Yesterday, Condi Rice defended US interrogation practices that continue to give the US a black eye.
For me I consider this to be one of the most if not the most important current issue, because it amounts to a golden opportunity to bring people together and fix some of our own problems and at the same time strengthen the ability of all peaceful countries to confront international law breaking.
More below the fold:
I have written about the torture issue before and for my troubles have been attacked personally, however this is an issue that needs to be debated in a responsible way so I will write about it again.
First, let me say that I care about ALL of our troops. I recognize that some on the far left only care about some of our troops and most on the far right care about none of our troops so I am somewhere in the middle caught in between, which can make the debate rather difficult.
Ultimately, this is about human rights and not only the safety of our troops. We have have a choice and an opportunity to re-enforce existing human rights standards or we can tear them down in the name of "fighting terrorism".
Lets look at what Condi said yesterday:
yahoo news
"Our people, wherever they are, are operating under U.S. law and U.S. international obligations," Rice said. She said that includes the U.N. Convention Against Torture, a document the administration has previously said does not fully apply to Americans overseas.
This is a half truth as we are not complying with the Geneva Conventions in Iraq or Afghanistan, which is our obligation and we are not complying with international detention standards anywhere, which is reflected in the treaties that we have signed.
I ask would it be acceptable if another country tossed aside the Geneva Conventions and ignored treaties that they had signed and then claimed compliance with the UN convention against torture under their definition? Clearly no country is required to adhere to our regulations or interpretation of compliance with the UN Convention against torture so if they ignore the Geneva Conventions and clear international standards our troops are at risk.
Here is some background on the legal issues:
First what does the Geneva Conventions say:
Prohibited Acts:
(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) Taking of hostages;
(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
Are we complying? Well, here is a previous comment that I posted with an attachment demonstrating that the administration decided not to. From the attachment:
Daily Kos
The point here is simple: if America is seen as giving political actors like the President the ability to essentially suspend the Geneva Conventions through creative re-interpretation, there is nothing to stop other nations from doing the same to our troops when they are captured. That is why uniformed lawyers have been the chief obstacle to the reckless disregard of our international obligations since the attacks of September 11, and why judicial management of detainees at Guantanamo shouldn't be chalked up to "coddling terrorists." As Air Force General Jack Rives stated in the documents "consideration should be given to the possible adverse effects on U.S. Armed Forces culture and self-image, which suffered during the Vietnam conflict and at other times due to perceived law of armed conflict violations.[T]he DoD Law of War Program in 1979 and subsequent service regulations, greatly restored the culture and self-image of U.S. Armed Forces. Consideration should be given to whether implementation of such techniques is likely to result in adverse impacts for DoD personnel who become POWs, including possible perceptions by other nations that the United States is lowering standards related to the treatment of prisoners, generally."
Of course everyone now knows that we are not complying with the Conventions and subsequent service regulations.
Another post demonstrating non-compliance with the Conventions:
Daily Kos
From statement by Captain Ian Fishback;
He (Fishback) concluded that violations of the Geneva Convention were "systematic, and the Army is misleading America."
In his personal chronology, he wrote, "Bottom line: I am concerned that the Army is deliberately misleading the American people about detainee treatment within our custody."
When the prison abuse scandals at the Abu Ghraib prison erupted in April 2004, he noted that he had heard of instances around Fallouja that were "even more intense."
He called the International Committee of the Red Cross for an interpretation of the Geneva Convention, and found it "much closer to my West Point education."
Alright so the administration is not adhering to the Geneva Conventions, so are they adhering to international law?
Description of interrogation:
According to investigators, the interrogators told him his mother and sisters were whores, forced him to wear a bra, forced him to wear a thong on his head, told him he was homosexual and said that other prisoners knew it.
They also forced him to dance with a male interrogator and subjected him to strip searches with no security value, threatened him with dogs, forced him to stand naked in front of women and forced him onto a leash, to act like a dog. He was kept in solitary confinement for 160 days, and interrogations for 18 to 20 hours a day, for 48 out of 54 days.
MyWay
"All indicated that they had been horribly treated, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan... The stories they told were remarkably similar - terrible beatings, hung from wrists and beaten, removal of clothes, hooding, exposure naked to extreme cold, naked in front of female guards, sexual taunting by both male and female guards/interrogators, some sexual abuse (rectal intrusion), terrible uncomfortable positions for hours. All confirmed that all this treatment was by Americans... Several mentioned the use of electric shocks - like ping pong paddles put under arms - some had this done; many saw it done."
Notes of a US lawyer after meeting Kuwaiti detainees in Guantánamo Bay in January 2005
Amnesty
Is all of this illegal under international law? Of course it is.
UN Charter
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Treaty on detention standards - international law:
UN Treaty
3. Article 10, paragraph 1, imposes on States parties a positive obligation towards persons who are particularly vulnerable because of their status as persons deprived of liberty, and complements for them the ban on torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment contained in article 7 of the Covenant. Thus, not only may persons deprived of their liberty not be subjected to treatment that is contrary to article 7, including medical or scientific experimentation, but neither may they be subjected to any hardship or constraint other than that resulting from the deprivation of liberty; respect for the dignity of such persons must be guaranteed under the same conditions as for that of free persons. Persons deprived of their liberty enjoy all the rights set forth in the Covenant, subject to the restrictions that are unavoidable in a closed environment.
4. Treating all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and with respect for their dignity is a fundamental and universally applicable rule. Consequently, the application of this rule, as a minimum, cannot be dependent on the material resources available in the State party. This rule must be applied without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
We further re-affirmed and cemented the protection of the dignity of anyone in any form of detention with the following treaty:
Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any Form of Detention.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated that "to ensure protection of the dignity of a person who is being searched by a state official, a body search should only be conducted by someone of the same sex" [ General Comment 16 to Article 17 of the ICCPR, "Compilation of General Comment and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies," UN Document HRI/GEN/Rev.3, 15 August 1997.].
This issue is HUGE, because not only do we have the chance to protect our troops by adhering and strengthening international standards we also have the opportunity to help the over 2 million people in our nations prisons and jails that are abused regularly by being subjected to forced cross-gender nudity, sexual assault, rape or physical abuse.
These are fundamental human rights and it is a fact that our government has systematically violated fundamental human rights that are guaranteed equally to all people.
The only way to lift everyone up is to do so in manner that benefits everyone.
If you think of the global marketplace as a playing field you understand that a game cannot be played unless everyone plays by the same rules. If other countries are going to agree to play by the rules of the existing marketplace we must be willing to make concessions. I cannot think of a concession that would mean more to the Muslim world and at the same time drastically improve human rights here at home. If you care about everyone as I do then you have to see the benefit in upholding human rights for all; the world cannot come together around existing human rights principles if we refuse to follow them.
Back to Condi Rice:
"The captured terrorists of the 21st century do not fit easily into traditional systems of criminal or military justice," she said. "We need to adapt."
No kidding Condi - and that is why we need to come together in order to set-up international processes to deal with international crime, but always in accordance with recognized standards. Continuing to torture people to "bring them to justice" benefits no one and does nothing, but fuel the flames of resentment.
We are at a cross-roads and the question is - are we going to take this opportunity to bring nations together, support human rights, regain some of our lost moral authority and isolate violent elements or are we going to continue to go at it alone, violate international law, violate the Geneva Conventions, allow our own prisoners to continue to suffer (which increases recitivism rates here at home) and put our troops at risk in future conflicts.
To me there is a clear answer and honestly my heart bleeds for those suffering in our prisons and jails. We have an opportunity to do something great that benefits millions of people both here and around the world and that is done by complying with and codifying current international standards on detention that protects everyone's dignity equally everywhere.
In conclusion, most importantly we must stop the psychological brutality and adhere to long-standing army regulations that prohibit mental torture. Our reputation is worth more than a little revenge and it is ultimately our greatest currency - we can't waste it!