It looks as though the Center for Constitutional Rights is going to be the one to move the ball forward on getting the facts about the so called Enhanced Interrogation Techniques out, once again. Yesterday they learned of existence of video and audio tape evidence of the interrogation of the Mr. al Qahtani, the prisoner who was the victim of the “First Special Interrogation Plan” by the US Government.

This is more than a little bit of a big deal, as Mr. al Qahtani is the one of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners who the Susan Crawford, the Convening Authority of the Military Commissions said could not be brought to trial because the totality of his treatment in US custody since February 2002 amounted to torture. For those who don’t know, torture is not just defined by single acts like waterboarding, but under Federal and International law includes the totality of treatment.

Rather than just assert the treatment of Mr. al Qahtani was torture, I am going to detail what we know happened to him and the observations of the FBI as to the result and allow you to decide for yourself if this indeed rises to the standard of torture. Please keep in mind we do not have all the details, only what has been obtained by the CCR and by leaks to the press.



In October of 2002 military dogs were used to menace Mr. al Qahtani. He was then subjected to 160 days of severe isolation, where he was kept in a cell with extremely bright lights on 24 hours a day. His only break from this was occasional 20 hour interrogations. In 2006 FBI Assistant Director T. J. Harrington reported to the Army as part of their investigation of interrogations at Guantanamo Bay that a prisoner whom he later identified as Mr. al Qahtani was exhibited symptoms of :

“extreme psychological trauma”: "In September or October of 2002 FBI agents observed that a canine was used in an aggressive manner to intimidate detainee [redacted] and, in November 2002, FBI agents observed Detainee [redacted] after he had been subjected to intense isolation for over three months. During that time period, [redacted] was totally isolated (with the exception of occasional interrogations) in a cell that was always flooded with light. By late November, the detainee was evidencing behavior consistent with extreme psychological trauma (talking to non-existent people, reportedly hearing voices, crouching in a corner of the cell covered with a sheet for hours on end). It is unknown to the FBI whether such extended isolation was approved by appropriate DoD authorities.”

To me this is torture, but, sadly, it did not stop there. Starting sometime in November of that year and continuing until January of 2003 Mr. al Qahtani was the victim of the First Special Interrogation Plan. Below are some of the actions involved in this plan:

Severe sleep deprivation combined with 20-hour interrogations for months at a time;
• Severe isolation;
• Religious and sexual humiliation;
• Threats of rendition to countries that torture more than the United States;
• Threats made against his family, including female members of his family;
• Strip searching, body searches and forced nudity, including in the presence of female personnel;
• Denial of the right to practice his religion, including prohibiting him from praying for prolonged times and during Ramadan;
• Threatening to desecrate the Koran in front of him;
• Humiliating him by forcing him to bark like a dog, dance with a mask on his face, and pick up piles of trash with his hands cuffed while he was called “a pig”;
• Placing him in stress positions for prolonged times;
• Placing him in tight restraints repeatedly for many months or days and nights;
• Threats and attacks by dogs;
• Beatings;
• Exposure to low temperatures for prolonged times;
• Exposure to loud music for prolonged times; and
• Forcible administration of frequent IVs by medical personnel during interrogation, which Mr. al Qahtani described as feeling like “repetitive stabs” each day.

Now, none of this is new news, so why am I writing about it? Well Mr. al Qahtani has been charged along with five other men in involvement in the 9/11 plot. In 2006 Mr. al Qahtani also filed a habeas corpus petition disputing his statements which the government is basing its case, claiming the admissions were made under torture or threat of torture. Until yesterday, three years after the filing of this petition the US government had never admitted to the existence of these tapes.

This is a huge deal as in November of 2008 Judge Thomas Hogan had issued an order that the government turn over any exculpatory it had on Mr. al Qahtani and do so promptly. In February of this year the CCR had to go back to the judge because of the failure of the government to turn over any of evidence at all. The tapes are going to be ugly as they will show the time after the prolonged isolation and during the special interrogation plan. If you would like to read more about Mr. al Qahtani’s case you find it here.

The government is has slow walked this about as long as it can, but that will not stop it from trying to delay further. The argument will be the safety of our soldiers in the field as when these tapes come out the graphic results of these types of interrogations will be seen world wide. In its contention that this will increase anger at the US, the government is probably right, but it does not matter.

Let’s be clear, we the United States of American tortured prisoners. It was done intentionally and by the order of the highest officials in the Executive Branch. The AG, the Vice President, their chiefs of staff, the Secretary of Defense with help from the DOJ planned, and ordered the torture of prisoners in so called Black Sites, in Abu Gahraib and in Guantanamo Bay. This is a War Crime and a Federal crime (actually two Federal crimes, torture and conspiracy to commit torture). We as a nation can never get past this until we fully investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Today the CCR is one step closer to making this happen. They have been at the forefront of the fight against all of the extra-Constitutional actions of the criminal Bush Administration along with the ACLU. They are not doing this because Mr. al Qahtani is a swell guy, I have no idea whether was involved in terrorism or not, but it does not matter, the CCR is doing this because if we do not stand up for our the rights guaranteed in the Constitution for people we might not like or who are criminals themselves we weaken them for all of us.

I know this issue is not one which is comfortable for most folks; we don’t want to think our nation could do something so horrible. It is also true the Health Care Reform debate has sucked most of the oxygen out of the room for any other issue but we must keep this issue in our minds we are in danger of becoming a nation that not only tortured prisoners, but condoned it.

The floor is yours.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"





(Source Link)

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/se...pers-s22.shtml

No I don't think Obama will anytime soon look at the torture of prisoners by US forces!

Regards
Highlander