Pentagon releases declassified Church report on detainee interrogations News
Pentagon releases declassified Church report on detainee interrogations

[JURIST] The Pentagon released a declassified version of a 2005 review of US prisoner interrogation practices on Friday. The review, conducted by Vice Adm. Albert T. Church [Wikipedia backgrounder], found that while "interrogation policy could have benefited from additional expertise and oversight," no uniformed or civilian leader had encouraged prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, or at Guantanamo Bay.

The Pentagon released [JURIST report] an executive summary [text] and other details [DOD briefing transcript] of the review in March 2005, in association with Church's testimony [PBS Newshour report] before the US Senate Armed Services Committee. The full report was released after the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a Freedom of Information Act request. The investigation began after several photos and reports of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq circulated in the spring of 2004. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.