All posts tagged: torture

‘Epic folly’: As the US and Iran both declare victory, ‘none of the problems were resolved’

‘Epic folly’: As the US and Iran both declare victory, ‘none of the problems were resolved’

Published by Sam Flores

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran project and Senior Advisor at the International Crisis Group. He argues that the war failed to achieve its principal strategic objectives while imposing enormous costs on all parties involved. Contrary to narratives portraying the outcome as a decisive victory for either side, Vaez frames the conflict as a classic “lose-lose” dynamic: Iran survived but emerged economically devastated; the United States and Israel degraded some Iranian capabilities but failed to secure regime change, eliminate Iran’s strategic influence, or produce a substantially improved nuclear agreement. Keywords for this article Source link

‘US war on Iran not about the Iranian people: Europe can put the issue of human rights on the table’

‘US war on Iran not about the Iranian people: Europe can put the issue of human rights on the table’

Published by Sam Flores

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, President of Iran Human Rights and Professor of Neuroscience at University of Oslo. He offers a stark assessment of the Iranian regime’s response to recent unrest and wartime conditions. Professor Amiry-Moghaddam argues that the authorities have exploited international attention on regional conflict to intensify domestic repression. Civilians are effectively “risking their lives” so that “the world can know what is happening in Iran,” underscoring both the scale of repression and the resilience of civil society under authoritarian rule. Keywords for this article Source link

‘They beat me until I lost consciousness’: growing reports of brutal arrests, torture and deaths in Iran’s prisons

‘They beat me until I lost consciousness’: growing reports of brutal arrests, torture and deaths in Iran’s prisons

Published by Sam Flores

Iranian writer Hamid Asefi wasn’t home on the afternoon of 5 March when armed intelligence agents stormed his Tehran apartment, breaking down the door with a sledgehammer and axe. After going unit to unit looking for him, they finally encountered him as he returned to the building. One of the agents “drew his handgun, shouted at me to stop, and before I had time to respond, struck me forcefully on the back of the neck and spine with the butt of his weapon, dragging me into the apartment,” Asefi told the Guardian in a written interview. When he requested an arrest warrant, the beating intensified. “Heavy blows were directed at my ribs, kidneys, temples and the back of my head. The beating was so severe that I lost consciousness once. When I regained consciousness, the assault continued,” he says. The assault on the 63-year-old continued after he was brought blindfolded to a detention centre, where an interrogator accused him of signing a statement condemning the regime’s January crackdown on protesters and being in contact with …

Carol Kirkwood reveals why her BBC Breakfast role became ‘torture’ after 28 years

Carol Kirkwood reveals why her BBC Breakfast role became ‘torture’ after 28 years

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s been more than a month since Carol Kirkwood hung up her weather map and bid farewell to the BBC after 28 years as a presenter on the broadcaster’s long-running Breakfast show. In January, Carol announced that she would be stepping away from the role – a decision she admitted hadn’t been easy, but one she felt was the “right moment”. © Alamy Stock PhotoCarol spent more than 25 years at BBC Breakfast Marking her bittersweet departure with a final weather broadcast on 1 April, Carol received an emotional send-off from her fellow BBC presenters, including Nina Warhurst and Naga Munchetty.  She was also surprised live on air by her husband, Steve Randall, with whom she now plans to enjoy a slower pace of life. WATCH: Carol Kirkwood fights back tears as she bids goodbye to BBC Breakfast Carol reveals the worst part of the BBC job In an interview with The Telegraph, Carol revealed that the hardest part of the job she spent almost three decades doing was the gruelling hours, with her alarm …

Baby taken in by gay couple died after torture and sexual abuse, court told

Baby taken in by gay couple died after torture and sexual abuse, court told

Published by Sam Flores

A 13-month-old baby was “routinely physically and sexually abused” by his proposed adoptive gay parents before being murdered by one of them, a court has heard. Preston Davey was placed with Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley in April 2023 when he was nine months old. Less than four months later, he was taken to A&E in a state of cardiac arrest and pronounced dead a short time later. A jury at Preston Crown Court was told the cause of death had been an obstruction to his airway, either by smothering or having something placed in his mouth that prevented him from breathing. Mr Varley, a former high school teacher, is accused of murdering Preston at their home in Blackpool on July 27, 2023. He is also accused of sexual assault, cruelty, grievous bodily harm, assault by penetration, taking indecent images of a child and distributing an indecent image. Mr McGowan-Fazakerley, his partner and co-accused, was not at home when Preston was allegedly killed. He is charged with allowing the death of a child, cruelty to …

‘Israel has been given a licence to torture Palestinians’ | United Nations

‘Israel has been given a licence to torture Palestinians’ | United Nations

Published by Sam Flores

NewsFeed UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has said the world gave Israel a ‘licence to torture Palestinians’ as she presented her latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. She criticised governments for allowing violations to continue with impunity. Published On 24 Mar 202624 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link

Chronicling a friend’s return from Maduro’s torture prison in Venezuela

Chronicling a friend’s return from Maduro’s torture prison in Venezuela

Published by Sam Flores

CARACAS, Venezuela — For Vanessa Farina, hope had become dangerous. For more than a year, she had measured out her life by the number of days her husband, the human rights activist and politician Luis Tarbay, spent in Venezuela’s most notorious prison. Now, with President Nicolás Maduro in U.S. custody and the Trump administration applying pressure, his vice president and confidante, Delcy Rodríguez, had begun to release some of the hundreds of political prisoners it held. Morning and night, Vanessa checked her phone, hoping for good news. Source link

“We returned from hell’: Rights group raises alarm over torture in Israeli jails

“We returned from hell’: Rights group raises alarm over torture in Israeli jails

Published by Sam Flores

The Committee to Protect Journalists published a report alleging the systematic abuse of Palestinian media workers in Israeli detention centers between 2023 and 2026. Through interviews with dozens of former detainees, the organization documented harrowing accounts of torture, starvation, and sexual violence aimed at silencing the press. The findings highlight that the majority of these journalists were held under administrative detention without formal charges or access to legal counsel. Evidence such as medical records and photographs supports claims of extreme weight loss and untreated injuries resulting from physical beatings. The advocacy group is now calling for international accountability and independent investigations into these alleged violations of humanitarian law. Despite these testimonies, the Israeli military maintains that it adheres to international standards and does not intentionally target members of the media. Source link

Only Fools and Horses legend reveals why part of nostalgic new documentary for classic comedy was “torture”

Only Fools and Horses legend reveals why part of nostalgic new documentary for classic comedy was “torture”

Published by Daniella Wilson

Only Fools and Horses star Tessa Peake-Jones has admitted that parts of filming a retrospective documentary for U&GOLD felt like “torture” – but she expects viewers to enjoy it immensely. The actor, who played Raquel in the long-running and truly iconic British sitcom, is one of several original cast members to appear in Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, which celebrates 45 years since the series premiered on our screens. The two-parer promises to show fans behind-the-scenes footage, newly-discovered images and deleted scenes, which have been digitally scanned and restored from 16mm negatives. “I think the public will really enjoy the programme, partly because it is unseen footage,” said Peake-Jones, during an appearance on The One Show. “So no one, including us, has ever seen this stuff.” Nevertheless, she also found looking back to be “really weird” and not always enjoyable. “It’s not like you’re looking at something from a couple of years ago,” continued Peake-Jones. “This is decades and decades ago. So, I mean, we were in, you know, our 30s, 40s, 50s …