Human Rights Glance
CIA interrogators exceeded legal limits on harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda detainees during the Bush administration, according to a former top Justice Department official who was interviewed by congressional investigators.
House Democrats said Thursday that Jay S. Bybee, who headed the department's Office of Legal Counsel, told them in May that he never approved a number of interrogation techniques used on detainees in CIA custody. Techniques his office did approve -- such as waterboarding, the simulated drowning of terror suspects -- were used too many times on detainees, Bybee told investigators.
Ex-Justice official: CIA interrogators used unauthorized techniques on detainees
Argentina approves gay marriage
Argentina has become the first Latin American country to allow gay couples to marry and adopt children, defying Catholic opposition to join the ranks of a few mostly European nations with similar laws.
Argentina's Senate passed a gay marriage law early Thursday following more than 14 hours of charged debate, as hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the Congress in near-freezing temperatures. Senators voted 33-27 for the proposal, with three abstentions.
Court strikes challenge to DC gay marriage law
D.C.'s highest court has ruled against opponents of the city's same-sex marriage law, saying they cannot ask voters to overturn it. Opponents had wanted to challenge a law that took effect in Washington in March allowing same-sex couples to marry. They attempted to get approval to put an initiative on the ballot asking city voters to define marriage in the city as between one man and one woman.
Court rules torture lawsuits against UK continue
Former Guantanamo detainees can proceed with lawsuits accusing Britain of complicity in torture overseas, a High Court judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting a government request to suspend the action.
Britain had asked a judge to direct the six men, and six others who plan to launch similar cases, to halt their lawsuits and focus on reaching out of court settlements, allowing an independent inquiry into the accusations to begin.
Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair
The Palestinians of Gaza, most of them descended from refugees of the 1948 war that created Israel, have lived through decades of conflict and confrontation. Their scars have accumulated like layers of sedimentary rock, each marking a different crisis — homelessness, occupation, war, dependency.
Today, however, two developments have conspired to turn a difficult life into a new torment: a three-year blockade by Israel and Egypt that has locked them in the small enclave and crushed what there was of a formal local economy; and the bitter rivalry between Palestinian factions, which has undermined identity and purpose, divided families and caused a severe shortage of electricity in the middle of summer.
Yemeni returns home after Guantanamo Bay release
A Yemeni man held at Guantanamo Bay for eight years has been sent home, the Pentagon has said. It comes after a US court ordered the release of Mohammed Odaini, 26, saying he had no connection to al-Qaeda and had been wrongly detained.
However, the Pentagon said it was maintaining an overall ban on transferring Yemenis, because of the security situation in the country. There are 180 remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Israel navy begins efforts to stop Libyan aid ship
The Israeli military says it has begun efforts to try to stop a Libyan aid ship from reaching Gaza. The navy has made contact with the vessel, but its commandos have not boarded the ship, a spokeswoman said.
The Amalthea is expected to reach Gaza's territorial waters on Wednesday, Palestinian and Israeli reports said. The Moldovan-flagged ship, chartered by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, left a Greek port on Saturday.
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