international law

Red Cross Described 'Torture' at CIA Jails

$In this photo reviewed by the US Military, a guard works at Guantanamo's Camp 6 detention center at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January 21, 2009. A secret Red Cross report from 2007 concluded that the treatment of al-Qaeda captives by CIA interrogators \"constituted torture,\" the Washington Post reported Monday. (AFP/POOL/File/Brennan Linsley)$

The International Committee of the Red Cross concluded in a secret report that the Bush administration's treatment of al-Qaeda captives "constituted torture," a finding that strongly implied that CIA interrogation methods violated international law, according to newly published excerpts from the long-concealed 2007 document.

Posted in cia, international law, torture

Aren't There War Criminals in The US?

UNITED NATIONS - The ongoing political crisis in Sudan is expected to worsen in the face of a rash of threats and warnings following the indictment last week of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The beleaguered Sudanese president has threatened to expel diplomats from Khartoum and throw out more humanitarian organisations - in addition to the 13 that were run out of town last week - in retaliation for the indictment.

Posted in inequality, international law, war crimes

Obama Please Note: Those Who Fail to 'Master the Past' Are Guilty, Too

In "Guilt About the Past," based on guest lectures that Bernhard Schlink gave at Oxford University last year, the University of Berlin law professor describes the "long shadow" cast by the perpetrators of war crimes on their descendants.

"The act of not renouncing, not judging and not repudiating carries its own guilt with it," he states in the book published in January by University of Queensland Press.

Posted in after bush, international law, obama, war crimes

US Using British Atomic Weapons Factory for Its Nuclear Program

The US military has been using Britain's atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead program, according to evidence seen by the Guardian.

US defense officials said that "very valuable" warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments.

Posted in international law, nuclear weapons, pentagon

ICC Investigating Israel War Crimes

NEW YORK - The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague announced a preliminary analysis Tuesday into whether Israel committed war crimes during the recent Gaza war, following the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) move to recognise the ICC's authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Whether the ICC has jurisdiction in Gaza is expected to be a highly contentious legal issue, and the ICC investigation comes at a time of heightened debate over the legality of Israel's Gaza campaign under international law.

Posted in Equality/Justice, international law, War/Empire, Israel/Palestine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2009
5:00 PM

CONTACT: National Lawyer's Guild (NLG)
Paige Cram, NLG Communications Coordinator, 212-679-5100, ext.15

National Lawyers Guild Announces the Arrival of Fact-Finding Mission to Gaza

NEW YORK - February 2 - The National Lawyers Guild announces the arrival of a nine-member fact-finding mission to Gaza to assess the effects of the recent attacks on the people there. It will also determine what, if any, violations of international law occurred and whether U.S. domestic law has been violated as a consequence.

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Posted in Equality/Justice, international law, Israel/Palestine

Call to Try Bush

BERLIN - Now that former U.S. president George W. Bush is an ordinary citizen again, many legal and human rights activists in Europe are demanding that he and high-ranking members of his government be brought before justice for crimes against humanity committed in the so-called war on terror.

Posted in bush, Equality/Justice, international law, torture

The Silence of the Jurists

One silence, of all the shameful silences, has thus far roared especially loud - the silence of the jurists. The 41,000 attorneys in the State of Israel are entrusted with protecting its image as a lawful state, and this large and grand army has once again strayed from its function. There is a deep suspicion throughout the world that Israel carried out a series of war crimes, and the jurists of our country are holding their peace.

Posted in international law, War/Empire, Israel/Palestine

Turkish PM Greeted by Cheers After Israel Debate Clash

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arrived home to a tumultuous reception of cheering crowds early today after storming out of a debate in Davos over Israel's recent offensive in Gaza.

Hours after clashing with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, in angry scenes at the normally sedate world economic forum, he was welcomed at Istanbul's Ataturk airport by thousands of supporters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting "Turkey is proud of you". Sympathisers also left bouquets of flowers at his official residence.

Posted in international law, Israel/Palestine

Group: Settlement Info Implicates Israeli Gov't

JERUSALEM - An Israeli rights group plans to use a database detailing the complicity of Israel's government in widespread illegal construction in West Bank settlements to help Palestinians file lawsuits over their lost land, the group said Friday.

Posted in international law, Israel/Palestine