OMNI UN International
Day in Support of Victims of Torture NEWSLETTER #1– JUNE 26, 2013 . Compiled
by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace and Justice.
OMNI NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS
PROJECT
See the parallel newsletter, OMNI UN Torture Awareness
Month, June.
My blog:
War Department/Peace Department
War Department/Peace Department
Newsletters
See: OMNI Torture/War
Crimes Newsletters
Index:
NPR reported Chinese national
pride over its space missions, and reminded listeners of the swelling of pride
in the US
when its space programs began. But the US is not the
City on the Hill, the Provider of Light, for landing on the moon at immense
expense to the neglect of the real needs of all species. Join OMNI in seeking ways to a more valid
pride—a USA
utterly opposed to torture, state murder, and armed aggression.
Contents #1 June 26, 2013
OMNI Film, War Against Whistleblowers
UN Convention Against Torture
UN International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture
June: UN Torture Awareness Month
TASSC: Torture Abolition and
Survivor Support Coalition
Witness Against Torture
Torture USA , Google
Search
US Torture Victims, Google
Search
Books on Torture
|
Otterman, American Torture
|
·
|
Hersh, Abu Ghraib
Danner, Torture and the Forever
War
Links to February 4, Torture
Abolition Day (unofficial)
Recent Related OMNI Newsletters
On UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,
Wednesday, June 26, 7p.m.,
OMNI will show a film by Robert Greenwald entitled War on Whistleblowers.
The
film looks at four whistleblowers who
had their lives practically destroyed after they went to the press with
evidence of government wrongdoing. They are Michael DeKort, Thomas Drake, Franz
Gayl, and Thomas Tamm.
Whistleblowers have come under unprecedented attack by the Obama administration. Evoking the
Espionage Act of 1917, the administration has pressed criminal charges against
no fewer than six government employees, more than all previous presidential
administrations combined. In the film, Greenwald also interviews government
oversight experts and investigative journalists who warn about the chilling
effect prosecutions may have on potential whistleblowers and the journalists who help them. WED. JUNE 26, 7PM, OMNI.
1.
United Nations Convention
Against Torture - Wikipedia, the free ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture
The Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (United Nations
Convention against Torture) is an ...
2.
A/RES/39/46. Convention
against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman ...
www.un.org/documents/ga/res/39/a39r046.htm
Dec 10, 1984 – Expresses its
appreciation for the work achieved by the Commission on Human Rights in
preparing the text of a draft convention against
torture ...
3.
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading ...
untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/catcidtp/catcidtp.html
The Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading ...Convention”) was adopted
by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 ...
4.
Convention against Torture - United Nations Treaty Collection
treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?mtdsg_no=IV-9...4...
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment ... 1984 at the thirty-ninth
session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
5.
Committee against
Torture
www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/
UN Voluntary Fund for
Victims of Torture ... The Committee Against
Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors
implementation of the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or ...
6.
[PDF]
UN Convention Against Torture - Foreign Press Centers
fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/101750.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick
View
by MJ Garcia - Cited by 7 - Related articles
U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT): Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques. Summary. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and ...
by MJ Garcia - Cited by 7 - Related articles
U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT): Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques. Summary. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and ...
7.
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or - UNHCR
www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b3a94.html
Dec 10, 1984 – Adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of
10 December 1984. Entry into force 26 ...
8.
The United
Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel ...
www.globalgovernancewatch.org/.../the-united-nations-convention-a...
The United Nations
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (the Convention Against Torture) is an ...
9.
[PDF]
The U.N.
Convention Against Torture
www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl32276.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick
View
by ТШСЧ КЫМТК - Related articles
СО ШЧЯОЧЭТШЧ РКТЧЬЭ ШЫЭЮЫО. ШЧРЫОЬЬТШЧКХ ОЬОКЫМС ОЫЯТМО. ЮЦЦКЫв. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, ...
by ТШСЧ КЫМТК - Related articles
СО ШЧЯОЧЭТШЧ РКТЧЬЭ ШЫЭЮЫО. ШЧРЫОЬЬТШЧКХ ОЬОКЫМС ОЫЯТМО. ЮЦЦКЫв. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, ...
10.
[PDF]
The
Development and Drafting of the United Nations Convention ...
lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304...iclr
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
by M Lippman - 1994 - Cited by 60 - Related articles
century and outlines the international efforts to control torture. Part III describes and analyzes the 1984 United Nations Convention. Against Torture. I. A BRIEF ...
by M Lippman - 1994 - Cited by 60 - Related articles
century and outlines the international efforts to control torture. Part III describes and analyzes the 1984 United Nations Convention. Against Torture. I. A BRIEF ...
Searches related to un
convention against torture
“At
a time when the legitimate aspirations of people in many regions of the world
for greater freedom, dignity and a better life are too often met with violence
and ...
In
December 1997, the General Assembly proclaimed 26 June United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The United Nations has ...
In
focus 26 June 2012 – Rehabilitation works and is a
torture survivor's right The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on the 26th of ...
The
United
Nations' (UN) International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is annually observed on
June
26
to remind people that human torture is not only ...
The
United
Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – 26 June is held annually on 26 June to speak out against
the crime of torture and to ...
Jun 26, 2010
– United
Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – June 26, 2010. Background. The United Nations has dedicated June 26 to ...
May 28, 2012
– ... and to organize a local
commemoration on June 26 in recognition of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Proposed
by Denmark
June
26
is recognized internationally as United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. On this day in 1987, the UN Convention Against ...
On
this occasion, an exhibit of artwork made by victims of torture will be held at ...
The
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed on 26 June.
JUNE: TORTURE
AWARENESS MONTH
Apr 16, 2012
– June
is National Torture Awareness Month ... local vigils on Tuesday,
June 26, which is the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims.
You
visited this page on 5/29/12.
May 28, 2010
– Throughout
June, we'll be observing Torture Awareness Month by ... In 1997, the United Nations commemorated the 10 th
anniversary of the ...
You
visited this page on 5/29/12.
presbyterian.typepad.com/.../observe-torture-awareness-month.html
May 1, 2010 –
June
26 is United Nations International Day in Support of
Victims of ... have declared the month of June to be Torture Awareness
Month as a ...
You
visited this page on 5/29/12.
Torture has taken root in American culture and in Americans'
moral consciousness. Since 9/11, we have become a people who: Applaud when our
high-ranking ...
You
visited this page on 5/26/12.
Torture
Awareness Month. Anti-torture protest. June 26th is the date that the United Nations has marked as the Cuban
cigar International Day in Support of
Apr 26, 2011
– ACCOUNTABILITY
TODAY – PREVENTING TORTURE TOMORROW. TASSC International joins
the National Religious Campaign against ...
You
visited this page on 5/26/12.
June
is Torture
Awareness Month « ... 26 to honor June 26, 1987, the day the UN Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment ...
May 31, 2010
– June
is the UN's Torture Awareness Month :: Vigil Against Torture Daily, Noon
to 1:00 p.m. 300 4th Street South Federal Courthouse Plaza
May 28, 2012
– Torture
Awareness Month is just around the corner, and the National ... June 26, to mark the UN International Day in
Support of Torture Victims.
Torture
Awareness Month. Mon, 2011-05-02 16:26 | by erin .
Printer-friendly version · PDF version. June 26th is United Nations International Day in
Support of ...
·
STAFF
If You Are a Survivor
TASSC Programs
Advocacy Actions
About Torture
What
is TASSC?
Mission
The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition
International (TASSC) was founded in 1998. It is the only organization in
the United States
Vision
In the spirit of non-violence and with the hope of achieving
justice and social change, TASSC
Works to abolish
torture and ill-treatment currently practiced by more than 138 governments.
Advocates for the immediate implementation of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all other relevant treaties and conventions
Breaks the silence surrounding torture and gives voice to survivors through outreach, education and advocacy
Calls for an end to military assistance, training and arms sales to governments that torture
Demands an end to impunity for the architects of torture–those who order, justify and practice it
Advocates for the immediate implementation of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all other relevant treaties and conventions
Breaks the silence surrounding torture and gives voice to survivors through outreach, education and advocacy
Calls for an end to military assistance, training and arms sales to governments that torture
Demands an end to impunity for the architects of torture–those who order, justify and practice it
Who We
Are/Core Values:
TASSC is a coalition of torture survivors, representing
countries and ethnic groups throughout all parts of the world. The following
principles guide our actions. We believe that:
Survivors are one of
the strongest and most effective voices in the campaign to abolish torture
TASSC survivor-advocates must build solidarity with other advocacy groups and the global community of survivors
Family members as well as survivors of all forms of torture, ill-treatment and political violence are invited to join the global movement for the abolition of torture
TASSC is concerned not only with the prevention of torture but also addresses its aftermath, the individual survivor, family, community, and society
The voices of all survivors must be heard equally in TASSC’s decision-making
TASSC survivor-advocates must build solidarity with other advocacy groups and the global community of survivors
Family members as well as survivors of all forms of torture, ill-treatment and political violence are invited to join the global movement for the abolition of torture
TASSC is concerned not only with the prevention of torture but also addresses its aftermath, the individual survivor, family, community, and society
The voices of all survivors must be heard equally in TASSC’s decision-making
What We Do /
Goals:
Create a world-wide
network of International Communities of Healing for torture survivors and their
families
Influence domestic and international policy through advocacy, social action, public testimony, and targeted media campaigns
Monitor human rights violations in nations where TASSC members may be at risk
Operate Helping Hands, a direct assistance program for survivors
Coordinate the annual United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors (June 26th)
Speak out personally to the public through the Truth Speakers program.
TASSC is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization and
operates independently of any ideology, government or economic interest.Influence domestic and international policy through advocacy, social action, public testimony, and targeted media campaigns
Monitor human rights violations in nations where TASSC members may be at risk
Operate Helping Hands, a direct assistance program for survivors
Coordinate the annual United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors (June 26th)
Speak out personally to the public through the Truth Speakers program.
Meaning of
TASSC’S LOGO
TASSC’s logo was designed by Elshafei Dafalla Mohammad from
The dark blue color signifies resilience and spiritual purity.
As the dark blue embraces the pure red orange, a pigeon symbolizing peace-love-freedom
in many cultures, soars out of the form towards a brighter future which marks
the end of oppression.
The letters ASSC in TASSC visualizes a person rising, under the
TASSC umbrella, from a state of “bowing under oppression.”
The color black gives the logo a high degree of contrast that
reflects the strength and vitality of its lines. TASSC’s logo signifies the
awakening and the uprising of those who have been tortured.
REMEMBER…
Thou shalt not be a
Victim. Thou shalt not be a Perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a
Bystander!
HEROIC EFFORTS…
"I am encouraged
by the heroic efforts of various organizations whose work ensures that there
are appropriate remedies and reparation for victims. The work of such
organizations seeks to include and promote the perspectives of victims and
survivors in the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing
torture. This is a goal that I wholeheartedly support and will pursue during my
tenure." UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez
NO EXCEPTIONS…
“Torture is illegal
under any circumstances, with no exceptions… Torture is a crime under
international law. It is absolutely prohibited and cannot be justified under
any circumstances. The systematic or widespread practice of torture constitutes
a crime against humanity.” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Navi Pillay
EVERY DAY…
"Every day, women,
men and children are tortured or ill-treated with the intention of destroying
their sense of dignity and human worth. [...] By concretely supporting victims
of torture, the international community will prove its unequivocal
determination and commitment to fight torture and impunity." United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
June Survivor Week
·
End Torture – Welcome
Survivors: TASSC June Survivor Week: June 20 – 26, 2013
·
2012 Survivor Week a
Success! Justice for Survivors of Torture
·
Join TASSC International
in June to Commemorate Survivor Week
·
See 2011 Survivor Week
Photos
·
15th Annual Survivor Week
a Huge Success Thanks to Your Generosity
Human Rights
UN Conventions
Blogroll
Links
Copyright © 2013 Torture Abolition and
Survivor Support Coalition. All Rights Reserved.
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GOOGLE SEARCH FOR Witness Against Torture
witnesstorture.org/
Hunger Strike Response. Solidarity
Fast, local vigils, and Witness Against
Torture statement in response to voices raised in Guantánamo.
About
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Witness Against Torture ·
About · News · Events · Resources ...
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2.
Witness Against Torture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_Against_Torture
Witness Against Torture is a group calling for
the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp where the United States
3.
Witness Against Torture | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/witnesstorture
Witness Against Torture, New York , NY
4.
Flickr: Witness
Against Torture
www.flickr.com/groups/witnesstorture/
Discussion 0 posts | Only members can
post. Join? No topics have been posted yet. About Witness Against
Torture. Witness Against
Torture actions and related ...
5.
Witness Against Torture Chicago | Close Guantanamo
www.nogitmos.org/witnessagainsttorturechicago
Witness Against Torture Chicago
6.
Witness Against Torture | Center for Constitutional Rights
Witness Against Torture is a campaign to shut
down Guantanamo
7.
Witness Against Torture: The
Campaign to Shut Down Guantanamo ...
I want to express my heartfelt support
for the people in Witness Against
Torture, who have made this extraordinary journey to Guantanamo
TORTURE USA
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_and_the_United_States
Torture in the United States includes documented and alleged cases
of torture both inside the United States and outside its borders by U.S.
www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/torture
Amnesty
International Reports, News, and Resources on Torture
in the "War on Terror" and the US
academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/georegions/.../torture01.htm
Dec 31, 2010 –
Director, World
Organization Against Torture
USA USA Suite 4001015 18th Street
Christian Science Monitor
Reuters -
1 day ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an
appeal by a citizen who said he had been tortured at a military jail in ...
Christian Science Monitor - 1 day ago
civilliberty.about.com/od/.../tp/History-of-Torture-Timeline.htm
In October
2006, President George W. Bush said that the United States
www.guardian.co.uk
› News
› World news
› United States
Dec 10, 2005 –
Naomi Klein: By ignoring
past abuses, opponents of torture are in danger of pushing it back into
the shadows instead of abolishing it.
tortureusa.com/
Justice comes
about through even application of the law. The US
www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63066.html
Sep 9, 2011 – Opinion: Renewed debate over the issue
shows that a strong anti-torture consensus hasn't taken hold.
www.usawatch.org/archives/cat_us_torture.html
Mar 3, 2006 – Exclusive: "20th Hijacker"
Claims That Torture Made Him Lie. Mohammad al- Qahtani,
held in Guantanamo and touted by the U.S.
www.amnesty.org/.../obama-accused-quotcondoning-torturequot-20...
Apr 17, 2009 –
Four previously secret
memorandums released by the new USadministration give an insight into how its
predecessor lost its legaland moral
GOOGLE SEARCH , US
1.
Category:American torture victims - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Category:American torture
victims. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jump to: navigation,
search. See also category: Torture in the United States
2.
Torture Victim's Body Is Found Near U.S. Base, Afghans Say ...
www.nytimes.com/.../torture-victims-body-is-found-near-us-base-afghans-s...
May 21, 2013 – Afghan investigators
said the man was seen in a videotape being tortured at the hands of an
Afghan-American translator for an American ...
3.
Torture Victim Had No Terror Link, Canada Told US - The New York ...
www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/world/americas/25arar.html?pagewanted...
Sep 25, 2006 – A Canadian report offers
rare insight into the flimsy evidence used by the U.S.
4.
Victims of U.S. Torture Respond to the New Terror-Detainee
Report ...
Apr 17, 2013 – Omar Deghayes was
blinded in one eye by a guard at Guantanamo
5.
The Center for Victims of Torture: Home
Make your donation to The Center for Victims of Torture today with a ... Charity Navigator awards us four stars for our
responsible stewardship of donor funds.
You visited this page on 5/30/13.
6.
United States | The Center for Victims of Torture
There are 500,000 survivors of politically-motivated torture living in the United States Washington D.C.
7.
Contact Us | The Center for Victims of Torture
8.
Mother
of American Torture Victim José Padilla Brings Case Before ...
Dec 11, 2012 – NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union
and Yale Law School
9.
ASTT: Advocates for Survivors of Torture & Trauma
According to the U.S. Office of Refugee
Resettlement, there are 500,000 survivors oftorture and war-related trauma
now living in the United States
10.
Torture victim's body is found near US base, Afghans say - World ...
www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2013/.../torture-victim.../story.html
May 22, 2013 – Afghan investigators
said that after his disappearance, the man, Sayid Mohammad, was seen in a video
being tortured by an Afghan-American ...
|
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1
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BOOKS ON TORTURE (FOR
MORE BOOKS SEE UN JUNE TORTURE AWARENESS MONTH NEWSLETTER)
See
Newsletter June 2013 for reviews of many other books on US
|
George W.
Bush calls them an "alternative set of procedures": forcing victims
to stand for forty hours; depriving them of sleep for weeks on end; and
strapping prisoners to inclined boards, then flooding their mouths with water.
These techniques are torture, and they are legal in the United States
Michael Otterman reveals the long
history of U.S. Vietnam , Latin America , and elsewhere. As the Cold War ended,
these tortures---engineered to leave deep psychological wounds but few physical
scars---were legalized using the very laws that were designed to eradicate
their use. After 9/11, they were revived again for use on enemy combatants
detained in America 's vast
gulag of prisoners across the globe---from secret CIA black sites in Thailand to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba
Michael
Otterman shows that these interrogation methods violate more than international
law and fundamental human rights. They radicalize enemies, undermine
credibility, and yield unreliable intelligence. They do
not make us more safe. They make us less safe.
About the Author(s)
Michael Otterman
is an award-winning freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was a
recent visiting scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney Boston New York
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms
In Their Own
Words
1 A Climate of
Fear
2 Stress
Inoculation
3 Codifying
Cruelty
4 The Phoenix
5 In America
6 The Human Cost
7 Alive and Legal
8 The Gloves Come
Off, Part I
9 Guantßnamo
10 The Gloves
Come Off, Part II The Dual
State
Appendix I: Human
Resource Exploitation
Training Manual -
1983
Notes
Bibliography
Index
[The
following book by Hersh was cited in the 2013 Newsletter on Torture Awareness
Month..]
ANNALS OF NATIONAL SECURITY
CHAIN
OF COMMAND
How the Department of Defense mishandled the disaster at Abu Ghraib. BY SEYMOUR M. HERSHMAY 17, 2004
·
PRINT
In
his devastating report on conditions at Abu Ghraib prison, in Iraq, Major
General Antonio M. Taguba singled out only three military men for praise.
One of them, Master-at-Arms William J. Kimbro, a Navy dog handler, should be
commended, Taguba wrote, because he “knew his duties and refused to participate
in improper interrogations despite significant pressure from the MI”—military
intelligence—“personnel at Abu Ghraib.” Elsewhere in the report it became clear
what Kimbro would not do: American soldiers, Taguba said, used “military
working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and
in one instance actually biting a detainee.”
Taguba’s report was triggered by a soldier’s decision
to give Army investigators photographs of the sexual humiliation and abuse of
prisoners. These images were first broadcast on “60 Minutes II” on April 28th.
Seven enlisted members of the 372nd Military Police Company of the 320th
Military Police Battalion, an Army reserve unit, are now facing prosecution,
and six officers have been reprimanded. Last week, I was given another set of
digital photographs, which had been in the possession of a member of the 320th.
According to a time sequence embedded in the digital files, the photographs
were taken by two different cameras over a twelve-minute period on the evening
of December 12, 2003, two months after the military-police unit was assigned to
Abu Ghraib.
One of the new photographs shows a young soldier,
wearing a dark jacket over his uniform and smiling into the camera, in the
corridor of the jail. In the background are two Army dog handlers, in full
camouflage combat gear, restraining two German shepherds. The dogs are barking
at a man who is partly obscured from the camera’s view by the smiling soldier.
Another image shows that the man, an Iraqi prisoner, is naked. His hands are
clasped behind his neck and he is leaning against the door to a cell, contorted
with terror, as the dogs bark a few feet away. Other photographs show the dogs
straining at their leashes and snarling at the prisoner. In another, taken a
few minutes later, the Iraqi is lying on the ground, writhing in pain, with a
soldier sitting on top of him, knee pressed to his back. Blood is streaming from
the inmate’s leg. Another photograph is a closeup of the naked prisoner, from
his waist to his ankles, lying on the floor. On his right thigh is what appears
to be a bite or a deep scratch. There is another, larger wound on his left leg,
covered in blood.
There is at least one other report of violence
involving American soldiers, an Army dog, and Iraqi citizens, but it was not in
Abu Ghraib. Cliff Kindy, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, a
church-supported group that has been monitoring the situation in Iraq, told me
that last November G.I.s unleashed a military dog on a group of civilians
during a sweep in Ramadi, about thirty miles west of Fallujah. At first, Kindy
told me, “the soldiers went house to house, and arrested thirty people.” (One of
them was Saad al-Khashab, an attorney with the Organization for Human Rights in
Iraq ,
who told Kindy about the incident.) While the thirty detainees were being
handcuffed and laid on the ground, a firefight broke out nearby; when it ended,
the Iraqis were shoved into a house. Khashab told Kindy that the American
soldiers then “turned the dog loose inside the house, and several people were
bitten.” (The Defense Department said that it was unable to comment about the
incident before The New Yorker went to press.)
When I asked retired Major General Charles Hines, who
was commandant of the Army’s military-police school during a twenty-eight-year
career in military law enforcement, about these reports, he reacted with
dismay. “Turning a dog loose in a room of people? Loosing dogs on prisoners of
war? I’ve never heard of it, and it would never have been tolerated,” Hines
said. He added that trained police dogs have long been a presence in Army
prisons, where they are used for sniffing out narcotics and other contraband
among the prisoners, and, occasionally, for riot control. But, he said, “I
would never have authorized it for interrogating or coercing prisoners. If I
had, I’d have been put in jail or kicked out of the Army.”
The International
Red Cross and human-rights groups have repeatedly complained during the
past year about the American military’s treatment of Iraqi prisoners, with
little success. In one case, disclosed last month by the Denver Post,
three Army soldiers from a military-intelligence battalion were accused of assaulting
a female Iraqi inmate at Abu Ghraib. After an administrative review, the three
were fined “at least five hundred dollars and demoted in rank,” the newspaper
said.
Army commanders had a different response when, on
January 13th, a military policeman presented Army investigators with a computer
disk containing graphic photographs. The images were being swapped from
computer to computer throughout the 320th Battalion. The Army’s senior
commanders immediately understood they had a problem—a looming political and
public-relations disaster that would taint America and damage the war effort.
One of the first soldiers to be questioned was Ivan
Frederick, the M.P. sergeant who was in charge of a night shift at Abu Ghraib.
Frederick, who has been ordered to face a court-martial in Iraq for his
role in the abuse, kept a running diary that began with a knock on his door by
agents of the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division (C.I.D.) at two-thirty in
the morning on January 14th. “I was escorted . . . to the front door of our
building, out of sight from my room,” Frederick
wrote, “while . . . two unidentified males stayed in my room. ‘Are they
searching my room?’ ” He was told yes. Frederick
later formally agreed to permit the agents to search for cameras, computers,
and storage devices.
“CHAIN OF COMMAND” CONTINUES
|
 |
Torture
and the Forever War
Mark Danner. MIT, 2011 Describing the unfolding torture of Sometime on or about September 11, 2001, Danner argues, our political condition changed. The events of Zabaydah’s torture were the consequence of a set of political choices that created what Danner calls “the style of the exception.” That style coalesces around distinctive features that have become familiar in our post-9/11 world and have not changed in the transition to a new administration: a declaration of an unending war against an enemy positioned outside the bounds of all legality; a war guided by a legally unbounded executive, who controls the public release of information and uses partisan domestic politics as a continuation of the war by other means, in an improvisational style, and without guidance from history or legal constraints. But in describing this new condition, placing blame is not Danner’s most pressing concern. Those who created the style of the exception, he argues, surely knew that a moment of judgment would come. Could it be that they thought we would affirm the rightness of their choices, and that in identical circumstances we would have done the same thing? Danner invites us to consider how, if we reject those choices now, we might extricate ourselves from the style of the exception. Scholars Elaine Scarry, Eric Posner, Stephen Holmes, and Colonel Steven Kleinman, Senior Intelligence Officer Mark Danner is an award-winning journalist and Professor of Journalism at the |
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