Human Rights Glance
The credibility of the Security Services was severely damaged yesterday after it emerged that a senior judge had suggested MI5 officers could not be trusted to tell the truth. In a ruling that raises questions about the conduct and regulation of MI5, the Court of Appeal said officers had suppressed evidence of their alleged involvement in the torture of Binyam Mohamed while he was imprisoned by America.
The judicial criticism was made fully public yesterday after The Independent and other media groups successfully challenged a decision by the court to remove a paragraph from a draft judgment because of an objection raised by the Government.
MI5 can't be trusted to tell truth, senior judge suggested
West Bank farce: Palestinian 'settlement' plan
Under the the Oslo Peace Accords signed in 1994, Israel has full control of about 60% of the occupied West Bank. Palestinians have full control and building rights in only a small proportion of the territory, about 17% of the total. The Oslo accords were only meant to be temporary, but their provisions have lasted 16 years. And therein lies a big problem with the Rawabi proposals.
The Palestinians control the land on which Rawabi will be built, but not the area through which its access road will have to go. Israel has yet to grant permission for the road, which will be essential for the project to succeed. At the moment, the only way to access the site is via a narrow and bumpy back road.
Harvard Professor's Modest Proposal: Starve the Gazans into Having Fewer Babies
Martin Kramer revealed his true colors at the Herzliya Conference, wherein he blamed political violence in the Muslim world on population growth, called for that growth to be restrained, and praised the illegal and unconscionable Israeli blockade of civilian Gazans for its effect on reducing the number of Gazans.
Judge rules against 2 at Guantanamo that Bush panel cleared for release
A federal judge Wednesday ruled that the Pentagon can continue to hold indefinitely at Guantanamo two Yemeni captives whom the Bush administration cleared for release two years ago.The decisions bring to 11 the number of such cases that the government has won. In 32 other cases, judges have ruled that the Pentagon did not have sufficient evidence to hold the prisoners and have ordered that the detainees be released. Four of those are still at Guantanamo.
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US transfers Guantanamo more detainees
Four detainees held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have been transferred to Albania and Spain, according to the US justice department. Three detainees, originally from North Africa, were sent to Albania.
They were identified as Saleh Bin Hadi Asasi, originally from Tunisia, Sharif Fati Ali al Mishad, an Egyptian national and Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammad Abu al Qusin from Libya. The fourth man, transferred to Spain, was not identified beyond that he was from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Torture architect ‘distorts’ investigation timeline to blame Obama
Recently cleared from criminal prosecution, President Bush's "torture architect" John Yoo criticized Obama on Wednesday for allegedly ordering a "witch hunt" against him. But the timeline reflects that the investigation of his transgressions began under the former president, not the current one.
Vatican official refuses to quit after defending abortion doctors
The Vatican's top bioethics official on Monday dismissed calls for his resignation following an uproar over his defense of doctors who aborted the twin fetuses of a 9-year-old child who was raped by her stepfather.
Monsignor Renato Fisichella told The Associated Press he refused to respond to five members of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life who questioned his suitability to lead the institution.
Fisichella wrote an article in the Vatican's newspaper in March saying the Brazilian doctors didn't deserve excommunication as mandated by church law because they were saving the girl's life. The call for mercy sparked heated criticism from some academy members who said it implied the Vatican was opening up to so-called "therapeutic abortion" to save the mother's life.
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