CIA Torture
Worldwide outrage as Guantanamo hunger strike enters fourth month
By Fred Mazelis, 8 May 2013
Guantanamo inmates have reported that the feeding tubes, instead of being left in, are inserted twice daily for maximum pain and discomfort.
Raid by guards triggers clash with Guantanamo inmates
By Ed Hightower, 15 April 2013
The resistance of the inmates by means of a hunger strike, or any other measure of collective action, is something the overseers of the prison cannot tolerate.
Italian president pardons officer involved in CIA renditions in Italy
By Stefan Steinberg, 10 April 2013
At the end of last week the Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, issued a pardon to US colonel Joseph Romano who was involved in a CIA rendition operation in Italy.
US steps up war against Syria after Obama’s “peace” trip to Israel
By Johannes Stern, 25 March 2013
CIA operations and calls to arm the pro-Western Syrian opposition are escalating after US President Barack Obama's trip to Israel last week.
New report on CIA: Rendition and torture on a global scale
By Jeff Lincoln, 20 March 2013
The US has utilized a global network of secret prisons, foreign intelligence agents, and interrogation and torture centers to send detainees to without any legal protections.
Guantanamo hunger strike over prisoner abuse
By Patrick Martin, 18 March 2013
At least 14 prisoners are refusing food, and half are now being force-fed in what amounts to torture.
A reply to Michael Moore’s defense of Zero Dark Thirty
By David Walsh, 30 January 2013
Bigelow’s deplorable pro-CIA film has provoked criticism and outrage, including in the Hollywood film community itself.
Obama’s cabinet of austerity and war
By Patrick Martin, 14 January 2013
Obama’s cabinet selections demonstrate that his second term will be focused on social cutbacks at home and violent aggression abroad.
European Court orders damages for CIA torture victim
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 5 January 2013
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has condemned the Republic of Macedonia for its role in the CIA rendition of Khaled El-Masri.
Obama and torture
4 January 2013
The illegal practice of rendition, inseparably bound up with torture, has continued and expanded under the Obama administration.
US military trial to censor testimony on CIA torture
By Naomi Spencer, 15 December 2012
While evidence obtained through torture may be introduced into the courtroom, no evidence of the torture itself is to be permitted.
The death of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif
By Tom Carter, 3 December 2012
The failure of the US legal system to enforce the most basic rights of Latif, who died in September at the Guantanamo prison camp, underscores the collapse of democratic legal institutions and the expanding machinery of a police state.
US seeks to bar testimony on torture in military trial of alleged 9/11 plotters
By Don Knowland, 26 October 2012
Government motions to preclude the alleged 9/11 plotters from testifying about their detention and torture have been submitted to the military commission that is trying the defendants for war crimes.
The Obama administration and the cover-up of CIA torture
By Bill Van Auken, 7 September 2012
The new revelations of CIA waterboarding of Libyan detainees underscore the criminality of US foreign policy and both major political parties.
US Justice Department closes CIA probe with no charges in torture, murder of detainees
By Bill Van Auken, 1 September 2012
US Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday shut down a three-year investigation into CIA torture and murder of detainees, with no charges being brought against anyone.
Guantanamo military tribunals proceed despite evidence of torture
By Tom Carter, 30 May 2012
At Guantanamo Bay, the Obama administration continues to prosecute five alleged September 11 conspirators before a military commission over objections from defense attorneys regarding torture and challenges to the legitimacy of the proceedings.
Guantanamo military commission arraigns 9/11 defendants
By Patrick Martin, 8 May 2012
The proceeding became bogged down almost immediately in the efforts by the military judge and prosecutor to block any airing of charges that the prisoners had been systematically tortured in US custody.
Appeals Court backs immunity for Bush administration torture policy
By Patrick Martin, 5 May 2012
The 3-0 decision gives the author of the “torture memos,” John Yoo, legal immunity from lawsuits.
Former head of CIA operations defends torture, obstruction of justice
By Bill Van Auken, 27 April 2012
In a book coming out next week, Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA’s clandestine operations directorate, delivers an unequivocal defense of torture and of his destruction of tapes recording the agency’s crimes.
Padilla torture case comes before US Supreme Court
By Tom Carter, 25 April 2012
“It is hard to conceive of a more profound constitutional violation than the torture of a US citizen on US soil,” wrote lawyers for Jose Padilla, who was illegally “disappeared,” imprisoned and tortured by the US government for four years.
Obama’s Guantanamo “war court” in session
By Bill Van Auken, 14 April 2012
At the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, the proceedings of the so-called “war court” have resumed under the new management of the Obama administration.
European court’s extradition ruling and Guantanamo’s global reach
By Bill Van Auken, 13 April 2012
Tuesday’s ruling by the European human rights court allowing Britain’s extradition of five alleged terror suspects to the US speaks volumes about the erosion of basic democratic principles throughout Europe.
Obama Justice Department indicts ex-CIA agent for exposing torture
By Bill Van Auken, 7 April 2012
Thursday’s indictment of John Kiriakou for exposing CIA torture of detainees confirms yet again that the Obama administration is continuing and deepening the crimes carried out by the Bush White House.
Obama administration prosecutes CIA whistleblower for exposing torture
By Alan Gilman, 31 January 2012
In a criminal complaint filed January 23, the Obama administration’s Justice Department charged John Kiriakou, a former Central Intelligence Agency operative, with disclosing classified information to journalists about the waterboarding of Abu Zubayda.
Guantánamo: A decade of US torture and repression
By Bill Van Auken, 13 January 2012
Ten years after the first prisoners in Washington’s “global war on terror” arrived at Guantánamo in hoods and shackles, the infamous prison camp remains open, its operations codified by Congress and President Obama into US law.
Lawsuit demands that Obama administration release Guantanamo torture tapes
By Tom Carter, 12 January 2012
The videotapes sought by the Center for Constitutional Rights constitute important evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Obama signs police state legislation
By Patrick Martin, 3 January 2012
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which effectively abolishes the right of habeas corpus, the oldest democratic right.
CIA prison exposed in Romania
By Sybille Fuchs, 12 December 2011
German journalists have uncovered the location of one of the notorious “black site” torture prisons run in Europe by the CIA.
Guantanamo lawyers speak out on decade of torture and abuse
By Peter Daniels, 14 September 2011
A panel discussion held on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary dealt with the continuing crimes taking place at the Guantanamo prison camp and elsewhere as part of the “war on terror.”
Secret interrogation policy confirms UK government’s complicity in war crimes
By Stephen Alexander, 12 August 2011
A secret interrogation policy document obtained by the Guardian is the latest in a growing body of evidence attesting to the war crimes of the previous Labour government.
Australian government moves to confiscate book royalties from former Guantánamo prisoner
By Richard Phillips, 29 July 2011
The Labor government has begun legal action to seize all proceeds from David Hicks’s book Guantanamo: My Journey.
Obama administration operates illegal torture compound in Somalia
By Tom Carter, 19 July 2011
The Obama administration is operating an illegal secret CIA prison compound in Somalia into which targeted individuals are “rendered” without trial to be tortured.
Book Review
Guantanamo: My Journey—David Hicks exposes torture and government criminality
By Richard Phillips, 19 May 2011
Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks has written a valuable exposure of the barbarities perpetrated against him by the US military and Canberra’s role in his illegal detention.
White House, US media stonewall on Guantanamo
By Patrick Martin, 27 April 2011
The US government seeks to bury the revelations of ongoing human rights violations at the detention camp.
Guantanamo documents reveal US brutality and lawlessness
By Patrick Martin, 26 April 2011
WikiLeaks has released new evidence of wrongful imprisonment and torture by the US military and intelligence agencies.
Obama orders resumption of military trials at Guantanamo
By Barry Grey, 8 March 2011
President Barack Obama on Monday announced the lifting of a 25-month stay on new military trials at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison camp, effectively repudiating his post-inauguration pledge to close the infamous facility.
Obama administration indicts ex-CIA whistleblower
By Ed Hightower and Tom Carter, 4 February 2011
The persecution of ex-CIA agent and whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling reveals that the Obama administration is prepared use any means necessary to keep the lid on its dirty secrets.
More evidence of US war crimes
By Patrick Martin, 24 January 2011
Military documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union provide important new evidence of American war crimes.
US youth returns home after torture in Kuwait
By Bill Van Auken, 22 January 2011
Gulet Mohamed, a 19-year-old American citizen, returned to the US Friday after being tortured—apparently on Washington’s orders—at the hands of the regime in Kuwait.
Obama administration preparing executive order to authorize indefinite detentions
By John Burton, 23 December 2010
The executive order would pave the way for permanent detention without charge of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and on US soil.
Secret cables reveal Washington intervened in Italy to defend CIA kidnappers
By David Walsh, 23 December 2010
Secret diplomatic dispatches, released by WikiLeaks, reveal how US authorities put pressure on the Italian government to protect CIA agents responsible for kidnapping and torture.
Cables show Portugal’s role in secret CIA prisoner flights
By Patrick Martin, 17 December 2010
The Portuguese government agreed to make an Azores air base available for CIA flights, while keeping the arrangement secret from its own people.
Leaked cables show German-American conspiracy to stifle prosecution of CIA kidnappers
By Andre Damon, 11 December 2010
A WikiLeaks cable showed that US diplomats pressured the German government to stifle the prosecution of CIA agents who abducted and tortured Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen.
White House rejects criminal charges in CIA destruction of torture videos
By John Andrews, 11 November 2010
The Obama administration will not prosecute CIA officials for destroying 92 video recordings depicting agents torturing alleged al Qaeda leaders in a secret overseas prison.
Bush on NBC: Rehabilitating a war criminal
By Patrick Martin, 10 November 2010
The former president defended every crime committed by his administration, from the illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to the use of torture, to the abandonment of New Orleans and the Gulf coast during Hurricane Katrina.
Torturer-in-chief: Bush brags about waterboarding
By Bill Van Auken, 6 November 2010
In his memoir to be released next week, former US President George W. Bush boasts of having personally given the order to the CIA to employ the torture method of waterboarding.
Child soldier Omar Khadr coerced into plea-bargain
By Keith Jones, 27 October 2010
With Canada’s Conservative government acting as their accomplice and in violation of international law, the Obama administration and US military have coerced child soldier Omar Khadr into a plea bargain.
Judge bars torture evidence in ex-Guantánamo detainee trial
By Bill Van Auken, 9 October 2010
A federal judge in Manhattan barred testimony from the government’s star witness in the trial of accused African embassy bomber Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani because the evidence was derived through torture.
US transfer of Iraqi prisoners: an ongoing war crime
By Bill Van Auken, 14 September 2010
The US military’s transfer of some 10,000 detainees to an Iraqi regime known to carry out systematic torture is a war crime that continues and deepens the atrocities of Abu Ghraib.
Federal appeals court adopts Obama “state secrets” doctrine to block torture case
By Tom Carter, 9 September 2010
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California dismissed a case by victims of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program against a unit of Boeing.
Obama administration continues to cover up US torture of prisoners
By Tom Carter, 25 August 2010
The Obama administration has rebuffed numerous requests for information and documentation from foreign governments, many of them its close allies, who have been compelled for domestic political reasons to open investigations into torture and illegal detention of prisoners by US government agents.
Doctors “calibrated” pain for CIA interrogations
By Ed Hightower, 12 June 2010
According to a recent report, the CIA’s Office of Medical Services dispatched doctors to carefully monitor the physical effects of torture techniques on prisoners.
US continues to detain, torture prisoners at secret Afghan base
By David Walsh, 12 May 2010
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed to the British Broadcasting Corporation that the US military is operating a second “black jail” at its Bagram airbase near Kabul in Afghanistan, contrary to the Pentagon’s public denials.
US Justice Department report clears authors of Bush torture memos
By Kate Randall, 22 February 2010
A US Justice Department report has exonerated the Bush administration lawyers whose secret memos justified waterboarding and other forms of torture by CIA interrogators.
The Binyam Mohamed case: Top UK judges find US and Britain guilty of torture
By Tania Kent and Robert Stevens, 13 February 2010
After the Appeal Court in Britain rejected government efforts to suppress them, seven paragraphs of a report drawn up by British judges that say former Guantanamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed was tortured by US officials were posted in redacted form on the British Foreign Office web site.
US exonerates authors of Bush torture memos
By Kate Randall, 2 February 2010
The Obama Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has concluded that Office of Legal Counsel lawyers who penned the infamous memos justifying torture under the Bush administration will not be subject to disciplinary action.
US frame-up of Aafia Siddiqui begins to unravel
Pakistani victim of rendition and torture
By Ali Ismail, 1 February 2010
The case against Aafia Siddiqui, charged with the attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan, is rapidly unraveling. Her trial in New York is aimed at covering up the torture and rendition to which she and her children were subjected.
Harper’s Magazine exposes Guantánamo cover-up
By Fred Mazelis, 26 January 2010
The forthcoming issue of Harper’s Magazine contains a devastating exposure of the alleged suicides of three Guantánamo Bay detainees in June 2006.
US to hold 50 Guantanamo prisoners indefinitely
By Barry Grey, 23 January 2010
The US Justice Department has determined that nearly 50 of the remaining 196 detainees at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are to be held indefinitely, without charges or trial.
US court sharply limits rights of Guantanamo prisoners
By Barry Grey, 8 January 2010
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued a sweeping decision upholding the power of the government to detain Guantanamo prisoners indefinitely.
Assassination without borders
CIA and mercenaries plotted murder of German citizen
By Peter Schwarz, 7 January 2010
The policy of targeted killing, the liquidation of alleged terrorists by the US, does not stop at the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen. It is also practiced on the territory of Washington’s NATO allies.
Lithuanian parliamentary commission confirms presence of CIA prisons
By Stefan Steinberg, 29 December 2009
A commission set up by the Lithuanian parliament has acknowledged that at least two sites had been established inside the country to serve as secret detention camps for the CIA’s “war on terror.”
Mercenaries and assassins: The real face of Obama’s “good war”
By Bill Van Auken, 12 December 2009
Reports that mercenaries employed by the notorious Blackwater-Xe military contracting firm participated in CIA assassinations in Iraq and Afghanistan have further exposed the real character of so-called “good war” that is being escalated by the Obama administration.
Padilla v. Yoo: Obama administration backs appeal of Bush torture memo author
By John Burton, 12 December 2009
Obama administration lawyers are once again supporting the dismissal of a civil case brought by a victim of illegal detention and torture during the Bush administration.
US Supreme Court suppresses torture photos
By Tom Eley, 2 December 2009
The Supreme Court on Monday reversed an appeals court order that would have obligated the Obama administration to release photographs depicting US soldiers subjecting prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq to horrific acts of torture.
Torture continues at US prisons in Afghanistan
By Tom Eley, 1 December 2009
Recent reports reveal that the US military continues to carry on torture and illegal detention in Afghanistan at a dungeon known to inmates as “the black prison.”
After years of detention and torture
Ten Guantánamo prisoners to face US trial
By Patrick Martin, 14 November 2009
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that ten of the prisoners now held in the Guantánamo Bay detention camp would be transferred to US locations and placed on trial on terrorism charges.
US appellate court blocks lawsuit against extraordinary rendition and torture
By John Andrews, 10 November 2009
A federal appellate court has denied Canadian citizen Maher Arar the right to sue former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other US officials responsible for his “extraordinary rendition” to Syria.
Italian court convicts US agents in CIA rendition case
By Stefan Steinberg, 6 November 2009
In a landmark decision with global political repercussions, an Italian court has convicted in absentia 23 US agents for their role in the 2003 CIA kidnapping and "rendition" of an Italian citizen, Abu Omar.
The US government’s double standard on extradition: CIA agents vs. Roman Polanski
By David Walsh, 6 November 2009
The US government promises that it will not hand over to Italy convicted CIA agents, guilty of abetting torture, should that country request their extradition. It has adopted a different attitude toward filmmaker Roman Polanski.
Britain: Reports state CIA “extraordinary rendition” flights landed in UK
By Robert Stevens, 5 November 2009
A US registered plane named in a 2007 European Parliament report into alleged Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) “extraordinary rendition” flights was observed to land at Birmingham Airport in England on October 2 of this year.
FBI knew of CIA torture, considered prosecution
By Tom Eley, 4 November 2009
FBI agents witnessed torture at CIA prisons in 2002, new documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit reveal.
British secret service chief justifies torture
By Chris Marsden, 21 October 2009
The head of Britain’s secret service, MI5, has publicly defended the use of torture to obtain evidence against alleged terrorists.
British High Court instructs government to release evidence of CIA torture of Binyam Mohamed
By Julie Hyland, 19 October 2009
Britain’s Labour government is continuing its efforts to suppress evidence of intelligence service involvement in the torture and abuse of former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Binyam Mohamed.
Obama asserts power to detain suspects without trial
By Tom Eley, 25 September 2009
The Obama administration announced this week that it intends to continue the Bush administration policy of holding terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge or trial.
Obama administration shields CIA torturers
By Tom Eley, 22 September 2009
In response to a public campaign waged by the CIA, the Obama administration has scaled back the already narrow investigation into CIA torture announced last month by Attorney General Eric Holder.
Physicians for Human Rights report
CIA doctors, psychologists participated in torture of prisoners
By Tom Eley, 4 September 2009
Physicians for Human Rights charges in a new report that medical professionals attached to the CIA participated in the torture of “terror suspects” and used prisoners as human research subjects.
CIA secret prisons organized from Germany
By Jan Peters, 1 September 2009
A report in the New York Times confirms that the CIA planned and organized at least three secret prisons from the German city of Frankfurt/Main beginning in 2003.
Cheney defends torture policy and CIA torturers
By Patrick Martin, 31 August 2009
In an interview Sunday, former vice president Dick Cheney defended the brutal interrogations carried out at CIA secret prisons and denounced the proposed investigation of a handful of CIA agents.
CIA probe shields architects of US torture regime
By Bill Van Auken, 27 August 2009
With its release of a heavily redacted version of the CIA’s 2004 torture report, the Obama administration is continuing to cover up the scale of the crimes carried out under the last administration while shielding its top figures from prosecution.
German magazine reports
Blackwater mercenaries used for CIA renditions
By Patrick Martin, 24 August 2009
The German news magazine Der Spiegel announced Saturday that the security firm formerly known as Blackwater Associates was hired by the CIA to transport prisoners from Guantánamo Bay to secret prisons in Central Asia where they could be tortured.
CIA director issues a warning to Congress
By Bill Van Auken, 4 August 2009
CIA Director Leon Panetta used a Washington Post opinion column Sunday to warn Congress against pursuing any investigation into the crimes carried out by the agency under the Bush administration.
Obama task force backs indefinite detention without trial
By Tom Eley, 22 July 2009
A task force on US detention policies has released an “interim report” indicating that the Obama White House—like the Bush administration before it—claims the right to indefinitely detain “terror suspects” without charges or trials.
Somali-Americans subjected to first Obama “terror” prosecution
By Bill Van Auken, 16 July 2009
The indictment unsealed Monday against two young Somali-American men signals the start of the first major “war on terror” prosecution under the Obama administration.
Death squads and US democracy
By Bill Van Auken, 14 July 2009
The revelation that former Vice President Cheney ordered the CIA to keep a covert assassination program secret from Congress is an indication of the crisis gripping the American political establishment.
Obama claims right to imprison “combatants” acquitted at trial
By Bill Van Auken, 10 July 2009
In testimony before Congress this week, spokesmen for the Obama administration indicated that some of the worst abuses carried out in Bush’s “global war on terror” are to be continued and deepened by the Democratic president.
Obama smoothes passage of war spending bill by pledging to suppress torture photos
By Tom Eley, 15 June 2009
House and Senate negotiators Friday reached agreement on a $106 billion bill funding the US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan through September after President Obama vowed to continue suppressing photos of US personnel torturing Iraqi prisoners.
Obama administration’s new moves to block release of torture documents
By Tom Eley, 12 June 2009
While the Obama administration continues its efforts to suppress documentation of the Bush administration’s extensive torture regime, a number of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits threaten to bring more evidence of torture to light.
Canada’s Conservative government continuing persecution of Abousfian Abdelrazik
By Graham Beverley, 5 June 2009
Canada’s Conservative government has repeatedly introduced obstacles to Abousfian Abdelrazik returning home, in the process redefining the rights of Canadian citizenship and inadvertently raising questions about Canada’s complicity in torture.
Torture photos: US soldiers raped, sodomized Iraqi prisoners
By Tom Eley, 29 May 2009
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph published Wednesday, former US General Antonio Taguba said that photographs the Obama administration is seeking to suppress show images of US soldiers raping and sodomizing Iraqi prisoners.
US media ignores threat to democratic rights
By Bill Van Auken, 27 May 2009
The media’s reaction to last week’s extraordinary back-to-back speeches by President Obama and former Vice President Cheney has been one of complacency and cover-up in the face of a profound threat to basic democratic rights exposed in their remarks.
US Supreme Court shields Bush administration officials from torture lawsuit
By Tom Eley, 20 May 2009
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Pakistani immigrant could not advance a lawsuit against top Bush administration officials for the torture he sustained while imprisoned in New York City.
Panetta and Washington’s endless war
By Bill Van Auken, 20 May 2009
Echoing the rhetoric of the Bush administration, CIA Director Leon Panetta Monday pushed for a halt to the public debate over torture by declaring, “We are a nation at war.”
The lies of the CIA and Nancy Pelosi
16 May 2009
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi charges the CIA with lying to her about torture in a 2002 briefing. What is certain is that she and the Democrats have lied to the American people to obscure their complicity in the crimes of the Bush administration.
Obama on torture photos: cover-up and complicity
By Bill Van Auken, 15 May 2009
President Obama’s reversal of the decision to release Pentagon torture photos is part of a series of actions that have served to cover up for the crimes of the Bush administration and to continue them in an only slightly altered form.
Obama bows to Republican right and military on torture photos
By Bill Van Auken, 14 May 2009
Obama’s about-face on the decision to release photographs of US personnel torturing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan is another capitulation by his administration to mounting pressure from the right and the military-intelligence apparatus.
CIA memo cites 40 Congressional briefings on torture
By Bill Van Auken, 9 May 2009
A memo released Wednesday lists 40 secret briefings for members of Congress on the use of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”—in plain words, torture. Republicans have used the memo to indict Democrats for complicity in these criminal practices.
Letters from our readers
9 May 2009
A selection or recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site
US Justice Department report urges no prosecution over torture memos
By Bill Van Auken, 7 May 2009
A Justice Department draft report produced under Bush opposing criminal prosecution of government lawyers who justified torture has been embraced by the Obama administration.
Spain: Garzón investigation reveals abuse suffered by Guantánamo detainees
By Paul Mitchell, 5 May 2009
Garzón’s investigation targets the “possible material authors, enablers and accomplices” of illegal abuses, possibly including the high-level Bush administration officials, responsible for what amounts to an “authorized and systematic plan for torture.”
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