The Lawlessness of William Barr, America’s New Top Law Enforcement Official

The relatively small amount of scrutiny William Barr fell under from Congress and Beltway thought leaders speaks to a conformity of their ideologies. But to understand what America’s new top law enforcement official really signifies as a veteran swamp creature, it is necessary to revisit Cold War history.

Alexander Rubinstein
By Alexander Rubinstein
Attorney General | William Bar

WASHINGTON -- Congress’ confirmation of William Barr as Attorney General for the United States on Thursday has come and gone with comparatively little commotion compared to that attending his predecessor, Jeff Sessions, or Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Most media attention fixated on the potential for Barr to undermine the work of his

Read Full Article

Hunger Striking Protesters Condemn Trump, Haspel, and Call for Gitmo’s Closure on its 17th Anniversary

“What we’ll do every day is demand that the evil that’s committed in our name by the evil that’s living in that White House is held accountable to all the immorality that continues to perpetuate under American empire.” —  Aliya Hana Hussain of the Center for Constitutional Rights

Alexander Rubinstein
By Alexander Rubinstein
Guantanamo protest 2019

Friday marked the 17th anniversary of the opening of the United States prison compound in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Barack Obama failed to fulfill his promise of closing the facility and little attention has since been given to the issue by the Trump administration, but activists continue to work behind the scenes to shut down what they call

Read Full Article

The Art of Keeping Guantánamo Open

What the paintings by its prisoners tell us about our humanity and theirs.

Erin Thompson
By Erin Thompson
Muhammad Ansi, Hand Holding Red Flowers, 2015 (color photocopy of original and reverse, showing stamps indicating approval for release from Guantánamo).

We spent the day at a beach in Brooklyn. Skyscrapers floated in the distance and my toddler kept handing me cigarette filters she had dug out of the sand. When we got home, I checked my email. I had been sent a picture of a very different beach: deserted, framed by distant headlands with unsullied sands and clear waters. As it happened, I was

Read Full Article

Trump Administration Wants To Begin Refilling Guantanamo

President Trump promised during the campaign to “load it up with some bad dudes,” and Sessions has called it a “very fine place” with no legal reason not to send new detainees there.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
Guantanamo

Trump Administration officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, are suggesting that President Trump’s campaign promise to start refilling the detention center at Guantanamo Bay could begin soon, with Sessions praising it as a “very fine place” for detainees and insisting that there is no legal reason not to start sending new detainees

Read Full Article

Guantanamo Child Detainee Receives Apology, $10 Million Compensation From Canada

The former child prisoner will be compensated for abuses he suffered while he was detained by the US in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Jessica Corbett
By Jessica Corbett
Former child soldier Omar Khadr was held by the U.S. for 10 years. (Photo: Canadian Press)

Toronto-born Omar Khadr—who was captured by the U.S. military in 2002 when he was just a teenager and held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba—will receive an apology and reportedly $10.5 million ($8 million USD) from the Canadian government for failing to protect him from abuse while he was detained for more than a decade. Khadr sought

Read Full Article

Neil Gorsuch’s Hearing Revealed Disturbing New Facts About Guantanamo

Published in partnership with Shadowproof. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was confronted over the fact that he disparaged Guantanamo lawyers and expressed regret during his confirmation hearing. But while Gorsuch made this statement, he did not address equally troubling claims about Guantanamo lawyers fabricating claims of abuse and torture. Senator Dick Durbin asked Gorsuch, who […]

Kevin Gosztola
By Kevin Gosztola
Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Published in partnership with Shadowproof. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was confronted over the fact that he disparaged Guantanamo lawyers and expressed regret during his confirmation hearing. But while Gorsuch made this statement, he did not address equally troubling claims about Guantanamo lawyers fabricating claims of abuse and

Read Full Article