AmnestyBucksMont

Scott Horton speaks in Princeton June 2

2011-05-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Torture, Wikileaks and State Secrecy:
Did torture help or hinder finding Osama bin Laden?

Scott Horton
International Attorney-at-Law & Human Rights Advocate
Winner of the 2011 National Magazine Award for his article on Guantanamo

Thursday, June 2, 7:30 p.m.
Princeton Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church
Sophia Lyon Fahs Auditorium
50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton

Sponsored by:
Princeton Area Interfaith Anti-Torture Group

Co-Sponsored by (to-date):
National Religious Campaign Against Torture; Coalition for Peace Action; American Civil Liberties Union; Princeton Community TV; Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton; Nassau Presbyterian Church; and Hanan M. Isaacs, P.C.

Download flyer.

Letter to the Editor re torture debate

2011-05-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

That there is a torture debate in this country to be revived by bin Laden's killing is itself a measure of how far we have strayed from the wisdom and values of our founders. But the Cheneys must be answered.

Is it any wonder that the Pakistanis would hesitate to subject bin Laden's widows to a nation that has abused, tortured and indefinitely detained even those it knew to be innocent of any connection to terror? Should we be surprised that other countries would refrain from sharing intelligence with us? Should we expect people with knowledge of possible plots to come forward and tell us what they know when there is the possibility of their ending up at Guantanamo? How much sooner would we have learned the real name of bin Laden's courier if we were not known for our cruelty to detainees?

June is Torture Awareness Month. It's never too early to raise these issues.

The Secret Policeman's Balls

2011-02-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Amnesty International benefit performances by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Neil Innes, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Rowan Atkinson, Sting, Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, Bob Geldof, Kate Bush and David Gilmour, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne.

Anti-torture protest at Rumsfeld's book tour launch

2011-02-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

There were actually seven protesters in total demonstrating at the Constitution Center last night. Thanks to Peter Crimmins of WHYY for the photo and story, as well as Jan Ransom of the Philadelphia Daily News for her coverage. Thanks most of all to Barbara Quintiliano of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture for organizing the protest. Will Bunch has a fine account of the event inside.

Noam Chomsky: Crimes Are Crimes

2010-10-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Noam Chomsky Signs World Can't Wait's Crimes Are Crimes Statement No Matter Who Does Them.

Participate in the End the Blockade of Gaza postcard action!

2010-09-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

More than 1.5 million Palestinian men, women, and children have been trapped in the Gaza Strip for more than three years. In addition to restricting Palestinians' movement from Gaza into Israel, the blockade has also severely undermined Palestinians' right to access clean water, food, medical care and proper education. Help us send at least 10,000 postcards to the White House demanding action to lift the blockade of Gaza!

ACLU Torture Report

2010-07-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

Read the ACLU's Torture Report, with contributions by Salon's Glenn Greenwald, featured below (warning: disturbing images).

"The Obama administration and its pundit-defenders"

2010-06-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, June 21, 2010:

Even in the context of America's wretched civil liberties abuses over the last decade, the case of Mohamed Hassan Odaini stands out. He was 17 years old in 2001 when his father sent him from Yemen to study at a religious university in Raiwand, Pakistan, and when a campus house in which he was staying there was raided by Pakistani authorities in early 2002, he was turned over to the U.S. and shipped to Guantanamo, where he has remained without charges for the last eight years (he's now 26). A federal court this month granted his habeas petition for release, finding that the evidence "overwhelmingly supports Odaini's contention that he is unlawfully detained." Worse, the court described the multiple times over the years -- beginning in 2002 and occurring as recently as 2009 -- when the U.S. Government itself concluded that Odaini was guilty of nothing, was mistakenly detained, and should be released (see here for the court's description of that history).

Despite that, the Obama administration has refused to release him for the past 16 months, and fought vehemently in this habeas proceeding to keep him imprisoned. As the court put it, the Obama DOJ argued "vehemently" that there was evidence that Odaini was part of Al Qaeda. In fact, the Obama administration knew this was false. This Washington Post article this weekend quotes an "administration official" as saying: "The bottom line is: We don't have anything on this kid." But after Obama decreed in January that no Yemeni detainees would be released -- even completely innocent ones, and even though the Yemeni government wants their innocent prisoners returned -- Obama DOJ lawyers basically lied to the court by claiming there was substantial evidence to prove that Odaini was part of Al Qaeda even though they know that is false. In other words, the Obama administration is knowingly imprisoning a completely innocent human being who has been kept in a cage in an island prison, thousands of miles from his home, for the last 8 years, since he's 18 years old, despite having done absolutely nothing wrong.

It really is hard to imagine many things worse, more criminal, than imprisoning people for years whom you know are innocent, while fighting in court to keep them imprisoned. But that's exactly what the Obama administration is doing. Every day that Odiani is kept in a cage is a serious crime. Just imagine what has happened to his life by being shipped off to Guantanamo for 8 years, starting in 2002 during that camp's darkest days, with absolutely no justification. . . . [continued]

Amnesty International: Take action on behalf of Odaini.

"Lawrence Wilkerson, from Bush administration insider to fierce critic"

2010-05-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Radio Times, NPR/WHYY, May 24, 2010: "Lawrence B. Wilkerson is a retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, and now teaches at the College of William and Mary and George Washington University. Since his retirement from public service in 2005, Wilkerson has been outspoken about the planning and execution of the Iraq War and the policies and practices at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He recently made waves when he wrote that the Bush administration knew it was imprisoning innocent men at Guantanamo, and that some of those men are still there in U.S. custody."

"Cries from the Past: Torture's Ugly Echoes"

2010-05-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

By H. P. Albarelli Jr. and Jeffrey Kaye, truthout.org, May 23, 2010:

In a superb op-ed, written by Leonard S. Rubenstein and Stephen N. Xenakis, published recently in the New York Times (Doctors Without Morals, March 1, 2010, p. A23), the issue of holding physicians and psychologists accountable for their ethical breaches in participating in the conduct of torture is expertly raised, along with a well-needed call for investigations into such violations and violators. . . .

Rubenstein and Xenakis are absolutely correct in their call for action now, as they are in their accounting of what has gone on historically the past ten years with torture at Guantanamo and elsewhere. However, their op-ed says nothing about the decades preceding the terrible events of 9-11. An examination of these well-hidden, past torture activities might serve well in shedding light on the causes for reluctance and inaction in holding torturers and their professional cohorts responsible.

Operation Dormouse

Contemporary torture's earliest, deepest and most influential roots are found in the CIA's Artichoke Project. Indeed, it is Project Artichoke that encapsulates the CIA's real traveling road show of horrors and atrocities, not MK/ULTRA which, although responsible for its own acts of mindless cruelty, pales in comparison.

That MK/ULTRA received, and continues to receive, the lion's share of the media's attention and public outrage over CIA mind control programs was a deliberately planned outcome on the part of the Agency. This outcome was the central objective of a never before revealed covert operation launched in 1975 and informally code-named Dormouse. . . . [continued]

"Doctors Without Morals"

2010-05-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

By Leonard S. Rubenstein and Stephen N. Xenakis, New York Times, February 28, 2010:

After five years of investigation, the Justice Department has released its findings regarding the government lawyers who authorized waterboarding and other forms of torture during the interrogation of suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere. The report’s conclusion, that the lawyers exercised poor judgment but were not guilty of professional misconduct, is questionable at best. Still, the review reflects a commitment to a transparent investigation of professional behavior.

In contrast, the government doctors and psychologists who participated in and authorized the torture of detainees have escaped discipline, accountability or even internal investigation. . . .

The shabbiness of the medical judgments, though, pales in comparison to the ethical breaches by the doctors and psychologists involved. Health professionals have a responsibility extending well beyond nonparticipation in torture; the historic maxim is, after all, "First do no harm." These health professionals did the polar opposite.

Nevertheless, no agency — not the Pentagon, the C.I.A., state licensing boards or professional medical societies — has initiated any action to investigate, much less discipline, these individuals. They have ignored the gross and appalling violations by medical personnel. This is an unconscionable disservice to the thousands of ethical doctors and psychologists in the country’s service. It is not too late to begin investigations. They should start now.

"DIA and the Black Jail at Bagram"

2010-05-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

By Scott Horton, Harper's, May 17, 2010:

Marc Ambinder reports that the secret prison at the periphery of Bagram is actually operated by the Defense Intelligence Agency. . . .

Ambinder also reports that the rough interrogation techniques used at the prison are taken from the notorious Appendix M to the Army Field Manual, which the Pentagon itself acknowledges is not compliant with the Geneva Conventions standards for prisoners of war.

So the jail is not a JSOC operation? It’s not so simple as that. Task Force 714 was headed by two successive JSOC commanders, Stanley McChrystal and then William McRaven, and it has often been tied to the blackest of the JSOC black ops. . . .

It’s true that JSOC relies on other branches of the vast Defense Department intelligence community for support, and I don’t doubt Ambinder’s reporting, but I still believe based on everything I have heard that this is, at its heart, a JSOC operation. Regardless, it’s time to ask Secretary Gates why he’s decided to put DIA in charge of a prison operation that looks almost identical to the one that President Obama outlawed back on January 22, 2009, and why he’s giving them free rein to employ the non-Geneva compliant techniques found in Appendix M.

"Blueprint for Accountability," June 7, NYU

2010-05-14T18:49:00.001-07:00

Culture Project presents the second installment of its groundbreaking "Blueprint for Accountability" series at NYU Skirball Center to engage the public in constructing a "blueprint" for a more just and democratic future.

Torture Timeline and Document Dump

2010-05-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

from emptywheel at firedoglake:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/timeline-collection/torture-tape-timeline/
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/timeline-collection/torture-document-dump-timeline/

"The Response" movie

2010-05-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

Starring Aasif Mandvi, Kate Mulgrew, and Peter Riegert; directed by Adam Rodgers; written and produced by Sig Libowitz.

"The response matters. Our response defines us."
--Colonel Jefferson

The Response is a courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals [officially known as the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, or CSRTs]. . . .

The Response was researched and fully vetted in conjunction with the University of Maryland School of Law.

A copy of the DVD was donated to the Doylestown public library by Amnesty International. Check it out.

"Iraq: Detainees Describe Torture in Secret Jail"

2010-04-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch, April 27, 2010: "Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized, Human Rights Watch said today. Iraq should thoroughly investigate and prosecute all government and security officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said. . . ."

John Cole, April 28, 2010: "Oh. Hey! Look Who Discovered the 'T-Word' . . ."

June is Torture Awareness Month

2010-04-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is already gearing up for two primary efforts:

Passing federal legislation granting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to all detainees in U.S. custody.

Securing a comprehensive investigation, a Commission of Inquiry, into the use of torture by the United States since September 11, 2001 - learning from the past is the best way to build a torture-free future.

Glenn Greenwald & Larry Siems re the Torture Report

2010-04-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald and Torture Report author Larry Siems discuss the Torture Report, an online, interactive website that is building a documentary record of the Bush administration torture program."

"Bush Insider Reveals Guantanamo Deception: Hundreds of Innocents Jailed"

2010-04-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

By Bill Quigley, opednews.com, April 20, 2010:

Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, provided shocking new testimony from inside the Bush Administration that hundreds of the men jailed at Guantanamo were innocent, the top people in the Bush Administration knew full well they were innocent, and that information was kept from the public.

Wilkerson said President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld "indefinitely detained the innocent for political reasons" and many in the administration knew it. The wrongfully held prisoners were not released because of political maneuverings aimed in part to cover up the mistakes of the administration.

Colonel Wilkerson, who served in the U.S. Army for over thirty years, signed a sworn declaration for an Oregon federal court case stating that he found out in August 2002 that the US knew that many of the prisoners at Guantanamo were not enemy combatants. Wilkerson also discussed this in a revealing and critical article on Guantanamo for the Washington Note. . . . [continued]

"Guantánamo Habeas Week: Exposing Torture, Misconceptions and Government Incompetence"

2010-04-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

By Andy Worthington, April 19, 2010:

In an attempt to raise awareness of the importance of the rulings being made in US courts on the habeas corpus petitions of the prisoners held at Guantánamo (as authorized by a significant Supreme Court ruling in June 2008), I’m devoting most of my work this week to articles covering the 47 cases decided to date (34 of which have been won by the prisoners), as a series entitled, “Guantánamo Habeas Week.”

Although I have covered the 47 cases in detail over the last 19 months, I had not, until now, followed the example of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Washington Independent and the Miami Herald, who have all produced “Habeas Corpus Scorecards.” As a result, this series kicks off with my own list, providing links to my analyses of the rulings, to the judges’ own unclassified opinions, and, where relevant, to my articles covering the prisoners’ release from Guantánamo, and progress reports on a handful of appeals. . . . [continued]

Emptywheel's series begins

2010-04-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

"'High Side' Cables and FOIA Responses," April 8, 2010:

As you’ll no doubt understand over the next week or so, bmaz and I have been comparing the case of David Passaro, the only CIA-related person to be prosecuted for detainee abuse, with what happened in Gul Rahman’s death at the Salt Pit. Passaro, a CIA contractor obviously trained in SERE-based interrogation techniques, was convicted of assaulting an Afghan, Abdul Wali, with his hand, foot, and flashlight, while interrogating him at the Asadabad firebase in Eastern Afghanistan in June 2003.

I’ll have a lot more to say about Passaro’s case in upcoming posts (short story, though, is his defense tested many of John Yoo’s favorite theories and lost). But for now, I wanted to point to two passages in this filing, which requests electronic communications evidence related to Wali’s interrogation and death. One thing it requests are transcripts of satellite phone calls from the Field. . . .(continued)

"Guantanamo: Beyond the Law"

2010-04-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

"An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad. . . ." http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/

"Court asked to decide: Was Rumsfeld a torturer?"

2010-04-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

By Nat Hentoff, March 26, 2010:

. . . [I]n an unexpected and historic ruling on March 5 of this year, federal District Judge Wayne Andersen in Chicago allowed the continuance of a lawsuit — “Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel v. Donald Rumsfeld, United States of America and Unidentified Agents.” It is the first continuance of a torture case against a senior Bush official.

The charge against Rumsfeld is that he was the authorizing source and therefore personally responsible for the torture in 2006 by U.S. forces in Iraq of American citizens Vance and Ertel, members of a private security firm. They had become unpaid informants for the FBI when they suspected their employer of illegal activities in Iraq. Nonetheless, they were imprisoned and tortured by American forces. . . .

"US Recants Claims on 'High-Value' Detainee Abu Zubaydah"

2010-04-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

By Jason Leopold, truthout.org, March 30, 2010:

The Justice Department has quietly recanted nearly every major claim the Bush administration made about Abu Zubaydah, the alleged al-Qaeda leader who was the first suspected terrorist subjected to the torture of waterboarding and other White House-approved “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

In a federal court filing, Justice backed away from the Bush administration’s statements that Zubaydah had helped plan the 9/11 attacks and was a close confidant to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as well as even earlier claims from the Clinton administration that he was directly involved in planning the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa. . . .

"Torture's Loopholes"

2010-02-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

By Matthew Alexander, New York Times Op-Ed, January 20, 2010.

"Innocent Guantánamo Torture Victim Fouad al-Rabiah Is Released in Kuwait"

2010-02-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

By Andy Worthington, truthout.org, December 10, 2009: "The long ordeal of Fouad al-Rabiah, an innocent man and a 50-year-old father of four, who had been in US custody for almost exactly eight years, finally came to an end today, when he was flown back to his homeland of Kuwait from Guantánamo, where he had spent the majority of those lost years, after several brutal months in US custody in Afghanistan. . . ."

New York Times editorial: "Seven Paragraphs"

2010-02-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

February 14, 2010:

There are times when governments fight to keep documents secret to protect sensitive intelligence or other vital national security interests. And there are times when they are just trying to cover up incompetence, misbehavior or lawbreaking.

Last week, when a British court released secret intelligence material relating to the torture allegations of a former Guantánamo prisoner, Binyam Mohamed, it was clear that the second motive had been in play when both the Bush and the Obama administrations and some high-ranking British officials tried to prevent the disclosure. . . . (continued)

"The former vice-president has just confessed to a war crime."

2010-02-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

"Cheney: 'I Was A Big Supporter Of Waterboarding,'" by Andrew Sullivan, "The Daily Dish," February 14, 2010.

. . . The question is therefore not if, but when, he is convicted as a war criminal - in his lifetime or posthumously.

In fact, the attorney general of the United States is legally obliged to prosecute someone who has openly admitted such a war crime or be in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention on Torture. For Eric Holder to ignore this duty subjects him too to prosecution. If the US government fails to enforce the provision against torture, the UN or a foreign court can initiate an investigation and prosecution.

These are not my opinions and they are not hyperbole. They are legal facts. Either this country is governed by the rule of law or it isn't. Cheney's clear admission of his central role in authorizing waterboarding and the clear evidence that such waterboarding did indeed take place means that prosecution must proceed.

Cheney himself just set in motion a chain of events that the civilized world must see to its conclusion or cease to be the civilized world. For such a high official to escape the clear letter of these treaties and conventions, and to openly brag of it, renders such treaties and conventions meaningless.

"Cheney Exposes Torture Conspiracy"

2010-02-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

By Robert Parry, Consortium News, February 14, 2010: "If the United States had a functioning criminal justice system for the powerful – not just for run-of-the-mill offenders – former Vice President Dick Cheney would have convicted himself and some of his Bush administration colleagues with his comments on ABC’s This Week."

Just found: Andrew Sullivan re torture in 2005

2010-02-11T23:47:00.000-08:00

"The abolition of torture: Saving the United States from a totalitarian future," by Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic, December 19, 2005. See also 2007.

"Defending Moazzam Begg and Amnesty International"

2010-02-10T14:34:00.001-08:00

By Andy Worthington, The Public Record, February 10, 2010.

Amnesty International and Cageprisoners

2010-02-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday Times, February 7, 2010: "Amnesty International is ‘damaged’ by Taliban link: An official at the human rights charity deplores its work with a ‘jihadist.’"

Amnesty's first response; later response.

Cageprisoners' response.

BBC World Service Newshour discussion, February 9, 2010.

"USA: Still failing human rights in the name of global 'war'"

2010-02-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

"Pyrrhic court victories for administration as Guantánamo detentions enter ninth year and deadline for closure missed," Amnesty International, January 20, 2010.

"Court Backs War Powers Over Rights of Detainees"

2010-01-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

By John Schwartz, New York Times, January 5, 2010:

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday strongly backed the powers of the government to hold Guantánamo detainees and other noncitizens suspected of committing terrorist acts.

In a sweeping opinion, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the presidential war power to detain those suspected of terrorism is not limited even by international law of war.

The decision, if it is not reversed by the Supreme Court, could apply to all cases involving detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since all of those cases are heard by the District of Columbia Circuit. As a result, the Obama administration will have a stronger position when opposing a court order to release a terrorism suspect.

In its ruling, the court denied a request by Ghaleb Nassar al-Bihani, a former cook for a Taliban paramilitary brigade, to be released from the detention center at Guantánamo. It is the first case to directly apply a landmark 2008 Supreme Court decision that allowed prisoners to challenge their detention. . . .

"The Guantánamo 'Suicides': A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle"

2010-01-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

By Scott Horton, Harper's, January 18, 2010.
See also Chris Hedges' "Was it Torture or Suicide?" in the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 31, 2010.

"Murders at Guantanamo: Exposing the Truth about the 2006 'Suicides'"

2010-01-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

By Andy Worthington, The Public Record, January 18, 2010.

"Former Detainees Boumediene and Deghayes Address President Obama on Guantánamo Anniversary"

2010-01-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

"Human Rights Attorneys and Activists Hold Rally, March and Briefing to Demand Closure of Base and Oppose Preventive Detention in U.S.," Center for Constitutional Rights, January 11, 2010. See also "Obama's Guantanamo."

"Tortured Law"

2010-01-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

"Yes, it was torture, and illegal"

2010-01-03T23:54:00.001-08:00

New York Times editorial, January 3, 2010.

"Salon Radio: Critical state secrets hearing today"

2009-12-15T22:17:00.000-08:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, December 15, 2009: "The case of Mohamed v. Jeppesen -- brought by five victims of Bush's torture/rendition program against the Boeing subsidiary that shipped them to be tortured. . . ."

"A new report questions 'suicides' at Guantanamo"

2009-12-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, December 7, 2009.

"Photos and freedom"

2009-12-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

New York Times editorial, December 4, 2009: "In a sad but unsurprising denouement this week, the Supreme Court tossed out a federal appellate court ruling that would have required the government to release photographs of soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration. . . ."

"America's regression" re torture

2009-12-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, December 3, 2009.

"Afghans Detail a Secret Prison Still Operating on a U.S. Base"

2009-11-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

By Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, November 28, 2009.

"UK Judges Compare Binyam Mohamed's Torture to That of Abu Zubaydah"

2009-11-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

By Andy Worthington, truthout.org, November 25, 2009.

"Canada hears of Afghan 'torture'"

2009-11-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

By Lee Carter, BBC News, November 19, 2009. "A senior Canadian diplomat has testified that many Afghan detainees captured by Canadian forces in 2006 and 2007 were likely to have been tortured. . . ."

"Ex-Islamic radicals on what motivates -- and impedes -- extremism"

2009-11-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, November 16, 2009. Read about the role of Amnesty International.

"Amnesty International Urges Obama Administration to Repudiate Extraordinary Rendition as Italian Court Convicts American Spies"

2009-11-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Reuters, November 4, 2009.

"Uighurs Leave Guantánamo for Palau"

2009-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

By David Johnston, NYTimes.com, October 31, 2009.

"Documents Detail Conditions Found at Secret C.I.A. Jails"

2009-10-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

By Scott Shane and Charlie Savage, NYTimes.com, October 31, 2009.

"Lawsuit Accuses Psychologist of Ignoring Guantanamo Torture"

2009-10-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

By William Fisher, truthout.org, October 30, 2009.

"Secrets Claim Faces Another Review in Torture Case"

2009-10-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

By William Fisher, truthout.org, October 29, 2009.

NYT Editorial: "The Cover-Up Continues"

2009-10-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Editorial, NYTimes.com, October 25, 2009: "The Obama administration has clung for so long to the Bush administration’s expansive claims of national security and executive power that it is in danger of turning President George W. Bush’s cover-up of abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism into President Barack Obama’s cover-up. . . ."

"Court Rules Government Can Continue to Suppress Detainee Statements Describing Torture and Abuse"

2009-10-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

"Transcripts of Combatant Status Review Trials Essential to Accountability for Torture, Says ACLU," CommonDreams.org, October 16, 2009.

"British High Court rejects U.S./British cover-up of torture evidence"

2009-10-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, October 17, 2009.

"A historian's account of Democrats and Bush-era war crimes"

2009-10-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, October 8, 2009.

"Officials Seek Plan C for Housing Terrorists"

2009-10-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

By Ari Shapiro, All Things Considered, NPR, October 8, 2009. Part 1 of 2. "Capture or Kill? Lawyers Eye Options for Terrorists," Part 2 of 2.

"A Truly Shocking Gitmo Story"

2009-10-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Andy Worthington: "A Truly Shocking Gitmo Story: Judge Confirms an Innocent Man Tortured to Make False Confessions," Counterpunch, October 1, 2009.

"Victory on preventive detention law: in context"

2009-09-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, September 24, 2009.

"Bagram: The sham of closing Guantanamo"

2009-09-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, September 15, 2009.

"WaPo Reporter Misleads in Claiming Interrogation Double Standard"

2009-09-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

By Scott Horton, Huffington Post, September 18, 2009.

"Obama appointee previews the imminent preventive detention debate"

2009-09-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, September 10, 2009.

"What Torture Never Told Us"

2009-09-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Op-Ed Contributor Ali H. Soufan, NYTimes.com, September 5, 2009.

"Major ruling against Ashcroft highlights evils of preventive detention"

2009-09-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

By Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, September 5, 2009.

NY Times: "Dick Cheney’s Version"

2009-09-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

Editorial - "Dick Cheney’s Version" - NYTimes.com, September 2, 2009: ". . . The government owes Americans a full investigation into the orders to approve torture, abuse and illegal, secret detention, as well as the twisted legal briefs that justified those policies. Congress and the White House also need to look into illegal wiretapping and the practice of sending prisoners to other countries to be tortured. . . ."

Scott Horton, Edward Turzanski re torture

2009-09-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Radio Times, WHYY, September 2, 2009: "We look at the decision to investigate CIA interrogation techniques with Edward Turzanski, Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Scott Horton, contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine."

"The Wrong Debate?"

2009-08-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

On the Media, NPR, August 28, 2009: "The C.I.A. inspector general's report released this week exposed gruesome interrogation techniques used on detainees. But as the press combs through the report, is the discussion whether these practices are illegal or whether they're effective? Bob asks LA Times reporter Greg Miller whether the debate over efficacy is beside the point."

"America's moral responsibility in condemning torture"

2009-08-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

"On his weekly Center Square audio essay WHYY's Chris Satullo looks at America's moral responsibilities when it comes to condemning prisoner abuse." WHYY, August 30, 2009.

"US Interrogators Back Torture Probe"

2009-08-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

truthout.org report by Jason Leopold, August 28, 2009: "Support for a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the Bush administration's use of torture has grown to include a former top FBI interrogator and a career military intelligence officer with more than two decades of experience conducting interrogations. . . ."

"New Documents Describe in Extraordinary Detail Process of 'Rendition,' Torture"

2009-08-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

truthout.org report by Jason Leopold, August 27, 2009: "Among the treasure trove of documents released on Monday related to the CIA's detention and torture program is a 20-page background paper that, for the first time, describes in extraordinary detail the process of 'rendition' and the torture prisoners are then subjected to when they are flown to 'black site' prisons. . . ."

NY Times editorial, "The Torture Papers"

2009-08-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Editorial - "The Torture Papers" - NYTimes.com, August 25, 2009.

AIUK : Torture and rendition inquiry needed

2009-08-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

UK: "Foreign affairs committee criticism of government torture and rendition underlines need for full inquiry," Amnesty.org.UK, August 9, 2009.

"Torturing Children: Bush's Legacy and Democracy's Failure"

2009-08-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

"Torturing Children: Bush's Legacy and Democracy's Failure," by Henry A. Giroux, truthout.org, August 3, 2009.

Judge orders Jawad freed

2009-07-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

"U.S. judge orders Guantanamo prisoner Jawad freed," by Jeremy Pelofsky, Reuters, July 30, 2009.

"New report contradicts central Obama claim for preventive detention"

2009-07-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

"New report contradicts central Obama claim for preventive detention" - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com, July 23, 2009.

"First steps taken to implement preventive detention, military commissions"

2009-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

"First steps taken to implement preventive detention, military commissions," by Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, July 21, 2009.

Glenn Greenwald re McClatchy article below

2009-07-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

"The significance of McClatchy's act of journalism" - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com, July 9, 2009.

Former Detainee 798

2009-07-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

"Where's Pentagon 'terrorism suspect'? Talking to Karzai," by Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy, July 7, 2009.

Torture prosecutor appointment?

2009-07-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Brad Blog: "Newsweek: Holder 'May be on verge,' 'leaning toward appointing' torture prosecutor," by Brad Friedman, July 11, 2009.

"Local resident offers the view from Palestine"

2009-07-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

PhillyBurbs.com: "Local resident offers the view from Palestine," Kaitlyn Willcoxon, Intelligencer, July 9, 2009:

Despite "looks" from neighbors and her family's fears, Susan Johnson, "a little grandmother from Doylestown," traveled to the West Bank in 2004 and this May visited the Gaza Strip.

For Johnson, a local resident for 50 years, travel to the West Bank and Gaza follows a career of passionate activism, having protested the Iraq War both in Doylestown and Washington.

Tonight at a coffee house in Doylestown, she plans to speak about what she saw in the Middle East.

From very early, Johnson argued fervently in favor of Israel's right to exist, but the Israeli construction of the separation wall in 2002 angered her. Then through "divine intervention" at a protest of the Iraq War, a woman approached Johnson and asked if she would consider going to the West Bank with a group called Women of a Certain Age.

After meeting the group of 13 "bright, funny, articulate, women +10 of them were Jewish, which was a big awakening to me," Johnson decided to go to the West Bank. She calls it "a life-changing experience."

When Johnson received a letter from the organization UN Relief, forwarded by one of the women from Women of a Certain Age, with an application to travel to Gaza, she considered the opportunity for several days. She applied and the UN accepted her to join a delegation of 13 other people and departed in May.

"I really wanted to see for myself," says Johnson, who after her trip believes that media coverage of Israel and Palestine is unbalanced.

One example Johnson gives is the coverage of Hamas.

"Hamas is described as terrorists + Hamas and others shoot rockets over into Israel. I also saw that Hamas supplies or facilitates aid to the people in Gaza that they wouldn't get otherwise," Johnson said. "Suppose your house was demolished, then they come and give your family money."

Hamas does "not brainwash all of the kids or people, or it wouldn't be safe to walk around in Gaza," she said. Johnson felt safe the entire time she was in Gaza City and Rafa.

With the delegation, Johnson also visited the Qattan Center for Children and Culture, which "could be a children's center built in Doylestown for all the suburban kids and their parents would be thrilled."

The center provides a library, computer rooms, English classes, arts and crafts, music, and dance classes. Most importantly, the center provides one of the only places, according to Johnson, that the children feel safe enough to have fun and act like children.

Though it would mean leaving behind her grandchildren, Johnson is considering volunteering at the Qattan Center to care for "the world's grandchildren," because, " I want my grandchildren to respect me and know that I've done what I could to make the world a better place. + I think it's why we're here on earth + that may sound high or lofty, but I believe that with all my heart."

Now back in Doylestown, Johnson wants to ensure that as many people learn about both her experience and the plight of Palestinians. Despite "challenges" with the computer, Johnson started a blog, "Palestine: Seeing for Myself" at seeingformyself.blogspot.com. . . .

Many of the photos Johnson showed at Saxby's can be viewed at www.vivagaza.org/. She also recommended the blog of another member of the delegation, Philip Weiss: Mondoweiss. Several Israeli peace advocates were named, including Uri Avnery, who wrote this about the Gaza war.

Amnesty International issued a report on July 2, 2009: Israel/Gaza: Operation "Cast Lead": 22 Days of Death and Destruction. Amnesty also called on Israel to co-operate fully with the independent Gaza fact-finding mission set up by the UN Human Rights Council and headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. Read Rep. Keith Ellison re Goldstone and his report, submitted in September 2009.

"The suppressed fact: Deaths by U.S. torture"

2009-07-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

"The suppressed fact: Deaths by U.S. torture" - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com, June 30, 2009.

. . . there is an important effort underway -- as part of the ACLU Accountability Project -- to correct a critically important deficiency in the public debate over torture and accountability. So often, the premise of media discussions of torture is that "torture" is something that was confined to a single tactic (waterboarding) and used only on three "high-value" detainees accused of being high-level Al Qaeda operatives. The reality is completely different.

The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least. While some of those deaths were the result of "rogue" interrogators and agents, many were caused by the methods authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House, including extreme stress positions, hypothermia, sleep deprivation and others. Aside from the fact that they cause immense pain, that's one reason we've always considered those tactics to be "torture" when used by others -- because they inflict serious harm, and can even kill people. Those arguing against investigations and prosecutions -- that we Look to the Future, not the Past -- are thus literally advocating that numerous people get away with murder. . . .

NPR and "torture"

2009-06-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

"NPR's ombudsman: Why we bar the word 'torture'" - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com, June 22, 2009.

Anyone who believes that NPR is a "liberal" media outlet -- and anyone who wants to understand the decay of American journalism -- should read this column by NPR's Ombudsman, Alicia C. Shepard, as she explains and justifies why NPR bars the use of the word "torture" to describe what the Bush administration did. . . .

Judge rules Yoo can be sued

2009-06-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

"Bush-era lawyer could stand trial for penning 'torture memos,'" csmonitor.com, Warren Richey, June 16, 2009: "John Yoo can be held responsible for the alleged torture of detainee Jose Padilla, a judge ruled Friday. . . ."

Mohammed El-Gharani finally cleared, released

2009-06-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

Andy Worthington: "The Long Ordeal of Mohammed El-Gharani: The long ordeal of Mohammed El-Gharani, Guantánamo’s youngest prisoner, has finally come to an end. Reprieve, the legal action charity that represents him, reported yesterday that he has been sent back to Chad. A Saudi resident and Chadian national, El-Gharani was just 14 years old [more than seven years ago] when he was seized by Pakistani forces in a random raid on a mosque in Karachi, but was treated appallingly both by the Pakistanis who seized him, and by the U.S. military. . . ."

"NYT's nice, new euphemism for torture"

2009-06-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

The NYT's nice, new euphemism for torture - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com, June 6, 2009.

Letter to Rep. Patrick Murphy

2009-06-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

A nine-member delegation including representatives of Amnesty, the ACLU, and the Coalition for Peace Action met with Rep. Patrick Murphy to ask for his support for a commission of inquiry into the treatment of detainees since 9/11 and an investigation by the Justice Department. Following is our thank-you letter:

May 31, 2009

Rep. Patrick Murphy
1609 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Patrick,

Thank you so much for meeting with us on the 27th and being so generous with your time. In response to your request for information about Amnesty, research revealed that there are 1,326 donor members in your district and many more student activists whose contributions are primarily in terms of service hours. Incidentally, there are over 20,000 donor members in PA.

Inquirer columnist Mark Bowden wrote a piece on May 17, "Damage done by allowing torture," that reinforces the argument for a commission of inquiry. There is a link to the whole article on the Opinion page of http://www.amnestybucksmont.org/. The disturbing part is that he is predisposed to believe Cheney's claims about the effectiveness of torturing Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheik Mohammed—that it helped gain information that thwarted attacks, though he concedes, "A complete independent investigation is the only way to find out" (italics added).

Bowden's real outrage is directed elsewhere: "We don't know all the facts yet, but the failure to control abuses at Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and other military prisons strikes me as the real horror here." It goes without saying that Guantánamo is on that list, where Jeremy Scahill (http://www.alternet.org/story/140022/?) reports the abuse continues, at the hands of the Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) teams.

One of the goals of http://www.amnestybucksmont.org/ and http://amnestybucksmont.blogspot.com/ is to document the depth and breadth of the anti-torture sentiment in this district and region, as evidenced by the collection of writings at the Opinion tab and the notices of anti-torture events on the homepage, such as the town hall meeting featuring General Richard O'Meara last October.

But again, to have any hope of reaching the vast audience for 24, Congress is going to have to launch an inquiry in one form or another that will finally tell the whole story, and there must be accountability. You will be doing the president and the country a much needed service.

Moyers: See "Torturing Democracy"

2009-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

truthout.org, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship: "Everyone Should See 'Torturing Democracy'"

"We have re-created our enemy's methodologies in Guantanamo," Malcolm Nance, former head of the Navy's SERE training program, says in "Torturing Democracy." He adds, "It will hurt us for decades to come. Decades. Our people will all be subjected to these tactics, because we have authorized them for the world now. How it got to Guantanamo is a crime and somebody needs to figure out who did it, how they did it, who authorized them to do it ... Because our servicemen will suffer for years."

Link to documentary: http://torturingdemocracy.org/

Petraeus: Close Guantanamo, end torture

2009-05-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

"Petraeus Endorses Obama's Plans to Close GITMO, End Torture," by Sam Stein, Huffington Post, May 26, 2009: "General David Petraeus said this past weekend that President Obama's decision to close down Gitmo and end harsh interrogation techniques would benefit the United States in the broader war on terror. . . ."

Why we need an independent commission

2009-05-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

"Why Obama Needs to Reveal Even More on Torture," by Robert Baer, Time, April 20, 2009: "Not everything related to abusive interrogations can be declassified, but nonetheless should be looked at by a blue-ribbon presidential commission. . . . On a more public level, a thorough clearing of the air will go a long way toward discrediting the idea that we either torture terrorists or die. This false choice is played out week after week in the popular TV show 24, leaving people with the notion that had the FBI somehow caught one of the hijackers in the hours leading up to 9/11, torture would have led to the arrest of the other 18 before those planes took off. We need to put the last nail in the coffin of Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's idea of torture warrants. . . ."

Gitmo prisoner abuse under Obama

2009-05-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

"Little-Known Military Thug Squad Still Brutalizing Prisoners at Gitmo Under Obama," by Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet, May 15, 2009. "The 'Black Shirts' of Guantanamo routinely terrorize prisoners, breaking bones, gouging eyes, squeezing testicles, and 'dousing' them with chemicals. . . ."

Witness against torture at the White House

2009-05-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

Religious public witness in Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, June 11, 2009.

Inquirer editorial re torture

2009-05-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

Editorial: "Descent into torture," Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/15/2009: "Just as harsh U.S. interrogation techniques were being discredited at a Senate hearing this week, the reported suicide of a former CIA detainee in Libya recalled one of the most spectacular and far-reaching failures of torture-like tactics. . . ."

"Senator calls for 'truth commission'"

2009-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

"Senator calls for 'truth commission' to probe Bush-era interrogations," by Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2009.
". . . Ali Soufan, a former FBI counter-terrorism agent and interrogator, testified that President George W. Bush and Justice Department lawyers were wrong when they said that waterboarding and other tactics used on one suspect provided key pieces of intelligence about Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Testifying behind a screen to protect his identity, Soufan said the techniques, touted by the Bush administration as perhaps its most effective weapon against terrorism, were actually slow, ineffective and unreliable. . . ."

Is time really running out for prosecution?

2009-05-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

truthout.org, "Prosecuting Torture: Is Time Really Running Out?" by Elizabeth de la Vega, May 10, 2009.

Obama re torture

2009-04-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Matt Renner, truthout.org, April 30, 2009: "Obama Confronts Torture Policy in Prime Time: The East Room, the White House - Under the spotlight of his third prime-time press conference, on his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama was unequivocal in his rejection of torture on moral and ethical grounds and said specifically that waterboarding is an illegal torture technique. . . ."

Torture memos ignored precedents

2009-04-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Jason Leopold, truthout.org, April 27, 2009: "Reagan's DOJ Prosecuted Texas Sheriff for Waterboarding Prisoners": "George W. Bush's Justice Department said subjecting a person to the near drowning of waterboarding was not a crime and didn't even cause pain, but Ronald Reagan's Justice Department thought otherwise, prosecuting a Texas sheriff and three deputies for using the practice to get confessions. . . ."

Marjorie Cohn re why 266 times

2009-04-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Marjorie Cohn, truthout,org, April 26, 2009: "Torture Used to Link Saddam with 9/11." "The president must fulfill his constitutional duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. Obama said that 'nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.' He is wrong. There is more to gain from upholding the rule of law. It will make future leaders think twice before they authorize the cruel, illegal treatment of other human beings."

McClatchy series on Guantanamo

2009-04-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

McClatchy: "Guantanamo: Beyond the Law," a five-part series: "An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad."

Military warned against torture in 2002

2009-04-26T00:55:00.000-07:00

"In 2002, military agency warned against 'torture': Extreme duress could yield unreliable information, it said," washingtonpost.com, Peter Finn and Joby Warrick, April 25, 2009: "The military agency that provided advice on harsh interrogation techniques for use against terrorism suspects referred to the application of extreme duress as 'torture' in a July 2002 document sent to the Pentagon's chief lawyer and warned that it would produce 'unreliable information.'

"'The unintended consequence of a U.S. policy that provides for the torture of prisoners is that it could be used by our adversaries as justification for the torture of captured U.S. personnel,' says the document. . . ."

"Leads Obtained Without Torture"

2009-04-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

"FBI: Key Sept. 11 Leads Obtained Without Torture," NPR, All Things Considered, April 24, 2009.