Survivors International Newsfeed: December 2009

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Obama Slams Security Breach

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. had multiple pieces of information about alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, according to senior U.S. officials, including intelligence reports and communications intercepts suggesting a Nigerian was being prepped for a terror strike by al Qaeda operatives in Yemen.

The intercepts were collected piecemeal by the National Security Agency, which has been monitoring al Qaeda militants in that country, including former Guantanamo detainees believed to be leaders there.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

Displaced and desperate in Gaza

One year has passed since the beginning of Operation Cast lead, Israel's 22-day military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip and suspended is a word that best describes daily life in the Strip; the internal reconciliation process, peace talks with Israel, and most importantly, reconstruction being halted until further notice.

On the street, conversations shift between two topics: The first is the 'internal peace process' between rival parties Fatah and Hamas. The other is a possible, even partial opening of the borders by Israel to allow rebuilding to begin; a topic alluded to casually with much cynicism and little hope.

Read More at Al Jazeera

Lesbian soldier inching to asylum in Canada

An American lesbian is breaking new ground in the fight for refuge from the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

On September 11, 2007, Army Private Bethany Smith (right), then 21, fled to Canada after enduring taunts, physical abuse, and a death threat from her military cohorts because she is gay.

On November 20, 2009, Judge Yves de Montigny of the Federal Court of Canada granted Smith's petition for judicial review of the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board's denial of her application for asylum on the grounds that she had failed to seek state protection, which would have been adequate.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Mumbai gunman recants confession, alleges torture

MUMBAI, India – The accused gunman in last year's bloody siege of Mumbai retracted his detailed confession Friday, saying police tortured him into admitting his role in the attacks that left 166 people dead.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, who is being tried in a special court — and was photographed carrying an assault rifle during the attack onMumbai's main train station — told the judge he came to Mumbai as a tourist and was arrested 20 days before the siege began.

On the day the attacks started, Kasab said, police took him from his cell because he resembled one of the gunmen, shot him to make it look like he had been involved in the violence and re-arrested him.

Amnesty accuses Mexican military of torture

(CNN) -- The Mexican military has tortured and illegally killed citizens and committed other serious human rights violations as it battles the nation's drug cartels and organized crime groups, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

The human rights group accuses authorities of failing to investigate allegations of abuses by the military, including abductions, extrajudicial and other unlawful killings, torture, ill treatment and arbitrary detentions.

Supreme Court rejects Guantanamo torture case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it rejected an appeal by four former Guantanamo Bay prisoners arguing that they should be able to proceed with their lawsuit against top Pentagon officials for torture and religious abuse

The justices refused to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit by the four British citizens over their treatment at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on the grounds the officials enjoyed immunity.

The four men -- Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal al-Harith -- were captured in late 2001 in Afghanistan and were transferred to Guantanamo in early 2002. Released in March of 2004, they were returned to Britain.

Cleric's Death, Torture Case Jolt Iran

Iran's opposition on Sunday seized upon the death of one of the Islamic republic's founding fathers -- a revered ayatollah who was also a fierce critic of the nation's leadership -- to take to the streets in mourning.

Fearing that mourners could quickly turn into antigovernment protesters, Iranian authorities tightened security across the country. In Tehran, crowds held up pictures of the dead cleric and chanted, "This is the month of blood, the regime is coming down," according to eyewitnesses and videos posted on YouTube.

But the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who passed away in his sleep, was only one of two surprises to shake Iran over the weekend.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Appeals Chamber reverses Bemba's release

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court unanimously has reversed Pre-Trial Chamber II's grant of interim release to Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo.
Bemba has been in ICC custody since July 3, 2008. On July 15, 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes against Bemba for his alleged command of Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo forces, who purportedly murdered, raped and tortured Central African Republic civilians during attacks from October 26, 2002, to March 15, 2003.

Human Rights Watch: 'Pakistan is notorious for its use of torture'

Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent, on Human Rights Watch report claiming British complicity in Pakistani torture

Download the mp3 at the Guardian

Church photographer stopped under terror law

Seven officers sent to check on Grant Smith, who was taking pictures of Christ Church in City of London

One of the country's leading architectural photographers was apprehended by City of London police under terrorism laws today while photographing the 300-year old spire of Sir Christopher Wren's Christ Church for a personal project.

Grant Smith, who has 25 years experience documenting buildings by Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, was stopped by a squad of seven officers who pulled up in three cars and a riot van and searched his belongings under section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allows police to stop and search anyone without need for suspicion in a designated area.

U.S. citizen charged with conspiring to aid terrorists in 2008 Mumbai attack

Federal prosecutors charged a Chicago resident Monday with serving as an advance man for Islamist terrorists who carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai bombing, underscoring what they said is the potential for international terrorists to gain a foothold on American soil.

David C. Headley, 49, a U.S. citizen, is accused of conspiring to help the 10 men who mounted an armed siege of India's financial district over three days in November last year. Using firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices, the attackers overtook luxury hotels, a Jewish cultural center and a train station, killing nearly 170 people, including six Americans.