Pete Hegseth, confirmed by the Senate on January 24 as US President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, gave noncommittal answers to two key questions at his confirmation hearing: 1) if the president ordered him to use the military to shoot protesters domestically would he do it? 2) Would he comply with the Geneva Conventions? This [...]
Search Results for: torture memos
On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected a controversial plea deal that would have prevented three alleged 9/11 terror attack planners from facing the death penalty. Earlier this week, a letter to the families of 9/11 victims revealed that alleged co-conspirators Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi had pled guilty to orchestrating [...]
Explainer: Chiquita Ordered to Pay $38M for Financing Violent Paramilitary Forces in Colombia
Chiquita’s money helped buy weapons and ammunition used to kill innocent victims. —US Government sentencing memo, 2008 In 2007, Chiquita — one of the world’s largest banana producers — admitted that for years it had been knowingly paying a Colombian terrorist organization to protect its operations in the country. The consequence was predictably violent, allegedly [...]
Lawsuit alleges New York prisons flout state law by isolating inmates with disabilities
A class action complaint filed this week accuses New York prison officials of holding disabled inmates in solitary confinement in violation of state law. Solitary confinement has been a core feature of the US penal system since the 18th century — dating back to the earliest state prisons, where the inmates seen as most depraved [...]
“Does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office, and if so, to what extent?” This is the latest question the Supreme Court is grappling with that will have a direct impact on a leading candidate ahead of what are expected to [...]
Red Cross delegate: Guantanamo inmates show signs of 'accelerated aging'
A top International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate Friday said that inmates held by the US at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center are experiencing “symptoms of accelerated .” Patrick Hamilton, the head of the ICRC’s US and Canada delegation, visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in March and says that the inmates’ symptoms are consistent with [...]
Ukraine dispatch: does Russia's campaign against Ukraine rise to the level of genocide?
Law students and young lawyers in Ukraine are filing for JURIST on the latest developments in that country as it defends itself against the Russian invasion. Here, Kyiv-based lawyer and University of Pittsburgh LLM graduate Yaroslav Pavliuk reports. Back in March, the JURIST team published an article called “Weaponizing ‘Genocide:’ Post-War International Justice in Putin’s [...]
Human rights agencies report: Myanmar junta responsible for crimes against humanity
The Myanmar junta is responsible for crimes against humanity, murder, torture, and forced displacement of civilians and political leaders, according to a report by human rights agencies released Thursday. The report, co-authored by Fortify Rights and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, is focused primarily on the six months following [...]
After President-elect Joe Biden takes office and Donald Trump exits the White House, federal and state prosecutors will have to decide whether to charge the former president based on ongoing criminal investigations. Prosecuting a former head of state is no small matter and would be unprecedented in the United States. But the egregious nature of [...]
Protests on anniversary of Attica uprising demand reform to solitary confinement
Advocates for prison reform commemorated the Sunday, September 13 anniversary of the Attica prison uprising with protests in New York City and Albany, calling for improved treatment of incarcerated people. Forty-nine years ago, inmates at Attica Correctional Facility in New York, who described the conditions of their confinement as little short of torture, led an [...]