A US federal appeals court Friday dismissed a lawsuit against two U.S. defense contractors by Iraqi torture victims, saying the companies had immunity as government contractors.
The United States' attorney general, Eric Holder, has named John Durham as special prosecutor to probe CIA prisoner abuse cases after the release of a disturbing report on torture methods used to interrogate key terror suspects.
US Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured) has named federal prosecutor John Durham to conduct a preliminary review of alleged CIA prisoner-abuse cases following a recommendation from the Justice Department's ethics office to reopen the inquiries.
US President Barack Obama has approved the creation of a special team to question key terrorism suspects that will operate under the National Security Council instead of the CIA, a move that allows the White House to oversee its activities directly.
The US Justice Department's ethics office has recommended reopening nearly a dozen alleged prisoner-abuse cases, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Today on the Web: the wildfires currently spreading through the Athens region mobilise Greek net users; accounts of rape and torture in Iranian prisons multiply online; and TV news by an optimistic teenager.
A group of Republican US senators have warned against a possible probe into alleged abuses by CIA interrogators of suspected terrorists, saying such an investigation could have serious security implications.
Former General Santiago Omar Riveros, responsible for numerous human rights abuses during Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship, was sentenced to life in jail on multiple torture and murder charges after his amnesty was lifted.
