Reprieve

Pakistan’s Return to Death Penalty Contravenes International Treaties

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Pakistan’s announcement that it has lifted the moratorium on the death penalty in response to the Dec. 16 attack on the Army Public School and College in Peshawar continues to draw severe criticism from human rights groups, which say that this contravenes international treaties signed by Pakistan.

Texas, Pharmacies Clash over Execution Drugs

By Ramy Srour
Authorities in the southern state of Texas are refusing to return lethal injection drugs purchased from two compounding pharmacies, despite calls from the firms not to use their substances for executions.

Report Gives Graphic Details of Guantanamo Force-Feeding

By Jared Metzker
“Bleeding”, “vomiting”, “a quarter or even a third” of bodyweight lost, “torture”. These are characteristic descriptions from testimony by hunger strikers at the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay of their experience being force-fed at the hands of U.S. officials, published in a report released Thursday.

Judge Urges Obama to Halt “Degrading” Guantanamo Force-Feeding

By Carey L. Biron
A federal judge here has taken the unusual step of formally calling on President Barack Obama to halt the forcible feeding of dozens of hunger-striking detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, warning that the practice appears to contravene international law.


prof. messer