Kate Allen

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Barely noticed amid the fanfare surrounding the announcement of an end to US combat operations in Iraq, in July the US also handed the last of some 10,000 prisoners held on security grounds to the Iraqi authorities – though the US will continue to hold about 200 detainees deemed to be "high-risk".

Remarkably, however, this mass transfer came with no formal guarantees over humane treatment or due process. Given recent instances of the discovery – including by US forces – of horrific abuse being meted out to inmates by Iraq guards, this is extremely regrettable.

The torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners by US forces at Abu Ghraib made the US notorious when the scandal came to light in 2004.…  Seguir leyendo »

A new chief executive takes the helm at Shell today. Peter Voser will preside over a company which generated about $458bn revenue in 2008 and has operations in more than 100 countries, and at a time when the oil industry has never been under more scrutiny. A Shell man since 1982 and said to be a "safe pair of hands", Voser will be remunerated to the tune of more than £3m. At Amnesty we hope a concerted effort to turn around Shell's appalling reputation in the Niger Delta will be at the top of the agenda of the first board meeting he leads.…  Seguir leyendo »

The prosecution by a military court last week of the Australian David Hicks had a surface veneer of respectability (Australian's guilty plea at Guantánamo hearing, March 27). But this was a facade. Yes, Hicks "is the first terror suspect to face prosecution in revised military tribunals established after the US Supreme Court last year found the Pentagon's system for trying such detainees was unconstitutional". But that's a dubious distinction.The Australian government has talked publicly about their satisfaction in getting "this Australian to the head of the queue" for a military commission, saying it shows the "degree of influence" enjoyed by John Howard's government in Washington.…  Seguir leyendo »