torture

Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

ZIMBABWE: Released abductees tell their story

The three are part of over 40 MDC and civil society activists who were abducted on trumped up charges of banditry and recruiting MDC youths for terrorism training in neighbouring Botswana in an effort to topple the Zanu PF government. According to Tembo, Tarumbwa and Musona they were severely tortured and subjected to inhumane treatment by State security agents during their illegal detention in a bid to force them to confess to the false charges.  This is Zimbabwe

NEW YORK: Stop Sending Prison Drug Users to ‘the Box’

New York State’s practice of sentencing inmates to months, even years, in disciplinary segregation for drug use and possession and denying them effective drug dependence treatment constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.  Human Rights Watch

U.K.: Detainee Offered Freedom for Silence on Torture

A British court ruled Monday that U.S. authorities had asked a Guantanamo Bay detainee to drop allegations of torture in exchange for his freedom. A ruling by two British High Court judges said the U.S. offered Binyam Mohamed a plea bargain deal in October. Mohamed refused the deal and the U.S. dropped all charges against him later last year.  Common Dreams

WORLD: State executions ‘almost double’

The number of state executions almost doubled last year worldwide, with China accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total, Amnesty International says. In its annual survey, the group says 2,390 people were put to death in 2008, up from 1,252 in 2007. Of those, 1,718 people (72%) were executed in China.   BBC

GAZA: Israel accused of ‘new Gaza crime’

A senior UN official has suggested that Israel should be held accountable for a “new crime against humanity” during its January assault on the Gaza strip. Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said Israel had confined Palestinian civilians to the combat zone in Gaza, a unique move which should be outlawed. al Jazeera

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A lawsuit filed in federal court and recently in the news reminds me again of the dark side of some American companies engaged in the mechanics of war. Unlike many companies engaged in the manufacture of weapons, the company in question – CACI – is in the business of what some could say are contracted war crimes.

Al Shimari v. CACI is a federal lawsuit brought by four Iraqi torture victims against private US-based contractor CACI International Inc., and CACI Premier Technology, Inc. It asserts that CACI participated directly and through a conspiracy in torture and other illegal conduct while it was providing interrogation services at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Among the heinous acts to which the four Plaintiffs were subjected at the hands of the defendant and certain government co-conspirators were: electric shocks; repeated brutal beatings; sleep deprivation; sensory deprivation; forced nudity; stress positions; sexual assault; mock executions; humiliation; hooding; isolated detention; and prolonged hanging from the limbs.

So who is CACI exactly?

CACI International, Inc. (NYSE: CAI) is a publicly held Information Technology company, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and London, England. CACI provides national security, defense, and intelligence-related solutions in the national interest of the United States to counter the threat of global terrorism, assure homeland security, and strengthen the company’s role as a national asset for national missions. CACI has approximately 11,800 employees in 120 offices in the US and Europe; 69% of CACI employees hold security clearances.

Its senior executives include Paul Cofoni who was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), William Fairl, President, US Operations, and Randall Fuerst, the Chief Operations Officer (COO). Dr. J. P. (Jack) London is Chairman of the Board and Executive Chairman.

So who owns CACI?

Like many public companies, institutional investors largely hold CACI. For starters, the company’s biggest shareholders, in order, are:

FMR LLC (Fidelity)
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO LLP
BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS UK HOLDINGS LTD
VANGUARD GROUP INC
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP
BANK OF AMERICA CORP
ARTISAN PARTNERS LTD PARTNERSHIP
KINETICS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC
VAUGHAN NELSON SCARBOROUGH & MCCULLOUGH LP
ASTER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO

The tragedy here lies in the fact that we, as Americans own CACI though mutual funds and directly through stock ownership and offer nary a peep about the conduct of this company and how it does business.

The Investment Risk Associated with CACI’s Business of Torture

As noted in a 2004 article in Salon.com, the problems with CACI and other firms in Iraq posed real threats to the reputation of the U.S. for years to come.

Among the individuals not qualified for sensitive interrogation positions at Abu Ghraib were many hired by CACI International, a Virginia company that provided intelligence services to the U.S. military, and Titan Corp., a San Diego company that supplied translators. According to an investigation released July 21 by the Armys inspector general, a third of contract interrogators at Abu Ghraib “had not received formal training in military interrogation techniques, policy, and doctrine.”

As America moves from its ends-justify-the means war footing of the Bush years to a more sanity based approach toward world conflict, the question in my mind is what place does CACI and other companies of its ilk have in the global economy?

The answer is: None.

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

SUDAN: Kidnapped Doctors Without Borders Staff Released in Darfur

Four Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff kidnapped on March 11 in Serif Umra, North Darfur, Sudan, were safely released today, March 14, 2009.  Doctors Without Borders

U.S.: Kucinich Requests Investigation Into ‘Executive Assassination Ring’

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Friday sent a letter to Chairman Edolphus Towns of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requesting an immediate investigation into allegations made by the investigative reporter Seymour Hersh that the White House operated an ‘executive assassination ring’ that circumvented Congressional oversight.  Common Dreams

U.S.: Complaint Filed Against Former Dept. of Defense Lawyer William Haynes

The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) is filing a complaint with the California State Bar today against former Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes. The complaint against Haynes, who now works for the Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, states that he “breached his duty as a lawyer and advocated for harsh tactics amounting to torture in violation of U.S. and international law … advocacy that directly lead to detainee abuses at the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Grahib facilities.”  Common Dreams

EU: Demand Accountability for Gaza Conflict Laws of War Violations

The European Union should press for a comprehensive and impartial international inquiry into allegations of serious violations of international law committed by Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza and southern Israel, Human Rights Watch said today. Failure to do so would suggest an indefensible double standard in the application of international justice. Human Rights Watch

CUBA: More dissident arrests in Cuba

On the eve of the 6th anniversary of Cuba’s Black Spring, 15 opponents of the Castro regime were arrested in Santa Clara. Their crime? Demanding that Cuba respect Human Rights conventions the Castro regime has previously agreed to on paper. Cuba has signed the Human Rights Conventions, when will they implement them? Didn’t Raul Castro promise change?  Blog for Cuba

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

SRI LANKA: UN suspects Sri Lanka war crimes

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights has voiced deep concern over the plight of civilians in war-ravaged Sri Lanka, saying both the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may be committing war crimes.  Al Jazeera

U.S.: Labor Secretary Proposes Suspending Farm Rules

Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis announced Friday that she would suspend regulations that the Bush administration introduced in December to make it easier and cheaper for agricultural employers to use foreign workers in temporary jobs.  NY Times

DRC: Women in Congo Speak Out about Rape Despite Taboo

Zamuda Sikujuwa shuffles to a bench in the sunshine, pushes apart her thighs with a grimace of pain and pumps her fist up and down in a lewd-looking gesture to show how the militiamen shoved an automatic rifle inside her.  Common Dreams

U.S.: Red Cross report describes “torture” at CIA jails

The International Committee of the Red Cross concludes in a secret report that the Bush administration’s treatment of al-Qaeda captives in CIA prisons “constituted torture,” The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing newly published excerpts from the 2007 document.  Reuters

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The atrocities and war crimes committed by the Israeli Defense Forces have overshadowed another layer of human rights abuses in Gaza. While more than 1400 Gazans died at the hand of Israeli soldiers, hundreds more Palestinians have been killed at the hands of their own government. As Amnesty International reported in its paper, “Hamas’ Deadly Campaign in the Shadow of the War in Gaza,” dozens of Palestinians have been killed or badly beaten and tortured by Hamas in the days surrounding the Israeli assault on Gaza. Hamas’ disregard for the rule of law and human rights demonstrate its inability to function as a legitimate governing body and its failure to serve the Palestinian people.

As noted in the AI report, Hamas targets include former detainees accused of “collaborating” with the Israeli army who escaped from Gaza’s central prison when it was bombed by Israeli forces on 28 December 2008. Other targets included former members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces and other activists of the Fatah party. [click to continue...]

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

CIA admits ‘terror tapes’ destroyed

The US Central Intelligence Agency has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of
“terror” suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, the agency has said.  Al Jazeera

Forced labor in Florida

Workers chained to poles. Locked in trucks. Physically beaten. Robbed of pay. It sounds too extreme to be true. But it’s happening today. For decades, Florida’s farmworkers have faced terrible abuses, brutal exploitation, and in the most extreme cases, forced labor. But almost as disturbing is the silence of Florida’s governors – who have refused to condemn these abuses. That’s why we’re calling on Florida Governor Charlie Crist to commit the full power of his office to addressing the plague of forced labor in Florida’s fields.  American Rights at Work

DOJ Memos Reveal Legal Thinking Behind Controversial Bush Terrorism Policy

The Justice Department today released nine national security legal opinions written by the Bush administration, and revealed that in the weeks before President George W. Bush left office, an administration attorney had disavowed all of them.  Common Dreams

Jestina Mukoko and a few others released on bail

The BBC is reporting that Jestina Mukoko has been released on bail, but she remains in hospital where she still needs ongoing medical treatment. Mukoko was in detention for 89 days before being released on bail. When she was first abducted she was missing for 20 days, when no one knew whether she was dead or alive. The world later learned that she had been severely tortured while in police custody.  BBC

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: Radio show reveals identity killed FARC hostages

Caracol Radio show ‘Voces del Secuestro’ (voices of abduction) revealed 34 names of FARC hostages who were killed in captivity. The names were given by demobilized guerrillas.  Colombia Reports

U.S.: Probe Finds Army Charity is Hoarding Millions

As soldiers stream home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows.  Common Dreams

U.S.: Freed Guantanamo detainee says U.S. behind his torture

Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years, was released and put on a plane to Britain on Monday and accused the U.S. government of orchestrating his torture.  Reuters

ZIMBABWE: 80,250 cases of cholera recorded in Zimbabwe (as of 19 Feb 2009)

These are the latest figure for the cholera crisis, as of (19 February), released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 80,250 cholera cases have been recorded to date, and 3,759 Zimbabweans have died from the disease. Click on the graph to enlarge. This is Zimbabwe

CHINA: Trapped China miners found alive

Dozens of trapped miners have been rescued after a blast at the mine they were working in killed at least 74 people.  Al Jazeera

PALESTINE: Amnesty urges Israel arms embargo

Amnesty International, the human rights group, has called for a global arms embargo on Israel over its conduct during the war on Gaza.  Al Jazeera

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

GAZA: UN to resume Gaza Aid

The UN is to resume delivering aid in Gaza after it said Hamas returned humanitarian supplies it had seized from UN warehouses last week.  Al Jazeera

U.S.: Senator Seeks Bush-Era ‘Truth Commission’

A U.S. “truth commission” should investigate Bush administration policies including the promotion of war in Iraq, detainee treatment and wiretapping without a warrant, an influential senator proposed on Monday.  Common Dreams

U.S.: D.C. Appeals Court to Rule on CACI and L-3 Complicity in Abu Ghraib Torture

Attorneys for torture victims abused in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq asked the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to affirm a lower court ruling letting the lawsuit proceed to trial against CACI International Inc. and overturn as premature the summary judgment granted to L-3.  Common Dreams

IRAN: Four Journalists Sentenced to Prison, Floggings

Four Years After Arrests, No Public Investigation of Abuse Allegations

The sentencing of four Tehran bloggers by Iran’s Judiciary Court on February 3, 2009, to prison terms, fines and flogging, despite the head of the judiciary’s admission that they had been coerced into confessing, violates their right to a fair trial, Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The four said shortly after their arrest in 2004 that they had been tortured during interrogation, but there has been no public investigation into these allegations despite a high-level promise to do so.  Common Dreams

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

U.S.: Judges seek massive California prisoner release

Federal judges on Monday tentatively ordered California to release tens of thousands of inmates, up to a third of all prisoners, in the next three years to stop dangerous overcrowding.  Reuters

DRC: Peace in Congo?

Eastern Congo, long the heart of the bloodiest killing on planet earth since World War II, seems to be turning a corner. The most powerful rebel commander has been captured and the Rwandan military is engaged in joint operations with the Congolese military. It appears that directionally, the events of the past few weeks augur well for regional peace and prosperity.  NY Times/Kristof

U.S.: Obama Backs Off a Reversal on Secrets

In a closely watched case involving rendition and torture, a lawyer for the Obama administration seemed to surprise a panel of federal appeals judges on Monday by pressing ahead with an argument for preserving state secrets originally developed by the Bush administration.  NY Times

SRI LANKA:  Government Targets Media Under Civil War Cover

Sri Lanka’s ruling establishment has become increasingly intolerant towards the island country’s independent media, even as President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government steps up its military offensive against separatist Tamil militants in the north.  IPS

PRC: China submits rights record to UN

China has submitted its first report on its human rights record for review by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  BBC

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