A new report by an agency of the UN describes “systematic” torture to produce confessions by Afghan police and security agencies. It’s ten years since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. The government is their propped up puppet. Given the U.S. love for torture, as exemplified by past practice, enshrining elements of the torture program in their Army Field Manual, and refusing to prosecute U.S. officials responsible for torture, the results of this study examining their Afghan partners is not surprising. There is little or nothing that differentiates the U.S. at this point from the enemy they face, and given they supposedly represent progressive democracies, the harm they incur is even worse than what the Taliban offers. The report also makes clear that such human rights abuses by an invading force only drives individuals into the ranks of the Taliban.

(photo: dabnotu ) (update below) *Troy Davis is to be executed at 7 pm ET today, September 21. If executed today, Georgia will have executed a man on a day recognized as the International Day of Peace. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied Troy Davis clemency. The five-member board reviewed pleas for [...]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (photo: marcn) Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who should be investigated and tried for war crimes that include but are not limited to torture and abuse of detainees, has mounted a tour to publicize his memoir In My Time. Waterboarding has historically been considered torture and a war crime yet [...]

Girls and women migrate into the Bosnia sex industry because of lack of opportunity and poor economic conditions. Generally coming from Eastern European countries, they answer ads and are promised good job only to find they become property of traffickers. They are moved across borders on routes that avoid official border crossings, all to disorient [...]