Recently, in a Washington Post op-ed, Mark Danner wrote: "However much we would like the [torture] scandal to be confined to the story of what was done in those isolated rooms on the other side of the world where interrogators plied their arts, and in the...
Rights Groups Still Waiting for Obama to Deliver
While human rights and open-government groups are generally pleased with President Barack Obama's rhetoric during his first 100 days, some are skeptical that he will deliver on his promises. Caroline Fredrickson, head of the Washington Legislative Office for the...
Calls for Torture Inquiry Aren’t Going Away
A coalition of 19 human rights, faith-based and justice organizations is calling on President Barack Obama to investigate torture they charge was sanctioned by the administration of former President George W. Bush. The group, led by the National Religious Campaign...
Torture ‘to Achieve a Political Objective’
Brave New World Order
Dozens of CIA ‘Ghost Prisoners’ Missing
At least three dozen detainees who were held in the CIA's secret prisons overseas appear to be missing – and efforts by human rights organizations to track their whereabouts have been unsuccessful. The story of these "ghost prisoners" was comprehensively...
Courts Overrule Govt in Abuse and Detention Cases
As the debate heats up over what to do about recent disclosures of widespread abuse of war-on-terror prisoners, the "third branch" of the U.S. government -- the judiciary -- continues to assert its independence from the other two branches -- the executive and the...