OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, Jun 30 (OneWorld.net) - Survivors of torture joined human rights activists in the streets of Washington, DC last week to demand prosecution of those involved in planning and implementing U.S. torture policies.

NEW YORK, Jun 29 (IPS) - As President Barack Obama struggles with the political backlash from a Congress determined to keep Guantanamo terrorism suspects out of the U.S., his administration is reportedly preparing an executive order that would give him authority to hold prisoners indefinitely without trial, according to weekend media reports.

WASHINGTON, Jun 23 (OneWorld.net) - The long-term detention of suspected terrorists at prisons like Guantanamo Bay is counterproductive to preventing terrorist attacks, testified the head of a human rights monitor, urging the United States to instead adhere to existing criminal laws and international standards.

OneWorld.net, May 27 (In Brief) - Civilian lives, humanitarian aid, civil liberties, and Afghan community support of anti-Taliban efforts will all be casualties of the U.S. military surge in Afghanistan and continued incursions into Pakistan, says a human rights advocacy group.

WASHINGTON, Apr 29 (OneWorld.net) - At least 33,000 people have fled fighting over the last two weeks between the Taliban and Pakistani security forces in the troubled Northwest Frontier Province of the country, warns an international human rights group.

WASHINGTON, Apr 7 (OneWorld.net) - Foreign detainees brought to the U.S. air base in Bagram, Afghanistan may challenge their detention in U.S. courts, ruled a judge last week.

WASHINGTON, Mar 24 (OneWorld.net) - European countries should emulate Ireland's offer to accept Guantanamo detainees who will be released by the United States but cannot return to their home countries, says an international human rights monitor.

WASHINGTON, Mar 3 (OneWorld.net) - Some of U.S. President Barack Obama's recent decisions concerning Bagram, the U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan, have "quietly signaled support for many of [George W.] Bush's 'war on terror' policies," says Human Rights Watch's Stacy Sullivan. 

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (OneWorld.net) - Last week's brutal killing of 17 people may cause massive displacements among an indigenous community in southwest Colombia.

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (OneWorld.net) - Afghan women who choose to speak out for their rights, go to school, or pursue a career are frequently assassinated or chased out of the country by Taliban members, who at times are offered bounty for each woman or girl attacked. But that's not stopping many of these women, writes journalist Alisa Tang.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (OneWorld.net) - International human rights groups are welcoming U.S. President Barack Obama's executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, saying the move marks a new era of revitalized U.S. respect for human rights.

WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (OneWorld.net) - In one of his first moves as president of the United States, Barack Obama has ordered a four-month suspension of the Guantanamo Bay military trials that have been criticized as unfair and counter to U.S. values of freedom and justice.

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (OneWorld.net) - With few journalists able to report from inside Gaza, aid workers stationed there have become vital sources of not just food and medicines, but also information about what life is like as Israeli attacks continue for a second week. OneWorld.net has used its extensive connections with aid workers to pull together a range of voices from inside Gaza.

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (OneWorld.net) - People living in the historically conflicted area of Kashmir are concerned that rising tensions between India and Pakistan -- provoked by the Mumbai terrorist attacks -- may culminate in conflict.

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (OneWorld.net) - In the weeks before Israel launched its current offensive on Gaza, a team of videojournalists shot profiles of the men, women, and children of Gaza and Sderot, the cross-border towns where one population lives under a blockade of basic living supplies and the other under the everpresent threat of rocket fire.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 1 (OneWorld.net) - Amid growing concerns about a possible humanitarian disaster, international aid organizations and human rights groups are urging the United Nations Security Council to take immediate action against the ongoing Israeli military aggression in Gaza that has resulted in nearly 400 deaths and injuries to over 1,000 people.

WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (OneWorld.net) - "The number and ferocity of terrorist attacks has only increased" since U.S. President Bush launched the "war on terror," writes women's rights advocate Yifat Susskind, urging President-elect Obama and Indian leaders to develop a new response to the assault on Mumbai.

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (OneWorld.net) - An international group of human rights defenders has appealed to President-elect Barack Obama to renew the U.S. commitment to human rights "that has been abandoned" since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (OneWorld.net) - Deep-seeded corruption and public mistrust of the police in India played a large role in allowing for the devastating events that unfolded last week in Mumbai, writes an Asian human rights watchdog.

Since the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, Patricia Smith Melton has devoted her life to voicing the unheard stories of women living, coping, and taking action to build peace in all corners of the globe. Her latest endeavor focuses on Israeli and Palestinian women.

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (OneWorld) - Rights advocacy groups are calling for President-elect Barack Obama to shut down the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay soon after he takes charge of the White House in January. The call comes on the heels of the latest court victory for detainees held in the notorious U.S. prison camp for years without charge.

Latin American jubilation over Barack Obama's election goes beyond race, but regional leaders have tempered their congratulations with calls for a more balanced relationship between North and South, writes Latin America policy analyst Laura Carlsen.

The largest humanitarian operation in the world has so far failed to bring peace and stability to Sudan, but a new commitment and new approach from the Obama administration can bring peace to Darfur and the rest of the country, says Africa Action.

"Syria learned yet again with the recent [U.S.] helicopter attack, when it comes to relations with Washington, no good deed goes unpunished," writes Middle East analyst Farrah Hassen.

Britain's House of Lords voted Monday not to extend the allowable period of pre-charge detention in terrorism cases from 28 to 42 days, reports a human rights monitor, applauding the move but urging continued "rigorous scrutiny" of the Counter-Terrorism Bill.

After nearly seven years of detention, and four years after beingcleared for release by the U.S. government, a U.S. judge has ended theglobal legal limbo of 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees of Chinese Uighur descent, saying they mustbe released into the United States by Friday.

This new documentary tells the history of U.S.-sponsored terror in Latin America, from the successful 1954 CIA coup against Guatemala's Jacobo Arbenz to U.S. intervention in present day Venezuela, writes editor Pablo Morales. 

NEW YORK, Oct 2 (OneWorld) - Peace and disarmament advocacy groups have denounced the U.S.-India nuclear trade deal, saying Wednesday night's Senate vote to approve the agreement posed a serious threat to non-proliferation efforts worldwide.

A new program is facilitating the first ever family visits for individuals held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

A collection of essays about life since 9/11 by people from across the country "reflects the immense pride, patriotism and resilience of Americans. But it also suggests that a more shadowy side that is decidedly un-American has emerged," writes a U.S. policy think tank.

Satellite images released by a UN program prove that five ethnic Georgian villages near the South Ossetian capital were intentionally targeted and destroyed, reports a human rights watchdog.

A Guantanamo detainee preparing to stand trial before a U.S. military commission may gain access to evidence indicating he was tortured thanks to a Thursday ruling by a UK court.

Resilient and determined peaceful demonstrations forced the resignation of Pakistani president and former general Pervez Musharraf, says an Asian human rights watchdog, calling the move a victory for democracy over militarism worldwide.

WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (OneWorld) - The fatal ambush of four humanitarian aid workers in Afghanistan Wednesday has provoked a sharp response from the international aid community, including strong condemnation of the Taliban.

UPPER DIR, Pakistan, Aug 14 (IPS) - "We have been staying in this camp for two days. My daughter is still in Loi Sam, which we left due to heavy shelling by the army," says Gul Pari, who fled the fighting in volatile Bajaur Agency, a tribal area on Pakistan’s northern border.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 8 (OneWorld) - Human rights groups are condemning Wednesday's conviction of Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, calling his military trial at Guantanamo Bay "flawed," "a betrayal of American values," and contrary to international law.

DENVER, Aug 6 (OneWorld) - On the sixty-third anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, groups and individuals around the world are calling on the next U.S. president to take seven concrete steps to end the threat of nuclear terrorism and war.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 5 (OneWorld) - Aid groups are demanding increased protections for civilians in Afghanistan as fighting continues to escalate in the Central Asian country that is regaining its status as a focal point of the U.S.-led "war on terror."

McCain and Obama have both condemned torture and said they want to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, but McCain's position has become somewhat muddled since he became the presumptive Republican nominee, explains policy analyst Josh Rovenger.

The Pakistani government must immediately disclose the whereabouts of over 500 citizens detained under counterterrorism measures and reinstate judges deposed for investigating these state-enforced disappearances, urged an international human rights group yesterday.

Colombians around the world celebrated their country's independence this Sunday by marching for peace and calling on the Colombian left-wing rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to release hundreds of hostages still held captive.

The rescue of high profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt may mark the beginning of the end for Colombia's FARC guerrilla movement, coming just weeks after the death of the group's leader and a series of defeats at the hands of the military, writes a Latin America research group.

WASHINGTON, Jul 1 (OneWorld) - A $465-million aid package aimed at countering terrorism and crippling the drug trade in Mexico and Central America was signed into law yesterday by U.S President George W. Bush, but critics warn that the "Merida Initiative," also known as "Plan Mexico," will be ineffective and could result in more human rights abuses.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 (IPS) - After a two-week fact-finding tour of U.S. prison and detention facilities, a UN human rights investigator has blasted the administration of President George W. Bush for a rash of shortcomings in the country's flawed justice system and continued violations of the rule of law.