Denounce Torture

"Now bad policy has become bad law. The administration can now hold people indefinitely, without charge or without trial, with Congressional authorization."--Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's Executive Director

"Amnesty International will to continue to push the administration and Congress to provide clarification. We're not giving up. We're fighting back and we're fighting back hard."

Read the full press release and sign the pledge.

From Counterpunch:

In 2003, Haider Muhsin Saleh, was living in Dearborn Michigan. A former opponent of Saddam Hussein, he had once been imprisoned and tortured by Saddam's secret police in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Upon being released he had fled to Sweden and become a Swedish citizen. When the Hussein regime fell, Mr. Saleh heeded the United States' call for expatriates to return to and rebuild Iraq. He did so with his own funds. Upon his arrival in September of 2003 he was detained and sent to the same Abu Ghraib prison where he had been previously tortured by Saddam Hussein. Instead of getting a chance to rebuild his country he became prisoner #151138 and was subjected to "interrogation."

A lawsuit was filed in 2004 on behalf of Mr. Saleh and other Iraqi detainees against CACI and Titan, who Saleh accuses of carrying out the abusive "interrogations" against him. The article alleges that delay tactics in the legislative process have "take[n] the case out of public consciousness."

Join Amnesty International in demanding that the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute military contractors who torture.

"Key senators say Congress has outlawed one of the most notorious detainee interrogation techniques -- "waterboarding," in which a prisoner feels near drowning. But the White House will not go that far, saying it would be wrong to tell terrorists which practices they might face."

Amnesty is calling on the UK to fulfill its obligations under domestic and international law to ensure the immediate return of all UK residents detained at Gitmo. Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia Program Director, said last Tuesday:

The UK government has obligations towards these men as some of them have been residents in the UK for a long time and have family members who are UK nationals. Others have refugee status in the UK.

The UK, as of now, has only petitioned the United States for the release and return of Bisher Al-Rawi.

Photo: Justice for the British Residents in Guantanamo Bay March to American Embassyin London to demand the release of British residents and the many forgotten people of other countries from Guantanamo Bay. © Glenn Williams. 

Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved the "Military Commissions Act." Amnesty international expressed deep concerned, stating that the legislation "...calls into question the United Sates' commitment to fundamental principals and fair trials":

"The 'Military Commissions Act,' first approved by the House on Wednesday, fails to provide clarification of basic standards for treatment of persons in detention. Instead the bill adds more confusion where illumination was sought."

"Amnesty International will focus on holding the administration accountable -- not only to upholding its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, but also to fulfilling the expectations of Americans who believe in justice for all. The America we believe in leads the world on human rights"- Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA Executive Director.

Tell your elected officials: "This is not the America we believe in."

From the Contra Costa Times:

Likewise, the legislation for military tribunals permits prosecutors to use secret, coerced evidence against enemy detainees, even for the death penalty. Another stab at rewriting law that razes the Geneva Conventions, it defiantly rejects the front-loaded-for-Bush Supreme Court's ruling that the United States must observe the Geneva Conventions.