Human Rights Watch released a report yesterday calling on the Jordanian government to address the widespread practice of torture in its prisons. (Link is to HRW press release; read the full 95-page report here or go to the LA Times summary here). Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East Director, says that the mechanisms in place to hold prison guards accountable for the way they treat prisoners “are simply not working”. Jordan has sought advice from foreign consulting firms, including the New York based Kerik Group (yes, it is that Bernard Kerik) and the Austrian government.
It's important to be clear that no kind of torture (or enhanced interrogation techniques) is acceptable. However, it's worth noting that it appears from the report that the decision to torture prisoners is taking place at an individual level of prison guards getting carried away. Less Orwellian and state driven, more Milgram and prison-culture driven.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
