| The police in Moscow arrested the anticorruption crusader and political opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny on Tuesday for joining an unauthorized, antigovernment rally, just hours after a Moscow court had given him a suspended sentence on criminal fraud charges. |
| The United States State Department issued a warning of possible violence and arrests at the gathering. |
| Earlier, in a surprise twist, the court had spared Mr. Navalny jail time by suspending his sentence of three and a half years but ordered his younger brother, Oleg, who was also charged, to serve a prison term of the same length. |
| The imprisonment of Oleg Navalny, who is generally viewed as a pawn in a larger battle, signaled that the Kremlin was adopting a more sophisticated, if crueler, strategy in seeking to suppress Aleksei Navalny’s political activities: sidelining him, but not making a political martyr of him. |
| “Aren’t you ashamed?” Mr. Navalny cried out in dismay at the judge, Yelena Korobchenko, as she read the verdict. |
READ MORE »http://www.nytimes.com/2014/ |
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Putin Critic Is Arrested at Rally After Suspended Sentence in Fraud Case
Putin Critic Is Arrested at Rally After Suspended Sentence in Fraud Case
British Soccer Player Penalized for Kissing Opponent
WATCH: British Soccer Player Penalized for Kissing Opponent
December 29 2014 1:10 PM ET
Mansell (left) and O'Donnell
The Bristol Rovers' Lee Mansell, 32, received a "yellow card" foul warning for the stunt.
"I did it to defuse the situation," he told a local radio interviewer. "It's the first time I've been booked for kissing someone."
As a video posted on YouTube clearly shows, Mansell's unorthodox conflict-resolution strategy was effective. Once kissed, Gateshead Football Club midfielder J.J. O'Donnell, 22, appeared to be so caught off guard that all he could do was walk away.
But Mansell's wife had a question for her athlete husband when the game was over.
"I got in the car to go home and saw Twitter had lit up and my missus said, 'What the hell were you thinking?'" he told the BBC. "But we had a laugh and a joke about it with the lads afterwards. It's another thing to add to the list of daft things I've done on the football pitch."
For the record, Bristol beat Gateshead, 3-2.
WATCH the video below as Lee Mansell plants one on J.J. O'Donnell's lips:
Outgoing senator urged to release full CIA torture report
Outgoing senator urged to release full CIA torture report
by aletho
RT
| December 29, 2014 Calls for Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) to reveal
the entire, unredacted CIA torture report have increased, with a group
of former intelligence analysts issuing a memo that urges the outgoing
legislator to read the report on the Senate floor. Veteran Intelligence
Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) released the letter, asking Udall […]
Autopsy released in fatal shooting by LAPD
Autopsy released in fatal shooting by LAPD
Los Angeles Times | December 29, 2014 | 1:29 PM
The autopsy of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill man fatally shot by police
in South Los Angeles in the summer, was released today, marking the
first time authorities have provided details about Ford’s wounds since
his death. Police allege that Ford tackled one of the officers and attempted to grab his gun, prompting the officer to reach for a backup weapon and fire. The officer’s partner also shot at Ford, police said.
Ford was killed two days after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, a young black man, in Ferguson, Mo. The Missouri shooting sparked national protests and calls for police reform. Ford's shooting has been invoked along with Brown's during demonstrations in Los Angeles against police killings.
Get the latest information here: http://lat.ms/1BjZZaM
The Prison State of America
The Prison State of America
by aletho
By
Chris Hedges | Truthdig | December 28, 2014 Prisons employ and exploit
the ideal worker. Prisoners do not receive benefits or pensions. They
are not paid overtime. They are forbidden to organize and strike. They
must show up on time. They are not paid for sick days or granted
vacations. They cannot formally complain […]
Census: Palestinians to outnumber Jews in historic Palestine by 2016
Census: Palestinians to outnumber Jews in historic Palestine by 2016
Published today (updated) 29/12/2014 23:01
A Palestinian girl holds a flag and an olive branch as Israeli border
police officers stand near their vehicle at a West Bank protest.
(Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)
police officers stand near their vehicle at a West Bank protest.
(Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)
RAMALLAH
(Ma'an) -- Figures released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics on Monday suggest that Palestinians will outnumber Israeli
Jews in historic Palestine within the next two years.
The results of the Palestinian census, released on the occasion of the end of 2014, show a number of other surprising figures that highlight the wide-ranging changes in demography the Holy Land is experiencing.
The census estimated that at the end of 2014 the total number of Palestinians in "historical Palestine" -- meaning the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the territory where the State of Israel is located but which often referred to as '48 Palestine -- is around 6.08 million, compared to 6.10 million Jews as of the beginning of 2014.
By the end of 2016, however, the census bureau estimates that at current rates the number of Palestinians will eclipse that of Jews, meeting at around 6.42 million.
By 2020, however, the statistics show that the number of Palestinians will hit 7.14 million, while the Jewish population will have only reached around 6.87 million.
The demographic shift was expected to happen years ago, but the migration of more than a million people to Israel from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s -- a large percentage of whom were not Jews, but were naturalized anyways due to the fact that they had Jewish relatives -- delayed the change.
The census bureau surveyed not only historic Palestine, but also included Palestinians around the world in its results.
The bureau estimates that the total number of Palestinians worldwide as of the end of 2014 is 12.10 million, "of whom 4.62 million are in State of Palestine, 1.46 million in Israel, 5.34 million in Arab countries, and around 675 thousand in foreign countries."
The statistics show the continuing impact of the Nakba -- or the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from what is now Israel into refugee camps elsewhere -- on the distribution of the Palestinian population, as well as the recurrent displacements and widespread flight since then as the result of the 1967 occupation and the effects of the occupation.
Of the 4.6 million living in the State of Palestine, the bureau estimated that around 2.83 million reside in the West Bank and 1.79 million in Gaza Strip.
"Palestinian refugees make up 43.1 percent of the Palestinian population in Palestine: 38.8 percent of them in the West Bank and 61.2 percent in Gaza Strip," the reported added, underscoring that even within the State of Palestine itself, refugees and their descendants from the 1948 expulsions make up a sizable number.
The report also compared birth rates among the Palestinian populations spread around the world, highlighting the drastic declines in fertility rates that characterized trends in the State of Palestine.
"The average household size in Palestine was 5.2 persons in 2013 compared to 6.4 in 1997: 4.9 persons in the West Bank and 5.8 persons in Gaza Strip," the report said.
"The total fertility rate declined during 2011-2013 to 4.1 births compared with 6.0 births in 1997. In Gaza Strip the rate was 4.5 births compared to 3.7 births in the West Bank during 2011-2013," it added.
The rates are significantly higher than Palestinian refugees living abroad, where rates are comparatively lower.
"The total fertility rate for Palestinian woman living in Jordan was 3.3 births in 2010 compared to 2.5 in Syria in 2010 and 2.8 in Lebanon in 2011," the report said.
Palestinian citizens of Israel also had birthrates comparatively lower than the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with averages around 3.4 births per woman. However, the number was higher than Israeli Jews, who have an average of around 3.1 births.
"The number of Palestinians living in Israel is 1.46 million, of whom about 35.4% are aged below 15 years compared to 4.3% aged 65 years and over," the report noted.
The results of the Palestinian census, released on the occasion of the end of 2014, show a number of other surprising figures that highlight the wide-ranging changes in demography the Holy Land is experiencing.
The census estimated that at the end of 2014 the total number of Palestinians in "historical Palestine" -- meaning the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the territory where the State of Israel is located but which often referred to as '48 Palestine -- is around 6.08 million, compared to 6.10 million Jews as of the beginning of 2014.
By the end of 2016, however, the census bureau estimates that at current rates the number of Palestinians will eclipse that of Jews, meeting at around 6.42 million.
By 2020, however, the statistics show that the number of Palestinians will hit 7.14 million, while the Jewish population will have only reached around 6.87 million.
The demographic shift was expected to happen years ago, but the migration of more than a million people to Israel from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s -- a large percentage of whom were not Jews, but were naturalized anyways due to the fact that they had Jewish relatives -- delayed the change.
The census bureau surveyed not only historic Palestine, but also included Palestinians around the world in its results.
The bureau estimates that the total number of Palestinians worldwide as of the end of 2014 is 12.10 million, "of whom 4.62 million are in State of Palestine, 1.46 million in Israel, 5.34 million in Arab countries, and around 675 thousand in foreign countries."
The statistics show the continuing impact of the Nakba -- or the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from what is now Israel into refugee camps elsewhere -- on the distribution of the Palestinian population, as well as the recurrent displacements and widespread flight since then as the result of the 1967 occupation and the effects of the occupation.
Of the 4.6 million living in the State of Palestine, the bureau estimated that around 2.83 million reside in the West Bank and 1.79 million in Gaza Strip.
"Palestinian refugees make up 43.1 percent of the Palestinian population in Palestine: 38.8 percent of them in the West Bank and 61.2 percent in Gaza Strip," the reported added, underscoring that even within the State of Palestine itself, refugees and their descendants from the 1948 expulsions make up a sizable number.
The report also compared birth rates among the Palestinian populations spread around the world, highlighting the drastic declines in fertility rates that characterized trends in the State of Palestine.
"The average household size in Palestine was 5.2 persons in 2013 compared to 6.4 in 1997: 4.9 persons in the West Bank and 5.8 persons in Gaza Strip," the report said.
"The total fertility rate declined during 2011-2013 to 4.1 births compared with 6.0 births in 1997. In Gaza Strip the rate was 4.5 births compared to 3.7 births in the West Bank during 2011-2013," it added.
The rates are significantly higher than Palestinian refugees living abroad, where rates are comparatively lower.
"The total fertility rate for Palestinian woman living in Jordan was 3.3 births in 2010 compared to 2.5 in Syria in 2010 and 2.8 in Lebanon in 2011," the report said.
Palestinian citizens of Israel also had birthrates comparatively lower than the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with averages around 3.4 births per woman. However, the number was higher than Israeli Jews, who have an average of around 3.1 births.
"The number of Palestinians living in Israel is 1.46 million, of whom about 35.4% are aged below 15 years compared to 4.3% aged 65 years and over," the report noted.
Israel bans jailed leader from receiving visits for another 3 months
Israel bans jailed leader from receiving visits for another 3 months
Published yesterday (updated) 29/12/2014 22:59
Palestinians participate in a protest in support of Ahmed Saada in Nablus,
on Dece. 25, 2008. (MaanImages/Rami Swidan)
on Dece. 25, 2008. (MaanImages/Rami Swidan)
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli Prison Services on Saturday
banned Ahmad Saadat, the secretary-general of the leftist Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine party currently being held in
detention, from receiving visitors for three months.
Saadat has been banned from receiving visitors since September, meaning that at the end of the new ban he will have been kept from receiving visitors a total of six months.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in response that the decision is part of ongoing Israeli policies that target prisoners generally and the leaders of prisoners specifically.
Saadat has been held by Israel since 2006, when it raided a Palestinian prison in Jericho where he was being held and captured him to widespread criticism,
Saddat was being held in the prison as part of an agreement by Palestinian authorities with Israel, who claimed he was involved in the killing of the Israeli tourism minister in 2001 that took place in response to the assassination of the previous secretary-general of the PFLP.
In 2008, Israel re-sentenced Saadat to 30 years in prison in a military trial for involvement in an "illegal terrorist organization" after holding him for two years without trial.
Since then, he has been repeatedly placed in solitary confinement and restricted from receiving any visitors, including family.
Saadat has been banned from receiving visitors since September, meaning that at the end of the new ban he will have been kept from receiving visitors a total of six months.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in response that the decision is part of ongoing Israeli policies that target prisoners generally and the leaders of prisoners specifically.
Saadat has been held by Israel since 2006, when it raided a Palestinian prison in Jericho where he was being held and captured him to widespread criticism,
Saddat was being held in the prison as part of an agreement by Palestinian authorities with Israel, who claimed he was involved in the killing of the Israeli tourism minister in 2001 that took place in response to the assassination of the previous secretary-general of the PFLP.
In 2008, Israel re-sentenced Saadat to 30 years in prison in a military trial for involvement in an "illegal terrorist organization" after holding him for two years without trial.
Since then, he has been repeatedly placed in solitary confinement and restricted from receiving any visitors, including family.
‘US military hardware will cause more bloodshed in Ukraine’ – Russian senator
|
‘US military hardware will cause more bloodshed in Ukraine’ – Russian senatorby aletho |
RT
| December 29, 2014 The possible relocation of US hardware from
Afghanistan to Ukraine suggested by President Obama will only lead to
more casualties, a senior Russian lawmaker has stated. “Russia cannot be
content with such plans as they would increase the tensions near our
borders and also inevitably cause more casualties in Donbass,” […]
Monday, December 29, 2014
Seven Days in Solitary [12/28/2014]
Seven Days in Solitary [12/28/2014]
by Aviva Stahl
The
following roundup features noteworthy news, reports and opinions on
solitary confinement from the past week that have not been covered in
other Solitary Watch posts.
• The Marshall Project published an article outlining the
significant shifts in the legal landscape of solitary confinement over
the course of recent years. In 2014, “as a result of legislation or
lawsuits, ten states adopted 14 measures aimed at curtailing the use of
solitary, abolishing solitary for juveniles or the mentally ill,
improving conditions in segregated units, or gradually easing isolated
inmates back into the general population.”
• The New York Law Journal published an opinion piece about solitary confinement entitled, “We Shouldn’t Allow Eight Amendment to Be Undermined,”
• Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post published a column
about Reginald Latson, a 23-year-old diagnosed with autism; he is
currently facing assault charges that resulted from a mental health
crisis he experienced when he was held in isolation. The ACLU of
Virginia submitted a letter
to Governor McAuliffe asking him to grant clemency to Latson and
facilitate his transfer to a secure treatment facility in Florida.
• Writing for CNN,
Raphael Sperry - the president of Architects/Designers/Planners for
Social Responsibility- condemned the American Institute of Architects
for refusing to add language to its code of ethics that would prohibit
participation in “the design of torture chambers in US prisons and
around the world,” including “prisons intended for prolonged solitary
confinement.”
• KGNU, a community radio station, interviewed
Colorado Independent journalist Susan Greene about her recent story
focusing on a transgender woman held in solitary confinement at ADX
Florence.
• The Buffalo News
reports that the first of two lawsuits related to prisoner deaths in a
solitary confinement unit at Niagara County Jail have gone forward.
Daniel Pantera, 46, had a mental health diagnosis and was arrested for
shoplifting a cup of coffee in 2012; his cell was so cold that the main
cause of his death was cited in a state report as hypothermia.
False Flagging the World towards War. The CIA Weaponizes Hollywood
False Flagging the World towards War. The CIA Weaponizes Hollywood
by aletho
By
Larry Chin | Global Research | December 27, 2014 Almost all wars begin
with false flag operations. The coming conflicts in North Korea and
Russia are no exception. Mass public hysteria is being manufactured to
justify aggression against Moscow and Pyongyang, in retaliation for acts
attributed to the North Korean and Russian governments, but […]
Active Anti-LGBT Groups [in the USA]
Active Anti-LGBT Groups
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Tempe | Faithful Word Baptist Church |
| Gilbert | United Families International |
| Gilbert | Family Watch International |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Vallecito | Chalcedon Foundation |
| Anaheim | Traditional Values Coalition |
| Sacramento | Save California |
| San Marcos | Ruth Institute |
| Sacramento | Pacific Justice Institute |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Colorado Springs | Family Research Institute |
| Colorado Springs | The Pray in Jesus Name Project |
| Elizabeth | Generations With Vision |
| Larkspur | Christ the King Church |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Washington | Traditional Values Coalition |
| Washington | Family Research Council |
| Washington | Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Gainesville | American College of Pediatricians |
| Ft. Lauderdale | Truth In Action Ministries |
| Orlando | Liberty Counsel |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Powder Springs | American Vision |
| Luthersville | Sons of Thundr (Faith Baptist Church) |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Carol Stream | Illinois Family Institute |
| Downers Grove | Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (H.O.M.E.) |
| Naperville | Americans for Truth About Homosexuality |
| Rockford | World Congress of Families/Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Topeka | Westboro Baptist Church |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Springfield | Abiding Truth Ministries |
| Waltham | Mass Resistance |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Traverse City | TC Family (Traverse City Family) |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Champlin | Parents Action League |
| Annandale | You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Tupelo | American Family Association |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Maiden | Providence Road Baptist Church |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Monsey | Help Rescue Our Children |
| New York | Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Columbus | Mission: America |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma City | Windsor Hills Baptist Church |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Franklin | American Family Association |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Spartanburg | True Light Pentecost Church |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| El Paso | Tom Brown Ministries |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Falls Church | Public Advocate of the United States |
| City | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Monroe | Pilgrims Covenant Church |
Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli forces south of Nablus
Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli forces south of Nablus
by aletho
Ma'an - 29/12/2014
NABLUS - A Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli forces at the
Tappuah checkpoint south of Nablus in the northern West Bank on Monday.
Local Palestinian sources told Ma'an that Israeli troops opened fire at
two young Palestinian men in the Jabal Sbeih area within Beita village,
near the Tappuah checkpoint, […]
Gays 'should die': A timeline of the Salvation Army's anti-gay flare-ups
Gays 'should die': A timeline of the Salvation Army's anti-gay flare-ups
An
Australian Salvation Army major outrages gay-rights supporters — again —
by agreeing that the bell-ringing-Santa charity thinks gays deserve to
die
The
Salvation Army may do wonders for the needy, but the Christian charity
also has a troubled history of discriminating against gays.Ashley Cooper/Corbis
Between
the Salvation Army's bell-ringing Santas and thrift-store empire,
people often forget that the international group "is actually a
Christian church organization with many conservative tenets and a
military-style structure," says Zach Ford at Think Progress.
And recently, Maj. Andrew Craibe, the media relations officer for
Australia's southern territory, reminded us of that fact by agreeing
on-air with two gay radio hosts that the Salvation Army believes gay
people "should die." The group quickly scrambled to clarify Craibe's
remark — after all, the Salvation Army's mission is
to "preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination" — but this is hardly the Salvation Army's
first run-in with the gay community. Here, a look at the influential
charity's challenging history with homosexuality and gay rights:
1865Former
Methodist minister William Booth founds the Salvation Army in London,
giving his religious mission a military structure and trappings,
including its own flag, military-style uniforms, hymns, and ranks
1880
The Salvation Army sets up shop in the U.S., Australia, and Ireland
The Salvation Army sets up shop in the U.S., Australia, and Ireland
1986The
Salvation Army collects signatures for a petition to stop the New
Zealand legislature from decriminalizing homosexuality. The Homosexual
Law Reform Act passes anyway.
May 1, 2001An
internal document from the Salvation Army says the charity has a "firm
commitment" from the Bush administration for a national regulation
shielding it and other religious charities from city and state laws
barring discrimination against gays and lesbians, The Washington Post reports.
The Salvation Army never discriminates in who it serves, says senior
official George Hood, but being forced to hire gays "really begins to
chew away at the theological fabric of who we are."
July 11, 2001The Bush administration turns down the Salvation Army's request
2004The
Salvation Army threatens to leave New York City if Mayor Michael
Bloomberg enforces a new ordinance requiring all groups with city
contracts to offer benefits to the same-sex partners of employees.
Bloomberg, who opposed the ordinance, doesn't enforce it.
Feb. 14, 2006The
New York State Court of Appeals upholds Bloomberg's right to ignore the
ordinance, leaving future enforcement decisions to the discretion of
whomever is mayor
July 2006The New Zealand branch of the Salvation Army apologizes over any remaining "hurt" from its prominent role in trying to stymie the Homosexual Law Reform Act 20 years earlier
Nov. 21, 2011Bil Browning at The Bilerico Project promotes
a drive encouraging gay-rights supporters to give their holiday
donations to other charities that don't "actively discriminate against
the LGBT community"
June 21, 2012Maj. Andrew Craibe, the Australian Salvation Army spokesman, goes on the radio program Salt and Pepper, where gay hosts Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon ask him about his organization's assertion in its official Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine that practicing homosexuals "deserve to die." "So we should die," Ryan tells Craibe, who replies: "You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief."
June 23In a statement,
the Salvation Army "sincerely apologizes" for Craibe's
"miscommunication" and the "serious misunderstanding" of the group's
beliefs. The scripture in question "is not referring to physical death,
nor is it specifically targeted at homosexual behavior," says Maj. Bruce
Harmer of Salvation Army Australia. Instead, the church believes that
"no human being is without sin, all sin leads to spiritual death
(separation from God)," and that "it would be inconsistent with
Christian teaching to call for anyone to be put to death."
Detroit Won't Restore Police Review Board Even Though Abuses Continue
Detroit Won't Restore Police Review Board Even Though Abuses Continue
Detroit Activist Frank Hammer says activists are outraged that Detroit's badly needed civilian review board of police - dismantled as part of the city's bankruptcy proceeding - is not being restored now that the city is out of bankruptcy
Go to story
Detroit Activist Frank Hammer says activists are outraged that Detroit's badly needed civilian review board of police - dismantled as part of the city's bankruptcy proceeding - is not being restored now that the city is out of bankruptcy
Go to story
The Mysterious Case of Prisoner 212
The Mysterious Case of Prisoner 212
That al-Libi was held by the CIA is long established. After all,
al-Libi’s name is notorious as the source of bad information used by the
Bush administration to tie Saddam Hussein to Al-Qaeda to support the US
invasion of Iraq — information he provided while being tortured in
Egyptian custody, and later recanted.
More than a single digit change in the tally, al-Libi’s hitherto unknown presence at Guantanamo underscores how much remains unknown about the total number of detainees and their fates. The Senate report includes a list of 119 men– a rare official disclosure of the individuals held and in many cases tortured by the CIA. Only a fraction of those had previously been acknowledged as CIA detainees, though journalists and human rights groups had pieced together the population of prisoners from disclosures about Guantanamo, leaked documents, and court proceedings.
The Senate list fills the holes in a few cases, like al-Libi’s.
The black sites in the Senate report are identified by color code names, but journalists and human rights groups quickly identified them. As the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg first noted, the report confirms that al-Libi was at one of Guantanamo’s black sites—“Maroon” and “Indigo” in the report. Al-Libi was secreted away from Guantanamo in 2004 along with four other so-called high value detainees, before the Supreme Court determined that prisoners at the naval base had the right to challenge their detention.
Disappearing those detainees gave the CIA leeway to continue secret interrogations outside the view of any court system. Al-Libi ultimately ended up in prison in Libya, where he died in 2009.
The Senate report doesn’t cover everyone caught up in the CIA’s net. The Open Society Foundations, for example, published a report last year detailing 136 cases of individuals suspected to have been detained or rendered by the CIA. The Senate report misses some high-profile cases, however, because it didn’t include rendition — when the CIA handed prisoners over to third countries for interrogation or imprisonment. (As the Intercept’s Peter Maass noted last week, it also doesn’t touch on detainee abuse by the military.)
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained in 2002 and shipped to Jordan and then Syria and tortured before being released in 2003. The Canadian government ultimately apologized and compensated him for its role in his rendition, but the Supreme Court allowed his case against the U.S. government to be dismissed.
Saami al-Saadi, a Libyan opposition member, was detained in Hong Kong in 2004 and forced onto a plane by British and American agents to return to Libyan custody along with his wife and four young children. Saadi was tortured there, and the family ultimately settled a claim against the British government for more than two million pounds. (In fact, the report redacts evidence of British involvement in the CIA program entirely; British intelligence agencies met with the Senate investigators repeatedly and asked to be scrubbed from the public version.)
The post-CIA fates of the detainees who are named in the Senate report vary. Twenty-nine of them remain in Guantanamo. Seven have been transferred from Gitmo to imprisonment in other countries or released. Several men were held at Bagram, the U.S. prison in Afghanistan, and have since been released or handed over to the Afghan government.
Some were rendered to other countries: prisoners handed over to Libya, Syria, and Egypt emerged during the uprisings in those countries.
Several of the men on the Senate list were reportedly killed by drone strikes, including Abu Yahya Al Libi, who escaped from Bagram and then was killed in Pakistan in 2012, or Hassan Ghul, who was tracked down by the NSA from an email sent by his wife. One man, Ahmed Ghailani, was brought to the United States for trial and now sits in a Supermax prison in Colorado.
According to the Intercept’s research, there are still 50 former CIA prisoners named by Senate investigators whose fates are unknown, and who have not, to our knowledge, spoken to the media or human rights groups. If you have any information about the names listed here, email the authors at cora.currier@theintercept.com or margot.williams@theintercept.com, or communicate with us anonymously via SecureDrop.
Photo: Defense Department
More than a single digit change in the tally, al-Libi’s hitherto unknown presence at Guantanamo underscores how much remains unknown about the total number of detainees and their fates. The Senate report includes a list of 119 men– a rare official disclosure of the individuals held and in many cases tortured by the CIA. Only a fraction of those had previously been acknowledged as CIA detainees, though journalists and human rights groups had pieced together the population of prisoners from disclosures about Guantanamo, leaked documents, and court proceedings.
The Senate list fills the holes in a few cases, like al-Libi’s.
The black sites in the Senate report are identified by color code names, but journalists and human rights groups quickly identified them. As the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg first noted, the report confirms that al-Libi was at one of Guantanamo’s black sites—“Maroon” and “Indigo” in the report. Al-Libi was secreted away from Guantanamo in 2004 along with four other so-called high value detainees, before the Supreme Court determined that prisoners at the naval base had the right to challenge their detention.
Disappearing those detainees gave the CIA leeway to continue secret interrogations outside the view of any court system. Al-Libi ultimately ended up in prison in Libya, where he died in 2009.
The Senate report doesn’t cover everyone caught up in the CIA’s net. The Open Society Foundations, for example, published a report last year detailing 136 cases of individuals suspected to have been detained or rendered by the CIA. The Senate report misses some high-profile cases, however, because it didn’t include rendition — when the CIA handed prisoners over to third countries for interrogation or imprisonment. (As the Intercept’s Peter Maass noted last week, it also doesn’t touch on detainee abuse by the military.)
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained in 2002 and shipped to Jordan and then Syria and tortured before being released in 2003. The Canadian government ultimately apologized and compensated him for its role in his rendition, but the Supreme Court allowed his case against the U.S. government to be dismissed.
Saami al-Saadi, a Libyan opposition member, was detained in Hong Kong in 2004 and forced onto a plane by British and American agents to return to Libyan custody along with his wife and four young children. Saadi was tortured there, and the family ultimately settled a claim against the British government for more than two million pounds. (In fact, the report redacts evidence of British involvement in the CIA program entirely; British intelligence agencies met with the Senate investigators repeatedly and asked to be scrubbed from the public version.)
The post-CIA fates of the detainees who are named in the Senate report vary. Twenty-nine of them remain in Guantanamo. Seven have been transferred from Gitmo to imprisonment in other countries or released. Several men were held at Bagram, the U.S. prison in Afghanistan, and have since been released or handed over to the Afghan government.
Some were rendered to other countries: prisoners handed over to Libya, Syria, and Egypt emerged during the uprisings in those countries.
Several of the men on the Senate list were reportedly killed by drone strikes, including Abu Yahya Al Libi, who escaped from Bagram and then was killed in Pakistan in 2012, or Hassan Ghul, who was tracked down by the NSA from an email sent by his wife. One man, Ahmed Ghailani, was brought to the United States for trial and now sits in a Supermax prison in Colorado.
According to the Intercept’s research, there are still 50 former CIA prisoners named by Senate investigators whose fates are unknown, and who have not, to our knowledge, spoken to the media or human rights groups. If you have any information about the names listed here, email the authors at cora.currier@theintercept.com or margot.williams@theintercept.com, or communicate with us anonymously via SecureDrop.
Photo: Defense Department
Saudi Arabia and Western governments have for decades remained silent on the occupation of Saudi islands by Israel
Falastin News Palestine فلسطين
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DID YOU KNOW THAT ISRAEL OCCUPIES SAUDI ISLANDS?
Israel is still Occupying Saudi islands & Saudis remain tight-lipped
Saudi Arabia and Western governments have for decades remained silent on the occupation of Saudi islands by Israel.
It
is a fairly well kept secret that Israel has been occupying parts of
Saudi Arabia since 1967. Tiran and Sanafir are two islands with a
combined area of 113 square kilometres, so they are small, and are in a
very strategic location at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, through which
sea traffic to Israel’s southern port of Eilat must pass en route to
and from the Red Sea. Israel maintains an early warning post on the
islands.
Although
the Saudi Arabian government might claim that the islands are small,
unimportant coral reef islands, their position is such that whoever
controls them controls the Gulf of Aqaba. They are as important as the
Hanish archipelago at the other end of the Red Sea over which a conflict
raged in 1995. International arbitration determined that Hanish belongs
to Yemen. The Israeli occupation of Tiran and Sanafir determines that,
if nothing else, the Israelis control the islands and don’t really care
who they belong to. Saudi Arabia has fought for similar islands but
seems to be reluctant to challenge the Israeli occupation. Is it because
the islands have no material value?
The
islands were occupied by Israel after the late King Faisal had given
control of them to Egypt to prevent Israeli ships being able to get to
Eilat during the Six-Day War. After the ceasefire, Saudi Arabia and
Egypt each claimed that the islands belonged to the other, leaving them
free for the Israeli occupation to begin. When Egypt made peace with
Israel in 1978, President Anwar Sadat refused to include them in the
peace agreement, arguing that they belong to Saudi Arabia. A computer
search reveals that even Google labels them as “Saudi Arabia” and maps
of the country in governmental offices show clearly that they are Saudi
territory, so why the reluctance to challenge Israel, and why is there a
media blackout?
It’s
quite simple: Israel needs an outlet to the Red Sea for its shipping.
The only Israeli presence on the islands is military to ensure that the
shipping lanes are kept clear for its imports and exports, including
military hardware to fight against Arab states. By international
agreement, a multinational UN force is also stationed on the islands
which “monitors the compliance of all parties” with this agreement. In
reality, this means that American and Egyptian troops help to protect
Israel’s shipping lanes through the Straits of Tiran, Saudi Arabia’s
occupied sovereign territory. What would the people of Saudi Arabia say
if they knew?
Many wonder where these islands are and why Saudi Arabia never tries to regain its sovereignty over them.
The question is WHY?
Source: Mission Islam
http://falastinews.com/2014/
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