Despite earlier indications that there would be a release of detainee photos, President Obama has ordered that the photos been withheld in defiance of a judicial ruling. I discussed the development on this segment of the Rachel Maddow Show.
Continue reading “Obama Reverses Decision and Refuses to Release Abuse Photos”
Category: International
After 22 years on death row, Paul House has now been cleared of murder charges with Tennessee state prosecutors asking for all charges to be dropped against him. He had been sentenced to die in 1986 and his case is already being used by opponents of the death penalty as an example why states should move to life without parole as the ultimate punishment in this country.
Continue reading “Inmate Paul House Cleared of Murder After 22 Years on Death Row”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been struggling to explain contradictions between her public statements and the release of documents showing that, despite her earlier denials, she was told about the torture of subjects. She recently (and implausibly) insisted that, while she was told of the torture, she was not told that it was actually being used. Now, one of her own aides, Michael Sheehy, has directly contradicted her and said that she was directly told and had no objections to the torture of Abu Zubaydah.
Continue reading “Pelosi Aide: Speaker Was Told About Torture Being Used on Subjects”
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student at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has made an interesting discrimination claim. Paulo Serodio says that he was harassed and suspended for calling himself a “white African-American” because he was born in Mozambique and later became a U.S. citizen.
Vice President Dick Cheney continued his campaign to get the nation to embrace torture this weekend. He appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation. He insisted that they were “not in the torture business” despite previously admitting to using waterboarding, a well-known torture technique. It may be that he believed that this was more of a passion or calling than a business enterprise. I discussed the interview on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Cheney: We Will Be Vindicated in Use of Torture”
The Saudi Arabian legal system has given the world yet another medieval moment: Judge Hamad Al-Razine has ruled that husbands are allowed to slap their wives for over-spending or excessive shopping.
Continue reading “Saudi Judge: Husbands Are Allowed to Slap Wives Over Over-Spending”
After a sham of a trial, Journalist Roxana Saberi has been released from an Iranian jail after an appeal. She had been convicted on charges of espionage.
Continue reading “Journalist Roxana Saberi Released From Jail in Iran”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government is facing some sharp questions from the public after a list of expenses were leaked to the media. The list shows government officials charging the public for everything from a maid to manure to porn movies.
Continue reading “English Lawmakers Charge Public For Everything From Manure to Maids”
Sheik Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the brother of the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Prince Mohammed, has been detained on allegation of torture involving as many as 25 victims. While the government clearly knew of these crimes, the incriminating videos of the torture sessions were smuggled out of the country recently and caused an international outcry. This is why our own CIA destroyed the tapes of its own torture sessions. Amateur.
Christiane Brown has released an amazing audio interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid where he admits that waterboarding is torture and we did torture people. However, he suggests that it was “the right” thing to do and should not be punished. The audio tape is worth listening to. It is a brilliant interview by Brown.
Continue reading “Reid: Torture Might Have Been Illegal But Still “Right” Thing To Do”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a new statement (and explanation) after released documents appeared to contradict her earlier denials that she had ever been briefed on the use of torture. As discussed in a prior blog, Pelosi previously insisted that she was never told that these “enhanced techniques” (aka torture) were being used and assumed that the briefing concerned just a hypothetical use of the methods. Now, she is changing her story to acknowledge that she, at a minimum, knew that the methods would be used — even though she is denying that she was actually told that they had been used. I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Pelosi Changes Account On Briefing On Torture”
Below is today’s column in the U.S. News and World Report on the case for prosecuting torture and responding to the dwindling number of defenders of the Bush torture program:
Continue reading “Three Legal Truths: The Case for The Prosecution of War Crimes By the Bush Administration”
Pete Williams is reporting that Republicans are threatening to expose Attorney General Eric Holder’s role in renditions during the Clinton Administration if he pursues an investigation into torture. Imagine that: raw political retaliation could finally give civil libertarians a full investigation of this country’s long-concealed abuses.
Continue reading “Proceed At Your Own Peril: Holder May Face Congressional Investigation Into His Own Role on Renditions If He Investigates Torture”
Intelligence officials leaked documents to the Washington Post and ABC News last night that sharply contradict the statements of Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has denied ever being told that torture was being used on detaineees. She previously insisted that the use of waterboarding (aka torture) was only discussed in the future tense — a dubious moral distinction. I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Report: Pelosi Knew of Use of Torture Despite Earlier Denials”
While Judge Jay Bybee has declined to speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain his role in the Bush torture program, he is reportedly reaching out to Nevada delegation members to find an alternative forum “to tell his side of the story.” I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Bybee Reportedly Seeking Forum to Explain His Role in the Torture Memos”