By Melina Milazzo, Pennoyer Fellow, Law and Security program
Cross-posted on the Huffington Post.
This Sunday will mark eight years to the day in which lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) gave their legal seal of approval to use abusive techniques during interrogation which amounted to torture. On August 1, 2002, lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee signed their names to the torture memos, providing perverse legal justifications that stripping a detainee naked, dousing him with water, depriving him of sleep for up to eleven days, exposing him to extreme temperatures, slamming him into walls, subjecting him to stress positions for hours, forcing him into cramped boxes with insects, and waterboarding him did not amount to torture.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Firstcast: Naomi Campbell and Mass Atrocities
Listen to Human Rights First's podcast on Naomi Campbell's upcoming appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Campbell is alleged to have accepted a blood diamond from Charles Taylor, who faces 17 counts of crimes against humanity.
This podcast starts with a look at how a supermodel ends up in an international tribunal, taking a deeper look underneath the blood-red carpet to discuss how mass atrocities happen and who enables them.
This podcast starts with a look at how a supermodel ends up in an international tribunal, taking a deeper look underneath the blood-red carpet to discuss how mass atrocities happen and who enables them.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Ugandan Beaten by Police in Ukraine
Discrimination and racist violence, including at the hands of the police, is an ongoing problem in Ukraine. The latest victim was Steven Okurut, a legal resident of Ukraine from Uganda, has allegedly suffered multiple bruises and head injuries. The police officers who detained Steven also took his money and verbally abused him. Read more about the case.
Charles Asante-Yeboa—Human Rights First’s colleague and good friend from the African Center in Kyiv, Ukraine—offered his comments to the Kyiv Post, “This is an age-old method [by the police] of extorting money from Africans and Asians. They first accuse you of drug dealing, of possession, and then they search you and take whatever they like.”
The situation in the country has improved since Human Rights First released its report on Hate Crimes in Ukraine in 2008. We were fortunate not to report on any bias-motivated murders in 2009 or 2010. However, the recent incident with Steven Okurut is not a stand-alone case, but another indication that minorities are still vulnerable to discrimination and violence. The sad reality is just as Charles describes it: “People are moving around less, they avoid all modes of public transport for fear of being attacked, they travel in groups but we still see pockets of incidents in Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Kharkiv.”
Thus, vulnerable minorities are adjusting their lives, limiting their movements, and still living in fear.
Charles Asante-Yeboa—Human Rights First’s colleague and good friend from the African Center in Kyiv, Ukraine—offered his comments to the Kyiv Post, “This is an age-old method [by the police] of extorting money from Africans and Asians. They first accuse you of drug dealing, of possession, and then they search you and take whatever they like.”
The situation in the country has improved since Human Rights First released its report on Hate Crimes in Ukraine in 2008. We were fortunate not to report on any bias-motivated murders in 2009 or 2010. However, the recent incident with Steven Okurut is not a stand-alone case, but another indication that minorities are still vulnerable to discrimination and violence. The sad reality is just as Charles describes it: “People are moving around less, they avoid all modes of public transport for fear of being attacked, they travel in groups but we still see pockets of incidents in Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Kharkiv.”
Thus, vulnerable minorities are adjusting their lives, limiting their movements, and still living in fear.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
"Grave Concerns" About Arms in Darfur
As the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, noted yesterday, the continued flow of weapons to into Darfur remains a cause of “grave concern.” Continued violations of the U.N. arms embargo by third-party enablers frustrate the international community’s efforts to secure a long-term peace in Darfur and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis on the ground. For example, transfers of arms and ammunition by China, Russia, Chad, and other states to the Sudanese government or rebel forces have helped sustain violence for the past six years. Ambassador Rice’s comments are an encouraging reminder that the United States is committed to using its influence in the Security Council to pressure the United Nations toward better enforcement of the existing sanctions regime, including the arms embargo. To secure a lasting peace in Darfur, a steadfast commitment to stemming the tide of weapons is essential.
Prisoners Deserve A Hearing Before Being Sent to Countries That Torture
By Daphne Eviatar, Senior Associate, Law and Security
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
Last week, the United States government transferred an Algerian national, imprisoned for the last eight years at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country.
Normally, such transfers are a cause for celebration by the prisoners involved. But the reaction of 35-year-old Abdul Aziz Naji was markedly different: he was terrified. That's in part because the Algerian government has a bad track record for its treatment of anyone arrested on "security grounds." In fact, the U.S. State Department reports that in such cases, Algerian authorities still use torture to elicit confessions. A recent decision from the European Court of Human Rights reached the same conclusion, blocking a transfer to Algeria from France. Naji also argued that he was afraid of local fundamentalist groups terrorizing him into fighting for their cause. In fact, he'd fled Algeria as a teenager precisely because he'd been attacked by extremists. As a result, Naji begged the U.S. government to allow him to remain in prison at Guantánamo rather than be returned to Algeria. But the U.S. government ignored that; it sent him to Algeria anyway.
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
Last week, the United States government transferred an Algerian national, imprisoned for the last eight years at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country.
Normally, such transfers are a cause for celebration by the prisoners involved. But the reaction of 35-year-old Abdul Aziz Naji was markedly different: he was terrified. That's in part because the Algerian government has a bad track record for its treatment of anyone arrested on "security grounds." In fact, the U.S. State Department reports that in such cases, Algerian authorities still use torture to elicit confessions. A recent decision from the European Court of Human Rights reached the same conclusion, blocking a transfer to Algeria from France. Naji also argued that he was afraid of local fundamentalist groups terrorizing him into fighting for their cause. In fact, he'd fled Algeria as a teenager precisely because he'd been attacked by extremists. As a result, Naji begged the U.S. government to allow him to remain in prison at Guantánamo rather than be returned to Algeria. But the U.S. government ignored that; it sent him to Algeria anyway.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Wikileaks Document Dump Supports New Rules of Engagement and Need for Responsible Transition Strategy
By Daphne Eviatar, Senior Associate, Law and Security Program
Cross-posted from The Huffington Post
The 92,000 classified documents on the war in Afghanistan posted by Wikileaks and made public on Sunday are already causing a firestorm.
Although I can't claim to have reviewed the tens of thousands of documents myself (Human Rights First will be reviewing them for specific information on detentions at Bagram and the U.S. reliance on private contractors in Afghanistan) the accounts from diligent reporters so far suggest that the documents support the Obama administration's new rules of engagement, which emphasize the importance of keeping civilian casualties to an absolute minimum.
Cross-posted from The Huffington Post
The 92,000 classified documents on the war in Afghanistan posted by Wikileaks and made public on Sunday are already causing a firestorm.
Although I can't claim to have reviewed the tens of thousands of documents myself (Human Rights First will be reviewing them for specific information on detentions at Bagram and the U.S. reliance on private contractors in Afghanistan) the accounts from diligent reporters so far suggest that the documents support the Obama administration's new rules of engagement, which emphasize the importance of keeping civilian casualties to an absolute minimum.
Human Rights First Continues to Urge reforms to the U.S. Resettlement Program as Congress holds Hearing on Iraqi Refugees
Last week in written testimony submitted for the record to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Human Rights First outlined suggested reforms designed to better protect refugees in need of resettlement. Among the proposed reforms were measures such as establishing a transparent and formal expedited procedure for refugees who face an imminent risk of harm in countries to which they have fled, enacting measures to increase transparency within resettlement processing, and improvements to staffing, coordination and timeliness of the security clearance process. The recommendations we submitted are based on our organization's recent field-based research with Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. We will soon publish a larger report based on these findings.
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