A Case to Answer. from Abu Ghraib to Secret CIA Custody: the Case Of
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United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals
UNITED STATES ARMY COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS Before TOZZI, COOK, and MAGGS1 Appellate Military Judges UNITED STATES, Appellee v. Private First Class LYNNDIE R. ENGLAND United States Army, Appellant ARMY 20051170 Headquarters, III Corps and Fort Hood James Pohl, Military Judge Colonel Clyde J. Tate, II, Staff Judge Advocate (pretrial) Colonel Mark Cremin, Staff Judge Advocate (post-trial) For Appellant: Major Timothy W. Thomas, JA (argued); Colonel Christopher J. O’Brien, JA; Captain Frank B. Ulmer, JA (on brief). For Appellee: Captain Nicole L. Fish, JA (argued); Colonel Denise R. Lind, JA; Lieutenant Colonel Mark H. Sydenham, JA; Major Christopher B. Burgess, JA; Captain Nicole L. Fish, JA (on brief). 10 September 2009 ---------------------------------- MEMORANDUM OPINION ---------------------------------- This opinion is issued as an unpublished opinion and, as such, does not serve as precedent. TOZZI, Senior Judge: An officer panel sitting as a general court-martial convicted appellant, contrary to her pleas, of one specification of conspiracy to commit maltreatment, four specifications of maltreatment, and one specification of indecent acts with another, in violation of Articles 81, 93, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 881, 893, and 934 [hereinafter UCMJ]. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence of a dishonorable discharge, three years confinement, and reduction to Private E1. The convening authority also waived 1 Judge MAGGS took final action in this case while on active duty. ENGLAND – ARMY 20051170 automatic forfeitures and credited appellant with ten days of confinement credit against the approved sentence to confinement. On appeal, appellant claims, inter alia, that (1) the military judge abused his discretion when he rejected her guilty plea; (2) appellant’s trial defense counsel were ineffective for calling Private (PVT) Charles Graner as a presentencing witness, in the alternative; and (3) information about an Article 15, UCMJ, was erroneously included in the staff judge advocate’s recommendation (SJAR). -
To the Honorable Members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States
TO THE HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES ______________________________________________________________ PETITION ALLEGING VIOLATIONS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF KHALED EL-MASRI BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH A REQUEST FOR AN INVESTIGATION AND HEARING ON THE MERITS By the undersigned, appearing as counsel for petitioner under the provisions of Article 23 of the Commission’s Regulations __________________________ Steven Macpherson Watt Jamil Dakwar Jennifer Turner Melissa Goodman Ben Wizner Human Rights & ٭ National Security Programs American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY, 10004 Ph: (212) 519-7870 ,Counsel gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Kristen Bailey, LL.M. student ٭ New York University Law School, in compiling this petition. Submitted: April 9, 2008 INTRODUCTION This petition is brought against the United States of America for violating the rights of Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen and victim of the U.S. “extraordinary rendition” program. In December 2003, while on vacation in Macedonia, Mr. El-Masri was apprehended and detained by agents of the Macedonian intelligence services. While in their custody, Mr. El-Masri was harshly interrogated. His repeated requests to meet with a lawyer, family members, and a consular representative were denied. After twenty-three days of such treatment, Mr. El-Masri was handed over to the exclusive “authority and control” of agents of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. These agents beat, stripped, and drugged Mr. El-Masri before loading him onto a plane and flying him to a secret CIA- run prison in Afghanistan. There, Mr. El-Masri was detained incommunicado for more than four months. -
The Ethics of Interrogation and the Rule of Law Release Date: April 23, 2018
Release Date: April 23, 2018 CERL Report on The Ethics of Interrogation and the Rule of Law Release Date: April 23, 2018 CERL Report on The Ethics of Interrogation and the Rule of Law I. Introduction On January 25, 2017, President Trump repeated his belief that torture works1 and reaffirmed his commitment to restore the use of harsh interrogation of detainees in American custody.2 That same day, CBS News released a draft Trump administration executive order that would order the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to review the legality of torture and potentially revise the Army Field Manual to allow harsh interrogations.3 On March 13, 2018, the President nominated Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, and Gina Haspel to replace Mr. Pompeo as Director of the CIA. Mr. Pompeo has made public statements in support of torture, most notably in response to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s 2014 report on the CIA’s use of torture on post-9/11 detainees,4 though his position appears to have altered somewhat by the time of his confirmation hearing for Director of the CIA, and Ms. Haspel’s history at black site Cat’s Eye in Thailand is controversial, particularly regarding her oversight of the torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri5 as well as her role in the destruction of video tapes documenting the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques.6 In light of these actions, President Trump appears to be signaling his support for legalizing the Bush-era techniques applied to detainees arrested and interrogated during the war on terror. -
Government Turns the Other Way As Judges Make Findings About Torture and Other Abuse
USA SEE NO EVIL GOVERNMENT TURNS THE OTHER WAY AS JUDGES MAKE FINDINGS ABOUT TORTURE AND OTHER ABUSE Amnesty International Publications First published in February 2011 by Amnesty International Publications International Secretariat Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom www.amnesty.org Copyright Amnesty International Publications 2011 Index: AMR 51/005/2011 Original Language: English Printed by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, United Kingdom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers. Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories, who campaign on human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. We research, campaign, advocate and mobilize to end abuses of human rights. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. Our work is largely financed by contributions from our membership and donations CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Judges point to human rights violations, executive turns away ........................................... 4 Absence -
Jihadism: Online Discourses and Representations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-ND 4.0 1 Studying Jihadism 2 3 4 5 6 Volume 2 7 8 9 10 11 Edited by Rüdiger Lohlker 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 The volumes of this series are peer-reviewed. 37 38 Editorial Board: Farhad Khosrokhavar (Paris), Hans Kippenberg 39 (Erfurt), Alex P. Schmid (Vienna), Roberto Tottoli (Naples) 40 41 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-ND 4.0 1 Rüdiger Lohlker (ed.) 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jihadism: Online Discourses and 8 9 Representations 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 With many figures 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 & 37 V R unipress 38 39 Vienna University Press 40 41 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-ND 4.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; 24 detailed bibliographic data are available online: http://dnb.d-nb.de. -
Unclassified//For Public Release Unclassified//For Public Release
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR PUBLIC RELEASE --SESR-Efll-N0F0RN- Final Dispositions as of January 22, 2010 Guantanamo Review Dispositions Country ISN Name Decision of Origin AF 4 Abdul Haq Wasiq Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 6 Mullah Norullah Noori Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 7 Mullah Mohammed Fazl Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001 ), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 560 Haji Wali Muhammed Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001 ), as informed by principles of the laws of war, subject to further review by the Principals prior to the detainee's transfer to a detention facility in the United States. AF 579 Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 753 Abdul Sahir Referred for prosecution. AF 762 Obaidullah Referred for prosecution. AF 782 Awai Gui Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 832 Mohammad Nabi Omari Continued detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001 ), as informed by principles of the laws of war. AF 850 Mohammed Hashim Transfer to a country outside the United States that will implement appropriate security measures. AF 899 Shawali Khan Transfer to • subject to appropriate security measures. -
Report on Public Forum
Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights, Freedoms and Democracy Report and Recommendations for Policy Direction of a Public Forum organized by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group Ottawa, February 17, 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................2 ABOUT THE ICLMG .............................................................................................................2 BACKGROUND .....................................................................................................................3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY DIRECTION ..........................................................14 PROCEEDINGS......................................................................................................................16 CONCLUDING REMARKS...................................................................................................84 ANNEXES...............................................................................................................................87 ANNEXE I: Membership of the ICLMG ANNEXE II: Program of the Public Forum ANNEXE III: List of Participants/Panelists Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights Freedoms and Democracy 2 __________________________________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Forum session reporting -
Interrogation, Detention, and Torture DEBORAH N
Finding Effective Constraints on Executive Power: Interrogation, Detention, and Torture DEBORAH N. PEARLSTEIN* INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1255 I. EXECUTIVE POLICY AND PRACTICE: COERCIVE INTERROGATION AND T O RTU RE ....................................................................................................1257 A. Vague or Unlawful Guidance................................................................ 1259 B. Inaction .................................................................................................1268 C. Resources, Training, and a Plan........................................................... 1271 II. ExECuTrVE LIMITs: FINDING CONSTRAINTS THAT WORK ...........................1273 A. The ProfessionalM ilitary...................................................................... 1274 B. The Public Oversight Organizationsof Civil Society ............................1279 C. Activist Federal Courts .........................................................................1288 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................1295 INTRODUCTION While the courts continue to debate the limits of inherent executive power under the Federal Constitution, the past several years have taught us important lessons about how and to what extent constitutional and sub-constitutional constraints may effectively check the broadest assertions of executive power. Following the publication -
United States District Court Eastern District Of
Case 2:15-cv-00286-JLQ ECF No. 239 filed 08/07/17 PageID.9393 Page 1 of 43 1 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 4 5 SULEIMAN ABDULLAH SALIM, et al., ) ) 6 ) No. CV-15-0286-JLQ Plaintiffs, ) 7 ) MEMORANDUM OPINION ) RE: MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY 8 vs. ) JUDGMENT ) 9 ) JAMES E. MITCHELL and JOHN ) 10 JESSEN, ) ) 11 Defendants. ) ___________________________________ ) 12 BEFORE THE COURT are Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 13 169), Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 178), and Defendants’ 14 Motion to Exclude (ECF No. 198). Response and Reply briefs have been filed and 15 considered. The parties have submitted a voluminous record of over 4,000 pages of 16 evidentiary exhibits. The court heard oral argument on the Motions on July 28, 2017. 17 James Smith, Henry Schuelke, III, Brian Paszamant, and Christopher Tompkins appeared 18 for Defendants James Mitchell and John Jessen. Hina Shamsi, Steven Watt, Dror Ladin, 19 Lawrence Lustberg, and Jeffry Finer appeared for Plaintiffs Suleiman Abdullah Salim, 20 Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and Obaid Ullah. The court issued its preliminary oral 21 ruling. This Opinion memorializes and supplements the court’s oral ruling. 22 I. Introduction and Factual Allegations from Complaint 23 The Complaint in this matter alleges Plaintiffs Suleiman Abdullah Salim (“Salim”), 24 Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud (“Soud”), and Gul Rahman (“Rahman”)1(collectively herein 25 Plaintiffs) were the victims of psychological and physical torture. Plaintiffs are all 26 27 1Obaid Ullah is the personal representative of the Estate of Gul Rahman. 28 ORDER - 1 Case 2:15-cv-00286-JLQ ECF No. -
Genealogy of the Concept of Securitization and Minority Rights
THE KURD INDUSTRY: UNDERSTANDING COSMOPOLITANISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by ELÇIN HASKOLLAR A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School – Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Global Affairs written under the direction of Dr. Stephen Eric Bronner and approved by ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Newark, New Jersey October 2014 © 2014 Elçin Haskollar ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Kurd Industry: Understanding Cosmopolitanism in the Twenty-First Century By ELÇIN HASKOLLAR Dissertation Director: Dr. Stephen Eric Bronner This dissertation is largely concerned with the tension between human rights principles and political realism. It examines the relationship between ethics, politics and power by discussing how Kurdish issues have been shaped by the political landscape of the twenty- first century. It opens up a dialogue on the contested meaning and shape of human rights, and enables a new avenue to think about foreign policy, ethically and politically. It bridges political theory with practice and reveals policy implications for the Middle East as a region. Using the approach of a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case study based on discourse analysis, several Kurdish issues are examined within the context of democratization, minority rights and the politics of exclusion. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, archival research and participant observation. Data analysis was carried out based on the theoretical framework of critical theory and discourse analysis. Further, a discourse-interpretive paradigm underpins this research based on open coding. Such a method allows this study to combine individual narratives within their particular socio-political, economic and historical setting. -
Terror-Financing in Pakistan
1/2016 SOCIETY FOR POLICY STUDIES www.spsindia.in SPS Insight Terror-Financing in Pakistan Dr. Sanchita Bhattacharya Society for Policy Studies (SPS) J-1824, Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi E: [email protected] W: www.spsindia.in [TERROR-FINANCING IN PAKISTAN] February 2016 Terror-Financing in Pakistan The Indian sub-continent has been plagued by various terror and extremist outfits, tracing their route to Af-Pak region and the Mujahideen cause, which further escalated into the Kashmir dispute. It is interesting to note that while Pakistan is actively financing terror activities in other countries of the sub-continent, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been devising policies to curb the menace of fake currency in its own country. As part of its campaign “Rupay ko Pehchano,” the SBP is trying to curb fake currency circulation in Pakistan. In addition, the SBP has launched a mobile application to inspect and identify counterfeit currency. Earlier, on October 6, 2015, SBP had stated that the presence of counterfeit currency notes was an undeniable fact and primary responsibility to check their influx lies with law enforcement agencies. The SBP said it had adopted a three-pronged strategy: ensuring state-of-the-art security features in banknotes that are difficult to imitate; developing necessary capacity and infrastructure with banks to ensure that genuine and authenticated bank notes issue are issued to the public; and creating awareness among the general public. The problem of terror funding is not only crippling the economy of the sub-continent but financial fraud has become an important constituent of terrorism. -
The Biden Administration Must Defend Americans Targeted by the International Criminal Court Steven Groves
BACKGROUNDER No. 3622 | MAY 17, 2021 MARGARET THATCHER CENTER FOR FREEDOM The Biden Administration Must Defend Americans Targeted by the International Criminal Court Steven Groves he Declaration of Independence cataloged the KEY TAKEAWAYS ways in which King George III infringed upon American liberties. Among King George’s Since its founding, the United States has T offenses listed in the Declaration was “Transporting tried to protect its citizens from legal us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended Offences.” harassment and persecution by foreign courts. The king claimed the authority to seize American col- onists and force them to stand trial in Great Britain for criminal offenses allegedly committed in America. The Prosecutor of the International Almost 250 years later, another foreign tribunal— Criminal Court has compiled a secret annex listing American citizens to be the International Criminal Court (ICC), located in targeted for prosecution for alleged war The Hague in the Netherlands—is working toward crimes. issuing arrest warrants for American citizens for allegedly abusing detainees in Afghanistan. The court The Biden Administration should stop the is pursuing this course despite the fact that the United ICC from persisting in its misguided pros- States is not a party to the Rome Statute of the Inter- ecution of American citizens that have national Criminal Court and therefore not subject to already been investigated by the U.S. the ICC’s jurisdiction. This paper, in its entirety, can be found at http://report.heritage.org/bg3622 The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.