Crossposted at SmokeyMonkey.org.
A new report from Amnesty International suggests the level of abuse seen in the Abu Ghraib photos is commonplace throughout the network of detention facilities in Iraq and elsewhere. This report specifically looks at facilities in Iraq under the control of the multi-national forces (MNF).
The report reminds me of the days when Amnesty International reported on other countries that were regularly violating human rights, like China or Cuba. Now, the same kind of disturbing tales of torture, de-humanizing treatment, and death in detention that used to scare me into staying in within the country now point to my own leaders as war criminals. Can you tell me which report this quote comes from?
Torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners held in detention centres, prisons and labour camps remained widespread, sometimes resulting in death. Prison conditions were often harsh, with inadequate food and medical care, and many prisoners suffered serious illness as a result.
I am beyond disgusted with this administration. They must be brought to justice. They are war criminals. Period. Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, and Rumsfeld are all culpable in torture, illegal detentions, and the deaths under interrogation of dozens, including a former Iraqi general, members of the Al-Badr militia, and several innocents. Perhaps worse, they continue to defend their criminal practices, and they continue to cover-up the prosecution of those responsible for torturing to death.
On 29 November, 2005, Rumsfeld admitted he doesn't even think the troops on the ground need to stop torture if they see it. From the Pentagon Press Briefing, with General Peter Pace:
Question: And General Pace, what guidance do you have for your military commanders over there as to what to do if -- like when General Horst found this Interior Ministry jail?
GEN. PACE: It is absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene to stop it. As an example of how to do it if you don't see it happening but you're told about it is exactly what happened a couple weeks ago. There's a report from an Iraqi to a U.S. commander that there was possibility of inhumane treatment in a particular facility. That U.S. commander got together with his Iraqi counterparts. They went together to the facility, found what they found, reported it to the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi government has taken ownership of that problem and is investigating it. So they did exactly what they should have done.
SEC. RUMSFELD: But I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it.
GEN. PACE: If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it.
At least the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has some moral compass. Our troops don't need to prevent torture if they see it? Just let us know and we'll whitewash it away? What country did you grow up in Mr. Rumsfeld? Clearly, this is only one reason why he is hated by the military.
But the real criminality isn't that they condone torture. The real problem is that it is their policy to carry out torture. We know that Dick Cheney sought an exemption to the McCain amendment against torture for the CIA. But administration officials have also expressly condoned torture for the FBI.
Other documents released by the ACLU today provide more evidence that abusive interrogation methods used at Guantánamo were endorsed by senior officials. One FBI e-mail, dated May 5, 2004, states that "hooding prisoners, threats of violence, and techniques meant to humiliate detainees" were "approved at high levels w/in DoD." Another FBI e-mail states that certain techniques alleged to be abusive by some FBI agents were "approved by the Deputy Secretary of Defense."
The entire cabal is complicit. Condoleeza Rice, our Secretary of State, has lied in public about our policies while at the same time admitting we do render people to Egypt and Syria, known violators of human rights and torture prohibitions. It simply is not acceptable to stand before the international community and claim that rendering prisoners to Syria is a just and legal apparatus that keeps us safe from terrorism. This administration condones terrorism for its own purposes.
The best analysis of all the administration's validation for torture is LawofWar.org, in my opinion. The legal acrobatics they engage in to justify their evil agenda of torture are just as pathetically illogical and illegal as their justification for breaking codified US Law (I'm referring to the NSA's illegal domestic spying program). Who is it that lets them get away with this? Is a rubber-stamping Senate approval process for villians like Rumsfeld, Rice, and Gonzales complicit in war crimes as well?
It is time that the United States of America be brought back under International Law. I believe the war-mongers in this administration should be brought before the International Criminal Court to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. For someone that wasn't even ready to impeach just 4 months ago, this is a strong statement. I wish I could make it more strongly.