detainee news stories on Newser

N. Korea Confirms American Being Held

Rob Quinn — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:51:22 CDT

North Korea has confirmed that it has been holding an American citizen in detention since last November, the AP reports, and is preparing to bring charges against him. Pyongyang names the man as Jun Young Su, and says he was arrested for committing a crime against the country and he...

Iran Reportedly Jails Mousavi

Nick McMaster — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:02:41 CST

Iran is cracking down on its opposition today, jailing prominent leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, reports the AP. The pair and their wives were arrested and taken to Tehran's Heshmatiyeh jail, according to reformist website Kaleme.com. The two have been under house arrest for two weeks for...

US Woman Detained as Spy, Says Iran

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:26:41 CST

A 55-year-old American women has been detained in Iran, according to the state-owned newspaper, which claims she was found with spying equipment hidden on her body and "a microphone" between her teeth. Customs authorities allegedly detained the woman upon her arrival from neighboring Armenia without a visa, reports the AP...

CIA Promised to Cover $5M in Legal Fees for Waterboarders

Matt Cantor — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:56:11 CST

The CIA secretly agreed to pay at least $5 million in legal fees for two contractors who designed interrogations and repeatedly waterboarded detainees, say former US officials. Whereas CIA agents generally receive agency-paid insurance for potential legal bills, psychologists Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the first individuals to have been...

Detroit Bomber Should Be in Military Hands

Rob Quinn — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:25:00 CST

The most alarming thing about the administration's unimpressive response to the Detroit terror incident was its failure to immediately hand the suspect over to the military, writes Michael Mukasey. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been treated like a valuable source of information instead of a mere criminal suspect, the former...

Castro: Obama's Out to Destabilize Cuba

Rob Quinn — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:23:00 CST

Raul Castro signaled that his honeymoon with the Obama administration is over in an angry speech yesterday accusing the US of stepping up its effort to topple the country's Communist government. "The enemy is as active as always," said Castro, pointing to the Cuba's recent detention of an American citizen...

Gitmo Inmate Policy Chief Bails

Rob Quinn — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:46:00 CST

The Pentagon official tasked with closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center has quit the Obama administration after seven months on the job. Phillip Carter, the chief official in charge of detainee policy, cited personal reasons. His resignation comes in the wake of the administration's announcement that it will miss its...

No Clear Way for US to Prosecute Gitmo Prisoners

Nick McMaster — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:11:11 CDT

President Obama is edging closer to his goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison: Congress has approved detainee trials on US soil and the National Defense Authorization Act, passed yesterday, attempts to repair the damaged legality of President Bush’s military-commissions system. But hurdles remain, with legal scholars split on using...

Iran Allows Swiss Envoys Visit With Detained Hikers

Nick McMaster — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:10:12 CDT

Iran has changed its policy on three detained US hikers, allowing Swiss diplomats—who represent American interests in Iran—to visit them. Officials have been denied access to the three Americans since they were detained in July after crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Tehran’s reversal may be...