Verscharfte Vernehmung

05-30-2007 • Andrew Sullivan

The phrase "Verscharfte Vernehmung" is German for "enhanced interrogation". Other translations include "intensified interrogation" or "sharpened interrogation". It's a phrase that appear to have been conn

Advisers Fault Torture in Interrogation

5-29-2007 • NY Times

As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.

Torture, Al-Qaeda Style

5-24-2007 • The Smoking Gun

[GRAPHIC] In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." Along with the images, which

Romney, Giuliani are pro-torture as long as it goes by another name

5-16-2007 • Reurters

Two Republican front-runners in the 2008 presidential race drew strong criticism from rights groups on Wednesday after they voiced support for extreme interrogation methods and an expansion of the Guantanamo prison in the fight against terrorism.

Six questions on detainee abuse

05-10-2007 • Harpers(Ken Silverstein)

The media only focused on the photos. They missed the fact that the abuse was systematic and that the worst things were not even shown in the pictures. That's what my book is about: what happened beyond the frame of the Abu Ghraib photos.

Feinstein proposes plan to close Gitmo

05-01-2007 • The Hill

Sen. Dianne Feinstein(D-CA) introduced legislation Monday that would close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "Guantanamo Bay has become a lightning rod for international condemnation," Feinstein said.

Closing Gitmo with a win-win-win

4-29-2007 • by Mark Yannone

It's not a prison, man. It's a detainee camp! Mark Yannone gets it "all sussed out" in the most forthright, clear manner yet made for the future of the Guantanamo Detainee Camp. WARNING: Reading this may rupture something.

Guantanamo: A Long Train of Congressional, Executive, and Now, Judicial Abuses

4-29-2007 • by P. Gardner Goldsmith (Mises)

The US Supreme Court denied petitions of 2 plaintiffs who have been held in limbo for 5 years at Guantanamo. The justices have added another burden to the train of abuses the government has sent barreling down the tracks at US citizens.

U.S. Asks Court to Limit Lawyers at Guantánamo

4-25-2007 • NY Times

Visits by civilian lawyers and attorney-client mail have caused “intractable problems and threats to security at Guantánamo,” a Justice Department filing proposes new limits on the lawyers’ contact with their clients and access to evidence in their c

Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case

04-18-2007 • By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Sam Diaz - Wash Post

A human rights group sued Yahoo on Wednesday, accusing the Internet giant of abetting the torture of pro-democracy writers by releasing data that allowed China's government to identify them.

Guantanamo conditions 'worsening'

4-4-2007 • BBC News

Conditions for detainees at the US military jail at Guantanamo Bay are deteriorating, with the majority held in solitary confinement. Amnesty International said the often harsh and inhumane conditions at the camp were "pushing people to the edge

US interrogating at Africa's secret prisons

04-04-2007 • AP

CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethoipia, which is notorious for torture and abuse, according to an investigation by the AP

U.S. Agents Visit Ethiopian Secret Jails

4-3-2007 • AP

CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse, according to an investigation by The As

Guantanamo detainee Hicks feared US interrogators would shoot him

4-3-2007 • AFP

Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks feared he would be shot unless he cooperated with US interrogators in Afghanistan. Hicks said he was slapped, kicked, punched and spat on after being arrested by coalition forces in the Central Asian cou

Guantanamo ex-detainee: 'Nightmare' over

4-1-2007 • NY Times

A British resident released from Guantanamo Bay after nearly five years in captivity said his detention at the U.S. prison camp was "profoundly difficult" to endure, his first comments since his release.

Guantanamo Detainee Makes Torture Claims

3-30-2007 • AP

A Saudi terror suspect says US interrogators tortured him for 5 years and he confessed to involvement in the bombing of the USS Cole just to satisfy them and "make the people happy," according to a Pentagon transcript of a military hearing

Mr. Torture

3-27-2007 • The American Prospect

Tony Lagouranis is a 37-year-old bouncer at a bar in Chicago's Humboldt Park. He is also a former torturer. That was how he was described in an email promoting a panel discussion, "24: Torture Televised," hosted by the NYU School of La

Judge dismisses lawsuit against Rumsfeld

3-27-2007 • AP

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cannot be sued on allegations of torture in overseas military prisons, a federal judge said, throwing out a lawsuit brought on behalf of 9 former prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US documentary shows everyday abuse of Abu Gharib

03-26-2007 • Reuters

Abu Ghraib prison is notorrious for images that surfaced in 2003 showing horrific abuses of Iraqis by US soldiers, but a new documentary aims to highlight the plight facing many innocent Iraqis by depicting the humdrum misery there.

Variety of Interrogation Techniques Said to Be Authorized by CIA

3-12-2007 • ABC News blog

While President Bush today would not divulge the details of the interrogation techniques that have been used on high-value detainees, such as the 9/11 attacks architect Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, current and former CIA officers had previously described

S.C. may cut jail time for organ donors

03-10-2007 • Associated Press

Lawmakers in S.C. are considering a bill to allow inmates to shave off jail time in exchange for allowing the state to shave off their organs. While the S.C. proposal isn't the same as current inmate policy in China, the difference is merely one

Soviet-era compound in northern Poland was site of secret CIA interrogation, detentions

3-9-2007 • by Larisa Alexandrovna and David Dastych

The CIA operated an interrogation and short-term detention facility for suspected terrorists within a Polish intelligence training school with the explicit approval of British and US authorities, according to British and Polish intelligence officials

Confessions of a torturer

03-06-2007 • Chicago Reader

Tony Lagouranis doesn't fit the profile of a person likely to go wrong by following orders. He's lived a footloose life unconstrained by a desire for professional advancement, for the approval of superiors, even for a comfortable home.

Australia's Hicks alleges U.S. abuse at Guantanamo

3-2-2007 • Reuters

An Australian detainee facing U.S. terrorism charges, David Hicks, has complained of torture and abuse at the Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba, Australian media reported. Charges brought against Hicks on Thursday were the first brought against a suspected

Terror Suspect Gives Account of Detention

3-1-2007 • AP

While held incommunicado for more than 2 years by the US and Pakistan, an accused jihadist claims he was beaten, burned with an iron, held naked for a month and chained to the wall of his cell so tightly he could not stand up.

US Navy officials describe Padilla's prison conditions

3-1-2007 • AFP

But Sanford Seymour, the technical director of the US Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina, also said he spoke with Padilla on occasion and let him out to play basketball frequently. [Sensory deprivation or basketball?]

Secret CIA Prisoners Still Missing

2-27-2007 • Human Rights Watch

“President Bush told us that the last 14 CIA prisoners were sent to Guantanamo, but there are many other prisoners ‘disappeared’ by the CIA whose fate is still unknown. What happened to these people and where are they now?”

A Trial for Thousands Denied Trial

2-26-2007 • The Nation

[unfortunately the judge changed her mind] Something remarkable is going on in a Miami courtroom. The cruel methods US interrogators have used since September 11 to "break" prisoners are finally being put on trial. This was not supposed

Prison Doc: Terror Suspect OK for Trial

2-26-2007 • NY Times

Padilla has claimed in court filings that he was tortured at the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., which officials have denied. Defense lawyers had planned to question brig officials, but Cooke will not allow it. She wants to limit the inquiry to Padill