:to the ongoing crimes of the Torture Administration, including murder...

NION Guide To Paganism: Imbolc Edition

Posted on February 12, 2009
In this Pagan exploration, I, your Resident Witch, will attempt to explain the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, which falls on February 2nd, and just what it has to do with cross-dressing children, crepes, the patron saint of abortion providers, voodoo angels with a hankering for hot peppers - and, of course, Groundhog Day...

Leahy Proposes Truth And Reconciliation Commission

Posted on February 11, 2009
In a speech Monday at Georgetown University, Senator Patrick Leahy proposed a truth and reconciliation commission for exposure of BushCo misdeeds, similar to the one proposed here December 27 by Alexa, and for similar reasons. Leahy is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, from which such a commission could be expected to spring...

Open Thread and News of the Day

Posted on February 11, 2009
Sometimes there is too much news to warrant lots of diaries, but which needs to be shared.  Today is one of those times.  Much is happening in our world today.  This thread is being established to highlight a few stories and offer others a chance to share their own findings...

The Lessons of U.S. Detention Policy

Posted on February 10, 2009
In a commentary for the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Jonathan Horowitz speaks of his trips to Afghanistan to investigate the circumstance of several detainees, Abdul Wahab, Ghulam Sadeeq, and Mohammad Zahir.  Horowitz was hired by attorneys for Zahirto do what the U...

The Graveyard Of Empires

Posted on February 09, 2009
General David Petraeus, the dude John McCain said during the 2008 presidential campaign we should all regard as a sure-as-shootin' infallible oracle on all things military, has, according to the Washington Post, pronounced Afghanistan "the graveyard of empires," and more or less counseled the Obama administration that it cannot hope to "win" in that region...

US-UK Torture Cover-up, While Conditions Worsen at Guantanamo

Posted on February 08, 2009
Controversy continues to mount over the suppression of key evidence of U.S. torture in the case of Ethiopian national, Binyam Mohamed, at the suspected behest of the Obama administration. UK High Court judges in the case wanted to release the evidence, but Foreign Secretary David Miliband prevented this, saying it would harm UK intelligence cooperation with the United States...

A Message from History: Democrats, Attack!

Posted on February 08, 2009
I'm not normally one to rant - among the scores of diaries I've posted over the course of the past three years, only a handful are of the "screed" variety.  The sort of diaries I usually do don't lend themselves to soapbox-style indignation - there's not much to be gained, legislatively or electorally speaking, from a knock-down, drag-out flame war over, say, assigning blame for the outbreak of the First World War...

Democracy Now! Debate: Horton vs Ratner on Renditions, Appendix M

Posted on February 07, 2009
A fascinating debate took place at Democracy Now! yesterday. With Amy Goodman as host, Harpers Magazine's Scott Horton, and President of Center for Constitutional Rights, Michael Ratner, went at it on the subject of Obama's renditions and interrogation policies, including the existence of coercive interrogation instructions in the Army Field Manual...

French, Germans Balk At Increasing Afghan Commitment; McGovern Warns "Military Power No Solution"

Posted on February 07, 2009
Vice President Joe Biden traveled this weekend to Munich to cajole Europeans into committing more troops to Afghanistan, while NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer Saturday complained: "I'm frankly concerned when I hear the United States is planning a major commitment for Afghanistan but other allies are already ruling out doing more...

Science Tidbits

Posted on February 06, 2009
One more time the chance is here to gather around for another day of new and exciting, tantalizing news in the realm of science.  New discoveries.  New takes on old knowledge.  The base of information and knowledge grows at a rate much too fast to keep up with all that is available...

Apocalypse Don: The Final Briefing

Posted on February 05, 2009
(Note: As the unlamented Donald Rumsfeld has recently re-entered NION discourse, I thought now to be as good a time as any to repost this piece, first published November 26, 2006 on dkos. No one then read it, not least because it's longer than the Bible...

The Twisted Tales of Torture Continue

Posted on February 05, 2009
The British news is all atwitter these days with accusations of torture or at least cooperation in torture by British personnel.  The latest problem for the British legal system comes from a judgement in the trial of Binyam Mohamed.  Given the man's story and evidence of his torture at the hands of various people, the court opinion was harsh...

Retaining Rendition

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Obama administration "appears" to have decided to retain the practice of "rendition," in which United States intelligence agents kidnap and hijack to other countries for interrogation purposes people suspected of participation in the War on Terra...

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