“Russian Repression: Is the Bad Old Bear Back?”

Ever since Russia joined Europe’s leading inter-governmental human rights body a decade ago, a
clash has seemed all but inevitable. The battle – between European rule of law and raw Russian
power — is now underway. Who will win? No one knows.

The Council of Europe (not to be confused with the smaller European Union) now has 46
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“The Senate: Making a Mess of Guantanamo”

The word “Guantanamo” has become an epithet in international legal circles. Our country has
imprisoned hundreds of foreign citizens without trial for over three years at our Naval Base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with no end in sight. The Pentagon has brought charges against only a
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“Peru’s Fujimori: Return of the Prodigal President?”

Monday brought the startling news that former Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori, forsaking
his five-year safe haven in Japan, had flown to Chile, where a Supreme Court judge has ordered
that he be held without bail while Peru seeks his extradition on 21 charges of corruption and
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“Senator John McCain: Protecting Prisoners – Theirs and Ours”

To the credit of their nation, no fewer than ninety members of the United States Senate -
including 46 Republicans – voted this month to write into law America’s longstanding
commitment under a United Nations treaty not to inflict “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”
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“Indicting War Criminals: Good Start, Long Road Ahead”

The International Criminal Court in The Hague made history this month, by
issuing its first-ever indictments against top leaders of a murderous rebel movement in Uganda.
Hailed by leading human rights groups as a major step toward ensuring justice for atrocities, the
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“Countering Terrorism: American and European Approaches”

Al Qaeda targets both sides of the Atlantic. The bombings in London and Madrid are
bloody reminders that the United States is not the only affluent democracy to suffer violence at
the hands of terrorists who respect no bounds of innocence or decency. Read More

“Why Not Torture?”

Why not torture? With this week’s sentencing of Private Lynndie England to three years in
prison for abusing naked Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and new public reports by Army Captain
Ian Fishback and Human Rights Watch of American abuses of prisoners elsewhere, the question
refuses to go away. Read More

“Bolton’s UN Debut: Falling Flat”

We can now declare the winners and losers in last week’s United Nations summit of more than
150 world leaders. Count United States Ambassador John Bolton – and his country – among the
losers. And list human rights – in some ways at least – among the winners.

Amid charges that he can be nasty and bullies subordinates, Bolton was unable to gain Senate
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“Justice Roberts: Open to the World?”

“Looking at foreign law for support,” quipped Judge John Roberts at his confirmation hearing, “is
like looking out over a crowd and picking out your friends. You can find them. They’re there.
And that actually expands the discretion of the judge.”

Judge Roberts was responding to Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who opposes the
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“New Orleans: A View from Afar”

When tragedy breached the dikes of New Orleans last week, I was in Belgium – the heart of what
Donald Rumsfeld not long ago dismissed as “Old Europe,” a backwater too benighted to match
American progress on the frontiers of Iraq and Afghanistan.

To judge by initial news coverage and conversations, New Orleans will be remembered in Europe
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“Pat Robertson: Bringing Assassinations Back to Life?”

Televangelist Pat Robertson’s call for a covert operation to assassinate Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, while not a crime, is an outrage. The 75-year-old founder of the Christian
Coalition publicly advocates that the United States commit an act of state terrorism. Read More