By Steve Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman, TomDispatchApr 20, 2012
Prisoners, whose ranks increasingly consist of those for whom the legitimate economy has found no use, make up a virtual brigade within the reserve army of the unemployed whose ranks have ballooned along with the U.S. incarceration rate. Dig deeper ( 15 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigSep 17, 2011
After speculation that Iran might allow two imprisoned American hikers to return home in exchange for a steep bail, Iran's foreign minister hinted Saturday that the timetable for their release could depend on the willingness of the U.S. to release Iranian prisoners. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigAug 27, 2011
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that the approximately 12,000 prisoners being held on low-lying Rikers Island will not be evacuated to escape Hurricane Irene. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
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Staff / TruthdigFeb 5, 2010
Robert Park, a 28-year-old Korean-American missionary and human rights activist, was arrested on Christmas Day after entering North Korea. Now the country's state-controlled media is reporting that Park will be released. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigJun 24, 2009
More than two dozen former detainees at the Bagram military base in Afghanistan say they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs while under U.S. supervision there between 2002 and 2008. None of the detainees were ever charged, and some got apologies upon release. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigDec 12, 2008
A bipartisan report released by Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain blames former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high-level officials for interrogation abuses. Based on an 18-month investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the report determined that prisoner abuse "was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," as the administration has claimed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigAug 25, 2008
With Condoleezza Rice fast approaching on a peace mission, Israel offered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a show of support on Monday by freeing 198 Palestinian prisoners. The group included Israel's longest serving prisoner. Israel holds roughly 9,000 Palestinians. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigJun 30, 2008
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet has agreed to a German-brokered prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. It is believed that under the terms of the deal, Israel would receive the bodies of two captured soldiers in return for the release of five Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 10 more. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigJun 20, 2008
Probably in an effort to calm tensions before the Olympic torch runs through Tibet's capital city of Lhasa, the Chinese government released over 1,100 people alleged to have been involved in March's unrest, which brought the world's attention to the country and left several dozen people dead. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigJun 17, 2008
Last weekend's prison break in Kandahar, Afghanistan, resulted in the deaths of at least nine policemen and eight prisoners, and more than 600 prisoners were on the loose, many of them said to have ties to the Taliban. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigApr 24, 2008
The United States of America holds nearly one-quarter of the world's prisoners. That's because of an alarmingly high incarceration rate -- the highest by far in the world -- that strikes some as tough and others as simply barbaric. About one in every 100 adult Americans sits behind bars. Oh, and it's a racist system, to boot. Take that, China! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )
Staff / TruthdigFeb 22, 2008
It's unfortunately not unusual anymore to hear about the politicization of American legal and intelligence institutions under the Bush administration, but, even so, this report by The Nation's Ross Tuttle about how the trials of six key prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have allegedly been rigged from the get-go is disturbing. Updated Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )
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