Friday, November 28, 2014

U.S. not in compliance with Convention Against Torture.......UPDATED

UN panel raps US record on torture--
From Associated Press
November 28, 2014 8:50 AM EST
GENEVA (AP) — A U.N. panel has concluded that the United States falls short of full compliance with an international anti-torture treaty.
The report by the U.N. Committee Against Torture cites police brutality, military interrogations, maximum security prisons, illegal migrants and solitary confinement among areas of concern.
Alessio Bruni of Italy, one of the panel's chief investigators, told reporters Friday in Geneva "there are numerous areas in which certain things should be changed for the United States to comply fully." The U.N. Convention Against Torture took effect in 1987, and the United States ratified it in 1994.

The U.N. committee's 10 independent experts are responsible for reviewing the records of all 156 U.N. member countries that have ratified the treaty against torture and all "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

THE CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE.

EMPTYWHEEL HAS MORE HERE.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Talking dog interviews another Gitmo attorney

Click here for the latest talking dog interview. Attorney Jon Eisenberg has been at the forefront of a number of the issues confronting the Guantanamo detainees. His account is both frustrating and inspiring.
Dare I say "happy thanksgiving?"

Sunday, November 23, 2014

By the numbers

One of my fellow gitmo colleagues is kind enough to keep track of the numbers for the rest of us. Here is the latest:
73 cleared for release--all but 19 are from Yemen.
59 forever detainees who have never been charged with anything (Including my client Razak ali)
7 facing charges in the made up military commission.
3 convicted in the made up military commission.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

One more released.....

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Muhammed Murdi Issa Al-Zahrani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

FIVE RELEASED TODAY.....

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Hashim Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti and Husayn Salim Muhammad Al-Mutari Yafai from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Slovakia.

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Salah Mohammed Salih Al-Dhabi, Abdel Ghaib Ahmad Hakim, and Abdul Khaled Al-Baydani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Georgia.

Best of luck to these five men.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

RELEASE THE TORTURE REPORT NOW.

Release the Torture Report Now!

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Sign the petition to Sen. Mark Udall: If you enter the torture report into the Congressional Record, we'll have your back.

 

Saturday, November 15, 2014

IN THE COMPANY OF COWARDS

Bush, Howard and injustice at Guantanamo

A BOOK REVIEW

So part of the problem I had when searching for this book is that I know the author as "Dan Mori" not Michael Mori. Ah well--- as a fellow middle name user I won't say anything more about that but I am going to refer to the author as Dan in this review.

The book was sent to me by a friend in Australia and Dan wrote a nice inscription to me (thank you Dan). When I started reading the book it quickly became one of those books that was difficult to put down. I finished the book over three evening reads. Dan managed to put into words the frustration, anger and heartache of representing someone at Guantanamo without sounding angry or maudlin.
Dan represented David Hicks-- an australian man who was turned over to US forces in Afghanistan for a bounty and who was one of the first to arrive at Guantanamo. Dan's account is not just about the fight to get Hicks out of Guantanamo and the constant shifting of the rules in the military commission -- but also the other side of the fight- the political fight in Australia and Dan's brilliant use of the media to inform the Australian people of the plight of his client and the complicity of the Australian government in Hicks's long detention at Guantanamo.
Dan doesn't spend much time on the personal toll- he was a military lawyer in the marines and was assigned the Hicks case. But there was a personal toll-- like all of the military defense lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees Dan was denied his next promotion and faced cowadly complaints about his activism in representing his client. So it was not just that walls went up at every corner and resources for the defense side were lacking-- but the military made it personal because Dan was fighting hard for his client.
Read the book- Dan describes the feel of the base during this time period (2005-8) better than any other account I have read and he also describes quite eloquently what it is like for a lawyer committed to the rule of law to watch his country's legal system disintegrate before his eyes.
Dan now lives in Australia. I mention this because it underscores the toll on the attorneys in representing Guantanamo detainees. Dan is not the first Guantanamo attorney to leave this country and I do not think he will be the last.
It seems the only place in the US to get this book is on-line via australia. Click here.




THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Please join me in urging Senator Udall to read the torture report into the congressional record before he leaves the senate. You can contact the senator here. I couldn't quite figure out which of the pull down topics to use so I settled on "defense" and for the subtopic I put "torture report."

Friday, November 14, 2014

U.N. Committee on Torture is NOT a Rubber Stamp

Yes, it seems that the U.N. Committee is asking the right questions and demanding answers. Marcy at emptywheel discusses the questions here and Jim White at Emptywheel has more here.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Former Gitmo guard speaks out on the torture of Force feeding....

Former Guard: 

Guantanamo's 'Safe, Humane, Legal, 

Transparent' Motto 

Is Simply Not True


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Detainee released to Kuwait--Updated

 Read more here.

“Administration officials said that an end-of-year flurry might be coming: The Pentagon has notified Congress that nine other detainees, including six bound for Uruguay, may soon be transferred.”