CIA Used Mock Execution to Get Al-Qaeda Info: Report

WASHINGTON - US Central Intelligence Agency interrogators used a handgun and an electric drill to try to frighten a captured Al-Qaeda commander into giving up information, The Washington Post reported.

Citing a report by the agency's inspector general and unnamed former and current US officials, the newspaper said the tactics were used on Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Conflicts to Get More 'Pernicious': ICRC Chief

GENEVA - Conflicts will get ever more "pernicious," the ICRC's chief said Wednesday on the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, as he made a fresh plea for armed groups and states to protect civilians and detainees.

"On the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, I make a heartfelt plea to states and non-state armed groups who are also bound by their provisions to show the requisite political will to turn legal provisions into a meaningful reality," said Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Big Powers Faulted for Abuse of Geneva Conventions

UNITED NATIONS - When human rights groups accused the United States of violating the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners-of-war (PoWs) in Iraq and Afghanistan, the administration of former President George W. Bush either displayed arrogance or feigned ignorance of the implications of abusing humanitarian laws.

Rights Groups Appeal For UN Investigation of Rendition

NEW YORK- Charging that the U.S. government was complicit in the forced disappearance of an influential Muslim scholar four years ago, human rights groups in the U.S., the U.K., and Switzerland have asked the U.N. to investigate.

In a letter to the U.N., the organizations say Mustafa Setmariam Nassar, a Spanish citizen, was arrested by Pakistani officials and handed over to U.S. officials in Oct. 2005 and has not been heard from since.

Under Obama, US Drops Hostility to ICC: Experts

WASHINGTON  - President Barack Obama's administration has dropped outright US hostility toward the world's first permanent war crimes court, but it is still a far cry from joining it, experts say.

US officials say the new team is reviewing its policy on the International Criminal Court (ICC) after former president George W. Bush's administration snubbed it and drew fire that it was showing contempt for international law.

But the Obama administration faces several obstacles if it wants to join.

IDF in Gaza: Killing Civilians, Vandalism, and Lax Rules of Engagement

During Operation Cast Lead, Israeli forces killed Palestinian civilians under permissive rules of engagement and intentionally destroyed their property, say soldiers who fought in the offensive.

The soldiers are graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon. Some of their statements made on Feb. 13 will appear Thursday and Friday in Haaretz. Dozens of graduates of the course who took part in the discussion fought in the Gaza operation.

Nations Line up to Slam Big Powers' UN Veto Rights

UNITED NATIONS - African and other developing nations joined several European powers at the United Nations to denounce the veto rights of the five official nuclear powers on the U.N. Security Council, diplomats said.

The chorus of criticism began on Monday and continued on Tuesday at a closed-door session of the General Assembly on reforming and expanding the most powerful U.N. body.