Ahead of today’s meeting of the euro zone’s finance ministers, the Bank of Greece warned that the country faces imminent economic collapse. Months of talks between the Syriza-led government and its international creditors, the European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), over the terms of an austerity programme broke down acrimoniously at the weekend. The talks, ongoing …
Iraq: A Nation Destroyed by American Contempt – César Chelala
Iraq’s dismal health situation is testimony to the invasion of the country by foreign forces, including now the takeover of important parts of its territory by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Iraqi people have been the subject of mass executions, rape, torture and, in addition, the destruction of the country’s infrastructure. The international community has …
Not ISIS – Saudi Arabia Prepares to Execute and Publicly Display Beheaded Body of Political Activist in “Crucifixion” – Michael Krieger
One of the ways that the U.S. government most clearly expresses its deep dedication to global human rights, democracy and decency across the globe is via its unwavering support for the feudal, inhumane tyrannical monarchy of Saudi Arabia. A monarchy that also increasingly seems to have played a key role in the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Saudis have received a lot of bad …
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s First Freely Elected President, Sentenced to Death – Deirdre Fulton
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death for their role in a 2011 mass prison break. Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive rule. His overthrow …
From Drones Abroad to Police Brutality at Home, UN Slams US Human Rights Record – Lauren McCauley
The United States’ human rights record faced fierce criticism on Monday during a hearing of the United Nations Human Rights Council, when a panel of more than 100 international leaders voiced concern over violations spanning from police brutality and the continued use of the death penalty to the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison. According to those present at the hearing …
The illegality of high tech war – Robin Hensel and Coleen Rowley
Why has the United Nations Special Rapporteur called drone strikes extrajudicial killing? Why has a Pakistani judge recently filed criminal charges against a former top CIA lawyer who oversaw its drone program and a former station chief in Islamabad over a 2009 strike that killed two people? The Islamabad High Court ruled CIA officials must face charges including murder, conspiracy, …
Support for the Death Penalty at Lowest Point in 40 Years – Terrell Jermaine Starr
While most Americans still favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder, support for capital punishment is lower than it has been in 40 years, according to the Pew Research Center [3]. Today, 56 percent of Americans favor the death penalty, six points lower than the 62 percent of people who favored it back 2011. In 1996, support for the death …
US admits FBI falsified evidence to obtain convictions – Kate Randall
The US Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that over a more than two-decade period before 2000, nearly every FBI examiner gave flawed forensic hair testimony in almost all trials of criminal defendants reviewed so far, according to a report in the Washington Post. The cases examined include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death, 14 of whom have been either executed …
Majority of Catholics Are Worried About Climate Change and Support Immediate Action
Today marks the day of fast for Catholics in the U.S. as part of the “Lenten Fast for Climate Justice,” a global campaign launched by the Global Catholic Climate Movement in partnership with Fast for Climate Change, Green Anglican Carbon Fast and others to encourage Pope Francis and the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world to take meaningful action in addressing climate change. During this Lenten season, …
Cruel and Inhuman: UN Slams US as Only Nation that Sentences Children to Die In Prison
A United Nations human rights expert strongly condemned the U.S. on Tuesday for being the “only State in the world that still sentences children to life imprisonment without the opportunity for parole,” thereby imposing cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. Juan Méndez, the Special Rapporteur on torture, made the comments in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva—building from his …