Tag: civil liberties

Canada Copies US Customs

Ironically, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan was traveling to the United States to promote his latest film about post-9/11 racial profiling when he was detained upon entry into the country at Newark’s Liberty (another irony) International Airport. U.S. officials denied that Khan was formally detained, but his interrogation lasted more than an hour. The outraged … Continue reading “Canada Copies US Customs”

Bagram: Gitmo All Over Again

Back in September 2005, when I first began researching Guantánamo for my book The Guantánamo Files, the prison was still shrouded in mystery, even though attorneys had been visiting prisoners for nearly a year, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, in June 2004, that they had habeas corpus rights. Researchers at the Washington Post and at … Continue reading “Bagram: Gitmo All Over Again”

Guantánamo: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, but You Can Never Leave

Imagine if you were imprisoned for seven years without charge or trial, and then a judge ruled that the government’s case against you consisted solely of unreliable allegations made by other prisoners (who were tortured, coerced, bribed, or suffering from mental health issues) and a "mosaic" of intelligence, purporting to rise to the level of … Continue reading “Guantánamo: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, but You Can Never Leave”

Judge Slams Govt Over Afghan Detainee

A federal judge last week excoriated U.S. government lawyers for advocating the continued detention of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay after his "confession" was ruled inadmissible because it was extracted through torture. Calling the case "an outrage," U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle urged the lawyers to "let him out. Send him back to Afghanistan." … Continue reading “Judge Slams Govt Over Afghan Detainee”

Extremist Jihadist Islamist Terrorist

"Recalling the relevant international counter-terrorism conventions and in particular the obligations of parties to those conventions to extradite or prosecute terrorists…" – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 [.pdf], Oct. 15, 1999 In the informed debate of the last 10 years regarding "terrorism," there’s a missing acronym to define this dreadful new menace, a menace … Continue reading “Extremist Jihadist Islamist Terrorist”

Obama Maintains Bush Policies on Gitmo Uighurs

Last Thursday, while most U.S. media outlets were focused relentlessly on the marathon endurance test that was Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight held a hearing to investigate why the Bush administration had allowed Chinese interrogators to visit Guantánamo to interrogate the … Continue reading “Obama Maintains Bush Policies on Gitmo Uighurs”