The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Congress and the Trump administration to take immediate action after a New York Times report detailed horrifying allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape, torture, and humiliation of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities.
Archiv: (Straf)Verfolgungsbehörden / (law) enforcement
This is a hard article to read, but I hope you‘ll do so.
(May 11, 2026)
I‘ve spent some time reporting on widespread rape and other sexual violence of Palestinian male and female prisoners by Israeli authorities, and the article is now published. The assault victims were warned not to give speak of what they endured — they were sometimes told they would be killed or raped if they gave interviews — but they found the courage to do so. One man described being raped three times in a single day in Israeli prison, the third time after he tried to protest. A young woman said the guards would come in at the beginning of each shift and strip her naked and abuse her. Another reported that she was shown photos of herself being raped and warned they would be released unless she cooperated with Israeli intelligence. Even three children who had been detained told me they had been sexually abused. Look, whatever our position on the Middle East, we should be able to agree on being anti-rape. Sexual assaults were horrific when Israeli women were targeted on Oct. 7, and they‘re equally horrific when Israeli authorities use them against Palestinians day after day after day. We should be able to find common ground in opposing rape. Here‘s a gift link to the article:
Israeli Officials Denounce NYT Report on Systemic Sexual Abuse of Palestinians
The article in question, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof, recounts the stories of 14 Palestinians who experienced sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers. A majority of the interviews discuss sexual violence inflicted by soldiers and interrogators on Palestinians in Israeli detention, but others speak of attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank — attacks that are “increasingly protect[ed]” by the Israeli military, according to Kristof. The interviews are reinforced by testimony from Israeli and international human rights organizations, and demonstrate that sexual violence is systemic, used on a daily basis against Palestinians, and effectively Israeli state policy.
The Horror of Sexual Assault in Israeli Prisons
(transcript)
I’m appalled by this pattern of abuse, partly because our American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security forces. I fear that leaves us complicit. The United States has leverage, and we could use it to insist on an end to the impunity and to demand that Red Cross visits be restored for Palestinian detainees. Look, whether you consider yourself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, here’s one thing we should be able to agree on: We’re anti-rape. The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct. 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day after day.
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
It’s a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.
Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and many U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio, condemned that sexual violence, and Netanyahu rightly called on “all civilized leaders” to “speak up.”
And yet in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.
Überwachungspaket: Diese Sicherheitspolitik gefährdet uns alle
Der „Gesetzentwurf zur Stärkung digitaler Ermittlungsbefugnisse in der Polizeiarbeit“, der „Gesetzentwurf zur Stärkung digitaler Ermittlungsbefugnisse zur Abwehr von Gefahren des internationalen Terrorismus“ und der „Gesetzentwurf zur Änderung der Strafprozessordnung“ legen die Grundlage dafür, dass Ermittlungsbehörden Gesichtsbilder mit Aufnahmen aus dem Internet abgleichen können und automatisierte Datenanalysen durchführen dürfen. Warum sie das brauchen? Unter anderem wegen der „hohen abstrakten Bedrohungslage“, erklärt der Vorspann der Entwürfe.
Bundesregierung beschließt anlasslose Vorratsdatenspeicherung
(April 22, 2026)
Das Gesetz verpflichtet Internet-Zugangs-Anbieter, IP-Adressen und Port-Nummern sämtlicher Nutzer drei Monate lang zu speichern, ohne Anlass und ohne Verdacht auf eine Straftat.
Behörden dürfen ohne Richtervorbehalt auf die Vorratsdaten zugreifen. Mit dem Gesetz gegen digitale Gewalt sollen auch Privatpersonen in Zivilverfahren auf die Vorratsdaten zugreifen.
Stoppt Dobrindts Überwachungspläne – Nein zu Palantir & Co. für Polizei und Behörden!
(April 16, 2026)
Besonders alarmierend: Die geplanten Regeln würden sogar erlauben, solche Gesichter-Suchen an private Firmen im Ausland auszulagern. Damit wäre praktisch nicht mehr kontrollierbar, was mit den Daten passiert und bei wem sie letztendlich landen.
Gleichzeitig wird das Ganze mit einer Erlaubnis zur automatisierten Datenanalyse verknüpft, wie sie der US-Konzern Palantir anbietet:
The Explicit Manifesto of Digital Fascism: Palantir and the Alliance of Monopoly Capital with the Far Right
(April 22, 2026)
The manifesto published by Palantir Technologies is neither a technical document nor an economic vision. It is an explicit political document announcing a new phase in the trajectory of digital capitalism, a phase in which it has abandoned its claim to neutrality and decided to unmask itself, revealing its full ideological face. Palantir is not an isolated case in the global technological landscape. It is one of several major technology companies that sell their technologies to systems of repression and human rights violations, and has been condemned by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, for its role in enabling forced deportations, mass surveillance, and the persecution of dissidents.
Most damning of all, documented reports have revealed a direct partnership between this company, alongside other Western technology companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, and the Israeli military, providing data and targeting systems that were used in military operations on Gaza, making it an actual partner in documented war crimes against Palestinian civilians.
Verhaltensscanner in Hamburg: „Die Polizei wird zum Datenlieferanten“
Die Deutungen der vermeintlichen Vorzüge dieser KI-Überwachung finden sich insbesondere prominent im Mediendiskurs, der von Akteur*innen der inneren Sicherheit und ihren Bewertungen geprägt ist. Kritische Positionen kommen vor, aber werden nicht zum Anlass der Berichterstattung. Was sich da im Diskurs zeigt, nennen wir eine Purifizierung, eine rituelle Läuterung also, durch die bisherige zentrale Kritiken an Formen der Videoüberwachung direkt adressiert und gleichzeitig abgestreift werden. Die Purifizierung erhöht die Durchsetzbarkeit der Maßnahme, weil die Bewegungsmusteranalyse jetzt als sozusagen gute Überwachung erscheint.
Gefährliche Apps · Im Netz der Datenhändler
(April 7, 2026)
Grundlage dieser Dokumentation ist eine der bislang größten Recherchen dieser Art: Ein Team aus Bayerischem Rundfunk, netzpolitik.org, Le Monde und weiteren Partnermedien hat rund zehn Milliarden Standortdaten ausgewertet. Eine Spurensuche, die um die halbe Welt führt: zu einer ägyptischen Exiljournalistin in Berlin, die bedroht wird. Nach Brüssel, wo hochrangige Mitarbeiter der EU-Kommission betroffen sind. Nach Washington, wo Politiker ein Sicherheitsrisiko für US-Agenten in Europa sehen. Oder an die ukrainische Front, wo Soldaten in den Datensätzen ihre eigenen Stellungen wiedererkennen.
Große ARD-Doku: Achtung, Datenhandel! Lebensgefahr!
(April 7, 2026)
Es geht um Milliarden Standortdaten von ahnungslosen Handy-Nutzer*innen, oftmals metergenau. Angeblich nur zu Werbezwecken erhoben, fließen die Daten über populäre Handy-Apps auf teils verschlungenen Wegen in die Hände von Databrokern. Potenziell betroffen sind alle Menschen, die ein Smartphone nutzen.
(…)
Zur Erinnerung: Das Recherche-Team hat die Daten kostenlos von einem Databroker im Netz erhalten. Prinzipiell zugänglich sind solche Daten für alle, die Datenhändler danach fragen. Für einen vierstelligen Betrag im Monat können Interessierte ein Abonnement abschließen.
Digital location data heads back to the Supreme Court
(April 24, 2026)
Background
The Supreme Court last weighed in on the digital Fourth Amendment in 2017. In Carpenter v. United States, the court addressed whether the police had to get a warrant before accessing a certain kind of digital location data, cell-site location information. Cell phones generate CSLI anytime they are on by scanning for the nearest cell tower with strong service. When a cell phone connects to a tower, that tower then records that connection in CSLI logs. A phone’s location can be tracked across time and space by reviewing those logs.
Writing for a 5-4 majority, Chief Justice John Roberts’ Carpenter opinion held that the police must get a warrant before reviewing seven or more days of CSLI for a person’s phone. (…)
Enter: geofence data
Among these unsettled questions is whether police need a warrant to access geofence data, another kind of digital location data. Geofence data generally refers to location information collected by cellphone apps. If you have encountered a prompt on your phone that asks you whether you’d like to allow an app to use your location, you’re likely generating the kind of data at issue in Chatrie. Chatrie specifically involved data generated by a Google service called Location History. In Google’s case, this location information was created by combining information from cell towers but also on GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth signals.
HRCP report calls for high-level judicial inquiry into deaths resulting from CCD operations
Lahore, 17 February 2026. A fact-finding report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has concluded that the Crime Control Department (CCD) in Punjab has adopted a deliberate policy of staged encounters—in many cases resulting in extrajudicial killings—that fundamentally undermines the rule of law and constitutional protections in the province.
Based on reports in the press, HRCP has documented at least 670 CCD-led encounters over the course of eight months in 2025, resulting in the deaths of 924 suspects, with only two police officers killed during the same period. The extreme casualty imbalance—averaging more than two fatal encounters daily—combined with the uniformity of operational patterns across districts, indicates an institutionalized practice rather than isolated incidents of misconduct. The fact-finding mission has therefore called for an urgent high-level judicial inquiry into these deaths.
Pakistan’s Punjab police kill 900 people in eight months: What’s going on?
“They broke into our house in Bahawalpur and took everything we owned,” Zubaida told a fact-finding mission from Pakistan’s foremost rights group, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
“We followed them to Lahore and begged for our sons’ release. The next morning, five of them were dead,” she added.
When she later filed a legal petition, Zubaida says police threatened to kill whoever remained in her family if she did not withdraw it.
Her husband, Abdul Jabbar, insists his sons had no criminal records. “They were working men, married with children,” he said.
Warum der Staat potentiell jedes Verbrechen ungestraft begehen kann
(Februar 21, 2020)
Wir haben bereits dargelegt, warum es in Deutschland keine unabhängige Justiz und damit keine vollständige Gewaltenteilung gibt – weil das Grundgesetz den Staat nicht ausdrücklich dazu zwingt. Das Grundgesetz schreibt dem Staat lediglich die Unabhängigkeit der Richter vor, nicht die der Justiz insgesamt. Daraus interpretiert der Staat für sich das Recht, die Staatsanwaltschaften bzw Ankläger der Exekutive anzugliedern.
Auf Bundesebene heißt das konkret: der Generalbundesanwalt und seine Behörde (allgemein Bundesanwaltschaft) unterstehen dem Justizminister. Daraus schlussfolgert, dass nach eventuellen Staatsverbrechen und / oder Verfassungsbrüchen durch ihre eigenen Organe – Kanzleramt, Ministerien, Behörden, Militär, Geheimdienste, etc, – die Regierung gegen sich selbst ermitteln müsste.
Zieht also die Bundesanwaltschaft bzw der Generalbundesanwalt ein Verfahren an sich, zieht es die Regierung an sich.
Verbleibt noch die Möglichkeit, dass das Parlament Untersuchungsausschüsse einsetzt, dass durch diese die betreffenden Staatsverbrechen aufgeklärt und dann öffentlich bekannt werden, dem folgend durch Wahlen eine Änderung der parlamentarischen Mehrheiten erfolgt, dann eine Neuwahl des Kanzlers / der Kanzlerin durch das Parlament, dann durch den Kanzler / die Kanzlerin eine Ernennung eines neuen Justizministers erfolgt (Minister / Ministerinnen werden nicht gewählt), dann durch den Justizminister / die Justizministerin eine Ernennung eines neuen Generalbundesanwalts oder eine Anweisung an den amtierenden Generalbundesanwalt erfolgt Ermittlungen gegen die damaligen oder immer noch amtierenden staatlichen Funktionäre bzw Stellen aufzunehmen und dass dieser dann der Anweisung des vorgesetzten Justizministers folgt. Wobei dann ggf die Ermittlungen durch die Regierungsbehörden (Geheimdienste, Bundeskriminalamt) erfolgen müsste, gegen die ermittelt wird.
Governor Walz Statement on Third Shooting Involving Federal Agents in Minnesota
“The federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed yet another life.
“I have seen the video. It is sickening. But Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word. It must have the last word.
“As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it. Period.
Statement from the American Nurses Association regarding the death of registered nurse Alex Pretti
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is deeply disturbed and saddened to learn of the death of Alex Pretti, a registered nurse, in Minneapolis earlier today. We extend our condolences to Alex’s loved ones, colleagues, and the community at large.
ANA condemns violence in our communities. The seriousness of this incident and others demand transparency and accountability. ANA calls for a full, unencumbered investigation, and urges that findings be shared promptly and clearly so Alex’s loved ones and the public have answers.
One in four nurses already experience workplace violence. As incidents with federal law enforcement continue to rise across the country, we are deeply concerned for the safety of nurses, both on the job and in the communities they serve.
Prosecutors Subpoena Minnesota Democrats as Part of Federal Inquiry
The subpoenas sought documents from Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Mayor Kaohly Her of St. Paul related to their policies on immigration enforcement efforts in the state. Two Minnesota prosecutors, Keith Ellison, the state attorney general, and Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, were also sent similar subpoenas.
Judge Restricts Immigration Agents’ Actions Toward Minnesota Protesters
Judge Kate M. Menendez ordered agents not to retaliate against people “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,” and not to use pepper spray or other “crowd dispersal tools” in retaliation for protected speech. The judge also said agents could not stop or detain protesters in vehicles who were not “forcibly obstructing or interfering with” agents.
The ruling, which granted a preliminary injunction, stems from a lawsuit brought by activists who said agents had violated their rights. The suit was filed before an immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Governor Walz Statement on Reports of Alleged Department of Justice Investigation
January 17, 2026
[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz today released the following statement after reports of an alleged investigation by the Department of Justice.
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.
“The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”
The office of the Governor has not received any notice of the investigation.
The Governor has repeatedly, unequivocally, called for peace and a lowering of the temperature. He has made that appeal directly to the President.
Federal forces have stormed the state, shooting two people and killing Renee Good. The Department of Justice drove six federal prosecutors – including the longtime career prosecutor leading the charge to investigate and eliminate fraud in our state’s programs – to quit their jobs rather than go along with this assault on the United States Constitution. Leaders of the Republican Party have called for impeachment, for the Governor to be put in cuffs, for a day of retribution.
We trust Minnesotans to see past this projection.
Justice Department opens investigation into Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor
Walz, in a post on X, did not explicitly address the news reports, but said: „Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.“
The killing of Renee Macklin Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week became a flashpoint for the simmering opposition to federal agents operating within the state.
Trump threatens to use military over Minnesota anti-ICE protests
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces in Minnesota after days of angry protests over a surge in immigration agents on the streets of Minneapolis.
Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
ICE‘s killing in Minneapolis shows American empire has come home
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created in the shadow of the so-called Global War on Terror that followed the attacks of 11 September 2001.
It became a key pillar of the architecture of repressive surveillance and militarised tactics that emerged during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
ICE itself was specifically designed to pursue „national security threats“ within the United States, granting agents sweeping discretion over who could be deemed to „pose a threat to public safety or national security“.
Since then, it has come to represent a rogue operation, its reputation clouded by harrowing stories of abuse, impunity and a near total lack of oversight.
Its close association with Palantir, a surveillance firm accused of helping generate kill lists for Israel, has also further embedded it within the US military-industrial complex.
Scalawag Magazine described Palantir‘s partnership with ICE as „one of the many links comprising the military-industrial surveillance connections between ICE and Israel Defense Forces“.
These links, it wrote, illustrate the ideological and practical ties between the two bodies, as they work to advance the militarisation of policing through the weaponisation of surveillance technology.
ICE has also participated in several exchanges with the Israeli military, and during the student protests for Gaza, it lifted names from the blacklisting website Canary Mission to identify and arrest protesters.
Analyse: Geheimdienstlicher Komplex will das stadtweite „Überwachungs“-System in Berlin wieder aktivieren lassen
(Dezember 30, 2016)
Was würde passieren, wenn bekannt würde, dass Berlin, die einflussreichste und mächtigste Stadt auf dem Kontinent Europa und die Hauptstadt der Berliner Republik, durch ein stadtweites Spionagesystem „überwacht“ wird, durch das jede Person beobachtet werden kann „von dem Moment an dem sie die Türschwelle verlässt, bis zu dem Moment an dem sie zurückkehrt“ und dass Arbeit und soziales Verhaltensmuster der Stadtbewohner und -besucher „aufzeichnet, analysiert und archiviert“? Und nicht nur Geheimdienste aus N.A.T.O.-Staaten darauf in Echtzeit zugreifen können?
Nichts. Nichts würde passieren. Die strategische Mehrheit der Bevölkerung würde sich ducken, bücken, beugen, wie sie es in der deutschen Geschichte immer getan hat
Years before Epstein came under investigation in Palm Beach, local police got tip about Maxwell
„They are paid $200.00 per day for htis [sic] service. It is unclear what is occurring in the residence,“ reads the opening entry in the Town of Palm Beach Police Department report, dated Dec. 6, 2001.
(…)
Ultimately, the four-page report indicates that the investigation was closed after a determination that no crimes had occurred.
„Although it appears as though usual [sic] activity is occurring at this residence, at this time, no illegal activity has been reported or detected,“ reads the report‘s final entry on April 25, 2002.