Geneva Conventions

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In Modern Warfare, the Rules Are Gone
In Modern Warfare,
the Rules Are Gone
OPINION
Oct 10, 2023 9:25 AM CDT

In Modern Warfare, the Rules Are Gone

In the 'Atlantic,' Anne Applebaum warns that 'open brutality' is the new normal

(Newser) - The Hamas fighters who kidnapped and murdered Israeli civilians did not attempt to hide their war crimes, writes Anne Applebaum in the Atlantic . In fact, they made a point to capture their atrocities on film and then circulate the videos, the better to create "misery and anger." These...

Trump Changes Tune on Torturing Terrorists, Killing Their Families

'As president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans'

(Newser) - Apparently having slept on it, on Friday Donald Trump walked back the endorsement he gave to torturing terrorists and killing their families during the GOP debate Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We should go for waterboarding, and we should go tougher than waterboarding," CNN quotes Trump...

Israel: Guilty of War Crimes?

 Israel: Guilty 
 of War Crimes? 
opinion
Aug 4, 2014 6:00 PM CDT

Israel: Guilty of War Crimes?

Manal Tellawi makes the case, but others say Hamas is to blame

(Newser) - Israel's attack on Gaza—which has reportedly killed more than 1,500 civilians—was indeed a war crime that flagrantly violated rules of international law, writes Manal Tellawi at Salon . Three of his main arguments:
  • While Article 51 of the UN Charter allows for self-defense, Israel can't make
...

US Defends Conditions Inside Gitmo

Military releases rare photos of cell to prove conditions OK in 'Five Echo'

(Newser) - To defend conditions in a disciplinary block at Guantanamo Bay prison, US military officials have released photos of the rarely seen interior, reports the AP . "Five Echo," a section of the prison used for "noncompliant" detainees, had been accused of violating Geneva Conventions by lawyers for some...

Gadhafi Sodomized by Fighter; Burial Tomorrow

Video shows rebel assaulting him with knife or stick

(Newser) - While Libyan rebels say Gadhafi will be buried tomorrow, it appears one freedom-fighter sodomized the former leader during his capture and murder last week. A closer look at video of the scene shows a rebel inserting a stick or knife into Gadhafi's rear end as he is dragged from...

It's Time to Shoot Some Pirates
 It's Time to Shoot Some Pirates 
OPINION
Apr 13, 2009 8:17 AM CDT

It's Time to Shoot Some Pirates

(Newser) - Captain Richard Phillips has been rescued, and that’s good news. “But it remains a scandal that Somali pirates continue to routinely defeat the world’s naval powers,” writes Fred Iklé in the Washington Post. The pirates are surely funneling money to terrorists, Iklé surmises, and our failure...

Gitmo Meets Geneva Rules: Pentagon Report

Study urges changes in rules for 'most troublesome' detainees

(Newser) - A Pentagon report conducted for President Obama asserts that Gitmo treats its prisoners humanely and in accordance with the Geneva Convention, reports the Los Angeles Times. The report does, however, call for some reforms, such as giving the most dangerous inmates more contact with other prisoners and opportunities for prayer....

Gitmo Was Actually Humane —Until Rumsfeld Took Over

Camp's ills began when Rumsfeld weighed in

(Newser) - If Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol of torture, a place where prisoners' screams echo in our national psyche, it wasn’t always so, writes Karen Greenberg in the Washington Post. Though told the Geneva Conventions wouldn't technically apply, the military officials who set up the camp skirted Bush administration...

Red Cross Cries Foul Over Colombia Deception

Objects to symbol use in hostage rescue

(Newser) - The Red Cross chided the Colombian government today for its "deliberate misuse" of the Red Cross symbol during a mission to rescue hostages, the BBC reports. “If authenticated, these images would clearly establish an improper use of the Red Cross emblem, which we deplore,” a spokesman said...

US Afghan Prison Dwarfs Gitmo
US Afghan Prison Dwarfs Gitmo
Jan 7, 2008 12:00 PM CST

US Afghan Prison Dwarfs Gitmo

Plans to transfer prisoners falls short

(Newser) - Guantanamo Bay may get all the press, but Bagram, the US detention center in Afghanistan, holds over twice as many prisoners, and it’s proving just as difficult to close. Plans to transfer its roughly 630 inmates to a US-funded Afghan prison outside Kabul have failed, the New York Times...

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
OPINION
Jan 1, 2008 4:10 PM CST

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers

Slate runs down the Bush team's most dubious legal claims

(Newser) - In her second annual roundup of the Bush administration's most egregious legal arguments, Dahlia Lithwick of Slate offers her top 10 doozies:
  1. The United States does not torture
  2. State-secrets privilege used to shield almost anything.
  3. Almost anything Alberto Gonzales said.
  4. The nine US attorneys were fired for cause.
  5. Anyone who
...

House Passes Ban on CIA Waterboarding

Interrogations must meet Geneva standards under bill

(Newser) - The House of Representatives today approved a bill that would forbid the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, Reuters reports. The measure follows revelations that the agency destroyed tapes showing al Qaeda suspects subjected to simulated drowning. But the bill still has to pass the Senate, and has...

McCain Updates Waterboard Dig at Romney

Says that US hanged Japanese who did it to Americans in WWII

(Newser) - John McCain today extended his angry response to Mitt Romney’s cagey comments on torture in last night’s debate, reminding Americans that the US hanged members of the Japanese military for waterboarding Americans in WWII. “There should be little doubt that we consider that as torture,” McCain...

What's Torture? Don't Ask a Med Student

25% would inject saline in detainee who thinks it's lethal, says study

(Newser) - Many medical students don't know the Geneva conventions enough to identify torture techniques, Time reports. More than a third say it's okay to threaten removal of a prisoner's food or water, and more than 25% would inject a saline solution into a detainee who believes it's lethal. A recent study...

Noriega Dodges French Trial in Miami Stir

Dictator's fight against extradition delays release date

(Newser) - Eleventh-hour appeals of his extradition to France kept former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega in his Miami prison cell yesterday, his scheduled release date. The dictator was set to face French money-laundering charges, but his lawyers argued that the Geneva Convention prevents his extradition because Paris doesn't recognize his prisoner-of-war status.

It's Bon Voyage for Noriega
It's Bon Voyage for Noriega
Aug 28, 2007 12:33 PM CDT

It's Bon Voyage for Noriega

Judge OKs France's extradition request for former dictator; he'll serve jail term there

(Newser) - Former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega will be extradited to France to serve ten more years of jail time. Noriega has done 18 years in a Miami prison, and will be released for good behavior next month. He faces money laundering charges in France, but had asked to return to...

Judge Allows Noriega Extradition
Judge Allows Noriega Extradition
Aug 24, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

Judge Allows Noriega Extradition

Ex-general wants to dodge French charges by returning to Panama

(Newser) - A federal judge today rejected former dictator Manuel Noriega's request to return to Panama following his release from a Miami prison next month, the Miami Herald reports. Noriega sought to avoid extradition to France, where he faces a 10-year sentence for a conviction in abstentia on money laundering charges. Noriega...

Bush OKs New Interrogation Guidelines

CIA program will continue with "enhanced" methods

(Newser) - President Bush set broad new limits for questioning of CIA terror detainees yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The new regulations for "enhanced" interrogations—used to press suspects by means not allowed in US military custody—are an attempt at partial compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics
CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics
Jun 21, 2007 6:25 PM CDT

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics

Agency believed to have teamed up with Pentagon

(Newser) - The CIA apparently colluded with the US military to develop torture techniques for interrogating terrorist suspects, Salon reports. The program was based on methods originally designed to teach American special forces how to withstand abuse if captured. While the military's role in this "reverse engineering" had been previously exposed,...

Rummy Fired General for Truthful Report on Abu Ghraib Prison

(Newser) - Shortly after the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq became public Major General Antonio M. Taguba was tasked by the Army with investigating and reporting on the situation. He found "Numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees . . . systemic and...

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