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Gitmo defendant’s lawyers: CIA gave ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ makers more info than us

"The CIA cooperated with the makers of the Hollywood movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and has acknowledged one character was 'modeled after' Connell’s client, Ammar al Baluchi, an alleged al Qaeda money mover also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. He is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s nephew. The movie showed interrogators stringing up the Ammar character with a rope, forcing him to wear a dog collar, waterboarding him and stuffing him into a coffin-like box. The CIA has not acknowledged using those techniques on Baluchi but has admitted using them on other prisoners." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGitmo defendant’s lawyers: CIA gave ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ makers more info than us

Zurich bank cuts Cuba’s last Swiss franc channel

"Zurich's cantonal bank is halting all transfers to Cuba starting next month to avoid activities deemed in violation of a US embargo on the communist-ruled island. Bank spokeswoman Evelyne Brönnimann told AFP that new rules meant ZKB must now attest to its banking partners in the United States that its activities are in line with the US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) rules. 'If this is not the case, the United States can take actions against the banks like freezing their holdings,' the bank statement said. The head of the Swiss-Cuban Chamber of Commerce harshly criticised ZKB's decision, lamenting that the bank was removing the only banking channel operating in Swiss francs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingZurich bank cuts Cuba’s last Swiss franc channel

US expat in Switzerland builds North Korean schools

"An American retiree living in Switzerland has gained rare access to the pariah state to build schools in the usually off-limits countryside. Typhoons had destroyed many North Korean schools, built with mud and hay instead of cement, and Carpenter's foundation agreed to help, becoming one of few independent aid groups in the country. Carpenter almost fully funds the North Korean projects himself, and laments the difficulty of convincing donors to pitch in. People 'don't see the human angle (or) the hardship,' he said. 'North Koreans are human beings who laugh and cry like people everywhere,' he said, describing people with a 'good sense of humour' who are curious about the outside world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS expat in Switzerland builds North Korean schools

Swiss government blocks arms sales to U.S. over human rights concerns

"The Swiss government regularly comes in for criticism over the export of firearms. A blocked sale of weapon components to the United States has recently put the spotlight on little known aspects of the global arms trade. The government in January vetoed the deal for handgun parts worth more than CHF400,000 on the grounds that the handguns – assembled in the US for export to Saudi Arabia - could be used to violate human rights." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss government blocks arms sales to U.S. over human rights concerns

Human rights court blocks extradition of U.K.-based terror suspect to U.S.

"Extraditing a UK-based terror suspect to an American 'supermax' high security prison would constitute 'inhuman or degrading treatment', the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled. The Strasbourg court barred the removal of Haroon Aswat, whose nationality is unknown, from Broadmoor psychiatric hospital to the US on account of his severe mental illness. Aswat, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, has been indicted in the US as a co-conspirator in a plan to establish a jihad training camp in Oregon. He was arrested in 2005 in Britain following a request from US authorities for extradition. His lawyers have resisted his removal since then in a series of appeals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHuman rights court blocks extradition of U.K.-based terror suspect to U.S.

Two Algerians repatriated from Guantanamo: Pentagon

"Two long-held Algerian detainees at Guantanamo Bay have been returned to their homeland, the first such transfer since US President Barack Obama renewed his pledge to close the controversial jail. The Pentagon announced Thursday that Nabil Said Hadjarab, 34, and Mutia Sadiq Ahmad Sayyab, 36, were handed over to the government of Algeria, completing a process outlined last month by the United States. The US-run prison in Cuba, set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, still holds 164 detainees more than four years after Obama took office and first vowed to shut it down." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwo Algerians repatriated from Guantanamo: Pentagon

British prisoner: ‘People are dying’ in Guantanamo Bay from systemic torture

"Aamer has never been charged or faced trial. Moreover he was cleared for release by the Bush administration in June 2007, a decision that was re-affirmed three years later. The British government has lobbied Washington on his behalf, stating on Sunday: 'we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency'. The UK Foreign Office said it continued to monitor Aamer’s condition but stressed any decision to release him remained in the hands of the US government. In the meantime, the father of three continues to languish in a cell. He has never seen his youngest son, Faris, born while Aamer was in captivity, now living with family in London." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBritish prisoner: ‘People are dying’ in Guantanamo Bay from systemic torture

Gitmo inmate who was deemed no threat on hunger strikes and force feedings

"'Two times a day they tie me to a chair in my cell. My arms, legs and head are strapped down. I never know when they will come. Sometimes they come during the night, as late as 11 pm, when I’m sleeping. There are so many of us on hunger strike now that there aren’t enough qualified medical staff members to carry out the force-feedings… They are feeding people around the clock just to keep up. ' Like most of the striking inmates, he has never been charged with a crime or put on trial, and is not viewed as a threat to US national security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGitmo inmate who was deemed no threat on hunger strikes and force feedings

Syria opposition ‘disappointed’ but thinks Congress will OK strike

"Syria’s main opposition bloc said Sunday it was disappointed with US President Barack Obama’s decision to seek approval from Congress for action against the regime, but said it believed lawmakers would OK a strike. 'We had a feeling of disappointment. We were expecting things to be quicker, that a strike would be imminent… But we believe Congress will approve a strike,' said Samir Nashar, a top official at the Syrian National Coalition. To general surprise, Obama on Saturday postponed threatened missile strikes against Syria that the world had thought were imminent, opting instead for the risky gamble of getting Congress approval." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria opposition ‘disappointed’ but thinks Congress will OK strike

John Kerry urges Syria attack based on blood and hair samples

"The United States has proof sarin gas was used in a Damascus attack, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday, as he urged Congress to vote for military action against the Syrian regime. Hair and blood samples given to the United States from emergency workers on the scene of last month’s attack in the Syrian capital have showed signs of the powerful sarin nerve gas, Kerry told NBC and CNN television. 'In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States and that have now been tested from first responders in East Damascus, (that) hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin,' Kerry told NBC’s Meet the Press." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry urges Syria attack based on blood and hair samples