Denounce Torture
Guantanamo Bay is increasingly a legal and human rights dilemma
The situation at Guantanamo Bay prison is becoming a legal and human rights dilemma. Government officials have no clear plan for determining the guilt of the nearly 500 detainees or returning them to their homelands. The suspected terrorists are being held indefinitely and without due process; some of whom are innocent. In addition, prisoners are increasingly resorting to violence by defying guards, attempting suicide, and holding hunger strikes. According to TheLedger.com, pressure will continue to build until action is taken to remedy the Guantanamo situation.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also accused the government of violating international torture prohibitions by entering into agreements with states with poor human rights records.
See "How to Exit the Guantanamo Box?"; "HRW: Memoranda undermine torture bans"
Tags: Guantanamo | indefinite detention | Human Rights Watch
Journalists could be prosecuted for NSA leaks
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales informed ABC's "This Week" that New York Times journalists could be prosecuted for publishing classified information about the National Security Agency's surveillance of terrorist- related calls by the United States. Gonzales said:
As we do in every case, it's a case-by-case evaluation about what the evidence shows us, our interpretation of the law. We have an obligation to enforce the law and to prosecute those who engage in criminal activity.
Gonzales has signed off on some of the administration's most controversial decisions such as the warrantless wiretapping of international calls and email and the brutal treatment of terror suspects. The Cincinnati Post has asserted that he has declared that U.S. laws banning torture are inapplicable.
Gonzales' interpretation of the Espionage Act of 1917 purports that the journalists could be prosecuted for publishing classified information. An amendment to the act made it a crime to "willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the U.S. government. The act was used by the Woodrow Wilson administration to restrain labor leaders, socialists, conscientious objectors, pacifists, and newspapers for opposing the Wilson administration on the war. According to The Cincinnati Post, Gonzales' reading of the Espionage Act may again be a way for the administration to suppress "domestic dissent."
See "A reading of the law"; "Prosecution of Journalists Is Possible in NSA Leaks"
Tags: Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales | National Security Agency | Espionage Act of 1917
European Union calls on U.S. to close Guantanamo Prison
Since the U.N. Committee Against Torture's report against U.S. mistreatment of terror suspects, the European Union (EU) has also issued an informal request for the U.S. to close its Guantanamo Bay prison. This weekend, EU foreign ministers issued the internatinal criticism, stating that the Guantanamo prison undermines the global fight against terrorism and legal principles according to Danish Daily's Berlingske Tidende. Guantanamo will be a controversial topic when President Bush attends the EU- US summit on June 21.
According to Denmark's Radio (DR) news, Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moller said:
We agreed to a common line, which says that the US government must take steps to close the prison as soon as possible.We hold on to the fact that terrorism is a threat against our society. But in the fight against terrorism we cannot damage our own democracy and judicial institutions.
See "EU to pressure US on closing Guantanamo camp"
Tags: amnesty international | Guantanamo | UN Committee Against Torture | European Union
U.N. Committee Against Torture criticizes U.S. for abuse of prisoners
In a recent report, the United Nation's Committee Against Torture (CAT) reproached the United States for its mistreatment of terror suspects and called for the closing of its Guantanamo Bay prison. The committee was established to uphold the international Convention Against Torture, a treaty supported by federal law which also prohibits prisoner torture. However, the Bush administration has maintained that it will not undertake the CAT's demands.
Specifically, the report criticized the United States for "indefinite detention" of prisoners, maintaining secret prisons overseas, "extraordinary rendition," and abuse of prisoners which have been extensively reported by the FBI, the International Red Cross, a U.S. Army investigation and respected human rights organizations.
Tom Teepen, a reporter for Cox Newspapers, claims:
By our silence, we have ceded our self- respect.
Our reputation and efficacy as a nation is also compromised by U.S. abuses against prisoners.
Amnesty International calls upon the Committee against Torture to condemn such practices and urges the US Government to implement effective measures to stop the abuses that are occurring on a daily basis in the United States.
See "U.S. has ceded its dignity with policy on torture"
Tags: amnesty international | Convention Against Torture | extraordinary rendition | Guantanamo | indefinite detention | secret detention | UN Committee Against Torture
ACLU and Human Rights First respond to Rumsfeld \
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights First responded to the argument of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and three senior commanders that they are not liable for charges of torture and abuse of detainees at U.S. military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Hina Shamsi, counsel in the lawsuit and senior counsel in the U.S. Law and Security Program at Human Rights First, Rumsfeld contended that ordering torture was "within the scope of his employment." The response is related to the lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Rumsfeld and the three senior commanders for the torture and abuse of nine Iraqi and Afghan former detainees, none ever charged with a crime. Lucas Guttentag, lead counsel in the lawsuit and director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project said:
The Constitution prohibits the Secretary of Defense from adopting or permitting policies of torture or cruelty against civilians detained in U.S. military custody. He and the other defendants seem to believe that the Constitution is irrelevant if the victims are foreign nationals tortured outside the United States...The courts must be able to hold government officials accountable for the horrors of Abu Ghraib and the widespread abuse that resulted from the Rumsfeld policies.
Eight military law specialists filed a “friend-of-the–court” brief supporting ACLU and Human Rights First’s arguments against Rumsfeld and the others defendants. According to the specialists:
It was the essence of Secretary Rumsfeld and other defendants’ scope of employment to educate and train those within their command responsibility to adhere to domestic and international standards and to do everything within their power to prevent and punish deviations from them.
More information about the ongoing lawsuit can be found at: www.aclu.org/rumsfeld and www.humanrightsfirst.org/lawsuit.
Tags: cia | Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld | ACLU | Human Rights First | Afghanistan | torture | Iraq
British airports used by CIA for \
Today, Members of Parliament (MPs) will approach the government to investigate charges that the CIA has used British airports for "extraordinary rendition," transporting suspected terrorists to countries at high risks of torture. The UK's Intelligence and Security Committee will examine the CIA's use of British airports and endeavor to establish the extent to which British authorities were complicit in the CIA's actions, especially in the CIA's abduction of two former British residents now held in Guantanamo Bay.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has reported that UK ministers have not properly inspected allegations of "extraordinary rendition" which potentially violate human rights law. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP for Chichester and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on extraordinary rendition, agreed:
The government appears to have done everything it can to prevent the public finding out the truth about rendition. Torture cannot be condoned.
See "MPs and peers want 'torture flights' inquiry"
Tags: amnesty international | extraordinary rendition | cia
Presbyterian Gathering against Torture
A national gathering of Presbyterians speaking against torture and the brutal treatment of U.S. custody detainees will takeplace on June 2, First Presbyterian Church in LaGrange, IL. The meeting is sponsored by No2Torture, a PC(USA)-affiliated group, and is part of the June Torture Awareness Month campaign that will be supported by many human rights, civil libertiesand religious organizations. The Presbyterian News Service cited the comments of Rev. Mark Koenig, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s associate for resources and publications:
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program encourages Presbyterians to identify appropriate ways to participate in Torture Awareness Month..Presbyterian General Assemblies have consistently spoken against the use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
Rev. Kirsten Klepfer, an Iowan Presbyterian pastor involved in the gathering, also said:
Torture is just an absolute violation of God’s creation of human beings in God’s image.
The two- day gathering will feature worship, stories of torture victims, and speakers such as John D. Hutson, former chief Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, and Rev. Marie Peacock, vice moderator of the PC(USA)’s General Assembly and associate pastor of Lakeview Presbyterian Church in New Orleans.
All are welcome to attend: No2Torture Gathering
See "Presbyterians Stand Against Torture"
Tags: No2Torture | Torture Awareness Month | Presbyterian Peacemaking Program | torture
Controversy of Private Security Contractors Hired by U.S. Government Continues
At Amnesty International's 2006 Annual Report news conference, Larry Cox, Amnesty U.S.executive director, said only one of 20 known cases of civilian contractors suspected of criminal conduct towards detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan has been prosecuted. Since civilian security contractors are accountable only under U.S. civilian laws rather than military laws, they are granted a dangerous degree of freedom in their actions. Cox stated:
Amnesty International is not opposed to the use of private contractors. But the reliance of the United States government on private military contractors has helped create virtually rule-free zones sanctioned with the American flag and firepower.
Amnesty's research also showed that at least 25 American companies have been hired by the U.S. government for "extraordinary rendition," sending criminal suspects to other countries for imprisonment or interrogation, commonly where human rights violations are very severe. Therefore, these corporations are "complicit in the U.S. government's practice of outsourcing torture." 25,000 private security workers are estimated to be employed in Iraq, totaling a cost of nearly $50 billion since the war began. Approximately 200 have been killed. The CIA also has faced harsh international censure for exercising "extraordinary rendition."
Despite the allegations against private security contractors, Amnesty voiced hope for corporations which are instituting guidelines to prevent these cases.
See "'Outsourcing torture' decried"
Tags: Afghanistan | amnesty international | cia | extraordinary rendition | Iraq | Larry Cox | torture
Please join us in Washington D.C., Sept. 24th - 26th, 2005!
Five Chinese Uighurs released from Guantanamo Bay Prison
Recently, five Chinese minority Uighurs cleared of charges and released after four and a half years in the Guantanamo Bay military prison, were transported to predominantly Muslim Albania. Although the United States, Canada, and many European countires have Muslim Uighur communities, the countries refused to admit the men.The men's spokesman Abu Bakkir Qassim said:
We look up to the United States as a source of hope, inspiration for our liberty. And because of that image that we hold of the United States and what we have experienced in Guantanamo, we feel extremely disappointed.
For many years, repressed members of China's mainly Muslim Uighur minority have fled to neighbouring countries. Their lives are endangered, as China pressures for their forcible return. Help protect the Muslim Uighur refugees.
See "5 Guantanamo Uighurs baffled in Albania "
Tags: amnesty international | Guantanamo | Muslim Uighur
Maj. Gen. Miller testifies in defense of Cardona, Abu Ghraib army dog handler
Yesterday, Major General Geoffrey D. Miller testified in the defense of Sergeant Santos A. Cardona, an Army dog handler charged with allowing his dog bite one detainee and harass another at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 and early 2004.
Miller, who previously oversaw the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, was later assigned to Iraq to review detention and interrogation operations. His Sept. 9, 2003 report to Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez revealed that Miller recommended using military police conditions at Abu Ghraib by providing interrogatiors with "passive intelligence" about the detainees' habits. Soon after, Sanchez signed a memo allowing soldier to"exploit Arab fear of dogs" during interrogations, which was not printed in the interrogation rules distributed at Abu Ghraib. Although Miller admitted he was aware of a "fear of dogs in the Arab culture," he claimed that he did not recommend using canines during interrogation.
Further military intestigation of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo unearthed a recommendation that Miller be reproached for failing to address abusive interrogation of highly- valued detainees.
According to Human Rights First, a leading human rights advocacy organization, Miller's testimony may implicate the involvement of Pentagon officials. Abu Ghraib was known to accomodate several military and civilian intelligence groups with various training and procedures and ambigous rules governing interrogation and detention. Defense Attorny Volzer claimed that Cardona was following the orders of his many superiors.
The initial results of a research project by Human Rights First, NYU's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and Human Rights Watch disclosed that over 600 U.S. military and civilian personnel have been involved in credible allegations of abuse throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo.
See "General Denies Urging Use of Dogs in Iraq"; "The Prosecution Rests"
Tags: Abu Ghraib | amnesty international | Guantanamo | human rights | Major General Geoffrey D. Miller | Sergeant Santos A. Cardona
Administration subverts Detainee Treatment Act; allows controversial torture techniques
The amendment was invalidated by Senator John McCain's modification allowing criminally charged agents to claim that they "did not know that the practices were unlawful" and Senator Lindsey Graham's amendment specifying that Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot invoke the U.S. law to challenge detention. Graham's amendment nullified the 2004 Supreme Court decision Rasul v. Bush that permitted detainees to appeal for habeas corpus. McCoy's article also affirmed that Bush had alleged in his "signing statement" unlimited license in defending America due to his authority as commander-in-chief and head of the executive branch
McCoy also stated that since the Cold War, the CIA has become increasingly defiant in its use of coercive interrogation, including psychological torture, on detainees. The International Committee of the Red Cross described these practices as "an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture." The Bush administration has also been accused of allowing "black sites" and supporting "extraordinary rendition" beyond Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. The U.N. Convention Against Torture has labelled "extraordinary rendition" as illegal. Amnesty International asserted:
Renditions involve multiple layers of human rights violations. Most victims...were arrested and detained illegally in the first place; some were abducted; others were denied access to any due process.
Alfred W. McCoy recently published: "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror"; "The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade"; and "Closer Than Brothers."
See "Invisible in Plain Sight: CIA Torture Techniques Go Mainstream"; "How Torture Became Mainstream"
Tags: Abu Ghraib | amnesty international | black sites | cia | Convention Against Torture | Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 | extraordinary rendition | Guantanamo | torture
Koppel warns mercenary armies are on the rise
In a The New York Times article, Ted Koppel warns of a nation run by mercenary armies. Americans are increasingly supportive of privately- appointed soldiers due to rising trends of public disapproval of the war in Iraq, global terrorism, and the extension of corporations into hostile settings. Already, private contractors in the U.S. employ roughly 50,000 people in positions previously associated with the military. Chris Taylor, vice president for strategic initiatives and corporate strategy at Blackwater USA, asserts that his private employees could alleviate the shortage in the military workforce. Taylor says:
Given the global war on terror, this is a way that a lot of these retirees (from the military) can contribute.
However, Amnesty International's 2006 Annual Report disclosed that some privately contracted servicemen have been charged with human rights violations in Iraq. The growth of mercenary armies may continue to undercut the accountability of the military. Another major reservation is the possibility of commercial interests conflicting with those of the U.S. government.
See " These Guns for Hire" (article can not be viewed without subscription to The New York Times)
Tags: mercenary armies | private military contractors | amnesty international
Bush responds to U.N. Committee Against Torture Request to close Guantanamo Prison
According to the Los Angeles Times, President Bush responded to the U.N. Committee Against Torture's (CAT) request that the U.S. close the Guantanamo Bay detention center by stating that the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legality of military commissions established by the presidential administration to try suspected terrorists. Bush stated:
We are waiting for our Supreme Court to give us a decision as to whether the people need to have a fair trial in a civilian court or in a military court.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide by June whether military tribunals can hear the cases of the accused. Britsh Attorney General Lord Goldsmith also urged closing the Guantanamo Bay prison:
The historic tradition of the United States as a beacon of freedom, of liberty and of justice deserves the removal of this symbol.
See "Gitmo, get gone: Running out of excuses for not removing a national blight"
Tags: Guantanamo | amnesty international | UN Committee Against Torture
Second Army Dog Handler Accused of Abusing Detainees
Sergeant Santos A. Cardona, member of the 42nd Military Police Detachment at Fort Bragg, N.C., is the second Army dog-handler to be accused of using his dog to harass detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq. Washingtonpost.com wrote:
Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, Calif., is charged with assault, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to maltreat detainees and lying to investigators in late 2003 and early 2004. He faces up to 16 1/2 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Cardona's defense attorney Harvey J. Volzer contended that the violent use of dogs was authorized by Pentagon officials up the chain of command attempting to expand interrogation and intimidation techniques criticized at Guantanamo Bay.
See "Abuse Trial Opens for 2nd Army Dog Handler"
Tags: torture | Abu Ghraib |
GuantanamoChat with John Bellinger
If you participated in our online discussion yesterday with David Weissbrodt on the the U.N. Committee Against Torture's investigation of U.S. compliance with the Convention Against Torture, you should visist the DOS' upcoming Web chat with John Bellinger, the legal adviser to SoS Condoleezza Rice. Bellinger led the U.S. delegation visit to Geneva to discuss U.S. policies before the U.N. Committee Against Torture. Be sure to ask questions.
Tags: Convention Against Torture | UN Committee Against Torture | human rights | John Bellinger
AI Annual Report: Military Outsourcing in the "War on Terror" Fuelling Human Rights Abuses
Amnesty International USA highlighted at the release of its 2006 Annual Report the U.S. government’s current system for outsourcing key military detention, security and intelligence operations as fueling serious human rights violations and undermining accountability.
According to a statement made by AIUSA's Executive Director at the report launch this morning:
An estimated 25,000 private military contractors are working in Iraq today. They are moving and training U.S. troops, guarding U.S. convoys, rebuilding schools and serving as guards in detention centers and as interrogators of alleged terrorism suspects.
Most are undoubtedly honorable, hard-working men and women who every day put their lives on the line—indeed, a conservative estimate finds that more than 200 have been killed while working in Iraq. But some private military contractors stand accused of engaging in or supporting human rights violations such as sexual abuse and torture. Some have been implicated in the Abu Ghraib scandal, and numerous news reports highlight how contractors have fired at civilians in Iraq with devastating consequences.
We'll be hosting an online discussion tomorrow from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern time to field your questions and comments about the murky system under which numerous contractors are operating, which has few built-in accountability mechanisms and virtually no demonstrated intent from the administration to hold human rights abusers accountable. Please join us -- you can submit questions in advance.
Tags: private military contractors | amnesty international | human rights | Larry Cox
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Amnesty International condemns "extraordinary rendition" of Yemen men
See "Black sites’ a black mark on our reputation as a humane, compassionate nation"
Tags: amnesty international | black sites | cia | extraordinary rendition | secret detention
Online Discussion in progress: U.S. Torture Policy Under Scrutiny by U.N. Committee
Please join us for today's online discussion with David Weissbrodt on the Committee Against Torture’s investigation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees both in the United States and in U.S. detention sites around the world, as well as other issues related to U.S. torture policy.
Bellinger says CAT doesn't address indefinite detention
This morning, Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman interviewed two guests (Dr. Nora Sveaass and Gabor Rona) on the U.N. Committee Against Torture investigation of U.S. compliance with the Convention Against Torture (CAT). DN! quoted Legal Advisor to the State Department John Bellinger's (pictured above; copyright AFP) response to the Committee's conclusion that indefinite detention was a violation of CAT:
There is nothing in the convention that says anything about holding people indefinitely. This is an issue that we know is out there, but there is nothing in this convention that says anything about holding people, so it's outside of the scope for them to be calling for the closure of Guantanamo.
Amnesty said in its supplementary briefing to the CAT:
Conditions of detention such as those in Guantánamo, specifically prolonged isolation and indefinite detention, have been part of the ill-treatment of detainees and themselves amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. (my emphasis added)
See "UN Panel Calls for Bush Administration to Close Guantanamo Bay Military Prison."
Tags: UN Committee Against Torture | torture | amnesty international
Save this post to del.icio.us U.S. District Judge throws out al-Masri case
In an earlier post, we wrote about the case of Khaled el-Masri, a Lebanese-born German man who sued the CIA after allegedly being abducted by the intelligence agency while on vacation in Macedonia. The agency reportedly brought al-Masri to a U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and tortured for his suspected ties to al-Qaeda. According to a Post story we found on the Daily Background, his case was thrown out on Thursday by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who cited "the national interest in preserving state secrets" in his decision.
According to Ben Wizner, an American Civil Liberties Union who represented al-Masri:
This is doubly insulting. Everyone knows that Mr. al-Masri was a mistaken victim of the rendition program. He is now a victim of the misuse of the state-secrets privilege.
Read the article in the post: "Lawsuit Against CIA Is Dismissed."
See the ACLU's press release.
Tags: ACLU | extraordinary rendition | Khaled al-Masri
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U.N. Committee calls on U.S. to close Gitmo and "black sites"
The U.N. Committee Against Torture (CAT) released its recommendations today following an investigation of U.S. torture policy. According to a BBC report the recommendation called on the United States to:
close any secret "war on terror" detention facilities abroad and the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.
According to the BBC, the Committee stated that:
Detaining people in such