torture

Why Do Feinstein and Wyden Sound Much Different on the Torture Issue Now?

Time constraints prevented me yesterday from writing about Dianne Feinstein's comments concerning torture in yesterday's New York Times, in which the California Senator -- who will replace Jay Rockefeller as Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- rather clearly backtracked on what had been her repeated, unequivocal insistence throughout the year that the CIA should be required to comply with the Army Field Manual when interrogating detainees. But Posted in Politics, torture

Ret. Officers Urge Obama to Expunge "Stain of Torture"

$On Wednesday, members of the Obama team will meet with more than a dozen retired military leaders who will urge the new president \"to restore a U.S. image battered by allegations of torturing terrorism suspects\". (Image: BBC)$

NEW YORK - As a group of retired military leaders prepared to urge U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to quickly put an end to the harsh interrogation practices inflicted on security prisoners, a new United Nations report charged that Iraqi authorities were committing "grave human rights violations" in their treatment of thousands of detainees.

Posted in beyond obama, torture

No Amnesty for Cheney, et al, Say Torture Opponents

WASHINGTON - Judging by the rare leaks from President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, investigations and prosecutions of high-level George W. Bush administration officials for torture and war crimes are a distant prospect. But likely or not, that won't stop pundits from debating the question of whether those officials responsible should be held accountable.

Posted in torture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2008
9:00 AM

CONTACT: Psychologists and Allies

Stephen Soldz

ssoldz@bgsp.edu

(617) 935-4246

Open Letter to Obama: Reject John Brennan as Director of the CIA

- November 22 -

Dear President-Elect Obama,

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Posted in beyond obama, torture

Moderation in the Pursuit of Justice Is No Virtue

With two months still to go before his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama and his transition team are already getting off on the wrong foot, signaling that they have no intention of investigating anyone in the Bush administration for possible war crimes.

What we're talking about here is the torture of detained terrorist suspects in American custody in a grotesque violation of both our treaty obligations under the Geneva Conventions and our historic principles as a democratic nation.

Posted in beyond obama, Equality/Justice, guantanamo, torture

Activists Seek Executive Order Banning Torture

NEW YORK - Shutting down the infamous detention centre at Guantanamo Bay is just one of a series of measures to reform U.S. counterterrorism practices being urged by the watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a report released Sunday, the New York-based HRW urged President-elect Barack Obama to quickly repudiate the abusive policies put in place by the George W. Bush administration in its "global war on terror".

Posted in guantanamo, torture

Restoring America's Rights Record: Memo to the President-Elect

America's human rights record has been badly tarnished by seven years of abuse by the Bush Administration in its conduct of the war on terror, particularly as regards U.S. policy towards detainees. The United States has been criticized before the Torture Committee, the Human Rights Committee, the Inter American Commission, the European Parliament, many national courts and Parliaments and the international press. What should the new administration do to set matters right?

Posted in guantanamo, international law, torture

Obama Has to Pay for Eight Years of Bush's Delusions

American lawyers defending six Algerians before a habeas corpus hearing in Washington this week learned some very odd things about US intelligence after 9/11. From among the millions of "raw" reports from American spies and their "assets" around the world came a CIA Middle East warning about a possible kamikaze-style air attack on a US navy base at a south Pacific island location. The only problem was that no such navy base existed on the island and no US Seventh Fleet warship had ever been there.

Posted in domestic spying, guantanamo, torture, war on terror, War/Empire, Iraq, Israel/Palestine

Can Barack Obama Undo Bush's Tangled Legal Legacy?

WASHINGTON - When Barack Obama becomes president in January, he'll confront the controversial legal legacy of the Bush administration.

From expansive executive privilege to hard-line tactics in the war on terrorism, Obama must decide what he'll undo and what he'll embrace.

The stakes couldn't be higher.

On one hand, civil libertarians and other critics of the Bush administration may feel betrayed if Obama doesn't move aggressively to reverse legal policies that they believe have violated the Constitution and international law.

Posted in beyond obama, torture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2008
11:10 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights First

Krista Minteer (212) 845-5207

HRF Calls on President Elect Obama to Make Restoring US Commitment to Human Rights a Top Priority

NEW YORK - November 5 - The new administration will have its work cut out to restore the United States to a position of leadership in promoting and defending human rights, said a leading human rights group.

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Posted in guantanamo, Human Rights, torture