Clipmarks | Detainees Clips

Extraordinary rendition: An Australian's story

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:37:32 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Most of his fingernails were missing and he regularly bled from the nose, mouth, and ears while he slept."

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

Mamdouh Habib, an Australian citizen, was living in Sydney with his wife and four children when he took a trip alone to Pakistan

When Habib boarded a bus for the Islamabad airport to return home, Pakistani police seized him

After 15 days in the Pakistani prison, Habib was transferred to

United States agents who flew him to Cairo. When he arrived, Omar Solaimon, chief of Egyptian security, informed him that Egypt receives US$10 million for every confessed terrorist they hand over to the US.

during his five months in Egypt, "there was no interrogation, only torture". His skin was burned with cigarettes, and he was threatened with dogs, beaten, and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun.

American agents sent Habib to Guantanamo Bay. Three British detainees

Most of his fingernails were missing and he regularly bled from the nose, mouth, and ears while he slept.

Rather than have

testimony on the torture

US officials decided to send him back to Sydney in January 2005

Tags: rendition, war on terror, war crimes

"Preemptive" raid on journalists in St Paul

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:25:22 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Their lawyer in handcuffs in street. Group had filmed police in prior situations, contested police accounts, resulting in release of detainees.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: police, st paul, rnc

An indefinite state of war

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:44:45 GMT

clipped by: deusdiabolus

Clip Source: rawstory.com

As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.

Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."

Part of a proposal for Guantanamo Bay legal detainees, the provision before Congress seeks to “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

Bush seeks to make "war powers" permanent

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:06:49 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: "Tucked deep into a recent proposal from the Bush administration is a provision that has received almost no public attention, yet in many ways captures one of President Bush’s defining legacies: an affirmation that the United States is still at war with Al Qaeda. "

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush’s advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

The language, part of a proposal for hearing legal appeals from detainees at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, goes beyond political symbolism. Echoing a measure that Congress passed just days after the Sept. 11 attacks, it carries significant legal and public policy implications for Mr. Bush, and potentially his successor, to claim the imprimatur of Congress to use the tools of war, including detention, interrogation and surveillance, against the enemy, legal and political analysts say.

Tags: bush, bush administration, war, government, legal

Murder By American Soldiers- Again

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:15:56 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: So many reasons why those soldiers come up short and start to live ideas learned thru all the violence we turn a blind eye. No excuses, just grasping for explanations. It could be some ones son I know or have known, it could be someones brother, father.....

Clip Source: www.wsws.org

Military officers testify that US soldiers murdered Iraqi detainees

Testimony presented to a US Army hearing in Germany this week detailed how three US noncommissioned officers executed four bound and blindfolded Iraqi detainees in Baghdad in April 2007. The four men—whose names have been withheld by the US military—were allegedly murdered and their bodies dumped on the banks of a canal.

Two noncommissioned officers— Sergeant First Class Joseph P. Mayo, the platoon sergeant, and Sergeant Michael P. Leahy Jr., Company D’s senior medic and acting squad leader, confessed to the killings and gave accounts of the event in signed statements to Army investigators in January.

The statements, obtained by the New York Times, described how each of the two soldiers killed one of the Iraqi detainees with a pistol shot to the back of the head, following the orders of First Sergeant John E. Hatley.

Not guilty

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:50:42 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Former Marine Acquitted of Iraqi Killings in Landmark Trial

IRVINE, Calif. — A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial.

The jury took six hours to find Jose Luis Nazario Jr. not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

The verdict left the 28-year-old defendant in tears. He cried so loud that the judge smacked his gavel to call for order. Nazario's family and friends also sobbed in the courtroom.

"It's been a long, hard year for my family," Nazario said outside the courtroom. "I need a moment to catch my breath and try to get my life back together."

Thursday's verdict marks the first time a civilian jury has determined whether the alleged actions of a former military service member in combat violated the law of war.

SoCal jury gets case of ex-Marine in Iraq deaths

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:17:40 GMT

clipped by: dl211
clipper's remarks: Innocent or guilty, the fact that the defendant was a Marine on the battlefield when the alleged offense occurred, he should be tried under the UCMJ, not in a civilian court.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

SoCal jury gets case of ex-Marine in Iraq deaths

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A federal jury on Wednesday began deliberating whether a former Marine squad leader committed manslaughter in Iraq, marking the first time in which civilians will decide whether the actions of a military service member during combat were criminal.

A prosecutor urged the jury to convict Jose Luis Nazario Jr., saying he killed unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, and must be held accountable for violating his duty as a Marine.

The case came to light in 2006 when Sgt. Ryan Weemer, Nazario's former squadmate, volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening that included a question about the most serious crime he ever committed. That screening was not admitted at Nazario's trial.

The defense argued that a guilty verdict would only make service members second-guess their actions in combat.

Tags: marines, iraq

Netflix for terrorists

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:06:05 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Jason Mattera from Young America's Foundation is in Denver this week and posting video from the streets of Denver.

Yesterday he put on his orange jumpsuit to petition DNC protesters in support of Netflix and MSNBC (and Jihad Olympics!) for the poor, deprived Gitmo detainees. The part in the Amnesty International travelling Gitmo cell was terrific.
They were all for it:

[Video]

Too much. HotAir has more clips from Jason's day as a Gitmo detainee.

The People's Press Collective assisted Jason during his stay here in Denver.

Also, The Peoples Press Collective covered the illegal immigration protest and have several videos from earlier today.

While several of the protesters were supporting open borders others had their own agenda.

Tags: guantanamo, terrorists, dnc, convention, netflix, politics, funny

Only 8% of Guantánamo detainees alleged to be al-Qaeda...

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:31:58 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: ... and 55% are "not alleged to have engaged in any hostile act" against the US. 95% were turned in by bounty hunters seeking rewards, not captured on the battlefield. How is this justifiable?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Madness and Shame

By BOB HERBERT

“After reviewing 517 of the Guantánamo detainees’ cases in depth,” she said, “they concluded that only 8 percent were alleged to have associated with Al Qaeda. Fifty-five percent were not alleged to have engaged in any hostile act against the United States at all, and the remainder were charged with dubious wrongdoing, including having tried to flee U.S. bombs. The overwhelming majority — all but 5 percent — had been captured by non-U.S. players, many of whom were bounty hunters.”

“One source of ideas,” she wrote, “was the popular television show ‘24.’ On that show as Ms. Mayer noted, “torture always worked. It saved America on a weekly basis.”

I felt as if I was in Never-Never Land as I read: “In conversation with British human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, the top military lawyer in Guantánamo, Diane Beaver, said quite earnestly that Jack Bauer ‘gave people lots of ideas’ as they sought for interrogation models.”

Tags: guantanamo, human_rights, gwot, civil_rights

Christianity Today on torture

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:12:54 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: David Gushee for the evangelical Christian magazine Christianity Today on five theological grounds for the unequivocal and universal condemnation of torture by Christians, and why, from a Christian perspective, no exceptional circumstances can ever justify the use of torture. From February 2006.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong

And why there should be no exceptions.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

Furthermore, while all "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of detainees has been officially rejected by the administration (under pressure from Sen. John McCain and others), it is not clear who defines when treatment crosses that line. It also remains unclear how much latitude those on the front lines of interrogation have, and if and how they would be held accountable if they were to cross the line. In other words, there remain a number of loopholes for torture to be practiced in the war on terror.

Yet the prohibition on torture in international law admits no exceptions. The U.N. Convention Against Torture puts it this way: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture."

Tags: torture, religion, christianity, evangelicalism, commentary, opinion, gwot, violence, rels327

Homepage of the National Religious Campaign against Torture

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:00:54 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: This group has achieved some visibility by distributing simple black banners with the words "torture is wrong" to houses of worship.

Clip Source: www.nrcat.org

Torture is a Moral Issue Sign the Statement of Conscience

Tell the President: Ban Torture

Lobby Against Torture

Investigate US Interrogation Practices

Tell your Congressperson that we need to investigate U.S. interrogation practices and the treatment of detainees. Click here to access our form letter.

Take Action

Urge the presidential candidates and both political parties to include planks rejecting torture in their party platforms.

Tags: torture, activism, religion, christianity, interfaith, violence, gwot

No Justice with Military Commissions Act

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:06:05 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: In 1873 the Kiowa War Leader, MoManTee surrendered to the Army at Fort Sill, (OK territory). He was promptly put into a two foot tall crawl space under the Commanding Officers Office where he was taunted and starved and taken out only for torture. When he was “visited” by officials he was taken out, cleaned up and dress out in “full regalia” only to be returned to the crawl space after the ‘visitors’ left. It was later reported that he “starved himself to death in protest to his being imprisoned”—–

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Davis, once the Pentagon’s most ardent supporter of the military trials of Guantanamo detainees, resigned as chief prosecutor in October, saying he could no longer support prosecutions he believed were tainted by politics.

The debate about the independence and fairness of the trials could prove important in Khadr’s case.

Khadr, 21, is charged with five war crimes, including the alleged murder of Sgt. Christopher Speer, who was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002.

The charges are covered by the Military Commissions Act, which became law in 2006.

The USA actually has never been anything else but corrupt; the only difference now is that it is reported more often —-and still—little is done to stop it.

US secretly holds 4,000 to 5,000 detainees

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:29:14 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Only 1500 thought connected to Al Qaeda

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

There are about 4,000 to 5,000 detainees in U.S. custody

"These detainees are distributed between Copper prison which is near the Baghdad Airport and Boca prison in Basra," Al Jouburi said.

Al Jouburi confirmed all detainees were Sunni Arabs and that their fate remains unknown because of U.S. refusal to provide any information or abide by the amnesty law issued by the Iraqi government a few months ago.

Samir Al Raqi, who served as a senior official to Saddam Hussain's security services, told Gulf News that he believes out of the 4,000 to 5,000 detainees, only 1,500 were actually linked with Al Qaeda.

Tags: detainees, war on terror

Report: spies need to stay on top of neuroscience research

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:31:31 GMT

clipped by: spherepet

Clip Source: arstechnica.com

Report: spies need to stay on top of neuroscience research

August 13, 2008

By Jonathan M. Gitlin

application of science to the intelligence gathering world, it's usually something like spy satellites or listening devices, but the US intelligence community needs to pay more heed to the world of the neurosciences

"Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies" is that the intelligence community should invest in research for detecting and measuring psychological states via neurophysiological markers

neuroimaging, mean that a lie detector that actually works is much closer to reality

pharmacological developments, along with other neuroimaging advances, the potential growth in computer modeling of cognition, and distributed human-machine systems

the complicity of psychologists in the torture of detainees by the US military and intelligence agencies reverberated through the American Psychological Association

CIA's MK Ultra, which ran during the 1950s and 1960s

funding for biodefense

black

Tags: neurosciences, research

Floating Prisons

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:41:53 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: http://www.disinfo.com/content/index.php?category=HumanRights

Clip Source: www.disinfo.com

U.S. Accused of Holding Terror Suspects on Secret Floating Prisons

According to a group of human rights lawyers, the U.S. is operating secret prison ships out in the waters of the Indian Ocean and elsewhere. Far from the prying eyes of the media, lawyers, or, well, anyone, detainees are interrogated aboard the ships and then rendered to other, often undisclosed, locations, it is claimed.

The group's analysis also claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006, when President George Bush declared that the practice had stopped.