The British press is reporting that ten major human rights and anti-torture organizations have announced they will not be cooperating or participating in the United Kingdom Torture Inquiry, headed by Sir Peter Gibson. The organizations, who sent a letter on August 3 to Sara Carnegie, Solicitor to the Detainee Inquiry, cited a lack of transparency and credibility in the proposed investigation, noting, “Plainly an Inquiry conducted in the way that you describe and in accordance with the Protocol would not comply with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

In January 2002, the British government gave instructions to its intelligence agencies debriefing or interrogations prisoners captured in Afghanistan, many of whom were being abused or tortured by their US allies. The agencies asked for legal guidance, and the UK Guardian has now published what that guidance was, posting the original document online.

A decision in WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange’s extradition appeal hearing is not expected for three weeks, as the court has reserved judgment whether he should be extradited to Sweden to be questioned for allegedly committing sex crimes. The postponement came as the hearing wrapped up after being in session for two days

Details on the phone hacking scandal have been largely absent from US news. For months, an unfolding story centered on tabloids hacking into phones has been taking shape in the UK. But, just recently, The Guardian reported News of the World targeted “missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler and her family in March 2002, interfering with police inquiries into her disappearance.” This revelation indicates not only were typical targets of any tabloid newspaper hacked but so too were members of the public.

Ian Cobain and Richard Norton-Taylor at the UK Guardian are reporting that the widely heralded 2010 announcement of a British government official inquiry into UK torture is facing a boycott by British human rights and attorney groups. The reason is undue secrecy. The handwriting was on the wall for some time on this sham inquiry, but the British human rights and lawyer groups kept fighting to make something real out of it.

Public workers, up to seven hundred and fifty thousand teachers and civil servants, participated in a June 30 general strike called for in the United Kingdom after UK Parliament passed changes to pensions and retirement, specifically, increasing the amount an employee has to contribute.

I am extremely glad to finally hear someone of prominence acknowledge that the question of how to lower health care costs isn’t this great complex mystery, but a problem for which governments around the world have several well tested solutions.

In a debate last night in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, British Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham said that the UK Government will renew its pressure on the US State Department concerning the abuse of PFC. Bradley Manning. Bellingham also confirmed that Bradley Manning can be considered a British citizen.

When I first wrote about the Libyan uprising and the US’ role in helping the rebels, I wondered about the reasons that Britain and France might have for a) wanting to help the rebels militarily, and b) wanting the US to help with their efforts.

Turns out that I’d seriously underestimated the magnitude of the Libyan refugee crisis that Gaddafi’s crackdown created.

The Texas State Board of Examiners claims they haven’t enough evidence to challenge the legitimacy of CIA torture contractor James Mitchell’s professional license to practice psychology. This is but the latest in a number of legal defeats in the now years-long attempt to bring torturers to justice. The campaign to bring these criminals to justice spans the continent, from Berkeley to Texas, from Ohio to New York, while abroad, efforts to investigate or prosecute U.S. torturers have met varying fates in Poland, Lithuania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. What more can be done to expose the war criminals, and bring them before the law?