'US govt. lawyers okayed torture'

Philippe Sands is a British lawyer at Matrix Chambers
and is ‎a professor of international law at University
College London


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138719§ionid=3510203


Senior US government lawyers of the Bush administration schemed to circumvent the Geneva Conventions in order to torture the Guantanamo detainees more aggressively, a certified Queen's Counsel says.

In an interview with Press TV, Philip Sands, the author of Torture Team, blamed lawyers close to former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for marginalizing international laws to sanction the torture of detainees at US-run prisons.

Sands cited a memo that Rumsfeld signed on December 2, 2002 as proof of the US officials' crime. The memo sought to help the US government coerce imprisoned suspected terrorists into revealing intelligence.

The memo authorized the use of controversial practices that were later employed at prisons in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

Many human rights activists have criticized these techniques, saying they are in violation of international definitions of torture such as Common Article 3 of the 1941 Geneva Conventions.

In 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled that President George W. Bush's decision to waive the Geneva Conventions was wrong and illegal.

Secret US memo urges war on Iran

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123635§ionid=351020101


A secret memo by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urges Washington to consider the use of military force against Iran if diplomacy fails to scrap the country's nuclear program.

In what seems to be a new twist in US efforts to tackle Iran's enrichment activities, The New York Times reveals that a three-page memorandum, which has been circulating in Washington since January, has advocated military action against Tehran.

The classified memorandum, according to unnamed government officials quoted by the Times, warns that Washington lacks an effective policy in dealing with Iran's nuclear program and should therefore come up with new options.

One senior official has said that the memo accuses Iran of weapons development and lays out a set of military alternatives to counter Iran's progress in nuclear science and technology.

Some US officials, however, have played down the significance of the report, saying that the Obama administration has always "anticipated the full range of contingencies" against Iran.

"It is absolutely false that any memo touched off a reassessment of our options," AP quoted National Security Council spokesman Benjamin Rhodes as saying.

"This administration has been planning for all contingencies regarding Iran for many months," he added.

The memo has surfaced at a time when Washington is trying to garner support for a new set of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to give up uranium enrichment.

For years, Washington has accused Iran of having plans to build a secret nuclear weapons program "in the near future."

Iran has rejected the accusations, saying that its nuclear program is intended for energy production, not weapons development.

Japan calls on China to raising the yuan

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122332§ionid=3510213


Japan has called on China to let yuan strengthen amid accusations that Beijing keeps its currency artificially low to boost exports.

During a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan asked China to make a "wise decision" on its foreign exchange policy.

"The issue of the yuan, currencies and excess liquidity are related to each other. I told him that," Kan told reporters after the meeting.

But "I didn't say anything on what China should do or shouldn't do" about the yuan, he said.

Some of the Group of Seven industrialized states are ratcheting up pressure on the world's second economy to increase the value of the yuan in a bid to prevent what they allege is unfair export advantage.

"With regard to Japan-China trade, Japan has no major problems... but relations vary with other countries, so I told him that I expect China to make a wise decision as it has done so," he said.

In Washington, the Obama administration also made a same appeal, and there are moves to apply punitive measures against China to force it to increase the yuan's value. However, Naoto Kan described pressurizing China as counterproductive and said: "I'm also aware of the problems in the US Congress, but giving the perception of applying pressure isn't necessarily a good thing."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the United States wants China to quickly raise the value of the yuan.

UN Chief: All Israeli settlements in al-Quds 'illegal'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121612§ionid=351020202


The UN chief says "all" Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem al-Quds is illegal, as Washington and Tel Aviv apparent row over plans to build more units.

"All settlement activity is illegal, but inserting settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem (al-Quds) is particularly troubling,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in New York, quoted by The New York Times.

“This leads to tensions and undermines prospects for addressing the final status of Jerusalem (al-Quds),” he said.

Ban's comments came as US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister continued their talks for a second day in Washington amid an unusual news blackout.

"There are areas that they discussed last night, some of which they agree and some of which they disagree… The conversation was honest and straightforward," the White House press secretary told reporters.

"The president has asked the prime minister for certain things to build confidence,” Robert Gibbs said, refusing to give any further details.

The Palestinian side has maintained that Israel must fully withdraw from the territories if it is serious about peace.

In a statement released on Wednesday, chief negotiator of the Palestinian authority Saeb Erekat said that with the new settlements Israel was "digging itself into a hole that it must climb out of, if it is serious about peace."

Earlier this month, during US Vice President Joseph R. Biden's trip to Israel, Tel Aviv announced that it would soon initiate the construction of 1600 units in the Ramat Shlomo housing development in East al-Quds.

While the prime minister was in Washington for talks with Obama, the Israeli website, Ynet, also announced that another East al-Quds building project was underway, this time 20 units in the Palestinian populated neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Israel plans to build the units on the site of Shepherd Hotel, the former home of the late Islamic law scholar Haj Amin Husseini.

Contrary to UN's position, Netanyahu claims that Israel has the right to continue building in al-Quds.

Latest news reports suggest that Obama has withdrawn from the position of asking Israel to stop settlement construction. According to a Washington Post article on Thursday, Obama has asked Netanyahu to ensure that housing projects in East al-Quds "do not spoil the atmosphere for talks."

Netanyahu told reporters that he was hopeful of a compromise over the al-Quds settlement issue after his visit to Washington.