By Johnny
There’s a lot to dig into in this decision, but an interesting item crops up on page 74 concerning the controversial memos prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel during the (second) Bush Administration. From the 11th Circuit: If you’ll recall, there was a lot of shock and indignation surrounding the definition of torture put [...]
By Johnny
More on this later, but here’s the gist from page 87 of the decision: Thank to Piper for pointing this out.
By Johnny
The International Center for Transitional Justice released a report on Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission process and findings this week. To the casual observer, watching the TRC has been a discouraging experience. The TRC, critics point out, has failed to live up to two of its central conceits: truth and reconciliation. So far, the TRC [...]
By Johnny
More from Liberia’s finance minister: the country is on track for 7% growth this year.
By Johnny
Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Alpha Conde, a candidate in Guinea’s upcoming election, and a longtime opposition leader–and, possibly, the next president of this small West African nation. Conde could be called a political survivor–in a nation where political battles have been waged with increasing violence over the past 18 [...]
By Johnny
This is a perennial event in embassies around the world. The release of a country’s annual human rights report. In the months and weeks before these documents are made public, diplomats draft and revise and redraft an analysis of how a given country is meeting international human rights standards. Historically with Liberia, this provided an [...]
By Johnny
American poet. A poem, “Let there be new flowering” : let there be new flowering in the fields let the fields turn mellow for the men let the men keep tender through the time let the time be wrested from the war let the war be won let love be at the end
Also posted in Broken news | Tagged Lucille Clifton |
By Johnny
22.4 million dollars. That is the figure a Miami judge put on the damages awarded to five Liberians who filed suit in federal court against Charles Taylor Jr. aka Chucky, the former commander of his father’s Anti-Terrorist Unit. The suit alleged abuses by Taylor and his forces during his father’s term as Liberia’s president. Piper [...]
By Johnny
Pursuing this intriguing strand of the Charles Taylor story I discussed earlier. An interesting bit emerged at former president Taylor’s trial two weeks ago: apparently Charles Taylor provided a diamond to supermodel Naomi Campbell–at least, according to an affidavit provide to the prosecution by Mia Farrow. So how did this come about? The only occasion [...]
By Johnny
In Miami today. The agenda: Chucky Taylor‘s civil trial. Some background: Chucky Taylor is the American son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. He is also the first person convicted under a federal statute criminalizing the use of torture outside of the United States. He is serving a 97-year sentence, while appealing his case before the 11th [...]