Americas

The El Salvador Model and the U.S. War on Migrants

Timothy O'Farrell / NACLA Mar 6, 2025 El Salvador's offer to house deportees and U.S. citizens in its infamous prisons — for profit — signals a new and troubling escalation in the criminalization of migration. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

The Harrowing Prison Report Mass Media Chose to Ignore

Adam Johnson / FAIR Feb 3, 2019 A recent report revealed widespread abuse at U.S. prisons, but media coverage makes it sound like inmates are living high off the hog. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

ACLU Alleges Its Clients Are Being Abused in ICE Custody

Emma Niles / Truthdig Sep 2, 2017 Iraqis represented by the American Civil Liberties Union are denied food, water and restroom access, a blog post charges. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Truthdiggers of the Week: Critics of the American Psychological Association Role in Torture Program

BLANK May 3, 2015 Health care professionals and human rights experts have blown the whistle on the American Psychological Association for providing the US with ethical and legal cover for torture of terrorism suspects . Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Tarek Mehanna and the Isolation of American Muslims

Donald Kaufman / Truthdig Apr 20, 2014 In an eerie report on the treatment of Muslims imprisoned for alleged involvement in "terror-like activity," the news agency Inter Press Service tells the story of Tarek Mehanna, a Pittsburgh-born Muslim currently serving a lengthy jail sentence. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Guards May Be Responsible for Half of Prison Sexual Assaults but They’re Not Being Prosecuted

Staff / Truthdig Jan 24, 2014 Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

William Stuntz: Crime and Punishment and the Fight Against Racial Injustice

Staff / Truthdig Jan 16, 2014 William Stuntz was a socially conservative evangelical Christian whose fight for race allied him across all political systems. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Louisiana’s Incarceration Is a Private Business

Donald Kaufman / Truthdig Jan 5, 2014 Louisiana has assailed its residents to a level unequal to any other state, entering the new year with another signature No. 1 ranking in lockups. It has created a system more efficient and despondent than state run prisons or regular privatization. The costs are low, profits high and human life is a commodity that allows the market to keep growing.Louisiana has created a system more efficient and despondent than state run prisons or regular privatization. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Boys in Custody and the Women Who Abuse Them

By Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica Jul 4, 2013 A new report from the U.S. Department of Justice found that in the vast majority of cases of sexual abuse in prison, it was female staff members who were targeting and exploiting the male teens in their custody. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Ex-CIA Heads Ask Obama to Drop Interrogation Investigation

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder may be convinced that he should go forward with his probe into the interrogation techniques used on terror suspects by CIA agents during the Bush II era, but seven former directors of the intelligence agency disagree -- and they're asking Holder's boss, President Barack Obama, to intervene. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: Authorities Admit Abuse at Iranian Prison

Staff / Truthdig Sep 1, 2009 Iran's Mehr News Agency reported Monday that local authorities have admitted that a 25-year-old detainee who was arrested in the wave of protests following June's presidential election in Iran died from abuse at the hands of prison officials, according to The New York Times. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

AG to Appoint Torture Prosecutor

Staff / Truthdig Aug 24, 2009 Although President Obama and others who were privy to information about alleged prisoner abuse by CIA employees and contractors previously passed on the possibility of prosecution, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has taken a different tack after reviewing the cases. Updated Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )