Denounce Torture

Your help needed to gain four more Senator's support!

The Senate held a cloture vote today on the Leahy-Specter amendment to restore habeas corpus. We needed 60 votes for cloture, and while we fell short (the vote was 56 Yeas to 43 Nays) we picked up additional Senators this time. (The vote to retain habeas during the passage of the Military Commissions Act had been 51-48.) The House should continue forward with it's efforts to restore habeas, and we can continue to ask Reps to support that effort, as we work to pick up the extra 4 Senators that we need for restoration in the Senate.

The vote count: All Democrats and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) voted yes to advance the Leahy-Specter habeas amendment as did six Republicans: Specter (PA), Sunnunu (NH), Smith (OR), Hagel (NE), Lugar (IN) and Snowe (ME). Senator Liberman (I-CT) voted "No" as did all the remaining Republicans, with the exception of Senator Chambliss (GA) who did not vote. (You can look up your Senators here) Please express your thanks to the Senators who supported the Leahy-Specter Amendment to restore habeas corpus, and express your disapointment to your Senators if they voted against restoring this fundamental safeguard. You can call their office at 202 224-3121. Please be accurate, brief, and courteous when speaking to them!

I have been on the road this weekend and into this week working on “War on Terror” issues related to torture. This weekend I was presenting a workshop on how to talk torture as well how to talk about these issues with audiences that tend not to prioritize these issues as concerns of theirs. The workshop was attended by international students from the United World College as well as New Mexico Amnesty activists. The key note speech was made by Larry Cox and was very powerfully received by a welcoming audience.

From there I hit the road with Michael Otterman of “American Torture” and Raj and Tom from Citizens for Global Solutions. Here we are talking torture at a few key stops and wrapping in our campaign activities with each stop.

This morning the team had an early morning breakfast at a café that also doubles as a radio show. Indeed odd, but very cool. Here is the interview from this morning’s show.

Kevin Spidel
Campaign Manager
Denounce Torture

"Water-boarding is a form of torture. And I'm convinced that this will not only help us in our interrogation techniques, but it will also be helpful for our image in the world."

Unfortunately the Senator, who has done some very important work to stop the use of torture by the United States, does not fully comprehend what needs to be done to"make things right" across the globe. The United States is not trusted in these matters and positive changes of policy need to be stated clearly by those in positions of real power in the Administration. To restore the American image in the world we need to do the right thing and be seen to do the right thing.

The American public understands this and I suspect that as Tom and I continue working with Mike (we are currently in New Mexico) we will continue to see that the American public understands the need for a clear change in direction.

More from the tour to come - tomorrow we are at Webster University (1.30pm) and University of New Mexico (6pm) - if you are in NM come and join us. - Raj Purohit, Citizens for Global Solutions

KENYA Farah Muhammed Abdullahi (m), aged 26

Eyewitnesses saw Farah Muhammed Abdullahi being abducted by four men in civilian clothes on 19 August in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. There has been no news of his whereabouts since.

Amnesty International is concerned that he may have been the victim of an enforced disappearance. His life may be in danger.

At 7pm on 19 August, Farah Muhammed Abdullahi was leaving a mosque in Nairobi's Eastlands district, along with other attendees after prayers. Two witnesses saw him being approached by the four men, whom the witnesses believe to be police officers. Farah Muhammed Abdullahi resisted being taken. He was forced into a Mitsubishi Pajero four-wheel drive vehicle, and was heard asking the men, "Where are you taking me?" before calling out for help.

Farah Muhammed Abdullahi is the brother of Abdi Muhammed Abdullahi, who is being held incommunicado in Ethiopia after being transferred along with 80 others by Kenyan police to Somalia, and then to Ethiopia in early 2007 (see UA 88/07, AFR 25/005/2007, 16 April 2007, and follow-ups). Farah has been active in calling for the release of his brother from Ethiopia and for the Kenyan government to call for his brother's return and take responsibility for him as a Kenyan citizen. Amnesty International is concerned that Farah may have been abducted by Kenyan security personnel because of his activism on his brother's behalf.

A spokesperson for the Kenyan Police said they had no record of Farah Muhammed Abdullahi being arrested. Investigations by human rights activists in Kenya have not located Farah in any of the police stations in Nairobi.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In January 2007, over 100 people were arrested after crossing from Somalia into Kenya. At least 85 of these individuals were transferred back to Somalia, and 81 of this group were sent to Ethiopia in late January. Since this time, at least 22 people have been released by Ethiopia, but many other remain in detention, including Abdi Muhammed Abdullahi.

The government of Kenya continues to deny that any of the individuals transferred are Kenyan citizens. Human rights activists have documented the arrests and transfers, with Kenya based non-governmental organization, the Muslim Human Rights Forum, releasing a report on the extrajudicial transfers in early July
that documented the case of Abdi Muhammed Abdullahi. During the launch, Farah spoke about the continuing detention of his brother, and received significant Kenyan and international media attention.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your
own language:

- expressing concern at the reported enforced disappearance of Farah Muhammed Abdullahi;

- urging the Kenyan authorities disclose whether any government agency is currently detaining Farah
Muhammed Abdullahi, or whether he has been transferred out of Kenya;

- urging to Kenyan Police to investigate the abduction of Farah Muhammed Abdullahi, and prosecute anyone
implicated as responsible for involvement in his abduction;

- if Farah Muhammed Abdullahi is in custody, calling on the authorities to ensure he is not tortured or illtreated,
and is given immediate and regular access to his family, lawyer and any necessary medical attention;

- urging the authorities to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the transfers of detainees
to Somalia and Ethiopia and make public its findings;

- calling for an end to the practice of incommunicado detention in Kenya.

APPEALS TO:

Hon. Mwai Kibaki C.G.H., MP
President of the Republic of Kenya
Harambee House, Harambee Avenue
P. O. Box 30510-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 313600
Email: pps@statehousekenya.go.ke
Salutation: Your Excellency

Hon. John N. Michuki, E.G.H., MP
Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security
Harambee House, Harambee Avenue
P. O. Box 30510-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 313600
Salutation: Dear Minister

Hon. Martha Karua MP
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Sheria House, Harambee Avenue,
P.O. Box 56057, Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 316321
Email: minister-justice@skyweb.co.ke
Salutation: Dear Minister

Major General Mohamed Hussein Ali, M.G.H.
Commissioner of Police
Vigilance House, Harambee Avenue,
P.O. Box 30083, Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 240955
Salutation: Dear Sir

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Kenya accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 19 October 2007.

FYI

WALLACE: Congressman Tancredo, along those lines, you have said the president should have the power to approve enhanced interrogation techniques, like waterboarding in cases where conventional interrogation is not getting the job done.

Sir, I want to ask you, is there a line you won't cross in this regard to keep Americans safe? Would you approve the use of torture if you felt it would prevent a terrorist attack?

TANCREDO: Torture. I mean, we get into this debate all the time, and as to what exactly is the definition of torture, and I'm telling you that what we need to do -- remember, the question that I was originally asked that elicited the response that you mentioned was, what do we do in the response to a nuclear -- or the fact that a nuclear device or some bombs have gone off in the United States.

TANCREDO: We know that there are -- we have captured people who have information that could lead us to the next one that's going to go off and it's the big one. That was the question that I responded to, and I told you, yes, I would do -- certainly, waterboard -- I don't believe that that is, quote, "torture."

I would do what is necessary to protect this country. That is the ultimate responsibility of the president of the United States. All of the other things that we do, all of the other things -- all of the other powers vested in him pale in comparison to his responsibility to keep the people of this country safe. And that is ultimate. And, yes, I would go to great lengths to keep this country safe.

GOLER: Senator McCain, what do you think about what Congressman Tancredo just said. And more broadly, do you feel President Bush may have overreached his constitutional authority in some actions after the 9/11 attacks, sir?

MCCAIN: I have a very dear and beloved friend whose name is General Jack Vessey, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Reagan. He served in four wars, and he's one of the great leaders I've ever known.

I called him, and I said, "General Vessey, do you think we ought to ever torture anybody?"

General Vessey said, "Any information that we may gain through the use of torture can never, ever be counterbalanced by the damage it does to America's reputation...

(APPLAUSE)

... and the risk...

(APPLAUSE)

... and the risk that when an American is in the hands of an enemy that they will use the fact that we tortured people as an excuse to torture our brave men and women in the military."

I'm not prepared to...

(UNKNOWN): They don't need an excuse.

MCCAIN: ... for that.

It was interesting during the debate on torture, retired military, from Colin Powell on down, and others, sided with me.

MCCAIN: Those who had no military experience took the other side.

By the way, Governor Huckabee, thank you for your kind words.

(APPLAUSE)

GOLER: Mayor Giuliani, if you don't think we should close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, how long are you prepared to live with the international criticism it's causing? And how long do you think we should hold people there that we feel we can't gain a conviction on, but are too dangerous to set free?

GIULIANI: Well, this reminds me of a period of time in New York when judges would release criminals into the street, or threaten to do it. We can't close Guantanamo because nobody will take the people there.

(APPLAUSE)

I mean -- the president is attempting to move those people to other countries, and those countries are intelligent enough to say, "We don't want people as dangerous as this in our country." So what are you proposing? That we release them in New York or in Boston or in Los Angeles?

GIULIANI: So there's a reality to this that the liberal media and some of the Democratic politicians seem to try to avoid.

Also this discussion of fighting a war where we're constantly discussing when we're going to withdraw, when has a nation ever won a war when the constant discussion was: What kind of timetable are we going to set for our retreat?

In order to...

(APPLAUSE)

In order to win, you have to set an objective. The objective should be an Iraq that is going to help us in the terrorists' war against us. If Iraq is a battle in the terrorists' war against us, then the winning of that battle constitutes an Iraq that will help us, not an Iraq that will become a headquarters for Islamic terrorism.

GOLER: Congressman Hunter...

(APPLAUSE)

GOLER: ... the prisoners at Gitmo right now have little to do with the war in Iraq, so let me ask you basically the question that I asked Mayor Giuliani: Are you prepared to hold terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely if you feel that we can't convict them and they're too dangerous to set free?

HUNTER: Well, absolutely.

And let me tell you that the proof of that is the fact that we have conducted these combatant review tribunals. And we've actually sent back to the battlefield or sent back to Afghanistan some of the people that we thought were no longer a threat.

Some of those people have shown up on the battlefield bearing arms against our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines, back on the battlefield after we sent them back.

If anything, we've been too liberal with the release of terrorists.

And let me tell you, you got guys like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who said that he planned the attack on 9/11. You got Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. Those guys get taxpayer-paid-for prayer rugs. They have prayer five times a day. They've all gained weight.

(LAUGHTER)

The last time I looked at the menu, they had honey-glazed chicken and rice pilaf on Friday. That's how we treat the terrorists.

They've got health care that's better than most HMOs. And they got something else that no Democrat politician in America has: They live in a place called Guantanamo, where not one person has ever been murdered. And there's not one politician, one Democrat politician in America, that can say that about one of the prisons in his home district. We've got to keep Guantanamo open.

(APPLAUSE)