Rendition case declared too secret to be tried
San Francisco Chronicle Feb 14, 08 5:11 AM CST
(Newser)
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A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that charged a flight-planning company owned by Boeing with helping the CIA fly terror suspects to secret overseas dungeons. He ruled such a case could reveal state secrets, and that "proceeding would jeopardize national security and foreign relations," reports the San Francisco Chronicle . The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of five foreign nationals who say they were kidnapped by the CIA and flown to secret prisons where they were tortured.
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Official urges nations
to prosecute, but
doesn't point finger
Reuters Feb 8, 08 11:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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A top UN official said today that CIA waterboarding constitutes a war crime, but she stopped short of accusing Washington directly. "I would have no problems with describing this practice as falling under the prohibition of torture," Louise Arbour said. Her comment comes days after CIA chief Michael Hayden admitted that operatives have used the practice on terror suspects, Reuters reports.
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As CIA boss concedes tactics may be illega
New York Times Feb 8, 08 5:20 AM CST
(Newser)
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Dick Cheney yesterday defended the use of controversial interrogation techniques, crediting them with possibly “foiling an attack against the US," just as the director of the CIA was conceding to a congressional committee that waterboarding may be illegal. The VP defended the use of “a tougher program for tougher customers,” including “high-value targets” like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of 9/11, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, reports the New York Times.
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Lawyers to present evidence to Senate panel
Time Feb 7, 08 4:38 AM CST
(Newser)
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Evidence that another CIA detainee was videotaped allegedly being tortured by interrogators is expected to be presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow, reports Time magazine. A former suburban Baltimore high school student underwent unspecified "systematic torture" that may have involved waterboarding in a secret CIA prison in 2003, his attorneys charge. Majid Khan, now 27 and being held at Guantanamo Bay, says he was grabbed by the CIA while traveling from his home in the US to visit his brother in Pakistan.
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'We want to respect America again'
Christian Science Monitor Feb 6, 08 3:32 PM CST
(Newser)
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On YouTube, Adel Hassan Hamad is the face of the anti-Guantanamo movement, the subject of two much-watched videos. In December, the innocent Sudanese aid worker was finally released, the Christian Science Monitor reports, and though he is suing for the five years he spent in captivity, he says he's not bitter. “We just want to respect America again,” he says.
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Senate committee hears specifics, warning of possible Al-Qaeda spread
Reuters Feb 5, 08 3:45 PM CST
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The CIA used waterboarding three times following the 9/11 attacks, the agency's current director testified today. Interrogators used the method on suspected attack planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two top al Qaeda members, Reuters reports. Michael Hayden's statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee marks the first time a US official has publicly confirmed specifics of the use of a technique many consider torture.
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Right-wing icon calls Democratic hopeful 'more conservative'
CNN Feb 1, 08 3:40 PM CST
(Newser)
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Conservative shock pundit Ann Coulter endorsed Hillary Clinton over John McCain today, adding to the right-wing furor over McCain's ascent by saying New York's junior senator is “more conservative than he is.” If McCain gets the GOP nod, Coulter says she's not only ready to vote for a Democrat but would even campaign for her, CNN reports.
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Young men sample torture technique to settle debate
Wall Street Journal Jan 31, 08 12:38 PM CST
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As the debate over waterboarding continues unabated, it has occurred to more than one cocky—or conscientious—young man that anyone can see for himself what it feels like, and whether it constitutes torture. The Wall Street Journal talks to several who've tried it—using friends with no special training. One 26-year-old reports he was shocked at how quickly blind panic overtook him. “It’s almost like the ideal way of torturing someone,” he concludes. “This is torture 2.0.”
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He again refuses
to answer senators' questions on legality
New York Times Jan 30, 08 4:47 PM CST
(Newser)
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Testifying before a Senate committee today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey frustrated attempts to get him to answer on whether waterboarding constitutes torture. "I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to pass definitive judgment on the technique’s legality,” said Mukasey, hedging in a manner that, as it did in past appearances, infuriated questioning senators, the New York Times reports.
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Mukasey warns he'll stonewall on questions about legality
Associated Press Jan 30, 08 3:43 AM CST
(Newser)
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A high-noon face off is looming today between Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the Senate Judiciary Committee over waterboarding, the simulated drowning interrogation technique that many consider torture. Committee chair Patrick Leahy said Mukasey faces "serious questions" on the issue at today's hearing. But Mukasey has warned Leahy in a letter that he will not tell the Senate whether or not waterboarding is illegal.
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Ex-spy chief confirms use of tactic as Mukasey preps for Hill hearing
Reuters Jan 29, 08 1:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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American interrogators' tactics included waterboarding sometime before 2005, but the tactic "has not been used in years," the ex-director of national intelligence says. John Negroponte's acknowledgment, the most definitive confirmation yet of the Bush administration's use of waterboarding, comes as Michael Mukasey prepares to return to Capitol Hill to address questions about the interrogation program, Reuters reports.
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Claims US, Israel
were 'wrongly' included with other countries
BBC Jan 20, 08 2:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier has apologized for the inclusion of the US and Israel on a list of countries in which prisoners risk being subjected to torture, the BBC reports. The list, part of a torture awareness guide for diplomats, cited US interrogation techniques and referred to its Guantanamo Bay facility. Both countries denounced their placement on the list.
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