Newsroom

Update

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines last week when she removed human rights from the agenda of discussion topics with China.  In today's USA Today, a Duke colleague of mine and a former researcher for Human Rights watch, Robin Kirk, explains why removing human rights from discussions simply isn't possible if America wants to achieve its other diplomatic goals. "Human rights aren't a side dish on a crowded buffet," wrote Kirk, director of the Duke Human Rights Center. "Human rights support and frame each of these other important issues. To overlook them is to court failure on the themes…

February 27, 2009

Update

It has been a busy week with developments on multiple fronts concerning the abuse of detainees held in the War on Terror. Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) has announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings next Wednesday to explore ideas on how best to establish a commission to examine past national security policies. In an interview broadcast on MSNBC House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California 8th District) expressed support for the Commission of Inquiry proposed by Senator Leahy but only if it were to conduct its business without offering immunity to those who appear before it: “Some of the…

February 27, 2009

Update

The big news today is the announcement from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) that his committee plans to hold a hearing in the near future to consider possible approaches to investigating the use of torture during the Bush administration. Committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, Rhode Island) told Salon.com that he was convinced that a torture commission would be soon be established: "When push comes to shove, we are the legislative branch of government. We have oversight responsibilities. And we don't need the executive branch's approval to look into these things just as a constitutional matter... The…

February 26, 2009

Update

Major General Antonio Taguba speaks with Salon.com about why he supports a commission to examine torture: "You can't sweep unlawful activities under the table and just forget about it. I feel strongly about this because we have future generations who will be the beneficiaries of these actions... We have a lot of unanswered questions on accountability, questions that need to be answered and hold responsible officials -- civilians and military -- accountable. These include contractors... We have an integrity issue to contend with if we are to prevent this matter from recurring." Read the entire interview on Salon.com here. Momentum…

February 25, 2009

Update

The death penalty costs money – more money than the alternatives – and, as Wonkette notes “basically every state in the union is broke”.  This is why (or at least one of the reasons why) more states than ever before are having serious death penalty repeal debates.  In Kansas, a Republican Senator has filed an abolition bill, telling FoxNews.com: "This will save significant money -- money that could be used toward education programs and toward community corrections programs."  In Colorado, they don’t have enough money to solve cold cases, and a bill to pass along the savings from death penalty abolition…

February 25, 2009

Update

Amnesty International released a report today 'Fuelling conflict: Foreign arms supplies to Israel/Gaza' calling for a comprehensive arms embargo on both Israel and Hamas.  Amnesty researchers during their fact finding mission in Gaza found both Israel and Hamas used weapons supplied from abroad to carry out attacks on civilians. The report states that Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other weapons supplied by the USA to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. Their attacks resulted in the death of hundreds of children and other civilians and destoyed homes on a massive scale while Hamas and other Palestinian armed…

February 24, 2009

Update

After serving nearly 10 years of a life sentence in Myanmar (Burma), prisoner of conscience and long-time AIUSA priority case Ma Khin Khin Leh was freed this past weekend along with 18 others widely considered to be political prisoners. Ma Khin Khin Leh, a school teacher and young mother, had been serving a life sentence because her husband, a student activist, helped plan a demonstration to be held in Bago on July 19, 1999, to protest government policies and to show support for the National League for Democracy (NLD), a pro-democracy political party that sought to counter the military junta that…

February 24, 2009

Update

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department leaked an upcoming pledge of $900 million to reconstruct Gaza and support the Palestinian Authority.  No money will pass through Hamas but will be filtered through non-governmental organizations.  I applaud this assistance but question the effectiveness of aid without negotiations and opening the borders. Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and an Israeli citizen, wonders whether money will pass into Gaza at all: “The next step is opening the border crossings, and that requires more than just signing a check.” The irony, of course, is that the US is supplying aid to…

February 24, 2009

Update

First they came after dissenting newspapers such as Realni Azerbaijan. Then they came after foreign broadcasts such as BBC and Radio Free Europe. Now, just weeks before the March 18, 2009 constitutional referendum that would institute unlimited presidency, the government of Azerbaijan is allegedly censoring the content of a popular and semi-independent website, www.day.az. In the words of Global Voices Online: “[…] the content of a leading news site considered more independent than most in Azerbaijan was replaced on Thursday with a message informing readers that the “project is closed. A day later, after the authorities denied allegations that they…

February 22, 2009

Update

Days after Egyptian authorities went after one blogger critical of the government's policy on Gaza and human rights, they're now going after another. Dia’ el Din Gad, a student blogger is believed to have been held incommunicado in the custody of State Security Investigations (SSI) services and at risk of torture since his Feb. 6.  (Click here for more) As bloggers have emerged as an active and important voice in promoting democracy and human rights, the government has responded, including Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Karim Amer. It's part of a larger effort to shut down all public criticism of…

February 21, 2009

Update

Yesterday a coalition of 18 leading human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute launched a call for the establishment of a non-partisan commission of eminent persons to investigate and examine the detention, treatment, and transfer of detainees following the 9/11 attacks. The call was backed by former FBI Director William Sessions, Major General Antonio Taguba who headed the military investigations into the abuses at Abu Ghraib, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering, Juan Mendez, President of the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the President of the United Church…

February 20, 2009

Update

In the first congressional visit since Hamas was elected in 2006, Representative Brian Baird from Washington, Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota and Senator John Kerry visited Gaza yesterday.  They witnessed and reported the devastation of the population and the dire need of humanitarian assistance.  Rep.  Ellison, Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee member and the first Muslim congress member, stated that: People, innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in – Rep. Ellison. None of the…

February 19, 2009