Libya: Libyan revolutionaries have launched an assault on a key gateway to the capital Tripoli as fighting intensifies between the opposition and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. In their slow approach toward the capital, the revolutionaries attacked the regime’s positions in the Gualish area, 50 kilometers from Tripoli. Last week the opposition also took over a large ammunition depot belonging Gaddafi’s forces in western Libya.

Syria: Amnesty International has accused Syrian government forces of committing crimes against humanity during a crackdown on a pro-democracy protest in the town of Talkalakh near the Lebanese border. Amnesty International’s report makes allegations of murder, torture, and arbitrary detention.  The organization says that it gathered the testimonies of thousands of Syrians who fled the town to Lebanon. The government denies the allegations.

Bahrain: Human Rights Watch has accused the Bahraini government of carrying out a punitive and vindictive campaign of violent repression against its own citizens since March. The organization says that the campaign targets Shiites who account for 80% of the population, and that dozens of protestors have been killed and tortured. The organization demanded that the Bahraini government end the abuses.

Libya: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi. ICC Attourney General Luis Moreno Ocampo requested the arrest warrants in May after obtaining evidence of their crimes against humanity. It has been estimated that 3,000 people have been killed since the Libyan revolution began. Gaddafi has been in hiding since NATO escalated its bombing of Tripoli and his whereabouts still remain unknown.

Syria: Opposition leaders are meeting in Damascus today to discuss the future of Syria. This is the opposition’s first gathering sanctioned by the government since protests began three months ago. Many anti-government activists see the meeting as an attempt to bargain with protestors and divide the opposition. Syrian authorities announced that July 10 will be the date of the first session of meetings called for by the National Dialogue Body, headed by Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa. 

Yemen: A UN team is due to arrive in Yemen today to asses the country’s humanitarian situation. The team will investigate the opposition’s claims against the Yemeni government about the crackdown on the popular protest movement. The UN team will meet with Yemeni authorities, members of the opposition, human rights activists, and victims of violence. The spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that it will take the team ten days to complete the investigation.

Bahrain: Several protests were held today throughout the country to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Victims of Torture. Demonstrators called for an end to the regime's crackdowns on civilians and for the release of all political prisoners. Al-Wefaq Society released a statement reporting that over 1,000 Bahraini citizens have been arrested and tortured. It said that male as well as female medics, scholars, and students, and others were targeted in the regime’s campaign of torture and harassment.

(Al Jazeera English: 0434 PT, May 3, 2011) Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, claims waterboarding produced intelligence that helped the US find Osama bin Laden. However, CIA Director Leon Panetta says such techniques may not have been necessary.

(Democracy Now! 0723 PT, May 4, 2011) Matthew Alexander, a former senior military interrogator in Iraq, claims torture slowed down efforts to find Osama bin Laden.

(Al Jazeera English: 0446 PT, May 3, 2011) Al Jazeera speaks to Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch about the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced" intelligence-gathering techniques.

(Channel 4 News: 1359 PST, March 26, 2011) As a Libyan woman makes a desperate, dramatic plea for help in a Tripoli hotel, Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller witnesses how Gaddafi's forces deal with dissent.

Tonight, Mosaic continues our reporting on the situation in Egypt: Listen to the demonstrators' demands and take a look at Mubarak's new cabinet. Meanwhile, Dubai TV reports on the redeployment of police on Cairo's streets
as demonstrators are heard chanting "the people and the army are one."

As the protests progress, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the police and the army are seen in a very different light by the Egyptian people.

In June 2010, the killing of 28-year-old Khaled Said outraged Egyptian society. Said was beaten to death by two policemen for threatening to expose the rampant corruption within the police force by releasing a video that allegedly showed officers dividing up the evidence after a drug bust. This was not the first time action by Egyptian police generated the people's anger. The institution has been routinely accused of torture and human rights organizations have long reported that police brutality and torture have become systemic under President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

The army, on the other hand, is one of the most respected institutions in the country for helping overthrow Egypt's monarchy in 1952 and for its role in the 1973 war against Israel. Today, the army released a statement saying that "freedom of expression" was guaranteed to all citizens using peaceful means and vowed not to fire on demonstrators who have “legitimate grievances.”

So what does this mean for the 'march of millions' that is planned for tomorrow if the army does not back the police?

For this week's Global Pulse episode, Iran’s Power Players, host Erin Coker asks the question: Are Khamenei and Ahmadinejad playing "good cop, bad cop"? Share your thoughts below!

In the nearly three months since Iran's disputed election and the massive street protests that followed, global media have turned their attention to the internal factional bickering within Iran's ruling party. Allegations of detainee abuse have created further fissures within Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conservative government, with the country's leadership offering conflicting responses to the allegations.

Reacting to claims made by opposition candidate Mehdi Karroubi of detainee torture and sexual abuse, Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani vehemently dismissed the allegations as "sheer lies," according to a CNN report. Larijani's remarks contradicted police and judiciary officials who acknowledged detainee abuse at the now-shuttered Kahrizak prison and promised to investigate the claims. According to The Guardian, an unnamed Iranian MP said he had proof of the abuse, further contradicting Larijani.

As this week's episode points out, Ahmadinejad and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have also appeared at odds over abuse allegations. According to a report that ran on the state-controlled Press TV website on August 28th, Ahmadinejad blamed the abuse on an enemy plot, saying that he had evidence which "exonerated revolutionary, military, security and intelligence forces." But three days later, following a report that the detained son of a conservative political advisor had died as a result of abuse, the BBC reported that Ayatollah Khamenei promised the young man's father that those responsible would be brought to justice.

The confusing signals reflect factional struggles at the highest levels of government, which can only be aggravated by the Iranian blogosphere's relentless pursuit of allegations of torture, sexual abuse and killings of detained protesters, often through chilling personal accounts. On September 2, the independent Radio Zamanah’s website reported that a rape victim and key witness in the case had disappeared. Mentions of the story surfaced several times throughout the day on the microblogging site Twitter, alongside posts like "Regime, No matter how many you execute, torture, or rape. We will never stop. We will never give up on our right to freedom," and, "Saeedeh's body was burned & almost unrecognizable (note that she was arrested from her house, so burning was deliberate)."

Even after the dust has settled on the present internal political struggle, it may take more than damage control to bridge the divisions between the Iranian government and its people.

A 2004 report from the CIA's inspector general was released to the public today, revealing details on CIA abuse of prisoners in the "War on Terror," including mock executions that violate federal law on torture. While a considerable amount of the document remains blacked out, the revelations have rekindled long-standing questions on prisoner abuse and torture under the Bush administration. The complete report is available here:

After word of the report leaked out on Friday, speculation rose around the next steps of Attorney General Eric Holder, who has the power to appoint a Justice Department prosecutor to investigate the CIA abuses detailed in the report. The Washington Post reported today that an announcement from Holder was imminent, naming John Durham in the role to conduct the inquiry.

Today's Democracy Now! interview with Michael Isikoff, the Newsweek investigative reporter who together with Mark Hosenball broke this story on Friday, offers an excellent overview on the legal implications of this report:

For a harrowing look at the Bush administration's policies on detention and interrogation, check out Link TV's documentary Torture on Trial. More background on the ongoing call for accountability for torture is available at linktv.org/accountability.

If you've been following our Accountability page, you might know that June is Torture Awareness Month. Our latest special on human rights and torture is Blueprint for Accountability: Working the Dark Side.  MSNBC host Rachel Maddow launched Culture Project's "Blueprint for Accountability" series on May 31 with a gripping evening on accountability and the U.S. policy of torture in the "War on Terror."

In a multi-media production fusing live theater and journalism, Maddow was joined by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Ron Suskind, Vince Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq during 2003-2004. The evening, directed by Fisher Stevens, featured performances by Liev Schreiber, John Leguizamo, Noah Emmerich and Julianna Margulies.
 
At the event, Lt. General Sanchez generated breaking news when he called for a Truth Commission so we might fully understand the failure of the military and civilian command to honor the pledge of our constitution. Sanchez is the first major figure from the Iraq War to go on record to call for a Truth Commission, and stressed that the outcome must embrace a variety of solutions, including prosecution.
 
Working the Dark Side will be available online on Friday.

June is Torture Awareness Month. Folks across America will be hosting house party screenings of Link TV's compelling new 30-minute documentary Torture on Trial, and use the screening to inspire their guests to send an email to President Obama and participate in our national call-in week to the White House, June 22 - 26. Join us with your own house party!

Torture. Why is this issue so hotly debated, and how can we separate the truth from the lies? As long-held secrets of the Bush administration's policies on detention and interrogation are revealed, Americans are increasingly asking questions: behind the closed doors of far-away prisons, what acts were committed in our name? Who committed these acts? And will they be held to account?

June is Torture Awareness month. Find out how you can stand up against torture by visiting our Accountability page.