Watching the Shadows

Omar Khadr sentenced by military jury

A panel of US military officers sentenced Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr to 40 years in prison, but he will serve no more than eight years under the terms of a plea agreement.

Watching the Shadows

Poland: prosecutors grant Gitmo detainee victim status

Prosecutors investigating the secret CIA prison in Poland gave Saudi terror suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri victim status, recognizing the validity of his claims that he was mistreated by interrogators.

Watching the Shadows

Omar Khadr pleads guilty to terrorism charges

Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to all five charges against him, including conspiracy, murder and aiding the enemy. He is the first child solider to be convicted at Gitmo.

Watching the Shadows

Ex-Gitmo detainee sues US over torture allegations

Former Guantánamo Bay detainee Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al-Ginco AKA Janko filed a lawsuit against the US military alleging that he was subjected to torture at the prison camp.

Watching the Shadows

Ex-CIA chief weighs in for Internet kill switch

Cyberterrorism is such a threat that the US president should have the authority to shut down the Internet in the event of an attack, former CIA director Michael Hayden said.

Watching the Shadows
P1000164

mosque 164

In an egregious and all too revealing faux pas, Amy Goodman appears to have put a mouthpiece of the German far right on Democracy Now as a "former UN expert" to discuss Venezuela. This is one Alfred de Zayas, who is given Goodman's typical sycophantic treatment—all softballs, no adversarial questions. We are treated to the accurate enough if not at all surprising line about how the US is attempting a coup with the complicity of the corporate media. Far more interesting than what he says is de Zayas himself. Not noted by Goodman is that he is on the board of the Desiderius-Erasmus-Stiftung, a Berlin-based foundation established last year as the intellectual and policy arm of Alternative für Deutschland, the far-right party that has tapped anti-immigrant sentiment to win an alarming 94 seats in Germany's Bundestag. He has won a neo-Nazi following with his unseemly theories of Aliied "genocide" against Germans in World War II. (Image via Democracy Now)

Watching the Shadows
P1000145

mosque144

Amnesty International called the Guantánamo Bay prison camp a "stain on human rights" on the eve of the facility's seventeenth anniversary. Guantánamo currently holds 40 detainees, many of whom were tortured by the CIA before being transferred to the facility. Some of the detainees have been cleared for transfer for years, but still remain at the facility. Some have been waiting for transfer as far back as 2010. Since its opening, the Guantánamo facility has housed around 800 prisoners, many without formal charges or due process. (Photo via Jurist)

Watching the Shadows

US, UN sanction top al-Qaeda financial official

The US Treasury and the UN announced sanctions against a supposed al-Qaeda leader who also is Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law for serving as a top financial official in the terror organization.

Watching the Shadows

US military judge rejects Omar Khadr torture claims

US military judge Col. Patrick Parrish rejected claims by Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr that his confession was a product of torture, allowing his trial to continue.

Watching the Shadows

Omar Khadr trial suspended after opening arguments

The controversial military trial of Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr was suspended following the collapse of his lawyer during opening testimony. The trial has been criticized by the UN.