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The Mind-Breakers: the Case of Ramzi Bin al-Shibh

Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024

Filed under: War on Terror, Torture Victims Act, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, Torture Victims, Competence of Defendant, Convention Against Torture

The Mind-Breakers: the Case of Ramzi Bin al-Shibh by St Clair, Jeffrey By Jeffrey St. Clair   This article originally appeared in Counterpunch on October 6, 2023. It is reprinted here with permission. Read the original at https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/06/the-mind-breakers-the-case-of-ramzi-bin-al-shibh/   On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Pakistani ISI (Inter-Services …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Afghanistan: As fighting continued between Taliban forces and the Afghan military on September 3, 3020, both parties announced they had nearly completed a prisoner exchange negotiated the previous February. According to a report by Japan’s public broadcasting company, HNK, the Taliban said all 1,000 Afghan prisoners …

Unlike U.S., Many Governments Releasing Large Numbers of Prisoners to Reduce Threat of COVID-19

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Compassionate Release

Unlike U.S., Many Governments Releasing Large Numbers of Prisoners to Reduce Threat of COVID-19 by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Around the globe, governments are releasing prisoners in an attempt to mitigate the threat of COVID-19-related mass deaths in their jails and prisons. However, Third World countries are far ahead …

News in Brief

Article • February 7, 2017 • from PLN February, 2017

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Afghanistan: On August 8, 2016, Robert Langdon, a 44-year-old Australian security contractor, became the last Western prisoner to leave an Afghan prison filled with Al Qaeda and Taliban members. U.S. lawyer Kimberly Motley took Langdon’s case pro bono in 2013 and worked diligently to secure his …

U.N.: Afghanistan in Violation of Anti-Torture Convention

Article • August 23, 2016

Filed under: International, International Law, Prisoners-International, CIA

U.N.: Afghanistan in Violation of Anti-Torture Convention by When, or if, most U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan nest year, they will leave behind a culture of torture and coercive interrogation perpretrated by Afghan intelligence and police officials, according to a recently released report from the United Nations. After interviewing 379 …

Afghan Prisoner Hunger Strikes Persist in American Custody, Says Former Prisoner

Article • August 10, 2016

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, International, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, Military, Military Prisons

Afghan Prisoner Hunger Strikes Persist in American Custody, Says Former Prisoner by Derek Gilna As American troops continue their planned withdrawal from Afghanistan and wind down their combat role in favor of their Afghan allies, at least one facility continues to operate without interruption. The Detention Facility in Parwan. close to …

ACLU v. DOJ, DC, Complaint, CIA torture site Cobalt, 2016

Brief • April 14, 2016

Filed under: Excessive Force, CIA

ACLU v. DOJ, DC, Complaint, CIA torture site Cobalt, 2016 Case 1:16-cv-00704-RC Document 1 Filed 04/14/16 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 915 15th Street, N.W., 7th Floor Washington, DC 20005, Plaintiff, v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 950 …

U.S. Transfers Detention Facilities to Afghans, Retains Custody of Some Prisoners

Article • January 7, 2016

Filed under: Transfers-International

U.S. Transfers Detention Facilities to Afghans, Retains Custody of Some Prisoners by Matthew Clarke By Matt Clarke In March 2013, the U.S. transferred control of the U.S. Detention Facility in Parwan—the main jail in Afghanistan—and the Bagram military prison to the government of Afghanistan. The transfer involved thousands of prisoners, …

Revealed: The boom and bust of the CIA's secret torture sites

Article • November 2, 2015

Filed under: Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, CIA

Revealed: The boom and bust of the CIA's secret torture sites by Crofton Black Revealed: The boom and bust of the CIA's secret torture sites by Crofton Black and Sam Raphael In spring 2003 an unnamed official at CIA headquarters in Langley sat down to compose a memo. It was …

BOP Denial of ACLU FOIA Appeal, DC, CIA torture site Cobalt, 2016

Brief • September 10, 2015

Filed under: Excessive Force, Freedom of Information Act, CIA

BOP Denial of ACLU FOIA Appeal, DC, CIA torture site Cobalt, 2016 Office of U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information Policy Suite 11050 1425 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 Telephone: (202) 514-3642 Mr. Carl Takei ACLU National Prison Project 915 15th Street 7th Floor Washington, DC 20005 …

Two Reports Find at Least 54 Countries Complicit in Secret CIA Prisons

Article • August 29, 2015 • from PLN September, 2015

Filed under: Excessive Force, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, CIA

Two Reports Find at Least 54 Countries Complicit in Secret CIA Prisons by Matthew Clarke Two Reports Find at Least 54 Countries Complicit in Secret CIA Prisons by Matt Clarke The Central Intelligence Agency operated a network of prisons around the globe where suspected terrorists were routinely tortured, and in …

How U.S. Prison Officials Rubberstamped a CIA Torture Chamber

Article • August 28, 2015 • from PLN September, 2015

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, CIA

How U.S. Prison Officials Rubberstamped a CIA Torture Chamber by Carl Takei How U.S. Prison Officials Rubberstamped a CIA Torture Chamber by Carl Takei, ACLU National Prison Project The CIA’s chief interrogator called it “the closest thing he has seen to a dungeon.” At the agency’s COBALT detention site in Afghanistan …

United States, Britain Offer Training to “Improve” Prison Conditions in Afghanistan

Article • February 4, 2015 • from PLN February, 2015

Filed under: Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International)

United States, Britain Offer Training to “Improve” Prison Conditions in Afghanistan by United States, Britain Offer Training to “Improve” Prison Conditions in Afghanistan While attempting to liberate Afghanistan from the tyranny of the Taliban, the U.S. and Great Britain have given the Afghans incarceration-related tools and training, ostensibly to improve …

Rumsfeld, Military Officials Immune from Suit by Foreign Nationals Alleging Torture on Foreign Soil

Article • April 15, 2012 • from PLN April, 2012

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Alien Tort Claims Act, Alien Tort Statute (Federal), International Law, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, Alien Tort Statute (International), Qualified Immunity

Rumsfeld, Military Officials Immune from Suit by Foreign Nationals Alleging Torture on Foreign Soil by Michael Brodheim by Mike Brodheim On June 21, 2011, a divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of a district court that dismissed claims for damages and declaratory relief brought by nine foreign …

The Sun Never Sets On Torture in American Military Prisons

Article • September 15, 2011

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Escapes, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Guard Brutality/Beatings, International Law, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, Military Law, Military Prisons

The Sun Never Sets On Torture in American Military Prisons by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke PLN has reported extensively on some of the issues surrounding the treatment of prisoners in the American military prisons which were set up to hold people suspected of committing or supporting terrorism. This …

Colorado Officials Lead Efforts to Modernize Afghan Prisons

Article • May 15, 2011 • from PLN May, 2011

Filed under: International, Prisoners-International

Colorado Officials Lead Efforts to Modernize Afghan Prisons by Derek Gilna Bill Zalman is the leader of a team of prison officials from Colorado that has been tapped to help train the wardens of Afghanistan’s prisons in modern correctional practices. The head of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law …

Conviction of CIA Contractor Who Fatally Beat Afghan Detainee Upheld on Appeal

Article • March 15, 2010 • from PLN March, 2010

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Terrorism, Military, Military Prisons

Conviction of CIA Contractor Who Fatally Beat Afghan Detainee Upheld on Appeal by On August 10, 2009, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a CIA contractor who beat to death a detainee at a U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan. The contractor’s sentence was reversed due to …

Obama Promises Guantanamo Will Close and Torture Will End ... but When?

Article • October 15, 2009 • from PLN October, 2009

Filed under: Freedom of Information Act, Political Prisoners (International), Military, Military Prisons

Obama Promises Guantanamo Will Close and Torture Will End ... but When? by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke During last year’s election campaign, President Obama came out forcefully against torture by U.S. officials and in favor of closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which holds approximately 230 alleged …

Taliban Break 870 Prisoners Out of Afghan Prison

Article • April 15, 2009 • from PLN April, 2009

Filed under: Escapes, International, Political Prisoners (International)

Taliban Break 870 Prisoners Out of Afghan Prison by Taliban Break 870 Prisoners Out of Afghan Prison On June 13, 2008, the Taliban staged a prison break in Kandahar, Afghanistan, releasing 870 of Sarposa Prison’s 1,000 prisoners, 390 of whom were members of the Taliban. The escape started with a …

Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic

Article • March 15, 2009 • from PLN March, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Prison/Common Area Searches, Criminal Prosecution, Lockdowns, Telephone Access, Death Row, State Legislation

Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 20, 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry placed all 112 prisons and 155,000 prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on lockdown to search for …