Enhanced interrogation techniques
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Enhanced interrogation techniques, rough interrogation, the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation methods, and alternative set of procedures were euphemisms adopted by the George W. Bush administration to describe methods of torture[1][2][3][4][5] used by US military intelligence and the CIA, allegedly necessary to extract information from captives as part of the "War on Terror".
Despite the Orwellian[6] euphemism "enhanced interrogation techniques"[7] the International Committee of the Red Cross,[8] the United Nations,[9] the Commissioner for Human Rights,[1] the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee,[2] Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH),[10]Amnesty International,[11] the National Lawyers Guild, [12], the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [13], Dame Stella Rimington[14], Elizabeth de la Vega,[15] and many other experts classify them to be torture,[16] and also consider the techniques ineffective.[3][17][18][19][20][21] For its use on Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, the government of Canada added the United States to a list of countries that employ interrogation methods that amount to torture.[22]
Although reactions by the administration and its supporters were ambiguous, former US president Jimmy Carter is among those who publicly stated in an interview on October 10 2007: "The United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law."[23] [24] A December 2008 report involving both of the US' main parties referred to:
a February 2002 memorandum signed by President George W. Bush, stating that the Third Geneva Convention guaranteeing humane treatment to prisoners of war did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees, and a December 2002 memo signed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, approving the use of "aggressive techniques" against detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, as key factors that lead to the extensive abuses.[25]
and more precisely:
Senate investigators said the seeds of the policy originated in a Feb. 7, 2002, memo signed by President Bush declaring that the Geneva Conventions, which outline standards for the humane treatment of detainees, did not apply to captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.[25]
Responding to the report, US vice-president Richard Cheney admitted that the CIA asked his advice regarding these techniques less than a year after the 2001 US attacks and he helped get the “process cleared.”[26]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Verschärfte Vernehmung
Experts Marty Lederman, H. Candace Gorman, Arthur Bright, Scott Horton and Nat Hentoff have reported that blogger, political commentator and former editor of The New Republic Andrew Sullivan claimed that "enhanced interrogation" bears remarkable resemblance to techniques the Gestapo called "Verschärfte Vernehmung," for which some of them faced prosecution in Norway after World War II and were "found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death."[27][28][29][30][31][4][32][33][34] Besides the similarity of the practices, the German term "verschärfte Vernehmung" itself literally translates as "enhanced interrogation". These techniques included the simplest rations, a hard bed, a dark cell, deprivation of sleep, exhaustion exercises, and blows with a stick.
A 1948 Norwegian court case[35] described the use of hypothermia identical to the reports from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Sullivan and Gorman contend that the defence used by the Nazis for applying the techniques "is almost verbatim that of the Bush administration." Most notably the concept of unlawful enemy combatant is invoked avant la lettre to justify its implementation on "insurgent prisoners out of uniform" (i.e. the Norwegian Resistance), and notes the identical logic propagated by John Yoo today.[27][29] The so-called "ticking time bomb scenario", as rationale for allowing torture, had its precursor in the Gestapo's "Third degree" measures.[32] According to The Christian Science Monitor:
While the Nazis' interrogative methods were found to be torture, The New York Times writes that the Allies' methods at the time were far more effective and far less abusive than those the United States uses now.[4]
[edit] SERE program
According to Human Rights First:
Internal FBI memos and press reports have pointed to SERE training as the basis for some of the harshest techniques authorised for use on detainees by the Pentagon in 2002 and 2003.[36]
And Salon stated:
A March 22 2005, sworn statement by the former chief of the Interrogation Control Element at Guantánamo said instructors from SERE also taught their methods to interrogators of the prisoners in Cuba.[37]
While Jane Mayer reported for The New Yorker:
According to the sere affiliate and two other sources familiar with the program, after September 11th several psychologists versed in sere techniques began advising interrogators at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere. Some of these psychologists essentially “tried to reverse-engineer” the sere program, as the affiliate put it. “They took good knowledge and used it in a bad way,” another of the sources said. Interrogators and bsct members at Guantánamo adopted coercive techniques similar to those employed in the sere program.[38]
and continues to report:
many of the interrogation methods used in sere training seem to have been applied at Guantánamo.[38]
In addition, Stephen Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson also wrote an article describing how these techniques mimic what was taught in the SERE-program: "the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program that trains US Special Operations Forces, aviators and others at high risk of capture on the battlefield to evade capture and to resist 'breaking' under torture, particularly through giving false confessions or collaborating with their captors."[19] Soldz et al., Salon, and Mayer cite the following examples:
- Prolonged isolation,
- Prolonged sleep deprivation,
- Sensory deprivation,
- Extremely painful "stress positions,"
- Sensory bombardment (such as prolonged loud noise and/or bright lights),
- Forced nakedness,
- Sexual humiliation,
- Cultural humiliation (such as desecration of holy scriptures),
- Being subjected to extreme cold that induces hypothermia,
- Exploitation of phobias,
- Simulation of the experience of drowning, i.e., waterboarding.
Regarding these techniques a bipartisan report in December 2008 established that:
harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA and the U.S. military were directly adapted from the training techniques used to prepare special forces personnel to resist interrogation by enemies that torture and abuse prisoners. The techniques included forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation, and until 2003, waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.[25]
[edit] The War on Terror
At the onset of the "War on Terror", only 35 days after the September 11 attacks, the FBI announced it was looking at "alternative interrogation techniques" that might include administering truth serums or renditioning prisoners to foreign countries with "more rigorous and brutal" methods of interrogation.[39]
[edit] Department of Defense
In November 2006, former US army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, in charge of Abu Ghraib prison until early 2004, told Spain's El Pais newspaper she had seen a letter signed by United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as sleep deprivation during interrogation. "The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation ... playing music at full volume, having to sit in uncomfortably ... Rumsfeld authorised these specific techniques." She said that this was contrary to the Geneva Convention and quoted from the same: "Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind". According to Karpinski, the handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: "Make sure this is accomplished".
According to the February 16, 2008 edition of The Economist, Rumsfeld also wrote in a 2002 memo; "I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing (by prisoners) limited to four hours?" There have been no comments from either the Pentagon or US army spokespeople in Iraq on Karpinski's accusations.[40]
Senior law enforcement agents with the Criminal Investigation Task Force told MSNBC.com in 2006 that they began to complain inside the US Defense Department in 2002 that the interrogation tactics used in Guantanamo Bay by a separate team of military intelligence investigators were unproductive, not likely to produce reliable information, and probably illegal. Unable to get satisfaction from the army commanders running the detainee camp, they took their concerns to David Brant, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who alerted Navy General Counsel Alberto J. Mora.[41]
General Counsel Mora and Navy Judge Advocate General Michael Lohr believed the detainee treatment to be unlawful, and campaigned among other top lawyers and officials in the Defense Department to investigate, and to provide clear standards prohibiting coercive interrogation tactics.[42] In response, on January 15, 2003, Rumsfeld suspended the approved interrogation tactics at Guantánamo Bay until a new set of guidelines could be produced by a working group headed by General Counsel of the Air Force Mary Walker. The working group based its new guidelines on a legal memo from the US Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel written by John Yoo and signed by Jay S. Bybee, which would later become widely known as the "Torture Memo". General Counsel Mora led a faction of the Working Group in arguing against these standards, and argued the issues with Yoo in person. The working group's final report, was signed and delivered to Guantánamo without the knowledge of Mora and the others who had opposed its content. Nonetheless, Mora has maintained that detainee treatment has been consistent with the law since the January 15, 2003 suspension of previously approved interrogation tactics.[43]
On May 1, 2005, the New York Times reported on an ongoing high-level military investigation into accusations of detainee abuse at Guantánamo, conducted by Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt of the Air Force, and dealing with: "accounts by agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who complained after witnessing detainees subjected to several forms of harsh treatment. The F.B.I. agents wrote in memorandums that were never meant to be disclosed publicly that they had seen female interrogators forcibly squeeze male prisoners' genitals, and that they had witnessed other detainees stripped and shackled low to the floor for many hours."[44]
On July 12, 2005, members of a military panel told the committee that they proposed disciplining prison commander Major General Geoffrey Miller over the interrogation of Mohamed al-Kahtani, who was forced to wear a bra, dance with another man, and threatened with dogs. The recommendation was overruled by General Bantz J. Craddock, commander of US Southern Command, who referred the matter to the army's inspector general.[45]
[edit] CIA
ABC News reported on April 9, 2008 that "the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency." The article states that those involved included:
Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.[46]
In December 2007 CIA director Michael V. Hayden stated that "of about 100 prisoners held to date in the C.I.A. program, the enhanced techniques were used on about 30, and waterboarding used on just three."[47][48]
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said on BBC Radio 4 that since these methods are not intended to punish they do not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, barring "cruel and unusual punishment", and as such may not be unconstitutional.[49]
According to ABC News[24], former and current CIA officials have come forward to reveal details of interrogation techniques authorized in the CIA. These include:
- The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes them
- Attention Slap: An open-handed slap to the face aimed at causing pain and triggering fear
- The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the abdomen. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage
- Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor, for more than 40 hours
- The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius)
- Waterboarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Material is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over them. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt
[edit] Legal opinions
Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, several memoranda[50][51] were written by John Yoo, analysing the legal position and possibilities in the treatment of prisoners. The memos, known today as the "torture memos,"[52][53] advocate enhanced interrogation techniques, while pointing out that avoiding the Geneva Conventions would reduce the possibility of prosecution under the US War Crimes Act of 1996 for actions taken in the War on Terror.[54] In addition, a new US definition of torture was issued. Most actions that fall under the international definition do not fall within this new definition advocated by the U.S.[55] Several top military lawyers, including Alberto J. Mora, reported that policies allowing methods equivalent to torture were officially handed down from the highest levels of the administration, and led an effort within the Department of Defence to put a stop to those policies and instead mandate non-coercive interrogation standards.[56]
The Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its interrogators working abroad would not violate US prohibitions against torture unless they "have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering", according to a previously secret US Justice Department memo released on 24 July 2008. The interrogator's "good faith" and "honest belief" that the interrogation will not cause such suffering protects the interrogator, the memo adds. "Because specific intent is an element of the offense, the absence of specific intent negates the charge of torture", Jay Bybee, then the assistant attorney general, wrote in the memo. The 18-page memo is heavily redacted, with 10 of its 18 pages completely blacked out and only a few paragraphs legible on the others.
Another memo released on the same day advises that "the waterboard," does "not violate the Torture Statute." It also cites a number of warnings against torture, including statements by President Bush and a then-new Supreme Court ruling "which raises possible concerns about future US judicial review of the [interrogation] Program."
A third memo instructs interrogators to keep records of sessions in which "enhanced interrogation techniques" are used. The memo is signed by then-CIA director George Tenet and dated January 28, 2003.
The memos were made public by the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the three CIA-related documents under Freedom of Information Act requests.[1]
[edit] Unitary Executive Theory
At the heart of policies in the "War on Terror" is the notion that during a time of war the President, in his duty as Commander-in-Chief, cannot be bound by law -i.e. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, UN Convention Against Torture, Geneva Conventions- or Congress. Since the primary task of the President during a time of war is protecting US citizens, anything hindering him in that capacity -US and international law or even Congress- can be considered unconstitutional.[57] John Yoo contends that the Congressional check on Presidential war making power comes from its power of the purse, and that the President, and not the Congress or courts, has sole authority to interpret international treaties such as the Geneva Convention "because treaty interpretation is a key feature of the conduct of foreign affairs".[58] These views on executive power, known as the unitary executive theory, are controversial since they suggest that the President's war powers place him above any law.[58][59][60][61]
[edit] Suggested origin of legal opinions
Horton contends that John Yoo's analysis that the US President was not bound by the Geneva Conventions was based upon work about World war II by Carl Schmitt.[53] Examples of arguments used by Schmitt (according to Horton):[53]
- Particularly on the Eastern Front, the conflict was a nonconventional sort of warfare being waged against a “barbaric” enemy which engaged in “terrorist” practices, and which itself did not observe the law of armed conflict.
- Individual combatants who engaged in “terrorist” practices, or who fought in military formations engaged in such practices, were not entitled to protections under international humanitarian law, and the adjudicatory provisions of the Geneva Conventions could therefore be avoided together with the substantive protections
- The Geneva and Hague Conventions were “obsolete” and ill-suited to the sort of ideologically driven warfare in which the Nazis were engaged on the Eastern Front, though they might have limited application with respect to the Western Allies
- Application of the Geneva Conventions was not in the enlightened self-interest of Germany because its enemies would not reciprocate such conduct by treating German prisoners-of-war in a humane fashion
- Construction of international law should be driven in the first instance by a clear understanding of the national interest as determined by the executive. To this end niggling, hypertechnical interpretations of the Conventions that disregarded the plain text, international practice and even Germany’s prior practice in order to justify their nonapplication were entirely appropriate.
- In any event, the rules of international law were subordinated to the military interests of the German state and to the law as determined and stated by the German Führer.
Compared to what is known about Yoo's legal advice Scott Horton, historian Heinrich August Winkler, Sandy Levinson, David Abraham and Christopher Kutz see similarities with the writings of Carl Schmitt.[53] According to legal experts Scott Horton, David Abraham, Ahmad Chehab the concept of the "unitary executive," which lies at the heart of controversies -i.e. NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, Signing statement (United States), unlawful enemy combatant- seems to be based upon his state of exception.[53][62]
[edit] Official Position of the Bush Administration
Notwithstanding the suggestion of official policy, the administration repeatedly assured critics that the publicised cases were unrepresentative incidents, and President Bush later stated that:
- "The United States of America does not torture. And that's important for people around the world to understand."[63]
The administration adopted the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to address the multitude of incidents of detainee abuse. However, in his signing statement, Bush made clear that he reserved the right to waive this bill if he thought that was needed.[64]
Contrary to prior official statements, the Washington Post reported in January 2009 that Susan J. Crawford, convening authority of military commissions, stated in response to the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, the so-called "20th hijacker" of the September 11th attacks:
"The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. . . . You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge" i.e to call it torture.[65]
The reason Crawford decided not to prosecute al-Qahtani was because his treatment fell within the definition of torture.[65]
[edit] Public and International Reaction
Over the years numerous incidents have been made public and a UN report denounced the abuse of prisoners as tantamount to torture.[66]
Several legal analysts — such as Elizabeth Holtzman, Marjorie Cohn, and Human Rights First — have advocated that writing the so-called "torture memos," not preventing or stopping the abuse could result in legal challenges involving war crimes[67] under the command responsibility.[68][69] This view was confirmed when the US Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that, contrary to what the Bush administration advocated, the Third Geneva Convention (regarding the treatment of prisoners) applies to all detainees in the war on terrorism and as such the Military Tribunals used to try suspects were violating the law. The Court reaffirmed that those involved in mistreatment of detainees violate US and international law.[70]
А report by Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH) stated that the aforementioned ten techniques constitute torture. Their press release said:
The report concludes that each of the ten tactics is likely to violate U.S. laws, including the War Crimes Act, the U.S. Torture Act, and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.[10]
According to HRF, PFH and Stephen Soldz et al. medical and psychological literature shows that torture may have "profound long-term negative effects upon individuals, including psychosis, depression, suicidal ideation and/or post-traumatic stress disorder."[19][10] They also cite the Office of the Inspector General report which concluded that
SERE-type interrogation techniques constitute "physical or mental torture and coercion under the Geneva conventions."[19]
Also, according to the New York Times:
Experts advising the Bush administration on new interrogation rules warn that harsh techniques used since 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.[21]
The Washington Post described the report by the Intelligence Science Board:
There is almost no scientific evidence to back up the U.S. intelligence community's use of controversial interrogation techniques in the fight against terrorism, and experts believe some painful and coercive approaches could hinder the ability to get good information, according to a new report from an intelligence advisory group.[71]
In an interview with AP on February 14, 2008 Paul Rester, chief military interrogator at Guantanamo Bay and director of the Joint Intelligence Group, said most of the information gathered from detainees came from non-coercive questioning and "rapport building," not harsh interrogation methods.[72]
On May 19, 2006, the UN Committee against Torture issued a report stating the U.S. should stop, what it concludes, is "ill-treatment" of detainees, since such treatment, according to the report, violates international law. It also calls for cessation of the US-termed "enhanced interrogation" techniques, as the UN sees these methods as a form of torture. The UN report also admonishes against secret prisons, the use of which, is considered to amount to torture as well and should be discontinued.[9]
Reviewing the book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer, The New York Times reported that:
Red Cross investigators concluded last year in a secret report that the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation methods for high-level Qaeda prisoners constituted torture and could make the Bush administration officials who approved them guilty of war crimes .....[8]
and that the techniques applied to Abu Zubaydah
[edit] Destruction of evidence
In December 2007 it became known that the CIA had destroyed videotapes depicting prisoners being interrogated. This was allegedly done to protect the agents' identities from being disclosed. The New York Times reported that according to "some insiders" an inquiry into the C.I.A.’s secret detention program which analysed these techniques "might end with criminal charges for abusive interrogations."[73] Marty Lederman, Glenn Greenwald, and other commentators suggested these tapes might have revealed serious violations of US and international law, i.e. evidence of torture.[74] In an Op-ed for the New York Times Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, chair and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission stated:
As a legal matter, it is not up to us to examine the C.I.A.’s failure to disclose the existence of these tapes. That is for others. What we do know is that government officials decided not to inform a lawfully constituted body, created by Congress and the president, to investigate one the greatest tragedies to confront this country. We call that obstruction.[75]
Responding to the so-called "torture memoranda" Scott Horton pointed out
the possibility that the authors of these memoranda counseled the use of lethal and unlawful techniques, and therefore face criminal culpability themselves. That, after all, is the teaching of United States v. Altstötter, the Nuremberg case brought against German Justice Department lawyers whose memoranda crafted the basis for implementation of the infamous “Night and Fog Decree.”[53]
Jordan Paust concurred by responding to Mukasey's refusal to investigate and/or prosecute anyone that relied on these legal opinions
it is legally and morally impossible for any member of the executive branch to be acting lawfully or within the scope of his or her authority while following OLC opinions that are manifestly inconsistent with or violative of the law. General Mukasey, just following orders is no defense![76]
[edit] U.S. State Department position on the use of similar treatment by other nations
Human Rights Watch (HRW) observed that numerous countries engage in activities that are similar to the ones allegedly used by the C.I.A.:[77]
- Forced standing
- Sleep deprivation
- Exposure to cold
- Waterboarding
The organization also reported that:
The U.S. State Department has condemned as torture or other inhuman treatment many of the techniques that have allegedly been used by the CIA in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at secret detention sites in other countries.[77]
[edit] Legality
[edit] International Law
- The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as:
Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.[78]
It also states that:
No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.[78]
An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.[78]
- In 1994, the United States filed a declaration qualifying its compliance with the Convention against Torture. According to the UN Secretary General, the Government of the United States of America said, "... nothing in this Convention requires or authorises legislation, or other action, by the United States of America prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the United States."[79]
- Countries that are signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights agreed that Article 5 prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
- Marty Lederman observes that:
-
- Even if some of these techniques are arguably short of legally defined "torture" in some cases, surely they are the sort of "cruel treatment" that the Geneva Conventions prohibit -- particularly when one recalls that those treaties were written largely with Germany's practices in mind. (The techniques might also, at least in many cases, violate the federal assault law and the McCain Amendment, as well.) And therefore the techniques are plainly unlawful -- and a President committed to faithful execution of the law would not authorise their use by the CIA -- whether or not they are subject to the criminal sanctions reserved for "torture" as such.[33]
[edit] US Law
- In April 2006, in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales[80], more than 100 U.S. professors stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, and is a criminal felony punishable under the U.S. federal criminal code.
- Senior law enforcement agents with the Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) told MSNBC.com in 2006 that they complained inside the Defence Department in 2002 that the "interrogation" tactics used by a separate team of intelligence investigators were unproductive, not likely to produce reliable information, and probably illegal. Unable to get satisfaction from the Army commanders running the detainee camp, they took their concerns to David Brant, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who alerted Navy General Counsel Alberto J. Mora.[41]. General Counsel Mora and Navy Judge Advocate General Michael Lohr believed the detainee treatment to be unlawful, and campaigned among other top lawyers and officials in the Defence Department to investigate, and to provide clear standards prohibiting coercive interrogation tactics.[42] In response, on January 15, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld suspended the approved interrogation tactics at Guantánamo until a working group, headed by General Counsel of the Air Force Mary Walker, could produce a set of guidelines. The working group based its new guidelines on a legal memo from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel written by John Yoo and signed by Jay S. Bybee, which would become known as the "Torture Memo". General Counsel Mora led a faction of the Working Group in arguing against these standards, and argued the issues with Yoo in person. The working group's final report, was signed and delivered to Guantánamo without the knowledge of Mora and the others who had opposed its content. Nonetheless, Mora maintained that detainee treatment complied with the law since the January 15, 2003 suspension of previously approved interrogation tactics.[43]
- Elizabeth de la Vega wrote that under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2340, there is no confusion as to whether these techniques constitute torture.
This argument - that a person cannot know whether his conduct falls within the definition of torture unless it is expressly proscribed by Section 2340 - is precisely the one we've heard from Michael Mukasey with regard to waterboarding.[15]
[edit] Ban on Interrogation Techniques
On February 13, 2008 the US Senate, in a 51 to 45 vote, approved a bill limiting the number of techniques allowed to only "those interrogation techniques explicitly authorized by the 2006 Army Field Manual."[81] The Washington Post stated:
The measure would effectively ban the use of simulated drowning, temperature extremes and other harsh tactics that the CIA used on al-Qaeda prisoners after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.[82]
President Bush has said in a BBC interview he would veto the such bill[83][82] after previously signing an executive order that
allows "enhanced interrogation techniques" and may exempt the CIA from Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.[81]
On January 22, 2009 President Barack Obama signed an executive order requiring the C.I.A. to use only the 19 interrogation methods outlined in the United States Army Field Manual "unless the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance."[84]
According to Jane Mayer, during the transition period, Obama's legal, intelligence, and national-security advisers had met at the C.I.A.’s headquarters in Langley to discuss "whether a ban on brutal interrogation practices would hurt their ability to gather intelligence," and among the consulted experts:
There was unanimity among Obama’s expert advisers .... that to change the practices would not in any material way affect the collection of intelligence.[85]
[edit] Request for Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
On June 8 2008, fifty-six House Democrats asked for an independent investigation, raising the possibility that authorising these techniques may constitute a crime by Bush administration officials. The congressmen involved in calling for such an investigation included John Conyers, Jan Schakowsky, and Jerrold Nadler. [86]
The letter was addressed to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey observing that:
"... information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law."[86]
The letter continues to state:
"Because these apparent 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were used under cover of Justice Department legal opinions, the need for an outside special prosecutor is obvious."[86]
According to the Washington Post the request was denied because Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey felt that:
officials acted in "good faith" when they sought legal opinions, and that the lawyers who provided them used their best judgment.[87]
The article also reported that:
He warned that criminalizing the process could cause policymakers to second-guess themselves and "harm our national security well into the future." [87]
Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell, law professor at Notre Dame University, responded:
The prohibition on torture is absolute in all circumstances—it is a jus cogens or peremptory norm of international law. There are no exceptions to the prohibition.[88]
and
As I told one former CIA lawyer who asked me about the "good faith" defense in these cases, the quality of the memos is so poor, the process of producing them so at odds with government standards, and the general knowledge is so high that torture and cruelty are prohibited, that it difficult to see how good faith could possibly provide a defense.[88]
After Cheney acknowledged his involvement in authorising these tactics[26] Senator Carl Levin, chair of the Armed Services Committee, a New York Times editorial, Glenn Greenwald and Scott Horton stressed the importance of a criminal investigation:
A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse.[89]
[edit] International calls on Obama to investigate and prosecute
Shortly before the end of Bush's second term newsmedia in other countries were opining that under the United Nations Convention Against Torture the US is obligated to hold those responsible to account under criminal law.[90]
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment -Professor Manfred Nowak- on January 20, 2008 remarked on German television that, following the inauguration of Barack Obama as new President, George W. Bush has lost his head of state immunity and under international law the U.S. is now mandated to start criminal proceedings against all those involved in these violations of the UN Convention Against Torture.[91] Law professor Dietmar Herz explained Novak's comments by saying that under U.S. and international law former President Bush is criminally responsible for adopting torture as interrogation tool.[91]
[edit] Preventing UK courts to investigate
On February 4, 2009 the British High Court ruled that evidence of possible torture in the case of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born British resident who is held in Guantanamo Bay, could not be disclosed:
as a result of a statement by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, that if the evidence was disclosed the US would stop sharing intelligence with Britain. That would directly threaten the UK's national security, Miliband had told the court.[92]
Responding to the ruling David Davis, the Conservative MP and former shadow home secretary, commented:
The ruling implies that torture has taken place in the [Binyam] Mohamed case, that British agencies may have been complicit, and further, that the United States government has threatened our high court that if it releases this information the US government will withdraw its intelligence cooperation with the United Kingdom. [92]
Scott Horton postulates this action by the U.S. government was inspired not out of "national security concerns" but "by concern that the disclosures would fuel further demands for a U.S. criminal investigation of their own conduct, followed by their possible indictment and trial."[92]
The High Court judges also stated that a criminal investigation, by the UK's attorney general, into possible torture has begun.[93]
[edit] Criticism
A report by Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH) stated that these techniques constitute torture. Their press release said:
The report concludes that each of the ten tactics is likely to violate U.S. laws, including the War Crimes Act, the U.S. Torture Act, and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.[10]
According to HRF, PFH and Stephen Soldz et al. medical and psychological literature shows that torture may have "profound long-term negative effects upon individuals, including psychosis, depression, suicidal ideation and/or post-traumatic stress disorder."[19][10] They also cite the Office of the Inspector General report which concluded that
SERE-type interrogation techniques constitute "physical or mental torture and coercion under the Geneva conventions."[19]
Also, according to the New York Times:
Experts advising the Bush administration on new interrogation rules warn that harsh techniques used since 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.[21]
The Washington Post described the report by the Intelligence Science Board:
There is almost no scientific evidence to back up the U.S. intelligence community's use of controversial interrogation techniques in the fight against terrorism, and experts believe some painful and coercive approaches could hinder the ability to get good information, according to a new report from an intelligence advisory group.[71]
In an interview with AP on February 14, 2008 Paul Rester, chief military interrogator at Guantanamo Bay and director of the Joint Intelligence Group, said most of the information gathered from detainees came from non-coercive questioning and "rapport building," not harsh interrogation methods.[72]
[edit] See also
- 2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction
- Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
- Bagram torture and prisoner abuse
- Behavioral Science Consultation Teams
- Command responsibility
- Doublespeak
- Human rights abuse
- Iraq prison abuse scandal
- Jus in bello
- Newspeak
- Torture and the United States
- UN Convention Against Torture
- War crimes
[edit] External links
[edit] Articles
- Brian Ross & Richard Esposito, ABC News, November 18, 2005, "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described"
[edit] Books
- Stephen Grey, Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program (2007)
- Alfred W. McCoy, A Question Of Torture: CIA Interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror (2006)
- U.S. Government, Coercive Interrogation: U.S. Views on Torture 1963-2003
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Torture can never, ever be accepted" by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
- ^ a b UK Commons report
- UK Commons report casts doubt on US denial of torture techniques by Andrew Gilmore, JURIST, July 20, 2008
- UK Parliament report: The U.S. tortures and cannot be trusted when it denies it by Jack Balkin, Balkinization, July 20, 2008
- UK 'must check' US torture denial, BBC News, 19 July 2008
- ^ a b Torture and America's Crisis of Faith - The Senate's retreat from its initial demand that now-Attorney General Michael Mukasey denounce waterboarding is detrimental to the country's moral fabric. For the first time, torture bears an imprimatur of democratic approval by Jonathan Hafetz, The American Prospect, November 28 2007
- ^ a b c White House nears completion of new torture guidelines; Critics say administration's endorsement of 'enhanced interrogation' is 'immoral,' draw comparisons to Nazi war crimes By Arthur Bright, The Christian Science Monitor, May 31 2007
- ^ The U.S. Has a History of Using Torture. By Alfred W. McCoy. History News Network
- ^ Orwellian
- Now Top This, George Orwell By Scott Horton, Harper's Magazine, June 13, 2007
- Investigation: The CIA's secret prisons The acknowledgement of a global network of 'black sites' has revealed the existence of a sinister two-tier system of interrogation By Rupert Cornwell, The Independent, 10 September 2006
- How the media talks about torture and the rule of law Glenn Greenwald, Salon, Nov. 26, 2008
- Waterboarding is Torture Congressman Adam Smith, Op-Ed The News Tribune, March 23, 2008
- Bush OK'd Torture Meetings By Dan Froomkin, Washington Post, April 14, 2008
- Bush’s torturers follow where the Nazis led Andrew Sullivan, The Sunday Times, October 7, 2007
- ENHANCED BULLS***T TECHNIQUES The American Prospect, Paul Waldman, December 14, 2007
- ^ Euphemism
- "Enhanced" interrogation of detainees: do psychologists and psychiatrists participate? by Abraham L Halpern, John H Halpern, and Sean B Doherty, Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2008; 3: 21., Published online 2008 September 25. doi: 10.1186/1747-5341-3-21
- Applying the Rule of Law to All Heads of State by Peter Erlinder of William Mitchell College of Law, JURIST, November 14, 2008
- When is torture not torture? When the president says it isn't NEIL MACDONALD, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, October 23, 2007
- A Glossary of Iraq Euphemisms The Iraq War has been characterized by euphemism since its inception. Here's a guide to some of the most pronounced, and pernicious, euphemisms of the Iraq War, by Spencer Ackerman, The American Prospect, August 6, 2008
- A glossary of US military torture euphemisms Jon Henley, The Guardian, 13 December 2007
- Bill Moyers Journal PBS, Transcript, July 25, 2008
- Mukasey Nomination Intensifies Debate on Waterboarding A House panel heard testimony on the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding, which simulates the experience of drowning. A former Navy instructor and an intelligence expert discuss the legality and effectiveness of the procedure. (Transcript by PBS)
- CIA jails in Europe 'confirmed' BBC News, 8 June 2007
- Obama redefines 'war on terror' Al Jazeera, January 23, 2009
- The presidency is now a criminal conspiracy Olbermann: Bush may not observe the rules, but the country abides by them By Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Nov. 5, 2007
- Politics and the English Language, Andrew Sullivan, 25 May 2007
- ^ a b c Red Cross Report of C.I.A. Torture of Qaeda Captives
- Book Cites Secret Red Cross Report of C.I.A. Torture of Qaeda Captives By SCOTT SHANE, Newb York Times, July 11, 2008
- New Book Reveals Existence of Secret Red Cross Torture Report By Kate Klonick, Talking Points Memo, July 11, 2008,
- ^ a b UN Committee against Torture report
- ^ a b c d e Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH) report
- Leave No Marks: 'Enhanced' Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality A Report by Human Rights First and Physicians for Human Rights, July 2007
- Those Who Authorize and Use CIA "Enhanced" Interrogation Tactics Risk Criminal Prosecution - Landmark Report: Techniques Previously Authorized for CIA Use — Not Ruled Out by President’s CIA Executive Order — Likely Violate U.S. Law by Physicians for Human Rights, August 2 2007
- PRESIDENT BUSH AND CONGRESS MUST FACE THE TRUTH by Physicians for Human Rights
- ^ USA: Slippery slopes and the politics of torture Amnesty International, November 9 2007
- ^ WHITE PAPER ON THE LAW OF TORTURE AND HOLDING ACCOUNTABLE THOSE WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN APPROVING TORTURE OF PERSONS IN U.S. CUSTODY by the National Lawyers Guild, International Association of Democratic Lawyers
- ^ FBI Agents Allege Abuse of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay, by Dan Eggen and R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, 21 December 2004
- ^ Ministers 'using fear of terror', BBC, 17 February 2009
- ^ a b What Real DOJ Trial Attorneys Say About Torture By Elizabeth de la Vega, truthout, November 18 2007
- ^ Justice Probes Authors Of Waterboarding Memos] By Dan Eggen, Washington Post, February 23, 2008
- ^ So Mukasey Doesn't Know If Waterboarding Is Torture? Please by Joyce Appleby, History News Network, October 29 2007
- ^ Whatever it takes. The politics of the man behind “24.” by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, February 12 2007
- ^ a b c d e f The Pentagon's IG Report Contradicts What the APA Has Said About the Involvement of Psychologists in Abusive Interrogations - A Q&A on Psychologists and Torture By Stephen Soldz (Director, Center for Research, Evaluation, and Program Development & Professor, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis; University of Massachusetts, Boston), Steven Reisner (Senior Faculty and Supervisor, International Trauma Studies Program, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical School), and Brad Olson (Assistant Research Professor, at Northwestern University), Counterpunch, June 7 2007
- ^ ‘Fill The Jails’, Part II by Sean Gonsalves, CommonDreams, May 26 2007
- ^ a b c Advisers Fault Harsh Methods In Interrogation By SCOTT SHANE AND MARK MAZZETTI, New York Times, May 30 2007
- ^ US on list of states where prisoners risk torture
- Canada document includes US on list of states where prisoners risk torture Brett Murphy, JURIST, January 17, 2008
- ^ Carter says U.S. tortures prisoners in a CNN interview on 10 October 2007
- ^ a b "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described". ABC News. November 18 2005. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866.
- ^ a b c Senate Armed Services Committee report
- US detainee abuses approved by senior officials: Senate report by Devin Montgomery, JURIST, December 12, 2008
- Senate report links Bush to detainee homicides; media yawns Glenn Greenwald, Salon, December 15, 2008
- Armed Services Committee States Obvious: Detention Abuses Started at the Top Jack Balkin, December 12, 2008
- The Torture Presidency By Scott Horton, No Comment, December 13, 2008
- Pack of Liars By Dan Froomkin, Washington Post, December 12, 2008
- Rumsfeld Responsible for Torture, Report Says by Joby Warrick, The Associated Press,December 11, 2008
- ^ a b Cheney unapologetic about involvement
- ^ a b Torture By Another Name - The origins of “enhanced interrogation techniques” can be traced to the German Gestapo by Candace Gorman, In These Times, June 14 2007
- ^ Coming to a Theater Near You: Five Years in Guantánamo by Lou Dubose, Washington Spectator, July 1 2007
- ^ a b Bush’s torturers follow where the Nazis led by Andrew Sullivan, The Sunday Times, October 7 2007
- ^ "Verschärfte Vernehmung" by Andrew Sullivan, May 29 2007
- ^ How The Nazis Defended "Enhanced Interrogation" Andrew Sullivan, June 14 2007
- ^ a b Defending Enhanced Interrogation Techniques by Scott Horton, Harper's
- ^ a b One of Those Rare Instances in Which the Nazi Analogy is Unavoidable Marty Lederman, Balkinization, May 29 2007
- ^ The Gestapo Inheritance 'We do not torture': Groans from the CIA's black sites beg to differ Nat Hentoff, Village Voice, October 16, 2007
- ^ CASE No. 12 - Trial of Kriminalsekretär RICHARD WILHELM HERMANN BRUNS and two others BY THE EIDSIVATING LAGMANNSRETT AND THE SUPREME COURT OF NORWAY, 20TH MARCH AND 3RD JULY, 1946 - Torturing as a War Crime. The Legal Status of the Norwegian Underground Military Organisation. The Defences of Legitimate Reprisals, Superior Orders and Duress
- ^ Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan Abed Hamed Mowhoush, Human Rights First
- ^ Torture teachers - An Army document proves that Guantánamo interrogators were taught by instructors from a military school that trains U.S. soldiers how to resist torture By Mark Benjamin, Salon, June 29 2006
- ^ a b The Experiment - The military trains people to withstand interrogation. Are those methods being misused at Guantánamo? by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, July 11, 2005
- ^ Independent Online, FBI might drug WTC suspects to get truth, October 22, 2001
- ^ — "Rumsfeld okayed abuses says former US Army general" Reuters News
- ^ a b "Gitmo interrogations spark battle over tactics". 23 October 2006. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15361458/. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
- ^ a b "Memorandum for Inspector General, Department of the Navy. Statement for the record: Office of General Councel involvement in interrogation issues" (PDF). July 7 2005. http://www.newyorker.com/images/pdfs/moramemo.pdf. Retrieved on 2006-03-19.
- ^ a b "Tribunals Didn't Rely on Torture". Washington Post: A20. December 13 2004. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60149-2004Dec12.
- ^ Lewis, Neil A.; Schmitt, Eric (May 5, 2005), "Inquiry Finds Abuses at Guantánamo Bay", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/national/nationalspecial3/01gitmo.html
- ^ "Investigators recommended disciplining Gitmo commander". CNN.com. July 13 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/13/senate.guantanao.ap/index.html. Retrieved on 2006-03-19.
- ^ White House approved enhanced interrogation
- Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation' - Detailed Discussions Were Held About Techniques to Use on al Qaeda Suspects, By JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG, HOWARD L. ROSENBERG and ARIANE de VOGUE, ABC News, April 9, 2008
- Say It Ain't So, Colin, Jack Balkin, Balkinization, April 9, 2008
- “History Will Not Judge This Kindly” by Scott Horton, No Comment, April 9 2008
- ^ Lawmakers Back Limits on Interrogation Tactics By SCOTT SHANE, New York Times, December 7, 2007
- ^ Lawyers for Detainee Refer In Filing to More CIA Tapes By Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, January 19, 2008
- ^ Scalia thinks is is not illegal
- US judge steps in to torture row BBC, February 12, 2008
- Scalia says 'so-called torture' may not be unconstitutional JURIST, Mike Rosen-Molina, February 12, 2008
- ^ The Interrogation Documents: Debating U.S. Policy and Methods the memos written as part of the war on terrorism
- ^ The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, Executive Authority, DOJ and OLC Marty Lederman, Balkinization, July 08, 2007
- ^ Yoo memos referred to as "torture memos"
- The Torture Memos and Academic Freedom by Christopher Edley, Jr., The Honorable William H. Orrick, Jr. Distinguished Chair and Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall, April 10, 2008
- The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, Executive Authority, DOJ and OLC Marty Lederman, Balkinization, July 08, 2007
- Bush Admits To Knowledge of Torture Authorization by Top Advisers by the ACLU
- Yoo Two, by Scott Horton, No Comment, April 3, 2008
- John Yoo: Spearhead or scapegoat? by Glenn Greenwald, April 12, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f Suggested origin of legal justifications
- Thinking out loud about John Yoo (and about Carl Schmitt) by Sandy Levinson, Balkinization, April 12, 2008
- The Bush Regime from Elections to Detentions: A Moral Economy of Carl Schmitt and Human Rights by Abraham, David, University of Miami - School of Law, University of Miami Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2007-20 May 2007
- Torture, Necessity and Existential Politics by Kutz, Christopher L., University of California, Berkeley - School of Law (Boalt Hall), UC Berkeley Public Law Research Paper No. 870602, December 2005
- The Return of Carl Schmitt Scott Horton, Balkinization, November 07, 2005
- Deconstructing John Yoo by Scott Horton, Harpers, January 23, 2008
- The will to undemocratic power By Philip S Golub, Le Monde Diplomatique, September 2006
- The Leo-conservatives by GERHARD SPÖRL, Der Spiegel, August 04, 2003
- The Leo-conservatives by GERHARD SPÖRL, Der Spiegel, August 04, 2003
- ^ War crimes warning
- Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings By Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, May 19, 2004
- Torture and Accountability by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation, June 28, 2005
- US Lawyers Warn Bush on War Crimes By Grant McCool, Lawyers Against the War, Global Policy Forum, January 28, 2003
- ^ US definition of torture
- Judge's anger at US torture by Richard Norton-Taylor and Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, February 17, 2006
- Torture as National Policy By Dahr Jamail, Tomdispatch.com, March 9, 2006
- ^ Torture as policy?
- Memorandum for Inspector General, Department of the Navy July 7, 2004
- THE MEMO -How an internal effort to ban the abuse and torture of detainees was thwarted by JANE MAYER, The New Yorker, February 20, 2006
- How the Pentagon Came to Adopt Criminal Abuse as Official Policy by Marty Lederman, February 20, 2006
- ^ Suggested interpretation of War Powers in the Bush administration
- The Unitary Executive: Is The Doctrine Behind the Bush Presidency Consistent with a Democratic State? By JENNIFER VAN BERGEN, Findlaw, January 09, 2006
- The President Does Not Know Best By Elizabeth de la Vega, Tomdispatch.com. Posted January 19, 2006
- Guest Opinion by Roger A. White, Arizona Daily Star, January 22, 2006
- Bush on Trial for Crimes against Humanity By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout, January 24, 2006
- How Much Authority Does the President Possess When He Is Acting as "Commander In Chief"? Evaluating President Bush's Claims Against a Key Supreme Court Executive Power Precedent By EDWARD LAZARUS, FindLaw, January 5, 2006
- George Bush's rough justice - The career of the latest supreme court nominee has been marked by his hatred of liberalism by Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian, January 12, 2006
- Vice President Cheney and The Fight Over "Inherent" Presidential Powers: His Attempt to Swing the Pendulum Back Began Long Before 9/11By John W. Dean, FindLaw,February 10, 2006
- Democracy's Battle Joined, Again By Robert Parry, December 22, 2005
- The End of 'Unalienable Rights' By Robert Parry, January 24, 2006
- No Checks, Many Imbalances By George F. Will, Washington Post, 16 February 2006
- How Close Are We to the End of Democracy? by Martin Garbus, Huffington Post, January 20, 2006
- Administration Paper Defends Spy Program Detailed Argument Cites War Powers By Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, January 20, 2006
- Scholar Stands by Post-9/11 Writings On Torture, Domestic Eavesdropping By Peter Slevin, Washington Post, December 26, 2005.
- ^ a b An interview with John Yoo: author of The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11
- ^ A Wunnerful, Wunnerful Constitution, John Yoo Notwithstanding, After Downing Street, December 9, 2005
- ^ The Unitary Executive in the Modern Era, 1945-2001 (.pdf), Vanderbilt University
- ^ Meek, mild and menacing, Salon (magazine), January 12, 2006
- ^ Unitary executive and Schmitt
- Lessons from Carl Schmitt: Political Theology, Executive Power and the "Impact of Political Events" University of Chicago Press, 2005
- Neocons’ Nazi Hero - How Carl Schmitt Spawned Fascist America By ARTHUR VERSLUIS, Counterpunch, August 10, 2006
- THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE AND THE JURISPRUDENCE OF CARL SCHMITT: THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE "WAR ON TERRORISM" Author: Ahmad Chehab Research Sponsor: Dr. Brad Roth Department: Political Science Institution: Wayne State University
- ^ We don't torture
- The President says "We do not torture." We look at what has surfaced so far FactCheck, December 19, 2005
- The US has used torture for decades. All that's new is the openness about it Naomi Klein, The Guardian, December 10, 2005
- Fun Bits About American Torture In many ways, the U.S. is now just as inhumane and brutal as any Third World regime. Oh well? By Mark Morford, SF Gate, December 16, 2005
- ^ U.S. Cites Exception in Torture Ban McCain Law May Not Apply to Cuba Prison, By Josh White and Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, March 3, 2006
- ^ a b Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured
- Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official Trial Overseer Cites 'Abusive' Methods Against 9/11 Suspect By Bob Woodward, Washington Post, January 14, 2009
- Another Admission: Okay, So We Tortured By Scott Horton, No Comment, Harper's Magazine, January 14, 2009
- ^ UN calls for Guantanamo closure BBC, Read the full UN report into Guantanamo Bay, February 16, 2006
- ^ Draft Impeachment Resolution Against President George W. Bush, 108nd Congress H.Res.XX by Francis A. Boyle, professor of law, University of Illinois School of Law, January 17 2003
- ^ The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War Investigative Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff
- ^ Accountability
- Fmr. NY Congresswoman Holtzman Calls For President Bush and His Senior Staff To Be Held Accountable for Abu Ghraib Torture Democracy Now, June 30, 2005
- The Gonzales Indictment By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout.org, January 19, 2005
- The Quaint Mr. Gonzales By Marjorie Cohn, La Prensa San Diego Bilingual Newspaper, November 19, 2004
- The Impeachment of George W. Bush by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation, January 11, 2006
- Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan Human Rights First
- Who is accountable for Army's descent into torture? By David R. Irvine and Deborah Pearlstein, Salt Lake Tribune, March 4, 2006
- Dahr Jamail Follows the Trail of Torture
- ^ A Supreme Rebuke Bush Loses Guantanamo Case Marjorie Cohn -professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists- CounterPunch, June 30, 2006
- ^ a b Interrogation Research Is Lacking, Report Says Few Studies Have Examined U.S. Methods By Josh White, Washington Post January 16 2007
- ^ a b Chief Guantanamo interrogator says most info not forced from detainees Eric Firkel, JURIST, February 17, 2008
- ^ Tapes by C.I.A. Lived and Died to Save Image By SCOTT SHANE and MARK MAZZETTI, New York Times, December 30 2007
- ^ Possible obstruction of Justice
- Impeccable Timing Marty Lederman
- Missing the Forest for a Single, Immaterial Tree Marty Lederman
- "Missing" evidence is familiar Bush pattern Glenn Greenwald, December 7 2007
- ^ Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton
- Stonewalled by the C.I.A. by THOMAS H. KEAN and LEE H. HAMILTON, New York Times, January 2 2008
- 9/11 Commission: Our investigation was "obstructed" by Glenn Greenwald, January 2 2008
- ^ Just Following Orders? DOJ Opinions and War Crimes Liability Jordan Paust, JURIST, February 18, 2008
- ^ a b Descriptions of Techniques Allegedly Authorized by the CIA by Human Rights Watch, November 21, 2005
- ^ a b c Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
- ^ Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment New York, 10 December 1984 (backup), footnote 11
- ^ letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
- ^ a b Senate bannes interrogation techniques
- Senator McCain Is Against Torture -- But Votes Against the Bill That Would Prevent It Marty Lederman, Balkinization, February 13, 2008 Senate backs intelligence bill restricting CIA interrogation tactics Mike Rosen-Molina, JURIST, February 13, 2008
- ^ a b
- Senate Passes Ban On Waterboarding, Other Techniques By Dan Eggen, Washington Post, February 14, 2008
- ^ Bush to veto intelligence bill restricting CIA interrogation tactics Jaime Jansen, Jurist, February 15, 2008
- ^ Obama issues torture ban
- Obama issues torture ban, orders CIA 'secret prisons' closed by Bernard Hibbitts, JURIST, January 22, 2009
- Obama Issues Directives on Detainees, Interrogation, Guantanamo, FoxNews, January 22, 2009
- The Washington establishment's plans for Obama's executive orders by Glenn Greenwald, Salon, January 22, 2009
- Executive Order -- Ensuring Lawful Interrogations, The White House, January 20, 2009
- ^ Behind the Executive Orders by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, January 25, 2009
- ^ a b c Lawmakers Urge Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics by: Joby Warrick, The Washington Post, June 08, 2008
- ^ a b Mukasey Rejects Inquiry Carrie Johnson, Washington Post, July 11, 2008
- ^ a b The Good-Faith Torturers by Scott Horton, No Comment, Harper's Magazine, December 11, 2008
- ^ War crimes investigation warranted
- The Torture Report Editorial, New York Times, December 17, 2008
- NYT: Prosecute the Torture Team by Scott Horton, No Comment, Harper's Magazine, December 18, 2008
- Levin Discusses Need for Torture Prosecutions by Scott Horton, No Comment, Harper's Magazine, December 17, 2008
- Demands for war crimes prosecutions are now growing in the mainstream Glenn Greenwald, Salon, December 18, 2008
- ^ Other countries may start prosecution
- Overseas, Expectations Build for Torture Prosecutions By Scott Horton, No Comment, January 19, 2009
- Die leere Anklagebank - Heikles juristisches Erbe: Der künftige US-Präsident Barack Obama muss über eine Strafverfolgung seiner Vorgänger entscheiden. Mögliche Angeklagte sind George W. Bush und Donald Rumsfeld.
- ^ a b Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment calls for prosecution
- UN torture investigator calls on Obama to charge Bush for Guantanamo abuses Ximena Marinero, JURIST, January 21, 2009
- UN Rapporteur: Initiate criminal proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld now By Scott Horton, No Comment, January 21, 2009
- ^ a b c Investigation by other countries obstructed
- US threats mean evidence of British resident's Guantánamo torture must stay secret, judges rule Tory MP David Davis demands urgent Commons statement on MI5 role in Binyam Mohamed case Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Wednesday 4 February 2009
- Bush Administration Threatened Britain Over Torture Disclosures By Scott Horton, Harper's, February 4, 2009
- UK judges acccuse U.S. of threat over torture case Reuters, North American News Service, Feb 04, 2009
- ^ Ministers face torture pressure BBC News, 4 February 2009
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