• Anatomy of an Air Attack Gone Wrong
    Commentary
    Dec 26, 2012
    The villagers who rushed to the road, cutting through rocky fields in central Yemen, found the dead strewn around a burning sport utility vehicle. The bodies were dusted with white powder -- flour and sugar, the witnesses said -- that the victims were bringing home from market when the aircraft attacked. A torched woman clutched her daughter in a lifeless embrace. Four severed heads littered the pavement.
  • UK: Accountability Still Needed on Libya Case
    Press release
    Dec 14, 2012
    The UK government’s compensation to a Libyan dissident over its complicity in his torture and rendition provides some relief but does not absolve it of the duty to investigate.
  • US: Release Report that Addresses CIA Torture
    Press release
    Dec 13, 2012
    The US Senate intelligence committee’s long-awaited review of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret detention and interrogation program after September 11, 2001 should promptly be declassified and released.
  • Indefinite Detention Is Already Bad, Don't Add Discrimination
    Commentary
    Nov 29, 2012

    Late last year, Congress passed and the president signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2012. The NDAA codified, for the first time since a never-used McCarthy era law, indefinite detention without charge or trial.

  • US: Obama Should Veto NDAA if it Restricts Guantanamo Detainee Transfers
    Letter
    Nov 27, 2012
    Human Rights Watch and 27 human rights, religious, and civil liberties groups strongly urged President Obama to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 if it impedes his ability to close Guantanamo, by restricting the Executive Branch's authority to transfer detainees for repatriation or resettlement in foreign countries or for prosecution in federal criminal court.
  • What a values-based foreign policy would look like
    Commentary
    Nov 20, 2012
    Second terms are when presidents start to think about their legacy. And with a first term that earned President Barack Obama strong national security bona fides, he has the opportunity to pursue a robust foreign policy that more closely aligns U.S. values and interests.
  • A Failed Experiment
    Commentary
    Nov 19, 2012
    Following the 9/11 attacks, the United States imprisoned hundreds without trial at Guantánamo and created a new military-commission system there to try terrorism suspects. The system lacked fundamental protections required for fair trials.
  • Libya: New Government Should End Illegal Detention
    Press release
    Nov 16, 2012
    Libya’s new government, sworn in on November 14, 2012, should put the illegal detention of more than 8,000 people atop its agenda.
  • Election 2012: Rights and Responsibility
    Commentary
    Nov 5, 2012
    The candidates may disagree on some human rights issues, but the next president will face challenges that transcend partisan lines.
  • Majid Shoukat Khan
    Fact Sheet
    Oct 25, 2012
    Majid Shoukat Khan is a Pakistani citizen who lived in the United States for several years.While visiting Pakistan again in March 2003, Khan was arrested by Pakistani agents along with his brother Mohammed and other family members. Khan faced a potential life sentence but on February 29, 2012, pleaded guilty as part of a pre-trial agreement. In exchange for the promise of a reduced sentence, he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, presumably by providing evidence against other Guantanamo detainees.