William Fisher

William Fisher writes for Inter Press Service.

Ouster of Contractors Throws Afghan Strategy in Doubt

Charging that U.S. private security contractors are “mafia-like groups” being financed by U.S. taxpayers to carry out “terrorist activities” with the support of the U.S. government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered a four-month phaseout of all private security companies in his embattled country. Asserting his oft-challenged authority as the country’s chief executive, Karzai’s move, … Continue reading “Ouster of Contractors Throws Afghan Strategy in Doubt”

Death by Remote

As the Barack Obama administration continues to roll out justifications for its policy of targeting U.S. citizens and others thought to be attacking U.S. troops, legal and national security experts are pondering a central question: What if there’s a mistake and the wrong person gets killed? There are no do-overs. It is a death sentence. … Continue reading “Death by Remote”

Britain to Probe Collaboration with CIA Renditions

Breaking from President Barack Obama’s insistence on "moving forward, not backward" in investigating U.S. detainee torture, the British government appears poised to investigate its own complicity with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in "rendering" British citizens and residents and subjecting them to "enhanced interrogation" techniques. The British newspaper, The Guardian, is reporting that Prime … Continue reading “Britain to Probe Collaboration with CIA Renditions”

Stuck in No-Fly Limbo

Ten U.S. citizens or lawful residents are suing the government for placing them on the "no-fly" list without notice or due process and then giving them no way to get their names off the list. The first-of-its-kind lawsuit was filed seeking relief for the plaintiffs who are prohibited from flying to or from the United … Continue reading “Stuck in No-Fly Limbo”

Canadian Rendition Probe Expands to US, Syria

The Canadian government has quietly been conducting an international criminal probe of the actions of Syrian and U.S. authorities in the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian who was arrested in 2002 by U.S. officials and then rendered to a Syrian jail where he was held incommunicado and tortured for 10 months before being released … Continue reading “Canadian Rendition Probe Expands to US, Syria”

Peace Groups Slam High Court Ruling on ‘Terror Support’

In the wake of Monday’s Supreme Court decision upholding a law making it a crime to provide any “material support” to an organization designated as a “terrorist” by the U.S. government, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter charged that the law “actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organizations that must interact … Continue reading “Peace Groups Slam High Court Ruling on ‘Terror Support’”

US High Court Derails Rendition Victim’s Lawsuit

The quest for justice for a Canadian who was mistakenly tagged as a terrorist by U.S. authorities and shipped off to a Syrian prison for close to a year of abuse came to an abrupt halt Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case. Maher Arar is a Syrian-born Canadian and father … Continue reading “US High Court Derails Rendition Victim’s Lawsuit”

Health Agency Urged to Probe CIA Torture Claims

Human rights groups are turning to an obscure government agency to investigate allegations that medical professionals on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped the agency to perform experiments on detainees in U.S. custody following the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, in an effort to make "enhanced interrogation techniques" more efficient and … Continue reading “Health Agency Urged to Probe CIA Torture Claims”

Concerns Grow over Bagram’s Prison within a Prison

The administration of President Barack Obama is considering using Afghanistan’s U.S.-run Bagram Air Base prison to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects captured far from a battlefield and who have not been charged with a crime — without any judicial oversight. A senior U.S. official reportedly told the Los Angeles Times that the Obama administration wants to … Continue reading “Concerns Grow over Bagram’s Prison within a Prison”

CIA Medics Honed Torture Techniques on Detainees, Group Charges

A major human rights organization claims it has uncovered evidence indicating that the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush conducted “illegal and unethical human experimentation” and research on detainees in CIA custody. The group, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), claims “the apparent experimentation and research appear to have been performed to provide legal … Continue reading “CIA Medics Honed Torture Techniques on Detainees, Group Charges”