Unauthorized Disclosure

Freelance writer Roqayah Chamseddine joined the show to talk about some of the more significant and/or underreported stories of 2014. 

For the whole hour, hosts Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek, along with Chamseddine, discuss Ferguson and police brutality, the "Torture Report" and US funding of torture states, the Islamic State and Israel/Palestine and the assault on Gaza. 

The show comes to an end with a few book recommendations, and we lash out at a couple movies released on Christmas. 

 

Direct download: RK-KG_-_Ep_44.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:21am EDT

Guest: Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) appears on the show to discuss the release of three of the last members of the "Cuban Five," who were serving prison sentences in the United States. She talks about this victory for activists who had organized for their release. She also highlights what made the five Cuban spies political prisoners and discusses the larger context in which their case unfolded over the past couple of decades. 

Discussion: Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola talk some more about the shift in US policy toward Cuba. A story of police brutality involving a SWAT Team in and around Houston, Texas, is highlighted, and the results of a torture poll is discussed as well. 

 

 

 

Direct download: RK-KG_Ep_43.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:23am EDT

This week’s episode of “Unauthorized Disclosure” features an interview with Alka Pradhan, who is a DC counsel for Reprieve US and primarily represents prisoners who remain in indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay. The organization has represented a number of detainees who were once in CIA custody and tortured.

Pradhan shares her reactions to reading the torture report summary and what details stunned her. She breaks down some of the broader aspects of the report and outlines what effect the new information might have on new efforts to achieve justice for torture victims.

Later in the podcast, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola continue to dig into what was learned about CIA torture this past week. For example, we confront the grotesque use of "rectal rehydration" on detainees.

We also recorded an additional twenty minutes of material to talk about a USAID contractor trying to help the US government topple the Cuban government by co-opting the hip-hop underground scene. Palestinian American organizer Rasmea Odeh's release from jail until her sentencing is highlighted as well.

Direct download: RK_KG-Ep_42.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:09am EDT

Kevin Gosztola hosts this episode. 

Joey Mogul, an attorney with the People's Law Office and a part of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials project, discusses the findings of the UN Committee Against Torture against the Chicago Police Department. She highlights the history of Chicago police torture, the importance of the UN Committee and the campaign to get reparations for torture survivors. 

In the discussion part of the episode, the latest delay of the release of the executive summary of the Senate intelligence committee report on CIA torture is covered as well as the US government's position that the FBI may impersonate repairmen and break into your private property to collect evidence against persons.  

Direct download: RK-KG_Ep_41.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:48pm EDT

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