Reprieve delivers justice and saves lives, from death row to Guantánamo Bay.
Reprieve delivers justice and saves lives, from death row to Guantánamo Bay.
On November 9th, unless a court intervenes, Hank Skinner will die in Texas, like hundreds before him, with toxic chemicals being pumped through his veins. The same Hank Skinner claims to be innocent of the murders for which he was convicted and condemned, and what’s more, he says that he can prove it: a number of items recovered from the crime scene have never been tested for DNA, and he says that testing will show that someone else was there.
Now, we don’t know for sure whether Hank is innocent or guilty. All we know is that ...
The revelations from Libya show just how far we are from touching the bottom of British complicity in rendition and torture. For anyone who had hoped that, 10 years on from the catastrophic attacks on the United States which kicked off the "war on terror" we might be starting to come to terms with the abuses carried out in our name and put them behind us, the depressing news is that we seem to be further than ever from doing so.
With the caveat that these documents have yet to be fully verified, it would appear that we have been ...
If Richmor Aviation was allowed to bring its case in the open, why weren't Guantánamo detainees Binyam Mohamed and Bisher al-Rawi given their day in court?
Until now, we have been limited to lists of suspicious aircraft and networks of flight routes pieced together painstakingly using information from everyone from plane spotters to the European parliament. They have given us the "where", but not the "how".
In that sense, this trove of information gives us an entirely new angle – we can now begin to comprehend the renditions programme in three, rather than two, dimensions.
The documents cast light ...
Today it was reported that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay may be allowed visits from members of their families.
Yet, from my work with former Guantanamo prisoners, I am not sure how many of our clients would want their family members to see them there. To see the pain from the physical and psychological abuse that they have endured. To see what the war on terror has done to them.
Nevertheless, the fact that the Pentagon is now considering granting this 'privilege' is disgracefully overdue. For over ten years, prisoners at the US naval base have have been completely cut off ...
A bill that could have potentially saved hundreds of lives, as well as the State of California billions, was regrettably prevented from moving forwards due to a ‘lack of support’ in the Legislature on Thursday.
Since 1978 California has spent in excess of $4 billion on its death row programme, resulting in 13 executions. And while this money is poured down the penal drain, the state's economy balances on tenterhooks and crime levels continue to rise.
At a time when the Californian State has a noose around its own neck (a budget shortfall of $25 billion) surely one sensible ...
When I first went to see Ahmed Errachidi (right) in early 2005, the soldiers at Guantánamo warned me that he was one of the very worst: a bitter terrorist; Osama bin Laden's general, his main man. I was intrigued.
We brought the original litigation against the lawlessness of Guantánamo Bay in February 2002, shortly after it opened for its sordid business. By mid-2004, the Supreme Court had ordered that lawyers be allowed access, and I was able to visit for the first time. Soon, I was requested to represent Ahmed.
He didn't seem bitter. He laughed ...
A couple of months ago, on 18 June 2011, Ruyati binti Sapubi, an Indonesian migrant worker, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of murdering her Saudi employer. Riyadh carried out the execution by sword without notifying the Indonesian Embassy, denying it the chance to take action.
Upon hearing of the unexpected beheading, the Indonesian public fumed with rage prompting the government to recall its ambassador to Saudi Arabia in protest.
Addressing the House of Representatives on 20 June, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa proclaimed:
“To save hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers who are facing the death penalty, the ...
A new study gives us the truest picture yet – in contrast to the CIA's own account – of drones' grim toll of 'collateral damage'
I would not deny that the pilotless plane, flying bomb, or whatever its correct name may be, is an exceptionally unpleasant thing, because, unlike most other projectiles, it gives you time to think. What is your first reaction when you hear that droning, zooming noise? Inevitably, it is a hope that the noise won't stop. You want to hear the bomb pass safely overhead and die away into the distance …
Let’s start with this week’s award for absurd reasoning in a death penalty case. It goes to Nanette K. Laughrey, United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Missouri. She wins because a few days ago she dismissed a challenge to lethal injection procedures in Missouri. Why? Because “Plaintiffs present merely an abstract injury that fails to meet the threshold showing for an injury in fact”. I am sure that it will be of great comfort to the prisoners who launched the challenge that the needle pumping lethal chemicals into their bodies is now considered “abstract ...
How did you spend your twenties? (Or, if you are younger, how do you hope to be spending them?)
I graduated from university, started my first job as a trainee lawyer, and plunged myself into London’s social life. And I grew up: I bought my own flat, did human rights work in India and Rwanda, and I met my husband.
Get a degree, start a career, get a place to live, find a partner – it’s what many people hope to get out of their twenties. It’s certainly what Naheem Hussain and Rehan Zaman, two young men from ...
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