Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Military Lawyers Object to Bush Torture Policies

On July 20 President Bush issued an executive order outlining the rules for interrogating terrorist suspects. In a conference, "Top military lawyers have told senators that President Bush's new rules for CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists could allow abuses that violate the Geneva Conventions." The language in the order that military lawyers and human rights groups object to prohibits "willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual." The concern is that the President's order allows interrogators to use "outrageous acts of personal abuse" as long as the purpose is to gather information. This would clearly violate the Geneva Convention.
The Boston Globe has more.
Also, see this Amnesty International report.
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Pakistan Supreme Court Allows Exile to Return

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the chief opponent of Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, can return home from exile. In doing so the Court rejected arguments by the government at set the stage for an election confrontation between Musharraf and the man he overthrew in the 1999 coup, Nawaz Sharif. The decision is a sign of growing independence on the part of Pakistan's judiciary. The International Herald Tribune has more.