Denounce Torture

Our online discussion today underscores one of the central reasons why torture is wrong.  Torture doesn't work, simple as that:

...after few hours of continuous torture, I gave in, and basically repeated what they were accusing me of. Once I said that, they stopped the beating. But they resumed again when they found out that what I said could not be true.

Few months into my imprisonment and after countless interrogation sessions and severe torture. I found that the best way to stop the torture is to say what they wanted to hear. Then later when they asked me a question, I gave my answer, if they did not like my answer and wanted to beat me, I used to tell them that no need to beat me, that that was my answer, but if they wanted me to say something else, I would sign a blank paper and they could write whatever they wanted on it. But that did not always save me from being beaten.

Read more from the transcript of today's online discussion.

Interesting "Between the Lines" interview:

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with human rights activist Jennifer Harbury, whose husband -- Guatemalan resistance fighter Efraim Bamaca Velasquez -- was tortured to death by military forces on the payroll of the CIA in the early 1990s. Harbury, author of the book, "Truth, Torture and the American Way," examines long-standing U.S. policies permitting torture and the damage she maintains is done to the nation as a result.

See and listen "Long History of U.S. Torture Precedes Current Pentagon Abuse Scandals."

Hip-Hop artist Eminem is being urged to sue the U.S. government for utilizing his music at Guantanamo Bay as a source of torture with out permission of the artist. Entertainment Wise reported that director of the Road to Guantanamo, Michael Winterbottom, believes that Eminem has a legitimate case:

Eminem would have good grounds for suing the government over abuse of his copyright.

See "Eminem Urged to Sue US Government."

The American Civil Liberties Union reports that torture at Guantanamo was ordered by military authorities. According to MoJo Blog,  ACLU's lawyer Jameel Jaffer is confident in the organization's findings:

We now possess overwhelming evidence that political and military leaders endorsed interrogation methods that violate both domestic and international law, it is entirely unacceptable that no senior official has been held accountable.

See "More documents prove that top defense officials approved of abuse at Guantanamo detention center."

According to the London Free Press, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a U.S. ally in the "war of terror," is calling for the U.S. to immediately close Guantanamo:

Yes, I have spoken about it with many of my colleagues and I, too, think that one should move with maximum speed toward closing down these centres where incidents condemned by the whole world have occurred

See "Italian PM condemns Guantanamo prison on Arab TV."

Human Rights First released a report giving details of the deaths of 98 U.S. prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Rueters the Human Rights First lawyer and author of the report, Hina Shansi, confirms that 8 prisoners were tortured to death:

These are detainees who were beaten, suffocated or otherwise died in circumstances that meet the definition of torture that is in the federal law that bans the practice.

See "Rights group blames US torture for detainee deaths."

Via Washington Post:

The Supreme Court refused yesterday to dismiss a case that challenges the legality of military trials for terrorism suspects, declining to immediately accept the Bush administration's argument that a new law has stripped the court of its ability to consider the matter.

See "Justices May Hear Detainee's Appeal."

New Kerala.com reports that British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, believes that the closing of Guantanamo is a decision reserved for Washington:

I am absolutely clear that the US has no intention of maintaining a gulag in Guantanamo Bay. Of course, I understand the concern that people in Britain, Europe and the US have about Guantanamo Bay. It's also important to recognise that there is another side to this, which is called September 11 and which is not an invention of the CIA.

See "Straw says United States Guantanamo Bay is 'no gulag'."

BBC News has reported that 98 prisoners have died in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002:

Human Rights First representative Deborah Pearlstein told Newsnight she was "extremely comfortable" that the information was reliable.The report defines the 34 cases classified as homicides as "caused by intentional or reckless behaviour". It says another 11 cases have been deemed suspicious and that between eight and 12 prisoners were tortured to death.

See "Report probes US custody deaths."

Another excerpt from today's online discussion with Moazzam Begg:

Question Submitted by Janice:

Would the Geneva Convention apply to all these cases? If so, why are these cases not presented to the World Court at The Hague? This is kidnapping and torture (rendering?? isn't this the Bush Cabal's term??)These cases are disgusting, racist and just angers anyone with an ounce of dignity for humankind.

Moazzam Begg answers:

According to the US admin, "Geneva Conventions" do not apply; US law does not apply, US Code of Military Justice does not apply, International does not apply. Even the iguanas on Gitmo are protected by laws. Not so the detainees... [my emphasis added]

There's still time to join today's online discussion with Moazzam Begg, who was arrested in Pakistan and held by U.S. agents at Bagram Airforce Base in Afghanistan for one year before being transferred to Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay. He was released from Guantanamo in January 2005 after more than three years of detention where he faced ill-treatment. Moazzam was never charged with a single crime or given a fair trial.

Here's a sample of the discussion so far:

Question Submitted by Steven:

Is there anything that can be learned from your experience so that others can avoid your unfortunate experiences

Moazzam Begg answers:

I think, even for people like me who have suffered at the hands of the US to emphasise the importance of reconciliation. There were many guards who I regard as my friends and I hope that something of our interaction could help to pave the way for mutual, respectful dialogue - before the world spirals into a place where the voice of reason is drowned and hatred is supreme.

Join the discussion.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Alberto Mora, a top Pentagon civilian lawyer, repeatedly challenged torture policy in the U.S.-led "war on terror." A memo by Mora detailing his efforts to expose the coercive interrogation of terrorism suspects was published in the February 27th issue of The New Yorker magazine, which was made public yesterday. Mora wrote in the memo:

In my view, some of the authorized interrogation techniques could rise to the level of torture, although the intent surely had not been to do so.

See "Memo details torture fight."

See "Senior Lawyer at Pentagon Broke Ranks on Detainees."

The Council of Europe is looking into this case to determine what collaboration there was between the CIA and its European counterparts:

Khaled el-Masri was a victim of the CIA's rendition program. TalkLeft described him as "a Lebanese-born German who was pulled from a bus on the Serbia-Macedonia border in December 2003 and flown to Afghanistan, where he said he was beaten and drugged. He was released five months later without being charged with a crime." It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.The U.S. eventually admitted its mistake to Germany. But Germany may not have clean hands in Masri's kidnapping and detention.

See "Questions About Germany's Role in Khaled el-Masri Rendition."

A post on the Daily Kos blog compares flight plans to accusations of U.S. outsourcing torture:

You may recall that last November, details started to emerge regarding certain EU countries, and their suspected role in the US War on Terror™, in which they are allowing the CIA flights to land at their airports.  You may also recall the unfolding story about secret CIA torture interrogation centers in Eastern Europe, in which the "terror suspects" are being held.  The EU Justice Commissioner issued strong warnings to any participating countries, and the investigation continues, at least on the European side of the ocean.

In today's Sunday Times (London), we read about their analysis of flight plans and radio logs of US military (and other) aircraft crossing Europe. 

See "Are CIA 'torture flights' in Europe using a civilian call sign?"

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that residents from the Salt Lake community gathered on Sunday to host a discussion on abuse and ill-treatment in the U.S.-led "war on terror."  Torin Nelson, a U.S. interrogator who joined the discussion, condemned the use of torture:

 Good interrogation is almost exactly opposite of [torture]. You have to build a relationship of dependency, trust and respect. You can't do that if you're pulling out their toe nails. Torture is not only immoral, it's ineffective.

See "Panelists condemn torture; 130 attend SLC event."

Shaw, a dedicated Amnesty volunteer who lives and works as an activist and writer in Philadelphia, wrote a letter to the editor of the Village Voice about Bush's silence on torture in his State of the Union Address:

In his 2006 State of the Union address, Bush never even spoke the word "torture." Despite pressure from the grassroots, he did not tell the truth about the CIA's interrogation tactics and he did not take a stand against those tactics. Instead, he just kept telling us that he is spreading "freedom" around the world. Freedom? Would someone please give the president a dictionary?

Way to go, Mary!

See "Letter of The Week."

Have you recently spoken out about torture?  Leave a comment in this blog about it.

Read more by Mary Shaw.

The Winnipeg Sun reported that a U.S. federal judge dismissed Maher Arar's lawsuit, in which Arar claims that the government sent him to Syria to be tortured. Judge David Trager threw out the cases claiming that he cannot review decisions that are a matter of national security. Arar was shocked by the judges decision:

It's very disappointing, emotionally very hard to digest. I was not expecting the judge to dismiss the entire case. I was hoping that he could let at least part of it proceed to discovery.

See "Arar torture lawsuit dismissed."

I'm told that these photographs that are coming out now are nothing more than the same things that came out before, if not identical, of the same type of behaviour. That behavior has been punished.

See "Rumsfeld reaffirms ban on torture following broadcast of Abu Ghraib photos."

Today the United Nations released a report on Guantanamo Bay, calling for the release of all prisoners and urging that all prisoners be tried in a fair court and the prison was shut down. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reacted to the report:

"These are dangerous terrorists that we're talking about that are there. The military treats the detainees humanely.

See "US rejects calls to shut Guantanamo Bay."

Via News 24.com:

"I felt disgusted when I saw those pictures and I felt at the same time how weak our government is that it can't help its own people," said Sadun Mohammed, sitting in his shop reading an article it in the newspaper.  The Iraqi government strongly condemned on Thursday the torture of Iraqi prisoners portrayed in the latest batch of photos stemming from the 2003 Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

See "New abuse images disgust Iraqis."

Read AIUSA Executive Director William Schulz's statement following the release today of new photos depicting abuse at Abu Ghraib:

The repulsive images released today give a clearer picture of the scope of abuses perpetrated at Abu Ghraib and raise the question of what other abuses occurred there and elsewhere when cameras weren't present.

Read the full statement.

Little Green Footballs is surprised that the photos aren't on the cover of the NYTimes:

It’s Abu Ghraib part 2, with what looks like more photos of the same incidents, and international media are of course immediately airing the pictures with no concern whatsoever: [...]

I’m only surprised the New York Times doesn’t have them on the front page yet.

Do I need to point out the contrast between the media’s lurid treatment of Abu Ghraib (headlines for 300 days straight, republishing the photos again and again) and their cowardly treatment of the Danish cartoons?

And TalkLeft is calling Bush a liar:

President Bush says the United States does not engage in torture.

Now look at these new pictures, among 60 previously unpublished photographs that the US Government has been fighting to keep secret in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union.

This blog by Edward Champion expresses concern over the apathy many people have toward torture:

In short, the American media is thoroughly bought and paid for at a time when Americans absolutely need to bear witness to the inhumane and cruel actions that Americans — yes, that would be us — have inflicted upon the Iraqi people. They need to understand that these images were kept from them by a government all too determined to “protect” them from the knowledge that war is well beyond hell.

See "More Abu Ghraib Photos."

Our campaign against torture has gained momentum. In December, the anti-torture bill passed through Congress, reaffirming the prohibition on the use of torture and inhumane treatment of detainees in U.S. custody. However, this victory did not come without new challenges. In signing the bill, President Bush issued a "signing statement" in which he asserted that he could waive the ban on torture and inhumane treatment when he deemed it necessary. The President has also signed legislation that, for the first time in U.S. history, allows evidence extracted through torture to be used in military proceedings. This is unacceptable.

Over 35,000 others have already called on President Bush to tell the truth about U.S. acts of torture reported since he declared the "war on terror" in 2001. Join us and demand accountability for these crimes.

Sign our petition demanding that President Bush tell the truth about U.S. acts of torture reported since he declared the “war on terror” in 2001.

Take a look at the video we created that illustrates how we are all connected to acts of torture.

Via The Sydney Morning Herald:

Tonight the SBS Dateline program plans to broadcast about 60 previously unpublished photographs that the US Government has been fighting to keep secret in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union. Although a US judge last year granted the union access to the photographs following a freedom-of-information request, the US Administration has appealed against the decision on the grounds their release would fuel anti-American sentiment.

See "The photos America doesn't want seen."

Via Reuters AlertNet:

An Australian television station on Wednesday broadcast what it said were previously unpublished images of physical abuse of Iraqi prisoners inside the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.The Special Broadcasting Service's "Dateline" current affairs programme said the images had been taken at the same time as the now-infamous photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib, which sparked international outrage in 2004.

See "New Abu Ghraib abuse photos broadcast in Australia."

Via Expatica:

The plight of detainees held at the US Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects was relived in a powerful film documenting which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival Tuesday. "The Road to Guantanamo" by British directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross documents the nightmare which unfolded for a group of young British Muslims who were picked up in Afghanistan following the American bombing and dispatched to the US prison in Cuba.

See "British Guantanamo Bay film premieres in Berlin."

Via Manorama Online:

The report obtained on Monday recommended the United States close Guantanamo Bay and revoke all special interrogation techniques authorized by the Defence Department. Its experts accused the United States of violating the detainees' rights to a fair trial, freedom of religion and health.

See "US committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay: UN."

Via globeandmail.com:

A UN investigation has concluded that the United States committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay, including force feeding detainees and subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement, according to a draft report obtained yesterday.U.S. officials rejected the report, saying it was riddled with errors and treated statements from detainees' lawyers as fact.

See "U.S. commiting torture at Guantanamo, UN says."

Via CBS News:

A prisoner at Guantanamo Bay said the U.S. military has taken aggressive new steps to end a hunger strike, from force-feeding detainees in a restraining chair to confiscating their blankets, according to notes released by his lawyer Thursday.

See "Gitmo Inmate Alleges U.S. Torture."

Four years since the first transfers to the U.S.-operated detention center at Guantánamo, approximately 500 men of about 35 nationalities continue to be held at the facility unlawfully. Reports from the detainees and their lawyers suggest that many have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in Guantánamo or in other U.S. detention centers. Some detainees have embarked on a prolonged hunger strike, among them those who have requested not to be force-fed in order that they may be allowed to die. There have been numerous suicide attempts and fears for the physical and psychological welfare of the detainees increase as each day of indefinite detention passes.

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe last month released an interim report on "extraordinary renditions" and secret detention centers in Europe acknowledging that there is "a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of 'relocation' or 'outsourcing' of torture." Amnesty International believes that states known for practicing torture and ill-treatment have been selected as sites for receiving detainees for interrogation. AI also believes that detainees have been threatened by U.S. interrogators that they will be sent to such states.

Family members of those detained at Guantanamo and unknown locations face immeasurable suffering due to the state of uncertainty for them and their relatives. For some detainees released from U.S. custody, transfer has meant nothing more than a move from one place of indefinite, unlawful detention to another. For others it has meant continual harassment, arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment when they get home.

Please join us for this online discussion series on the impact of indefinite detention and extraordinary rendition on detainees and their families with our esteemed guests:

Jumana Musa i