Gitmo Detainee Commits Suicide
May 31, 2007 A Saudi prisoner at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay has apparently committed suicide, the U.S. military said in a statement. Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that indefinite detentions -- some now longer than five years -- combined with harsh "interrogation techniques" and unfair trials could drive detainees to take their own lives.
Shutting Down Guantanamo
Apr 25, 2007 Jumana Musa, advocacy director for domestic human rights and international justice at Amnesty International, speaks with Truthdig about the war on human rights, why conditions at Guantanamo have only gotten worse and why she has hope for the future.Yahoo Sued for Collaborating With China
Apr 20, 2007 A human rights organization is suing Yahoo for assisting the Chinese government in arresting dissidents by providing information on its users. Like Google and Microsoft, Yahoo has defended the practice of handing over data to China as a necessary evil mitigated by the benefits of the Internet, crippled and corrupt though it may be.Cuba Leads Charge to End U.N. Human Rights Investigations
Mar 20, 2007 The newly formed U.N. Human Rights Council is debating whether to do away with the special rapporteurs whose job is to investigate global human rights abuses. A group of countries typically subjected to such scrutiny, with Cuba and China at the helm, argues that domestic reports should be sufficient.China to U.S.: You Should Talk
Mar 8, 2007 The State Department recently released its regular report of human rights abuses around the world and, as expected, listed China as one of the worst offenders. But Beijing fired back with its own report and a long list U.S. violations, including everything from disregard for civilian casualties to treating racial minorities as an underclass.Egyptian Blogger Faces 4 Years in Prison
Feb 24, 2007 Free-speech and human rights groups are decrying an Egyptian court's decision to jail blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman for criticizing Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his online forum. Critics and fellow bloggers fear Suleiman's four-year sentence will set the stage for more arrests and fewer alternatives to state-controlled media outlets in his country.
Israeli Bombing ‘Broke U.S. Arms Deal Terms’
Jan 30, 2007 A preliminary investigation by the State Department has found that Israel's cluster bombing of civilian areas of Lebanon violated terms of an arms agreement with the United States. Israel receives roughly $2 billion annually in military assistance from the U.S., but Washington places classified conditions on how American munitions can be used.
Report: EU Nations Knew of CIA Abductions
Jan 24, 2007 A damning report making its way through the European Union Parliament says a number of EU countries knew of CIA abductions and operations in Europe related to the practice of extraordinary rendition, including more than 1,000 covert flights over European airspace. The report also says the UK, Italy and Poland resisted the investigation.
Worse Than Apartheid
Dec 19, 2006 The N.Y. Times' former Middle East bureau chief, writing about Israel's unrelenting attack on the Gaza Strip, argues: "It is a sad commentary on the gutlessness of the American press and timidity of the Democratic opposition that most Americans are not aware of the catastrophic humanitarian crisis they bear so much responsibility in creating." Above: Water mixes with blood in a street of a northern Gaza Strip town after an Israeli tank shelling in November.
Thatcher Saddened by Despot’s Death
Dec 11, 2006 Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has expressed her sorrow following the death of brutal Chilean dictator Agusto Pinochet, a friend until the end. Victims of Pinochet's atrocities have also expressed sadness, now that the tyrant will escape trial for years of abuses against his people, including torture and the disappearance of some 3,000 individuals.
