POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Still Waiting for Obama to Deliver

While human rights and open-government groups are generally pleased with President Barack Obama’s rhetoric during his first 100 days, some are sceptical that he will deliver on his promises.

RIGHTS-US: Calls for Torture Inquiry Aren’t Going Away

A coalition of 19 human rights, faith-based and justice organisations is calling on President Barack Obama to investigate torture they charge was sanctioned by the administration of former President George W. Bush.

POLITICS-US: 100 Days of Latitude

One hundred days into his presidency, Barack Obama appears to have largely succeeded in putting U.S. ties with the rest of the world on a significantly more positive track, even as the foreign policy changes he has made thus far have been more rhetorical than substantive.

RIGHTS-US: Court Reins in "State Secrets" Privilege

In what may become a landmark decision, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the "state secrets privilege" – routinely used by the government to block lawsuits against its officials – can only be used to contest specific evidence, but not to dismiss an entire suit.

RIGHTS-US: Bracing for New Prisoner Abuse Photos

This Tuesday, Apr. 28, will mark five years since the world got its first look at the sickening photographs from Abu Ghraib on the U.S. television programme "60 Minutes."

RIGHTS-US: Dozens of CIA “Ghost Prisoners” Missing

At least three dozen detainees who were held in the CIA's secret prisons overseas appear to be missing – and efforts by human rights organisations to track their whereabouts have been unsuccessful.

RIGHTS-US: Courts Overrule Govt in Abuse and Detention Cases

As the debate heats up over what to do about recent disclosures of widespread abuse of war-on-terror prisoners, the "third branch" of the U.S. government – the judiciary - continues to assert its independence from the other two branches – the executive and the legislative.

Q&A: Islamophobia Alive and Well in the U.S.

In an Apr. 6 address to the Turkish Parliament on the final day of his European trip, President Barack Obama praised Muslim Americans for "enriching the United States".

POLITICS-US: Overcoming Toxic Legacy of Bush-Style Democracy

A massive overhaul of U.S. development assistance is needed, says a new report from an influential Washington think tank.

RIGHTS-US: Senate Report Casts Grim Light on Bush Era

Pentagon interrogators continuously ramped up their abusive techniques against prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan in a vain attempt to establish a link between the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. on Sep. 11, 2001.

RIGHTS-US: Border Policies Need Overhaul, Group Says

Getting into the United States – even for citizens, let alone immigrants and other visitors – is a notoriously difficult process. But a new report says that the questioning, detention, and oft-extended searches are going too far, especially when they are trampling on the basic rights of citizens returning home.

RIGHTS-US: No Warm Welcome for Muslim American Travelers

A Muslim legal advocacy group Tuesday charged that federal agents routinely target Muslim American travelers - or simply those perceived to be Muslim - for "deeply intrusive, personal questions and searches about their politics, faith, finances, charitable giving and associations with lawful organisations, all without any evidence or even suspicion of wrongdoing."

POLITICS: U.S. Lacks Capacity to Win Over Afghans

President Barack Obama and other top officials in his administration have made it clear that there can be no military solution in Afghanistan, and that the non-military efforts to win over the Afghan population will be central to its chances of success.

POLITICS-US: Prominent Lawmaker Caught Up In AIPAC Scandal

A U.S. government investigation of Israeli spying caught a prominent Democratic congresswoman discussing what is alleged to be a "quid pro quo" deal involving the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington’s powerful hawkish pro-Israel lobby.

RIGHTS-US: Lawyers’ Group Targets Torture Memo Author

Lawyers who reject President Barack Obama’s decision not to seek prosecution of officials who may have participated in the torture of terror-suspect prisoners are seeking justice through another avenue: Sanctions against government lawyers who created the "enhanced interrogation" policies of former President George W. Bush.

RIGHTS: Proponents of Torture May Yet Face Universal Justice

Human rights advocates who were critical of President Barack Obama’s decision not to prosecute Central Intelligence Agency operatives who tortured war-on-terror prisoners are hailing a Spanish judge’s order to pursue a criminal investigation into the actions of six Bush administration lawyers for providing legal cover for torture - despite a recommendation from his prosecutors that the case not go forward.

RIGHTS-US: CIA Director Asked to Preserve Secret Prisons

Lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee who claims he was held and tortured in one of the "black site" secret prisons run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is demanding that the CIA preserve cells and interrogation paraphernalia there as evidence of mistreatment.

RIGHTS-US: No Impunity for Torturers, Groups Urge

Human rights advocates were quick to praise President Barack Obama for Thursday's release of the infamous "torture memos" used by the Bush-era Justice Department to justify cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of war-on-terror prisoners. However, they appear unanimously critical of the president’s decision not to prosecute the Central Intelligence Agency operatives who used these techniques.

RIGHTS-US: Struggle Brews Over “Torture Memos” Immunity

The Justice Department Thursday released four secret memos used by the George W. Bush administration to justify torture.

RIGHTS-US: Abu Ghraib Victims Can Sue Interrogators

In a ruling that could have widespread implications for government contractors overseas, a federal court has concluded that four former Abu Ghraib detainees, who were tortured and later released without charge, can sue the U.S. military contractor who was involved in conducting prisoner interrogations for the Pentagon in Iraq.

POLITICS: U.N. Staff Seeks Answers in 2007 Algiers Bombing

Why is the U.N. keeping its report on the 2007 terrorist attack in Algeria secret? The world body’s staff union says it wants to know.