Iraq

Without Amnesty I'd be totally alone, says captive's wife

MaryAlex — Fri, 27 May 2011 17:47:03 +0100

A woman whose husband has been imprisoned and tortured in Iraq today paid tribute to the world's biggest human rights organisation.

Source: Without Amnesty I'd be totally alone, says captive's wife

Iraq: Protests being crushed by security forces - new report

Charlotte_K — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:51:46 +0100

‘He said if you don’t stop your political opposition activities we will kidnap you, rape you and videotape the rape’ - Fatima Ahmed, an opposition activist threatened in Erbil

The Iraqi authorities must stop attacks on peaceful protesters calling for an end to unemployment, poor services, and corruption and demanding political reforms, Amnesty International said today (12 April) in a new report.

Source: Iraq: Protests being crushed by security forces - new report

shocking video of Bahrain Peaceful protesters

BH2011 — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:59:36 +0100

Inspire

harryfear — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:33:20 +0000

Fort Carson soldiers' killing spree after Iraq combat

DrPot — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:30:28 +0100

Seventeen US soldiers from a Colorado military base who mostly served in Iraq have been linked to violent killings and attempted killings since their return to US soil. Three of them came from one platoon - highlighting how a generation of American soldiers are struggling to cope with life after military service.
"I was having a total mental breakdown. Every day we were getting in battles, and never having a break, it seemed like, it was just crazy.

Source: Fort Carson soldiers' killing spree after Iraq combat

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

Omar Deghayes on Receiving Letters in Guantanamo

Spectacle — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:21:59 +0100

Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians

DrPot — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:38:53 +0100

A secret video showing US air crew falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people, including two Iraqis working for Reuters news agency, was revealed by Wikileaks today.

The footage of the July 2007 attack was made public in a move that will further anger the Pentagon, which has drawn up a report identifying the whistleblower website as a threat to national security. The US defence department was embarrassed when that confidential report appeared on the Wikileaks site last month alongside a slew of military documents.

Source: Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians

Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

DrPot — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:07:40 +0000

A senior adviser to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks.
In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as "Bush's brain", said he "was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists".
He said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, should not be considered torture.
In 2009, President Barack Obama banned waterboarding as a form of torture.

Source: Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

Poland admits role in CIA rendition programme | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:47:48 +0000

The Polish authorities have for the first time admitted their involvement in the CIA's secret programme for the rendition of high-level terrorist suspects from Iraq and Afghanistan, it emerged today.
"It is time for the authorities to provide a full accounting of Poland's role in rendition," Adam Bodnar, of the Warsaw-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, said.
"These flight records reinforce the troubling findings of official European inquiries and global human rights groups, showing complicity with CIA abuse across Europe."

Source: Poland admits role in CIA rendition programme | World news | guardian.co.uk

‘Some saw a flash. All I saw were my things flying across the room’

Niluccio — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:42:19 +0000

The first blast echoed through the Times bureau just after lunch. It came from a few miles away at the Sheraton Hotel. I could see a column of smoke from our balcony on the tenth floor.

Source: ‘Some saw a flash. All I saw were my things flying across the room’

Tony Blair attacked over Iraq war 'justification'

DrPot — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:19:12 +0000

Tony Blair is facing strong criticism after he said he would have gone to war in Iraq even if he had known there were not any weapons of mass destruction.
The former prime minister said it was the "notion" of Saddam as a threat to the region which tilted him in favour of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
He added that he would have used different arguments to justify the war.
Critics have said Mr Blair misled Parliament and "tailored his arguments to fit the circumstances".

Source: Tony Blair attacked over Iraq war 'justification'

Tony Blair admits: I would have invaded Iraq anyway | UK news | The Guardian

DrPot — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:24:01 +0000

Tony Blair has said he would have invaded Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction and would have found a way to justify the war to parliament and the public.
The former prime minister made the confession during an interview with Fern Britton, to be broadcast on Sunday on BBC1, in which he said he would still have thought it right to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
"If you had known then that there were no WMDs, would you still have gone on?" Blair was asked. He replied: "I would still have thought it right to remove him [Saddam Hussein]".

Source: Tony Blair admits: I would have invaded Iraq anyway | UK news | The Guardian

Kurdish boy who 'died' in Halabja gas attack is reunited with his mother

Niluccio — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:55:35 +0000

For two decades Fatima Hama Saleh thought that she had lost all her children in a poison gas attack carried out by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish town of Halabja, in what was the single worst atrocity of the former Iraqi dictator’s rule.

Source: Kurdish boy who 'died' in Halabja gas attack is reunited with his mother

To Politicians, We're Nothing More Than Code on a Monitor

jpw1990 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:29:03 +0000

Lego Violence

ThinkAThunk — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:52:59 +0100

Warning: "This is not a blog for children." That's according to the mission statement of the blogger Legofesto, who's amazingly found a way to use LEGO — the stackable, clickable, infinitely malleable children's toys — to tell the story of Guantanamo Bay detainees, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, British bank instability, and civilian deaths in the Iraq War.

Source: Lego Violence

Stockholm-The Iranian regime's demonstration was met by counter-demonstrators

Joakimprojekt`s — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:40:58 +0100

A group of fundamentalists organized by the Iranian embassy were demonstrating against Israel when other exiled Iranians showed their hatred of the Iranian regime at Sergel Square on Sunday. Iranian ambassador. Rasoul Eslami, were among the demonstrators.
Participants from two different demonstrations at Sergel Square clashed, forcing police to block the part of central Stockholm.
Online petition :http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-ashraf.html

Source: Stockholm-The Iranian regime's demonstration was met by counter-demonstrators

BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

DrPot — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:15:32 +0100

Torture techniques used on suspected terrorists by the Bush administration may have failed to get to the truth, researchers say.
Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College, Dublin, said the interrogation techniques had a detrimental effect on brain functions related to memory.
He listed 10 methods of what he called torture used by the US, including stress positions and waterboarding.
His review is published in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science.

Source: BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:44:37 +0100

The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has reported one of its own officers to the attorney general over allegations of complicity in torture, the foreign secretary revealed today.
David Miliband disclosed the move in a letter to William Hague. The shadow foreign secretary had written to Miliband about allegations made by MPs, first reported in the Guardian, of complicity in torture or ill treatment of detainees and terror suspects by officers in the Security Service, MI5.
Miliband said the case was referred to the attorney general, Lady Scotland, by MI6 on its own initiative, "unprompted by any accusation against the service or the individual concerned".

Source: MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

Amnesty calls for halt to executions in Iraq

Niluccio — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:50:26 +0100

Rights group Amnesty International called on Iraq on Tuesday to halt executions, saying the woeful state of the justice system was unable to guarantee fair trials in capital cases.

Source: Amnesty calls for halt to executions in Iraq

What every American should be made to learn about the IG Torture Report - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.co

vikz — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:54:07 +0100

the IG Report also documents numerous other abuses that have been documented by prior OLC memos, including having waterboarded detainees 82 and 183 times; hanging them by their arms until interrogators thought their shoulders might be dislocated; stepping on their ankle shackles to cause severe bruising and pain; putting them in a diapers and leaving them doused with water on cold concrete floors in cold temperatures to induce hypothermia, etc. Some of the numerous deaths of detainees during interrogations were also discussed (for details on detainee deaths, see here and here). After documenting all of that, the IG Report notes:

Source: What every American should be made to learn about the IG Torture Report - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.co

US launches probe into CIA abuses

DrPot — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:25:17 +0100

A special US prosecutor has been appointed to investigate allegations of abuse of terror suspects.
The announcement of John Durham's selection came as a report was published detailing the allegations of abuse by CIA agents.
Agents threatened to kill a key terror suspect's children and sexually assault another's mother, it is claimed.

Source: US launches probe into CIA abuses

US 'names secret terror suspects'

DrPot — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:18:52 +0100

The US military has begun notifying the Red Cross of the identities of terror suspects being held at secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, US reports say.
The International Committee of the Red Cross would not comment on the report, which the New York Times carried quoting unnamed US officials.
The policy reportedly took effect this month with no public announcement.
Correspondents say that, if confirmed, the move represents a victory for human rights groups.

Source: US 'names secret terror suspects'

Bombshell report on CIA interrogations is leaked | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:59:25 +0100

CIA interrogators threatened a captured al-Qaida leader with a power drill and a pistol in what was described as a mock execution, according to a long-suppressed report due to be released on Monday.......The full findings on the CIA's interrogation programme are to be made public after a federal judge upheld an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union for their release.
The report is understood to describe mock executions where interrogators tried to get detainees to talk by firing a gun in an adjoining room to pretend another prisoner had been killed.

Source: Bombshell report on CIA interrogations is leaked | World news | guardian.co.uk

Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq

benc — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:02:47 +0100

Gay Iraqi men are being murdered in what appears to be a brutal coordinated campaign involving militia forces

Source: Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq

Iraqi Government hit with claims that man died in detention after torture

Niluccio — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:46:44 +0100

A man died in Iraqi army detention after allegedly being beaten, given electric shocks with a cattle prod and burnt with cigarettes in a case that highlights the abuses suffered by detainees at the hands of Iraqi security forces.

Source: Iraqi Government hit with claims that man died in detention after torture

From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:08:54 +0100

It is disappointing that the panels responsible for reviewing the Obama administration's detention policy at Guantánamo Bay and its interrogation policy overall announced on Tuesday that they would need more time to complete their evaluations. Thankfully, though, the pending review of the Afghan prison and judicial system is on track to be completed swiftly and thoroughly by the US military at this critical juncture in the nearly eight-year-long conflict.

Source: From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Bush's key men face grilling on torture and death squads | World news | The Observer

DrPot — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:08:15 +0100

America is bracing itself for a series of investigations that could see top officials from the administration of President George W Bush hauled in front of Congress, grilled by a special prosecutor and possibly facing criminal charges.
Several investigations will now cast a spotlight on Bush-era torture policy and a secret CIA assassination programme, examining the role played by big names such as the former vice-president Dick Cheney and the former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In one investigation into the controversial firing of federal prosecutors, Bush's political guru, Karl Rove, has already been forced to appear before Congress and give testimony behind closed doors.

Source: Bush's key men face grilling on torture and death squads | World news | The Observer

Video of British soldier shouting abuse at Iraqis shown at Baha Mousa inquiry | UK news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:11:03 +0100

A video of a British soldier screaming obscenities and abuse at hooded Iraqi detainees was shown today at the opening session of a public inquiry into how the hotel receptionist, Baha Mousa, was killed while in British custody.
The film shows Corporal Donald Payne, formerly of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, shouting and swearing at the Iraqis as they are forced to maintain painful "stress positions".
The video is a key piece of evidence in a wide-ranging inquiry into the death of Mousa, which got under way today.

Source: Video of British soldier shouting abuse at Iraqis shown at Baha Mousa inquiry | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Inquiry into claims British troops executed Iraqi prisoners

Niluccio — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:42:08 +0100

An investigation is to be launched into allegations that British troops tortured and killed Iraqi prisoners.

Source: Inquiry into claims British troops executed Iraqi prisoners