State Department Human Rights Country Reports

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"that spark of the divine", Donald Trump, FBI, Google, Google filtering, Google indexing, Intelligence, Justice Department, Philippines, propaganda, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, U.S. Congress, U.S. news coverage, United States, Vladimir Putin February 5, 2018

Americans Are Lost in the Weeds, and Google Doesn’t Help

Continuing Google Censorship Google continues to censor The Trenchant Observer, not displaying search results on hot topics such as the Christopher Steele Dossier. In fact,…

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"that spark of the divine", Barack Obama, debate over the efficacy of torture, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, History, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Nobel Peace Prize, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, syria, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, vision of peace, war crimes

REPRISE: “A time to break silence”: Dr. King on the Vietnam war, and President Carter on America’s human rights violations

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"that spark of the divine", Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, debate over the efficacy of torture, elections, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, freedom of speech, History, Intelligence, International Law, Justice Department, NSA, religious belief, South Africa, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.S. Congress, United States, war crimes

Obama seeks to block publication of Senate torture report; Pillar of democracy at stake

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Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Dictatorship, elections, electronic curtain, European Union, extrajudicial execution, France, freedom of speech, Germany, History, human rights, human rights reports, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, NATO, OSCE, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, Torture, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, Ukraine, United Nations Secretary General, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes

Human rights abuses by Putin’s puppets: The seventh report of the OHCHR on the human rights situation in the Ukraine (with link to full report)

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Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 26, 2014

Julia Smirnova of Die Welt lays out proof that Russian regular troops are fighting in the eastern Ukraine

Despite Vladimir Putin’s blatant lies asserting that Russian troops have not entered the Ukraine, seasoned reporter Julia Mirnova of Die Welt lays out irrefutable evidence…

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Barack Obama, CIA, Egypt, Egypt, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, human rights, human rights reports, International Law, refoulement, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, Torture, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S Foreign Relations, U.S. Intervention, United States, use of force July 28, 2013

Extraordinary rendition in Italy: Inside details revealed in 2003 CIA Milan abduction of Osama Mustapha Hassan Nasr

See Jonathan S. Landay (McClatchy Washington Bureau), “U.S. allowed Italian kidnap prosecution to shield higher-ups, ex-CIA officer says,” McClatchy, July 27, 2013. Greg Miller, “Ex-CIA…

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Barack Obama, China, Crimes Against Humanity, extrajudicial execution, France, History, human rights, human rights reports, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, sanctions, Saudi Arabia, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, United Kingdom, United States, use of force June 4, 2013

U.N. Commission of Inquiry Report on Syria (Doc. A-HRC-23-58); Seizure of al-Qusair; Use of Chemical Weapons by al-Assad

The latest report Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was released on June 4. 2013. See Human Rights Council, United Nations, “Report of the Independent…

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"that spark of the divine", foreign news coverage, freedom of speech, human rights, human rights reports, International Law, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, U.S. Congress, U.S. news coverage, United States April 17, 2013

Where are the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights?

U.S. law requires that the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights be published by February 25 of each year. The seriousness with which…

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Barack Obama, China, Crimes Against Humanity, extrajudicial execution, France, human rights, International Law, Iran, Israel, Libya, Nobel Lecture, Nobel Peace Prize, Nuclear Proliferation, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, syria, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Military, United States, use of force, vision of peace, war crimes March 17, 2013

Smart drones, the goal of peace, and the future of mankind

In an Op-Ed piece by Bill Keller published in the New York Times on March 16, 2013, Keller describes the high probability that “smart drones”…

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Africa, France, human rights, International Law, Mali, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, United States, use of force January 19, 2013

Instead of issuing statements with no legal force, the Security Council should act now to maintain international peace and security in Mali

ECOWAS and the African Union may provide the troops for military intervention to assist the French and Malian forces in repelling the advances of Islamist…

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"that spark of the divine", Barack Obama, History, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Latin America, South Africa, South America, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, United States January 18, 2013

Reflections on the struggle for justice and the rule of law: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Barack Obama, and President Jimmy Carter

There was an article in the Washington Post recently that suggested that Barack Obama plans to draw the maximum mileage out of the coincidence that…

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Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, debate over the efficacy of torture, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, human rights, Intelligence, International Law, Middle East, self-defense, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, Taliban, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, United States, use of force, war crimes January 7, 2013

Key CIA official involved in Bush torture program criticizes “Zero Dark Thirty” for inaccurate depiction of “enhanced interrogation techniques”

Developing story You can’t make this stuff up. Jose Rodriguez, a former CIA official deeply involved in the Bush torture program, published an opinion piece…

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60,000 killed in Syria—REPRISE II: The Olympic Games, and the Battle for Aleppo, Begin—Obama’s Debacle in Syria — Update #91 (January 2, 2013)

Barbarism in a Leaderless World The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights now estimates there have been “59,648 individuals reported killed in Syria between 15…

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Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, debate over the efficacy of torture, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, human rights, human rights reports, Intelligence, International Law, Libya, Pakistan, refoulement, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, Taliban, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Military, United Kingdom, United States, use of force December 28, 2012

European court of human rights condemns Macedonia for “extraordinary rendition” to cooperating CIA officials, in Khaled el-Masri case

News to Note See Nicholas Kulish, “Court Finds Rights Violation in C.I.A. Rendition Case,” New York Times, December 13, 2012. Amrit Singh, “European court of…