By Jason Leopold
A combination of “enhanced interrogation” techniques approved by high-level Bush administration officials coupled with a series of brutal beatings administered by military interrogators were directly responsible for the December 2002 deaths of two detainees at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, according to a report released last week by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The [...]
April 30, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By Jason Leopold
Declassified Defense Department documents describe a pattern of “abusive” behavior by U.S. military interrogators that appears to have caused the deaths of several suspected terrorists imprisoned at a detention center in Afghanistan in December 2002, just two days after former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques against [...]
April 30, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By William Fisher
A coalition of 19 human rights, faith-based, and justice organizations is calling on President Barack Obama to investigate torture they charge was sanctioned by the administration of former President George W. Bush.
The group, led by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), is proposing both a special prosecutor and an “independent, non-partisan [...]
April 29, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By William Fisher
While human rights and open-government groups are generally pleased with President Barack Obama’s rhetoric during his first 100 days, some are skeptical that he will deliver on his promises.
April 29, 2009 | Filed under
Nation |
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By William Fisher
In what may become a landmark decision, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the “state secrets privilege” – routinely used by the government to block lawsuits against its officials – can only be used to contest specific evidence, but not to dismiss an entire suit.
The ruling, which was hailed by human rights [...]
April 28, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By Jason Leopold
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other committee Democrats formally have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to probe and, “where appropriate, prosecute,” Bush administration officials for the torture of “war on terror” detainees.
The letter, which renews a request that committee Democrats made unsuccessfully to Holder’s Republican predecessors, [...]
April 28, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By Jason Leopold
A senior FBI agent stationed in Iraq in 2004 claimed in an e-mail that President George W. Bush signed an executive order approving the use of military dogs, sleep deprivation and other harsh tactics to intimidate Iraqi detainees.
The FBI e-mail — dated May 22, 2004 — followed disclosures about abuse of Iraqi detainees [...]
April 28, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By Melvin A. Goodman
Under the stewardship of Fred Hiatt, the editorial and op-ed pages of the Washington Post have gradually moved to the right. Post editorials and op-eds have defended the decision to go to war in Iraq; opposed any improvement in bilateral relations with Russia; refused to acknowledge Israel’s misuse of military power in [...]
April 27, 2009 | Filed under
Commentary |
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By Jason Leopold
The CIA must turn over by Wednesday a detailed description of the contents of interrogation tapes the agency made as early as April 2002, four months before the Justice Department issued a legal opinion that authorized the agency to subject a “high-value” detainee to “enhanced interrogation” techniques, a federal judge has ordered.
In a [...]
April 26, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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By William Fisher
Tuesday, April 28, will mark five years since Americans got their first look at the sickening photographs from Abu Ghraib on “60 Minutes.”
And a month after that, on May 28, the Department of Justice, acting under a court order, will release several thousand never-before-seen-in-public photographs of U.S. prisoner abuse from Afghanistan and from [...]
April 26, 2009 | Filed under
Torture |
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