Tag: detention

Watching the Shadows

UN expert: torture continues at Gitmo

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer issued a statement calling on the US to end impunity for "perpetrators and policymakers responsible for years of gruesome abuse" at Guantánamo Bay and other detention facilities. He added that that he has information that Guantánamo detainee Ammar al-Baluchi, awaiting trial in the 9-11 case before a military tribunal, is still being tortured despite the banning of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques."

Greater Middle East

Yemen: rights group accuses UAE of war crimes

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR-UK) called for the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of war crimes in Yemen by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), especially concerning the recruiting of foreign nationals to serve in an army of mercenaries. AOHR-UK alleges that the mercenaries began work under contract to the UAE in March 2015 and have conducted military operations in Yemen, in addition to supervising secret prisons in which Yemeni citizens have been subjected to torture.

Afghanistan

ICC to investigate US war crimes in Afghanistan

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda made a formal request to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by US the military in Afghanistan. The investigation would also examine crimes at secret CIA detention facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania. The request cites articles of the Rome Statute concerning murder, torture and unlawful imprisonment. It marks the first time ICC prosecutors have targeted the United States.

Watching the Shadows

Appeals court: military judge biased in 9-11 case

A federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled  that the military judge hearing the case against the 9-11 defendants should have recused himself for making comments that revealed his bias in the matter. The case against the accused conspirators is still pending nearly a decade after it opened, beset by a long string of controversies and irregularities.

Watching the Shadows
Omar rally

Canada issues formal apology to Omar Khadr

The Canadian government issued a statement apologizing to former Guantánamo detainee Omar Khadr for violating his rights under the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Watching the Shadows

Supreme Court limits suits by post-9-11 detainees

The Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in Ziglar v. Abbasi that Muslim men detained in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks cannot sue top US officials, as they are protected by immunity.

Watching the Shadows

Gitmo detainee files suit against psychologists

Attorneys for Guantánamo detainee Abu Zubaydah filed a lawsuit against the two psychologists who developed the harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA after 9-11.

Watching the Shadows

UN urges Trump not to reinstate torture policies

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture urged President Trump not to reinstate "enhanced interrogation" policies, invoking their illegality under the Convention against Torture.

Watching the Shadows

Obama’s final year: a CounterVortex scorecard

With a Trump despotism looming, CounterVortex offers its final assessment of Barack Obama's record in addressing the oppressive legacy of the Global War on Terrorism.

North America

Trump: drug war general to Homeland Security

Gen. John Kelly, Trump's choice for Homeland Security secretary, is ex-chief of the Pentagon's Southern Command who clashed with Obama over his hardline views.