John Kiriakou is the only CIA employee to go to prison in connection with the agency’s torture program. Not because he tortured anyone, but because he revealed information on torture to a reporter. (more…)
January 2015
Monthly Archive
Tue 20 Jan 2015
PRISON DISPATCHES FROM THE WAR ON TERROR: EX-CIA OFFICER JOHN KIRIAKOU SPEAKS
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , DemocracyNo Comments
Tue 20 Jan 2015
GCHQ captured emails of journalists from top international media
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , DemocracyNo Comments
Emails from the BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, the New York Times, Le Monde, the Sun, NBC and the Washington Post were saved by GCHQ and shared on the agency’s intranet as part of a test exercise by the signals intelligence agency. (more…)
Tue 20 Jan 2015
At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly equipped their officers with radar devices that allow them to effectively peer through the walls of houses to see whether anyone is inside, a practice raising new concerns about the extent of government surveillance. (more…)
Tue 20 Jan 2015
Murdering journalists … them and us
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , Democracy , Globalization/EmpireNo Comments
William Blum
Where has all this Islamic fundamentalism come from in this modern age? Most of it comes – trained, armed, financed, indoctrinated – from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. During various periods from the 1970s to the present, these four countries had been the most secular, modern, educated, welfare states in the Middle East region. And what had happened to these secular, modern, educated, welfare states? (more…)
Tue 20 Jan 2015
How Washington’s War on Terror Has Become a War on Human Rights Defenders in Central America
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , Democracy , Globalization/EmpireNo Comments
Jeff Abbott Truthout
Daniel Pascual doesn’t come across as a “terrorist.” The 42-year-old Kiche Maya and current president of the Comite Unidad Campesino (CUC) has been at the forefront of the movement to defend indigenous rights in Guatemala for decades, but according to a lawsuit filed in court against him by the Pro-Patriot League, “terrorism” is also among his actions. (more…)
Tue 20 Jan 2015
After Charlie Hebdo Massacre
It all began with Elaheh Farahani’s interview request, (January 11), for Fars News Agency in Iran, of which she is a cooperating journalist. Farahani submitted eight questions regarding the attack, French security before and after, and the effect of the attack on the life of Muslims in Europe—will they be under more pressure? My response of January 12 follows (published by Farahani in Farsi in Iran).
Tue 20 Jan 2015
“More than a million people joined over 40 presidents and prime ministers on the streets of Paris on Sunday in the most striking show of solidarity in the West against the threat of Islamic extremism since the Sept. 11 attacks. Responding to terrorist strikes that killed 17 people in France and riveted worldwide attention, Jews, Muslims, Christians, atheists and people of all races, ages and political stripes swarmed central Paris beneath a bright blue sky, calling for peace and an end to violent extremism.”
– New York Times, Monday January 12, 2015
Sun 18 Jan 2015
Protesters surround conference put on by Texas Muslims: ‘You are not Americans’
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , DemocracyNo Comments
Protesters, upset that a Muslim group was holding a conference at a Texas conference center owned by the local school district, showed up last night waving flags and signs telling attendees, “Go home and take Obama with you.” (more…)