Whistleblowers prosecuted while War Criminals remain free?

A newly released document acquired by Wired Magazine exposes the United States Defense Department’s torture techniques. In the 37 page report, former CIA official John Kiriakou warns the George W. Bush administration about the techniques that were being used on detainees and explains how they are against US law. His warnings went unheard of — […]

Guantánamo ten years after

The writer of the following appeal is Director of Amnesty International UK: Ten years is a long time. That a former British resident has spent every single one of the intervening days between February 2002 and today in a cell in Guantánamo, without answering a single charge or having had one day in court, is […]

George W. Bush fears torture charges

Former U.S. President George W. Bush has cancelled a visit to Switzerland over fears he could have been arrested on torture charges. Mr. Bush was due to be the keynote speaker at a Jewish charity gala in Geneva on February 12. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open […]

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch demand arrest of George W Bush

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch demanded the arrest and prosecution of former president George W. Bush before his appearance at an economic summit in Surrey, British Columbia on October 20th. The advocacy organizations have called on Canadian federal authorities to arrest Bush due to the “overwhelming evidence that Bush and other senior administration officials […]

So what happened to closing Guantánamo?

The 172 men still held at Guantánamo are treated with scorn by the administration of Barack Obama, the standard bearer of “hope” and “change,” who promised to close Guantánamo and to do away with “the dark halls of Abu Ghraib and the detention cells of Guantánamo, [where] we have compromised our most precious values.” Last […]

First hint of US Administration concern about Bradley Manning

Hillary Clinton’s spokesman has launched a public attack on the Pentagon for the way it is treating military prisoner Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of handing the US embassy cables to WikiLeaks. PJ Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs at the US state department, has said Manning is being “mistreated” in […]

Guantanamo torture of Australian David Hicks

David Hicks was a 26-year-old Australian drifter who converted to Islam, changed his name to Muhammed Dawood and ended up at training camps in Afghanistan. Hicks was sold to US forces for about $1,500 and became detainee 002, the second person processed into Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, the day the facility opened. Hicks was […]

WikiLeaks reveals the FBI trained Egypt’s state torturers

Egypt’s secret police, long accused of torturing suspects and intimidating political opponents of President Hosni Mubarak, received training at the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, even as US diplomats compiled allegations of brutality against them, according to US State Department cables released by WikiLeaks. One cable, dated November 2007 and published by the Telegraph, describes […]

George W Bush canceling out on Geneva due to Geneva Conventions

As the news broke that former President George W. Bush had abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance in Geneva to avoid the risk of arrest on a torture complaint, my first thought was — how humiliating, not only for Bush but, by extension, for all Americans. However, those who might have expected Bush to be down […]

Bradley Manning tortured fighting for his sanity

For the past seven months, 22-year-old US Army Private Bradley Manning, has been held 23 hours out of 24 in solitary confinement in his cell, under constant harassment. If his eyes close between 5am and 8pm he is jolted awake. In daylight hours he has to respond “yes” to guards every five minutes. For an […]