You have to admire the tenacity of Teflon Tony. To most observers it’s beyond doubt that the former prime minister’s reputation was burnt to a crisp by the overheated intelligence on Iraq’s invisible weapons…
US-run prisons were a recruiting office for Islamic State militants.
EPA/Reuters pool/Kevin Lamarque
The controversy over the CIA torture report has moved on to calls for the UK government to be open about its own involvement. The arguments have also been widened to include other elements of CIA activities…
The fence at Abu Ghraib prison, 2006.
EPA/Wathiq Khuzaie
Among the litany of abuse documented in the War on Terror, the revelations in the US Senate’s recent “torture report” on the treatment of detainees held in CIA “black sites” -secret overseas prisons where…
“We cannot again allow history to be forgotten”
Handout/Reuters
At the end of a long and challenging week, the famous aphorism, “we have met the enemy and he is us” readily comes to mind. The issuance of the long awaited Senate “torture report” has set off a debate…
A report on CIA torture fails to tell it like it is.
Shutterstock cell
Of all the revelations made about the “enhanced interrogation methods” used by the CIA on detainees in the aftermath of 9/11, the use of waterboarding and rectal feeding have garnered the most attention…
The recent release of a US Senate committee’s report on CIA interrogation methods during the War on Terror has sent shockwaves around the world. Detailing the extent and sheer brutality of the enhanced…
Dilma Rousseff holds back tears as she releases details of torture under Brazil’s military regime.
EPA/Fernando Bizzera
As the world digests the findings of a report on the way the US has treated detainees suspected of terrorism, Brazil has owned up to similar abuses of its own citizens. The Brazilian Truth Commission has…
Over the past few days, the media and human rights communities have devoted much time and many column inches to discussion about torture: techniques, reasons, implications, weaknesses, and the like. Should…
New norms for what goes on inside this room.
image from www.shutterstock.com
The release of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation program documents the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) against terrorism…
This tee shirt cuts to the chase
Reuters/Jason Reed
The Senate report on torture found that the “enhanced techniques” used by the CIA were ineffective as a mechanism for gathering intelligence. In fact, the report stated there was no actionable intelligence…
Torture victims will soon be lining up to sue the US. What are their chances?
EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga
The US Senate’s report on the torture carried out by the CIA makes shocking reading. Questions will be asked about whether individual victims can sue for compensation for losses suffered, and where they…
Protesting against messing with minds.
EPA/Michael Reynolds
During the War on Terror, the CIA’s operations subjected hundreds of suspected terrorists to harsh interrogation techniques, which were often criticised as constituting torture. Now, the Senate Intelligence…
The US Senate has released the executive summary of a long-withheld report on harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the post-9/11 era. Previously undisclosed techniques have been revealed and…
A Guantanamo Bay detainee.
US Department of Defense
Nearly three and a half years ago, and to much fanfare, David Cameron launched a judge-led inquiry into British involvement in disappearance, rendition and torture. This week, he has finally published…
Inmates at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Does the prison do the US more harm than good?
EPA/Scott Applewhite
US president Barack Obama has renewed his promise to close the controversial US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The prison camp is currently the scene of a hunger strike by numerous inmates, some…