News from Libya that torture is occurring in state and militia-administered detention facilities is horrific, but should be of little surprise. Amnesty International’s recent statements assert that torture is a wide-spread practice in Libya and has resulted in several deaths. The statements further that no investigations are occurring. Add to these statements a recent announcement by Medecins Sans […]
In spite of the decades of pressure coming from the United States, Canada has maintained consistently cordial relations with Cuba—in fact, Canada and Mexico were the only two countries in the hemisphere to maintain uninterrupted diplomatic relations with Cuba following the revolution in 1959. [Interesting Wikipedia fact of the week: Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre […]
Cuba offers payback plan for frozen bank accounts (Reuters) After freezing hundreds of millions of foreign businesses’ dollars in Cuban banks over the last 1-2 years, Havana is now offering a 2 percent interest rate and a five-year plan to pay these funds out to the companies that are owed. One loophole-sounding proviso: the payments […]
High-level U.S.-Cuba talks on migration did occur on Friday, and the five-hour talks were open and frank. State Department officials called for the release of detained U.S. contractor Alan Gross. The Cuban side listened, though without indicating how they would proceed. Cuban officials brought up their own demand for the release of the Cuban Five. […]
The AP ran a story today titled, “US-Cuba immigration talks under cloud of mistrust.” The course of the article makes the current US-Cuba relationship and future prospects look pretty dismal. But we had always expected progress to be slow, and mutual recriminations do not disappear overnight. I, for one, am not discouraged. Still, one cannot […]
In what has been called the most important death penalty case in US history, the government is seeking a 60 day delay in the joint trial by military commission of Guantanamo’s Ramzi bin al Shibh, who, along with four others, is facing war crimes charges resulting from his alleged involvement in the September 11th attacks. […]
The Pentagon has announced it will allow those prisoners held by the US military in Afghanistan, including the Bagram military facility, to challenge their detention in a new military review system. The prisoners will be given military officials – not lawyers – to represent them and will be allowed to call witnesses and present a […]
(4) Holder ‘Appoints’ Special Prosecutor to Review CIA Interrogations US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he is expanding the mandate of Special Counsel John Durham to include a ‘preliminary review’ (not yet an investigation) into the legality of CIA interrogations of certain detainees. Durham was originally appointed in 2008 by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey […]
From enhanced interrogation to rendition, to the roles of the CIA and the FBI in relation to terrorism, decisions and revelations were made in the last 24 hours that will have a lasting impact on the way the US intelligence community, justice system and government officials interact with each other and the world with respect […]
‘Dozens’ of Guantanamo detainee cases have been referred to federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia. US Attorney General Eric Holder has reportedly met with federal prosecutors from these jurisdictions, each of which has experience handling international terrorism cases. The debate continues as to what to do with the remaining 229 detainees, with […]