Latest in torture

Military Commissions

In U.S. v. Al-Nashiri the Government Is Rewarding Torture and Incentivizing Torturers

In 2014, the State Department said that “the test for any nation committed to [the Convention against Torture] and to the rule of law is not whether it ever makes mistakes, but whether and how it corrects them.” In U.S. v. Al-Nashiri, the government is failing that test miserably by openly embracing torture-tainted evidence in violation of federal law, international law, and U.S. policy.

International Law

Document: Judge in Abu Ghraib Case Denies U.S. Sovereign Immunity for Jus Cogens Norms

On Friday, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted government motions to dismiss and for summary judgment in Al Shimari v. CACI, a case brought by plaintiffs who were detained in Abu Ghraib. The full opinion is available here and below.

 

Syria

Can German Courts Bring Accountability for Torture in Syria?

On Feb. 12, Germany’s investigative police force arrested two former high-ranking members of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) allegedly involved in crimes against humanity. The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) had issued arrest warrants for 56-year-old Anwar R. and 42-year-old Eyad A. on Feb.

Interrogation

Trump and the Law on Torture

Given President Trump’s enthusiasm, as a presidential candidate, for enhanced interrogation, waterboarding, torture, and “worse,” as well as his eagerness to contrast himself at every opportunity with President Obama, one might have expected to see the use of such methods reinstated after he became President. At the one year mark, however, the issue seems conspicuously absent.

Detention: Law of

Primer: Can the Trump Administration Transfer an American Citizen Enemy Combatant to Iraqi Custody?

Two weeks ago, the U.S. military received custody of an as-yet unnamed American citizen who had been captured in Syria by a Syrian Defense Force (SDF) fighter. The Pentagon soon confirmed that the person is being held in military detention as an enemy combatant, somewhere in theater, on the basis that he was a fighter for the Islamic State. Many days had gone by without further information, until today.

Foreign Policy Essay

Donald Trump and the Normalization of Torture

Editor's Note: A Trump presidency is disturbing on so many levels. One of the worst is his campaign's embrace of some of America's biggest mistakes, such as the use of torture to fight terrorism. Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault, my colleague at Georgetown, looks at Trump’s campaign rhetoric on this issue and the disturbing possibilities for his administration.

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Politics & National Security

Can US Service Members Disobey an Order to Waterboard a Terrorist?

Earlier this year, former National Security Agency (NSA) Director and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director General (Retired) Michael Hayden was asked what American armed forces would do if ordered to commit torture, such as waterboarding a terrorist, by a new Presidential administration. General Hayden posited that United States military members would simply refuse to act, as there is no obligation to follow an unlawful order.

In memoriam

A More Circumspect Take on Justice Scalia and National Security

In my view, at least, Justice Scalia's public statements on national security issues and his one majority(-ish) opinion in a "canonical" national security case (in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd) could lead folks reasonably to question just how faithful Justice Scalia was to his first principles where national security was involved. That doesn’t in any way diminish the late Justice’s track record (or Adam’s elegant reflection upon it); it just suggests that, as is so often the case, adding national security-specific considerations to the mix tends to complicate matters.

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