By Peter Dickos, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer The interests of national security and human rights often seem in opposition to each other. If that is the rule, then it is one that Sarah Sewall, former Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, breaks every […]
UK High Court Orders Disclosure of Torture Allegation Materials
By Mary Ostberg, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer On Friday, October 16, 2009, the United Kingdom’s High Court ruled that seven paragraphs of UK-U.S. exchanges detailing the alleged torture of Binyam Mohamed should be disclosed. In reversing its 2008 ruling, the High Court called the public interest in disclosing the paragraphs “overwhelming.” Mr. Mohamed, a […]
Administration Softens Sudan Policy; Maintains Support for ICC Prosecution
By Brian Itami, HLS 2012 NSJ Staff Writer The Obama Administration’s Sudan policy, unveiled on Monday, October 19, 2009, maintains support for the prosecution of President Omar al-Bashir in the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite seeking greater engagement with the Sudanese government. The three major policy objectives include bringing about an end to the “conflict, […]
Senate Approves Transfer of Guantanamo Detainees for Trial; Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Kiyemba v. Obama
By NSJ Staff Writer The Obama Administration is one step closer to achieving its goal of closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay by January 22, 2010. On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, the Senate, by a vote of 79 to 19, passed the $44.1 billion budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes a […]
Mukasey Argues Against Trying Guantanamo Detainees in Civilian Courts
By NSJ Staff Writer Today’s Wall Street Journal features an op-ed from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, in which he argues that alleged terrorist detainees should not be tried in US civilian courts. In particular, Mukasey criticizes Attorney General Holder’s August decision to try Ahmed Ghailani in New York rather than Guantanamo for the 1998 […]
U.S. Military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) Policy Criticized at Harvard Law School Panel
By Anthony Palermo and Lindsay Schare “DADT is government-sanctioned discrimination. There are thousands of closeted gay women and men serving in our armed forces today, and we disrespect their service by clinging on to this insulting law,” said Captain Joe Lopez, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a current […]