Human Rights Glance
If the United States had a functioning criminal justice system for the powerful – not just for run-of-the-mill offenders – former Vice President Dick Cheney would have convicted himself and some of his Bush administration colleagues with his comments on ABC’s “This Week.”
On Sunday, Cheney pronounced himself “a big supporter of waterboarding,” a near-drowning technique that has been regarded as torture back to the Spanish Inquisition and that has long been treated by U.S. authorities as a serious war crime, such as when Japanese commanders were prosecuted for using it on American prisoners during World War II.
The Defense establishment has announced plans to resume construction of Israel's separation barrier south of Jerusalem - a move that has drawn criticism from environmental groups who claim the barrier will cause grave harm to ancient agricultural landscapes in the area.
Britain was forced by an appeals court Wednesday to reveal a long-secret description of how a former terrorism suspect was beaten, shackled and deprived of sleep during interrogations by U.S. agents.
The Israeli interior ministry has stopped issuing work permits to foreigners working for international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Challenged for his 2005 statement that whether the president could lawfully torture a person's child depends on "why the President thinks he needs to do that," undaunted, John Yoo repeated his claim that it would depend on whether the president finds it "necessary."
Interagency interrogation teams have started to question key terrorism suspects under a classified charter approved last week, but authorities have been slower to resolve pressing issues that emerged since Christmas -- including how to draw the line between gathering intelligence and building a legal case, according to federal officials and experts following the process.
