Judge Grants Torture Victims Their First Chance to Pursue Justice
A CIVIL SUIT against the architects of the CIA’s torture program, psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, will be allowed to proceed, a federal judge in Spokane, Washington, decided on Friday.
District Judge Justin Quackenbush denied the pair’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit launched against them on behalf of three victims, one dead, of the brutal tactics they designed.
“This is amazing, this is unprecedented,” Steven Watt, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing the plaintiffs, told The Intercept after the hearing. “This is the first step towards accountability.”
Bangladeshi academic hacked to death
Police believe Rezaul Karim Siddique is latest victim of Islamist militants who target high-profile atheists
A university professor in Bangladesh has been hacked to death in an assault police say bears the hallmarks of previous killings by Islamist militants of secular and atheist activists.
English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, 58, was hacked from behind with machetes as he walked to from his home to the bus station in the north-western city of Rajshahi, where he taught at the public university.
“His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80% slit,” said Rajshahi police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin. “By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups.”
Official civilian death toll from US air strikes against Isis in Syria and Iraq doubles to 41
A spokesperson for the US military said all possible precautions were taken to avoid 'collateral damage'
The number of confirmed civilian deaths in American air strikesagainst Isis in Iraq and Syria has almost doubled to 41.
US Central Command has concluded a new round of investigations into reports of innocent bystanders being killed in bombings campaigns against what it said were “legitimate targets”.
At least 20 civilians died in US air strikes between September and February, including eight in a single attack on a mortar position used by militants, it said.
Merkel admits 'mistake' in Böhmermann satire case
Chancellor Merkel has said she regretted sharing her views on Jan Böhmermann's song about Erdogan, which she labeled "deliberately offensive." Still, approving Ankara's suit against the satirist was "correct," she added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comment on the explicit poem could have given some people the wrong impression, namely that she did not care about free speech, the chancellor said on Friday.
Several weeks ago, Merkel described Jan Böhmermann's poem as "deliberately offensive" while on the phone with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"In hindsight, that was a mistake," the German leader said in Berlin.
Böhmermann's poem targeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prompted the Turkish leader to sue the German satirist for defamation. The case also sparked a fierce debate on free speech in Germany as well as anger over Berlin's decision to give the investigation a green light. If convicted, Böhmermann, who has suspended his show for the time being, could face up to five years in prison.
Could lessons from Canary Islands' old migrant crisis help Europe's new one?
PATH TO PROGRESS
A decade ago, migrants braved the waves to reach the Spanish islands off the African coast, but that crisis was resolved. Now, that might inform how to approach Europe's current one.
TENERIFE, SPAIN — Far from the lush fields of banana trees in the north of Tenerife – a Spanish overseas territory off the coast of northwest Africa – is La Tejita, a sandy beach in the south of the island, where cacti protrude from the hillsides and imposing rock formations loom over sandy beaches, gray from the volcanic rock of El Teide. It was on this beach one summer in 2007 that David González Hernandez saw the boat come in.
“The boat docked and about 20 people starting walking in, others who were in better shape swam in,” says Mr. González. “Many were injured or practically dying of thirst.”
For two hours, the shocked beachgoers gave water, clothing, and first aid to help those Africans who had arrived on the southern shores of this island off the northwestern coast of Africa, home to some 880,000 people. “I had seen this sort of thing on TV but never thought it could happen here,” says González. “It had a huge impact on me.”
FIFA to set up worker welfare body for Qatar 2022
FIFA chief visits host country for the football World Cup which is under the spotlight for its human rights record.
Hafsa Adil | | Sport, Human Rights, Middle East, Qatar, Qatar 2022
Doha, Qatar - Gianni Infantino, FIFA's president, has announced plans to set up an independent committee that will monitor conditions for labourers working at Qatar’s World Cup 2022 stadiums following criticism of the country's human-rights record.
The proposed committee will be led by theFOOTBALL'S
world governing body, and include civil society representatives and "relevant FIFA stake-holders" to monitor the conditions for all projects leading up to the tournament.
world governing body, and include civil society representatives and "relevant FIFA stake-holders" to monitor the conditions for all projects leading up to the tournament.
In his first trip to Qatar since becoming FIFA president in February, Infantino met the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and visited Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, which was named in an Amnesty International report as a site where workers have suffered rights abuses.
Infantino said Qatar, the tournament's first Arab host, supported the monitoring initiative.
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