Radio Nizkor

International Human Rights Law
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A joint project of Radio Nizkor and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School



Fichero AudioUsa - CIA expands operational file secrecy and Department of Defense seeks a broad new exemption from FOIA. (Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07May06


"The Central Intelligence Agency conducted a review of its "operational files" last year, as it is required to do every ten years under the CIA Information Act of 1984, to see if any such files could have their "operational" designation rescinded, making them subject to Freedom of Information Act requests... But instead of removing any files from operational status, as contemplated by the 1984 Act, the CIA added nearly two dozen new categories of files that will now be exempt from search and review under the FOIA, according to a newly disclosed report to Congress."

On the other hand, "The Department of Defense is seeking a broad new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act for unclassified information relating to weapons of mass destruction. According to the proposed legislation, 'Examples of such information could include ... formulas and design descriptions of lethal and incapacitating materials; maps, designs, security/emergency response plans, and vulnerability assessments for facilities containing weapons of mass destruction materials.' The proposal is puzzling because most such information, including that which is not classified, is already exempt from the FOIA..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
secrecy Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:51 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. to switch from a "data preservation" to a EU-like "data retention" system that could pose serious privacy risks. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07May06


The Electronic Privacy Information Center, EPIC, informs that Members of Congress are calling for laws in the United States that would compel Internet service providers and telecom companies to store information about their customers for months or years and make those records available to the police upon request...

To date, law enforcement has not been able to show that retaining all users' data helps to solve criminal cases. Traffic data is seldom essential in criminal investigations and data retained for longer than 6 months is rarely useful.

Retaining all customer data could also raise serious security and privacy risks..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
epic1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:18:26 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - In a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit, Former Top Official in the US Justice Department Concludes that Surveillance Program was Illegal. (Electronic Privacy Information Center). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 23Apr06


"In December 2005, the New York Times reported that President Bush secretly issued an executive order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless surveillance of international telephone and Internet communications on American soil. President Bush acknowledged the existence of the NSA surveillance program and vowed that its activities would continue.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC- submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the NSA and four Department of Justice components just hours after the existence of the warrantless surveillance program was first reported. Noting the extraordinary public interest in the program — and its potential illegality — EPIC asked the agencies to expedite the processing of the requests...

Documents obtained by EPIC earlier in March 2006, through the FOIA litigation, reveal that a former top official in the Justice Department doubted that the domestic surveillace program was allowed under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Resolution..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
epic Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:07 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - Communique on the State's refusal to investigate serious crimes against human rights under Franco. (Equipo Nizkor and several Spanish associations of victims of Francoism and World War II). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 23Apr06


"On 16th December 2005 an Order of the Ministry of the Presidency ("ORDEN PRE/3945/2005") was published in the Spanish Official Gazette establishing the regulatory basis for the provision of subsidies for activities relating to the victims of the civil war and of Francoism.

Article 5 of the said Order provides: "The following projects may be eligible for subsidies, details of which will be specified in the corresponding official announcements: Investigation, exhumation and identification of persons who disappeared violently during the civil war or during the subsequent political repression and whose whereabouts are unknown, carried out under the responsibility of individuals or groups of individuals who claim a legitimate interest".

In response to the above Order, Equipo Nizkor and several Spanish associations of victims of Francoism have released a communique in which they assert that these specific activities are part of the legal responsibility of the State and cannot be delegated or sub-contracted to individuals or groups of individuals without violating the existing law as well international and European norms...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
impunity Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:19 ENG



Fichero AudioOnu - 33 UN independent experts reaffirm prohibition of torture is absolute. (United Nations Press Release). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 16Dec05


"On the occasion of Human Rights Day, we express alarm at attempts by many States to circumvent provisions of international human rights law by giving new names to old practices. Whereas international instruments stress that human rights are at the foundation of any democratic society, more and more frequently they are portrayed as an obstacle to government efforts to guarantee security. This trend is illustrated by debates on the absolute prohibition of torture: a ban that recently had seemed an undisputed cornerstone of human rights law, anchored in numerous international legal instruments, but also accepted as a principle of jus cogens...

"We are determined, in the framework of our respective mandates, to continue our work as defenders of all the human rights of all persons. Looking to the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and other UN instruments, we reject the artificial opposition between human rights and national security. Indeed, there can be no security without respect for human rights..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
torture1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:58 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. secret detention facilities in Europe catch the attention of the Council of Europe. (The New York Times; Human Rights Watch; Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 03Dec05


"When the Bush administration rewrote the rules for dealing with prisoners after 9/11, needlessly scrapping the Geneva Conventions and American law, it ignored the objections of lawyers for the armed services. Now, heedless of the lessons of Abu Ghraib, the civilians are once again running over the people in uniform. Tim Golden and Eric Schmitt reported yesterday in The Times that the administration is blocking the Pentagon from adopting the language of the Geneva Conventions to set rules for handling prisoners in the so-called war on terror...

Dana Priest reports in The Washington Post that even the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine operators are getting nervous about the network of secret prisons they have around the world - including, of all places, at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe."

"Human Rights Watch has conducted independent research on the existence of secret detention locations that corroborates the Washington Post's allegations that there were detention facilities in Eastern Europe." Specifically, Human Rights Watch "have collected information that CIA airplanes traveling from Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004 made direct flights to remote airfields in Poland and Romania."

In turn, On November 7th. 2005, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) appointed its Chairperson Dick Marty (from Switzerland, member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) as rapporteur to examine the subject of alleged secret CIA detention centres...

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prisons Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:13:57 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Graham amendment passes, stripping federal courts of jurisdiction to hear applications for habeas corpus. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 15Nov05


"The Bush Administration, through an amendment introduced by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, has successfully stripped federal courts of jurisdiction to hear applications for habeas corpus brought by those unilaterally declared enemy combatants without any process and held by the U.S. indefinitely throughout the world and even in the United States.

This was accomplished by means of a last minute amendment to the Military Authorization Bill, brought up on the floor of the Senate without committee deliberations and virtually no advance warning to the American people that it was happening.

It was not only human rights groups like the Center for Constitutional Rights, but many in the military or retired from the military who opposed the Graham amendment: Judge John Gibbons, who argued the landmark case Rasul v. Bush before the Supreme Court; John Hutson, Dean of Franklin Pierce Law Center and former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, and the National Institute for Military Justice, among others, wrote open letters to the Senate to oppose the dismantling of habeas corpus..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
graham Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:01 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa/Iachr - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Extends Precautionary Measures on Guantánamo Detainees. (Int. Human Rights Law Clinic at American University of Washington; Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 12nov05


On November 2, 2005, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights extended precautionary measures for the men being held indefinitely at Guantánamo Bay by the U.S. government.

Attorneys from the International Human Rights Clinic at American University's Washington College of Law and the Center for Constitutional Rights had a hearing before the Commission on October 20th.

The Commission's measures included requests:

  • that the U.S. government ensure the detainees at Guantánamo are not transferred to countries where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture or other mistreatment;
  • that the U.S., in accordance with international law, not permit any statement obtained under torture to be used in a legal proceeding;
  • that the government investigate and prosecute instances of abuse and torture, which does not mean letting the Department of Defense continue to investigate itself; and
  • to have the legal status of the Guantánamo detainees determined by a competent tribunal, which has not been adequately addressed by the military tribunals or the habeas corpus proceedings to date.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
ccr Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:48 ENG



Fichero AudioUN - Update on the Secretary-General's proposed reform of the UN human rights system. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 06May05


The Commission on Human Rights concluded its annual session for 2005 on April 22nd. 2005, after having debated a wide range of human rights issues under its agenda items from crosscutting thematic issues, to country situations, to the organization of its work...

With regard to the proposed reform of the Secretary-General in the area of human rights, the Commission, while taking into account the report of the Secretary-General, decided to establish an open-ended Working Group which would convene a five-day inter-sessional meeting in June 2005 to reflect on the recommendations on human rights contained in the report of the Secretary-General.

In his report on UN reform entitled, "In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all", dated March 21, 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan makes a series of recommendations, which include the replacement of the Commission on Human Rights with a smaller standing "Human Rights Council"...

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
reform Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:18:05 ENG



Fichero AudioDeclaration on Upholding Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Combating Terrorism (The Berlin Declaration). (International Commission of Jurists). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 06May05


On 28 August 2004, 160 lawyers from around the world, meeting at the International Commission of Jurists biennial conference in Berlin, adopted a Declaration on Upholding Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Combating Terrorism.

"Since September 2001 many states have adopted new counter-terrorism measures that are in breach of their international obligations. In some countries, the post-September 2001 climate of insecurity has been exploited to justify long-standing human rights violations carried out in the name of national security."

The subject of terrorism came up in several resolutions and decisions adopted at the 61st. session of the Commission on Human Rights, which concluded on April 22, 2005. During this year's session a group of human rights organizations issued a joint press release calling on the Commission to act to address meaningfully one of the greatest human rights challenges presently faced by the international community: the need to protect human rights in combating terrorism.

The Berlin Declaration highlights the grave challenge to the rule of law brought about by excessive counter-terrorism measures, reaffirms the most fundamental human rights violated by those measures, and delineates methods of action to address the challenge.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
lawyers Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:08 ENG



Fichero AudioUN - Summary of main actions undertaken by the 61st. session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. (United Nations Office at Geneva). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 06May05


The Commission on Human Rights concluded its annual session for 2005 on April 22nd. 2005, after having debated a wide range of human rights issues under its agenda items from crosscutting thematic issues, to country situations, to the organization of its work.

During the six-week session, which began on 14 March 2005, the Commission adopted 86 resolutions, 16 decisions and four statements by its Chairperson, Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia.

The subject of terrorism came up in several resolutions and decisions adopted at this year's session. These references correlated to national counter-terrorism measures in relation to the work and safety of human rights defenders; the use of counter-terrorism measures to restrict the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and equating religion with terrorism and its adverse consequences on the enjoyment of the right to freedom or religion or belief of all members of the religious communities. The Commission decided to appoint, for a period of three years, a Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism...

Within the context of its agenda item on the promotion and protection of human rights, the Commission adopted a set of Basic Principles and Guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Within the framework of so-called special procedures, the 53-member Commission also decided, among other things, to establish a post for an Independent Expert on minorities for a period of two years to ensure that Governments were guaranteeing the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and to request the United Nations Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, for an initial period of two years, to identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability with regard to human rights...

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
chr Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:32 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - Communiqué concerning the verdict of crimes against humanity in the Scilingo case. (Equipo Nizkor). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 02May05

    "The judgement, which finds that crimes against humanity were committed in this case, represents an important advance in the history of law in Spain in that, for the first time, it applies principles of international law in a manner which is systematic, rational and, in many ways, uniquely important.

    ... We believe that it constitutes a precedent in the defence of human rights and of international human rights law and in the struggle against models of impunity.

    ...We agree completely with the analysis of the crime of genocide as explained in the judgement and we express our firm conviction that this type of international law offence is not sustainable in the light of the proven facts, given that it is impossible here to prove the required mens rea for this category of offence and also bearing in mind that this type of crime exists to deal with criminal racial law of the kind used by National Socialism to justify some of its crimes.

    ... We agree with the court's analysis of the crime of terrorism; although states can commit terrorist acts, those cases of systematic repression such as that which occurred in Argentina and other countries constitute crimes against humanity; to use the definition of terrorism to apply in this case would confuse the categories of crime and the responsibilities of a state when confronted with acts of this nature. To accept this reasoning would have meant an unacceptable devaluation of the concept of serious human rights violations..."

Although it is no more than a historical coincidence, we should bear in mind that this judgement concerning crimes against humanity was published on 19th April, the date on which the world remembers the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprisings. It also coincides with various ceremonies in memory of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the National Socialist extermination camps where, as in this case, Spanish nationals also numbered among the victims. We take the opportunity here to pay homage to all of them.

To homage them all, we also play in this program the song "Die Moorsoldaten", known in French as "Le Chant des Marais" and in English as the "Peat Bog Soldiers". This song was written in 1934-1936 by Rudi Goguel and Herbert Kirmse at the Borgermoor concentration camp. It then spread from camp to camp, clandestinely, and became the hymn for deportees and political prisoners, to be exterminated in most of the cases. It is approximately 4 minutes long.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
communique Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:14:35 ENG



Fichero AudioThe Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders launched its annual report for 2004. (World Organisation Against Torture - OMCT). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 27Apr05.


On 14 April 2005, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), published its annual report for 2004. This report addresses the cases of 1,154 defenders and over 200 organisations committed to the defence of human rights (NGOs, trade unions, etc.) targeted by acts of repression in about 90 countries.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
ophrd Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:04:21 ENG



Fichero AudioUN - Statement of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims before the 61st. session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 05Apr05

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
torture Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:08 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - "Archives and Impunity": Statement of HR and Francoist victims' organizations with respect to the "Salamanca Papers". Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 31Mar05.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
salamanca Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:13 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - The Spanish parliament fails to grant legal recognition to the Chidren of the War. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 31Mar05

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
children Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:07:59 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Opening of CIA records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure must continue, according to US Senate. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 14Mar05

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
nazi Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:01 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - Update on the trial of former naval officer Scilingo. (Equipo Nizkor). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 29Jan05

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
weekly1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:43 ENG



Fichero AudioUN - The UN commemorates the 60th. anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, a day to remember the potential victims of present and future horrors. (UN News Service). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 26Jan05

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
uncamps1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:23 ENG



Fichero AudioUN - The UN General Assembly marks the 60th. anniversary of liberation of Nazi death camps with a special GA session. (UN News Service). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 22Jan05

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
uncamps Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:50 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - The Trial in the case of former Navy Captain Adolfo Scilingo Begins. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 16Jan05


On January 14, 2004, at approximately 11:55 a.m. in Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional, the trial started in the case of former navy captain Adolfo Scilingo. Scilingo was a member of the Argentinian navy and a voluntary participant in the operations of the extermination group known as Task Force 3.3.2.

... Approximately 20 minutes into the proceedings (after the formal opening of the session and the preliminary matters) the bench began to read Scilingo his rights. Scilingo was asked if he knew that he was in a court of justice. Because the judge was concerned that Scilingo was not fit to stand trial, given that he was slumped in his chair with his eyes closed, the president of the court stopped the session to have Scilingo examined by doctors for the second time that morning.

The forensic doctors are prepared for such incidents. Trial resumed with their report. The doctors said that Scilingo had a negative attitude, but that he was lucid, and capable of understanding the proceedings against him. They said that if Scilingo wanted to, he was capable of answering the court’s questions. Thus, the trial went forward.

Adolfo Scilingo chose to remain silent, which is equal to refuse to answer to the court's questions...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
start Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:25 ENG



Fichero AudioEsp - Legal and factual background to the Scilingo case. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 16Jan05

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
scilingoe Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:23:16 ENG



Fichero AudioKhm/UN - The United Nations and Cambodia agreed on a $56 million budget for a special court to try Khmer Rouge leaders. (UN News Service; Craig Etcheson). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 29Dec04


On July 30th., 2004, Radio Nizkor made available an audio report on the establishment of a Tribunal to prosecute former Khmer Rouge leaders. Said report set out the arrangements for the establishment of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, its structure and the main legal flaws surrounding it.

Now we present the main developments having taken place since then.

The United Nations and Cambodia agreed, on December 10th., 2004, on a $56 million budget for a special court to try aging leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the country during the 1970s.

The talks between a six-member UN team and the Government wrapped up in the capital, Phnom Penh, with agreement also on the premises and infrastructure for the two Extraordinary Chambers. One court will conduct trials and the other will hear appeals within the existing Cambodia justice system...

On October 4, 2004, the Cambodian National Assembly adopted the UN tribunal agreement, and the next day, adopted 23 amendments to the 2001 tribunal law; those amendments had been recommended by the UN... On October 27, 2004, Cambodia formally promulgated the UN tribunal agreement...

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
khmer1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:02 ENG



Fichero AudioIcc/Cpi - President Bush signs anti-ICC Nethercutt Amendment and sanctions countries that support the ICC. (American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the ICC; Citizens for Global Solutions). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 20Dec04


On December 7, 2004 President Bush signed into effect the so-called Nethercutt Amendment, which suspends Economic Support Fund assistance to States Parties to the International Criminal Court or ICC who have not signed bilateral immunity agreements with the US.

What the Nethercutt Amendment does is exempt all U.S. nationals and contractors with the US from accountability for widespread and systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed on the territory of a signatory country.

On December 9th., 2004 the Dutch European Union Presidency made public its Declaration on the Nethercutt amendment, regretting its adoption...

The US has deployed its anti-ICC efforts during previous congressional sessions. The House and the Senate had approved on July 2002 another piece of legislation prohibiting US cooperation with the International Criminal Court: the American Servicemembers' Protection Act or ASPA...

The Bush Administration has also been conducting a vigorous campaign of trying to conclude bilateral international agreements that will remove US nationals from the reach of the Court. These are the so-called "Article 98 bilateral agreements"...

Also recently, the US has deployed its anti-ICC efforts before the UN General Assembly, where the US attempted to have the ICC taken off the UN General Assembly agenda. However, on November 19th, 2004, the GA Sixth Committee (Legal) unanimously passed its resolution (and corrigendum) on the ICC without a vote... When the GA Plenary adopted the resolution on December 2, 2004, the US delegation dissociated itself from consensus on the resolution.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
iccus Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:19:20 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Attorneys representing several Guantanamo detainees challenge the Administration's effort to undermine Supreme Court's decision in Rasul v. Bush. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 20Dec04.


On December 1st, 2004, the Center for Constitutional Rights asked two federal court judges to forcefully reject the Bush Administration's effort to dismiss 12 Habeas Corpus petitions brought on behalf of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay.

In an extraordinary move, the government has essentially sought to overturn the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Rasul v. Bush.

On November 5th, 2004, a group of attorneys representing several Guantanamo detainees submitted a Memorandum in opposition to the government's motion to dismiss the instant habeas petitions.

The Petitioners assert in their Memorandum the following:

  • that the President's exercise of his war powers is subject to judicial review
  • that the Supreme Court has already determined that the Guantanamo detainees have stated a claim
  • that pertinent case law, moreover, confirms that the detainees have due process rights under the Constitution that they may vindicate through habeas actions.
  • that the detainees also have rights under the Geneva Conventions and other international law that may be vindicated in a habeas action and,
  • that the detainees have common law rights that inhere in the habeas statute and do not depend upon the cognizability of rights otherwise provided by the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
habeas Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:30:53 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - A coalition of civil liberties groups filed a "friend of the court" brief to overturn a controversial ruling on email privacy. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 08Dec04.


On November 12th. 2004, a coalition of civil liberties groups filed a "friend of the court" brief encouraging the First Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a controversial ruling on email privacy.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center or "EPIC", American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union and Center for National Security Studies, argue in their brief that "the panel's decision creates serious constitutional questions under the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure."

The issue in this case is whether an "intercept" of a communication occurred within the meaning of the Wiretap Act. In other words, whether email can be "intercepted" in violation of federal wiretap law while it is temporarily stored on an email server -- even if only for a fraction of a second...

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
epic Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:39 ENG



Fichero AudioHti - Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste released after almost seven weeks of illegal detention. (Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 08Dec04.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
juste Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:32 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - US District Judge rules in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the Geneva Conventions protect those incarcerated at Guantánamo. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07Dec04.


In a decision dated November 8, 2004, US District Judge James Robertson ruled that it is unlawful to try prisoners detained at Guantánamo by the currently constituted Military Commissions.

"In his ruling on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Judge Robertson asserted that the Geneva Conventions - the conventions signed by the United States and countries all over the world to govern the conduct of nations during wartime - protect those incarcerated at Guantánamo."

According to the Court, all those arrested in or around the conflict in Afghanistan must be treated as prisoners of war if there is any doubt as to their status.

Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war must be provided the same legal process as the soldiers in the armed forces of the capturing army. Mr. Hamdan, the petitioner in the case, is, therefore, entitled to have his case heard by a properly convened military court or courts martial as defined under United States law...

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
hamdan Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:23:31 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - US District Judge rejected the government's increasing move toward secret and coercive investigatory tactics in the post-9/11 environment. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 12Nov04.


In the case of Doe and ACLU v. Ashcroft et al., US District Judge Victor Marrero ruled, on September 28th, 2004, that "the compulsory, secret, and unreviewable production of information required by the FBI's application of 18 U.S.C. § 2709 violates the Fourth Amendment, and that the non-disclosure provision of 18 U.S.C. § 2709 (c) violates the First Amendment."

Plaintiffs in this case, "John Doe" - an internet access firm -, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Civil Liberties Foundation, "challenge the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 2709. That statute authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigations to compel communications firms, such as internet service providers (ISPs) or telephone companies, to produce certain customer records whenever the FBI certifies that those records are "relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities".

The FBI demands under § 2709 are issued in the form of national security letters (NSLs), which constitute a unique form of administrative subpoena cloaked in secrecy and pertaining to national security issues. The statute bars all national security letters recipients from ever disclosing that the FBI has issued an National Security Letter.

The Court concluded that § 2709 violates the Fourth Amendment because, at least as currently applied, it effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge to the propriety of an National Security Letter request. And also, that the permanent ban on disclosure contained in § 2709 (c) operates as an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech of the First Amendment.

    "In general, as our sunshine laws and judicial doctrine attest, democracy abhors undue secrecy, in recognition that public knowledge secures freedom. Hence, an unlimited government warrant to conceal, effectively a form of secrecy per se, has no place in our open society.

    Such a claim is especially inimical to democratic values for reasons borne out by painful experience. Under the mantle of secrecy, the self-preservation that ordinarily impels our government to censorship and secrecy may potentially be turned on ourselves as a weapon of self-destruction.

    When withholding information from disclosure is no longer justified, when it ceases to foster the proper aims that initially may have supported confidentially, a categorical and uncritical extension of non-disclosure may become the cover for spurious ends that government may then deem too inconvenient, inexpedient, merely embarrassing, or even illicit to ever expose to the light of day.

    At that point, secrecy’s protective shield may serve not as much to secure a safe country as simply to save face."

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
nsl Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:27:34 ENG



Fichero AudioHti - Special program on the situation of violence in Haiti. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 12Nov04.


"Six months after the abrupt and violence-laced departure of constitutionally elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and over three months after the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping units which were hailed as an instrument for order and stability in this long-troubled Caribbean island, Haiti remains poised on the edge of chaos."

On September 7, 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a statement expressing concern "over several key areas in which the basic rights and freedoms of Haitians remain weak and imperiled."

In this regard, on September 16, 2004, Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, during a Radio interview, said that human rights criticism was making his relations with donor countries difficult. Later that day police officers raided the offices of the Confederation of Haitian Workers labor union and arrested nine union members, all without a warrant...

On October 2, 2004 the police raided a radio station and arrested two Senators and a former Deputy from the Fanmi Lavalas party who had criticized the Interim Government during a radio program, again without a warrant...

On October 13, 2004, Haitian police forcibly entered the Sainte Claire Catholic Church in Port-au-Prince and arrested the Pastor, Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste, without a warrant. Fr. Jean-Juste is an activist for peace, justice and the rights of immigrants in Haiti and the U.S.

The critical human rights situation in Haiti has also been the concern of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, who has made public a letter saying that human rights conditions are now worse then they have been in years. "Journalists, human rights workers, teachers, church workers, and labor unions are being threatened regularly and are clearly at risk...."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
haiti Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:37:34 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. Southern Command (SouthCom) Struggles to Justify its Role in the War on Terror. (Council On Hemispheric Affairs - COHA). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 11Oct04.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
southcom Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:14:36 ENG



Fichero AudioEU - Privacy groups warn that proposed retention of personal data resulting from communications is necessarily an invasive act. (Privacy International and European Digital Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 18sep04.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
privacy2 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:20 ENG



Fichero AudioIcc/Cpi - Update on the works of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 17sep04


The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has just held its third session, from 6 to 10 September 2004, in The Hague, the Netherlands, where the Court is based.

The Assembly of States Parties is the management oversight and legislative body of the International Criminal Court. It is composed of representatives of the States that have ratified and acceded to the Rome Statute.

During its 3rd. session, among other decisions, the Assembly adopted a negotiated Draft Relationship Agreement between the Court and the United Nations and elected Ms. Fatou Bensouda, of Gambia, to the office of Deputy Prosecutor for Prosecutions. It also adopted the Court's 2005 programme budget and a Contingency Fund was established in the amount of 10,000,000 Euros.

Given the ICC's role in ensuring that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished, we think it is important to be aware of the key decisions which will affect its adequate functioning.

The Real Media format of this file permits the viewing of documents which contain context analysis in synchronization with audio. This is possible through the use of the Real One Player program. More Information.

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iccasp Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:15:22 ENG


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