The indefinite detention of individuals at Guantanamo Bay prison, “most of whom have not been charged, goes beyond a minimally reasonable period of time” and “constitutes a flagrant violation of international human rights law,” the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and a United Nations (UN) working group on arbitrary detention stated today. The condemnation also [...]

Journalists with the web-based project dedicated to bringing attention to the widespread use of solitary confinement, Solitary Watch, report the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is going to be expanding the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois to hold federal prisoners in supermax conditions. This means cells will be holding prisoners in conditions of solitary confinement and [...]

At Fort Meade, the defense presented arguments in favor of a request to have witnesses appear in August when the court deliberates over the unlawful pretrial punishment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks. The defense had requested seven witnesses. Two were challenged by the government. The government also [...]

A historic congressional hearing on solitary confinement in United States’ prisons happened on Tuesday. It was held by the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Chaired by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the hearing was the first-ever hearing on the use of isolation in prisons and the human rights, fiscal, and [...]

The US Supreme Court unanimously decided that foreign political organizations and multinational corporations cannot be sued for the torture or extrajudicial killing of persons abroad under an anti-torture law passed in 1992. The law only gives people the right to sue “an individual,” “who acted under the authority of a foreign nation,” according to the [...]

(photo: Screen shot from BBC News broadcast of Babar Ahmad’s interview) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that five individuals facing terrorism charges, including the radical cleric Abu Hamza, can be extradited to the United States. The ruling by the court in Strasbourg, France, was part of a determination that the human [...]

(update below) Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that was later found to be corrupt, was moved to solitary confinement after a member of Congress contacted the Bureau of Prisons. Peaceful Uprising, a climate change activism group which DeChristopher [...]

(photo: Barack Obama) The Obama Administration recently announced that it would begin an “interagency process” to implement commitments made on human rights before the UN Human Rights Council just over a year ago. Coinciding with the announcement, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) put out a report on how the administration has done so far. [...]

(photo: kevynjacobs ) Call-in Day Today – Wednesday, July 27 The Bradley Manning Support Network has put together a call-in day for those who wish to show their support for the accused whistleblower to WikiLeaks, Pfc. Bradley Manning. The Manning Support Network, an international grassroots organization that for months now has been organizing in support [...]