ACLU: NEW DOCUMENTS SHOW SENIOR OFFICIALS APPROVED GITMO ABUSE!!

[kpete]

ACLU: New documents show senior officials approved Gitmo abuse
RAW STORY
Published: February 23, 2006



The American Civil Liberties Union today released newly obtained documents showing that senior Defense Department officials approved aggressive interrogation techniques that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents deemed abusive, ineffective and unlawful, RAW STORY has learned.

“We now possess overwhelming evidence that political and military leaders endorsed interrogation methods that violate both domestic and international law,” Jameel Jaffer, an attorney with the ACLU said in a release. “It is entirely unacceptable that no senior official has been held accountable.”

The ACLU's release follows.

Included in today’s release is a memorandum prepared by FBI personnel on May 30, 2003, which supplies a detailed discussion of tensions between FBI and Defense Department personnel stationed at Guantбnamo in late 2002. According to the memo, Defense Department interrogators were encouraged by their superiors to “use aggressive interrogation tactics” that FBI agents believed were “of questionable effectiveness and subject to uncertain interpretation based on law and regulation.” The May 2003 memo specifically names Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who was then Commander of Joint Task Force-Guantбnamo, as having favored interrogation methods that FBI agents believed “could easily result in the elicitation of unreliable and legally inadmissible information.” The memo states that FBI personnel brought their concerns to the attention of senior Defense Department personnel but that their concerns were brushed aside.

Other documents released by the ACLU today provide more evidence that abusive interrogation methods used at Guantбnamo 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.”


MUCH MORE AT:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/ACLU_New_documents_show_senior_officials_0223.html

[Beetwasher]

1. K&R

n/t

[Up2Late]

50. Here's the ACLU Press Release with links.

(As this is an official Press Release, I fairly sure this can be printed in full, as that is it's ideal purpose.)

New Documents Provide Further Evidence That Senior Officials Approved Abuse of Prisoners at Guantánamo

(2/23/2006)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [e-mail]

FBI Memorandum Details Guantánamo Commander’s Repeated Refusal to Abandon Illegal and Ineffective Interrogation Techniques

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today released newly obtained documents showing that senior Defense Department officials approved aggressive interrogation techniques that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents deemed abusive, ineffective and unlawful.

“We now possess overwhelming evidence that political and military leaders endorsed interrogation methods that violate both domestic and international law,” said Jameel Jaffer, an attorney with the ACLU. “It is entirely unacceptable that no senior official has been held accountable.”

Included in today’s release is a memorandum prepared by FBI personnel on May 30, 2003, which supplies a detailed discussion of tensions between FBI and Defense Department personnel stationed at Guantánamo in late 2002. According to the memo, Defense Department interrogators were encouraged by their superiors to “use aggressive interrogation tactics” that FBI agents believed were “of questionable effectiveness and subject to uncertain interpretation based on law and regulation.” The May 2003 memo specifically names Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who was then Commander of Joint Task Force-Guantánamo, as having favored interrogation methods that FBI agents believed “could easily result in the elicitation of unreliable and legally inadmissible information.” The memo states that FBI personnel brought their concerns to the attention of senior Defense Department personnel but that their concerns were brushed aside.

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.”

Today's release comes only days after the release by the New Yorker magazine of a memorandum from Alberto Mora, General Counsel of the United States Navy, describing Mora's unsuccessful efforts in late 2002 and early 2003 to convince the Pentagon to renounce the abuse of prisoners at Guantánamo. Collectively, the Mora memorandum and the documents released by the ACLU today show conclusively that Pentagon officials at the highest levels authorized the abuse of prisoners and persisted in their endorsement of unlawful interrogation methods even after FBI and Navy personnel objected to those methods orally and in writing.

Still other documents released today by the ACLU provide FBI agents’ descriptions of interrogations they witnessed at Guantánamo. One such document states: “Last evening I went to observe an interview of REDACTED with REDACTED. The adjoining room, observable from the monitoring booth, was occupied by 2 DHS investigators showing a detainee homosexual porn movies and using a strobe light in the room. We moved our interview to a different room. We’ve heard that DHS interrogators routinely identify themselves as FBI agents and then interrogate a detainee for 16-18 hours using tactics as described above and others (wrapping in Israeli flag, constant loud music, cranking the A/C down, etc.) The next time a real Agent tries to talk to that guy, you can imagine the result.”

While some of the documents indicate that FBI personnel objected to Defense Department interrogation policies at Guantánamo, others raise serious questions about the FBI’s own policies – and particularly about the agency’s response to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. In one e-mail, dated Jan. 24, 2004, the FBI’s on scene commander in Baghdad discusses whether the FBI should investigate the abuse or whether it should leave the task to military investigators. The e-mail, which was sent to senior FBI officials at FBI headquarters, advises that the FBI should decline to investigate. “We need to maintain good will and relations with those operating the prison,” the e-mail states. “Our involvement in the investigation of the alleged abuse might harm our liaison.”

The FBI documents released today were previously released to the ACLU on December 15, 2004, with most of their contents redacted. The less-redacted versions released by the ACLU today were made available by the FBI after the ACLU challenged the FBI’s redactions in court. The ACLU’s challenge to other redactions in FBI documents is pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A hearing has been scheduled for April 5.

“More than two years after we filed our Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI continues to withhold documents that the public clearly has a right to see,” said Jaffer. “As we’ve been saying from the outset, the public has a right to know what the government’s policies were and who put them in place.”

In a related case, the ACLU yesterday filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the appeal of Qassim v. Bush which argues that two detainees who have been cleared of charges by the Guantánamo tribunal, whose continued military detention has been declared unlawful by a federal court and who cannot be repatriated, are legally entitled to be released under appropriate conditions of supervision.

Today’s documents come in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.

The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Jaffer, Amrit Singh, and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

To date, more than 90,000 pages of government documents have been released in response to the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The ACLU has been posting these documents online at

The friend-of-the-court brief in Qassim v. Bush is available online at

The documents released today are available online at <http://action.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/022306/>

<http://www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/24249prs20060223.html>

[killbotfactory]

2. Just a few bad apples

AKA the Bush administration.

[brainshrub]

53. More like a diseased tree.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

75. Just a few bad apples that like pranks.

Absolutely fucking adorable.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. K & R

[Fridays Child]

48. K & R ²

[tom_paine]

66. What does K & R stand for?

:shrug:

[Trevelyan]

68. K&R = Kicked and Recommended which I do now -- we must not allow this

horrifying story to die. We can save victims of this Nazi horror if we speak out. http://www.CagePrisoners.com has a wealth of information on what is going on and what we can do to help:

ACT NOW! Click here for more information on how you can help Jamal

Newly Released Abu Ghraib Abuse Images
An Australian TV channel has broadcast previously unpublished images showing apparent US abuse of prisoners in Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail in 2003. The images on SBS TV are thought to be from the same source as those that caused an outcry around the world and led to several US troops being jailed. The new images show "homicide, torture and sexual humiliation", SBS said. Click here to see the images.

Warning: The content of these pictures may be graphic and disturbing
==Basically said that as far as they knew there were no ROE for interrogations. They were still struggling with the definition for a detainee. It also said that commanders were tired of us taking casualties and they wanted the gloves to come off . . . . Other than a memo
saying that they were to be considered “unprivileged combatants” we received no guidance from them .

—Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Testifying during his Court Martial for Death of Iraqi General Abed Hamed Mowhoush January 19, 2006

Since August 2002, nearly 100 detainees have died while in the hands of U.S. officials in the global “war on terror.” According to the U.S. military’s own classifications, 34 of these cases are suspected or confirmed homicides; Human Rights First has identified another 11 in which the facts suggest death as a result of physical abuse or harsh conditions of detention.

In close to half the deaths Human Rights First surveyed, the cause of death remains officially undetermined or unannounced. Overall, eight people in U.S. custody were tortured to death...
=
I don't think Shafiq will be the same Shafiq I knew, two and a half years back - that Shafiq is lost and gone forever. - Habib Rasul :cry:

[Twist_U_Up]

4. this will head down the black hole also

the black hole of inside the smoke screen known as port hearings

[wiggs]

21. That's the way I'm feeling lately too

Nothing sticks. Each outrage is just more evidence that one-party rule in three branches and media and elections makes them practically invulnerable. In this environment and in this point in time, I do not have confidence that our country, as a whole, can effectively and rationally discuss, process, and act on any of these critical issues that come up. (IMO...That makes DU and the like all the more important in moving the discussion forward behind the scenes...imagine if these kinds of websites didn't exist! Near-complete public disconnect with reality and few forums in which issues are exposed and arguments evolve)

[dmkinsey]

29. Me too

Nothing sticks to this administration.
There is nothing that can damage *
There's no one, no entity that can hold him accountable for anything

[Ezlivin]

56. Prediction: Nothing will happen

Damned but if I'm not the most cynical person in the whole friggin' world now. Every time I read about another outrageous thing the administration has done I know that the only thing that will be affected is my blood pressure. The sheeple around me will just continue to bleat about ball games/olympics/britney/brad/angelina and stare at me with doll eyes.

Thank the gods for DU!

Now when they drag me off to the detention camp I'll know why.

[savemefromdumbya]

31. You have a point

however the port thing is not doing Bush any good?

[savemefromdumbya]

32. Wolfy the torturer

[Pacifist Patriot]

55. That is EXACTLY how I feel.

I am beside myself today. Exactly how many more "scandals" and dumbass moves can the Bush administration make before congress and the American people wake up. This is fucking ridiculous. It doesn't matter how many fuck ups are reported here at DU. They are all going to die a quiet death.

Disclaimer: I'm PMSing and drinking at the same time.

[wiggs]

59. Dang! That's what I need!

I need a disclaimer on my comments too! Then I can say what I really think without pulling punches....(still can't get over the national apathy surrounding white phosporous, torture, DSM I and II, Halliburton, Fallujia, etc)

I'll work on it. PMSing won't work but drinking might.

[Hissyspit]

5. on the Greatest Page now

Pretty damn fast, too! Never seen one go so fast.

We knew this, of course, but this is definitely important evidence.

Hey, Bushco, truth will out. I could have told you that five years ago. This question is not when you will go down, but how and how soon.

[myrna minx]

6. But but but--it was just a few baaaad apples, right?

That's what they said...and we're suppose to trust them, right? :sarcasm:

[Pachamama]

7. And "Who" is the Deputy Secretary of Defense?

:eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

19. The Deputy of Defense was, in 2003, everyone's fave, Paul Wolfowitz.

The one who was sworn in, in 2005, is Gordon England.

Wolfowitz would have been the one who was there when these deadly decisions about torture were made, from what I can gather.

[donkeyotay]

24. OMG. That's right. Of course he was promoted on to bigger and better

and I'm sure Rumsfeld didn't know, and Bush probably can't recall briefly meeting him.

War criminals. National disgrace. Impeach. Prosecute. Recall. They've destroyed America.

[kpete]

27. Wolfowitz???

Wow, makes SO much sense....

[stop the bleeding]

28. yep - this is HUGH - still no sign on the AP or MSM n/t

[donkeyotay]

34. Think of the possibilities. The World Bank can use torture to collect on

bad debts. Kind of like mobsters breaking knee caps, but I'm sure it'll be more refined and sophisticated. No horse heads or anything tacky. Probably just torturing family members or putting sacks of excrement over your head - you know, frat pranks.

[Turn CO Blue]

8. K&R. The ACLU is the last bastion of accountability. n/t

[movonne]

44. everyone that can should send a few dollars..I did a couple of

months ago, and so glad I did....this was the first time but will not be the last...

[cal04]

9. New Yorker article (Mora's effort to pentagon in2002)

Today's release comes only days after the release by the New Yorker magazine of a memorandum from Alberto Mora, General Counsel of the United States Navy, describing Mora's unsuccessful efforts in late 2002 and early 2003 to convince the Pentagon to renounce the abuse of prisoners at Guantбnamo. Collectively, the Mora memorandum and the documents released by the ACLU today show conclusively that Pentagon officials at the highest levels authorized the abuse of prisoners and persisted in their endorsement of unlawful interrogation methods even after FBI and Navy personnel objected to those methods orally and in writing.

The Memo
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060227fa_fact

[Just Me]

30. The evidence of criminal conduct by administration officials,...

,...is over-freakin-whelming. But, who the hell's gonna' prosecute 'em? :shrug: Who has authority? It's sickening that these people have escaped any responsibility, any justice for their evil-doings. Sickening.

[IsItJustMe]

38. Yeah, but they call it stress positions.

Democracy Now had very good coverage of how the pictures taken, of the prisoners, at Abu Ghraib, actually shows sophisticated methods used that were developed over a period of time by the powers that be.

No bad apples here.

[Trevelyan]

67. I read The New Yorker article reprinted on

http://www.CagePrisoner.com and then skimmed the article at the TNY site and don't know if the article mentioned Mora saying that he had seen a document that Rumsfeld scribbled "CARTE BLANCHE" in response to questions about torture. It gave me the chills to read that. How did these psychopaths take over our government?

[seabeyond]

10. bush approved it before the war. he got on tv and told the nation

these are different enemies. it does not break convention to torture these people.

[mom cat]

12. Please look for a link or the clip!

[seabeyond]

16. no i am not going to look. they had a campaign like they always do

all of them came out and talked about the geneva convention prior to war, ..... either remember, or hunt it yourself, lol lol. i am just not good at doing that and never find the stuff

[Trevelyan]

64. Mimikatz mentioned some earlier false reports by * Regime

don't have a link but maybe can find by Googling the author's name.
February 18, 2006 The Prisoners Dilemma By Mimikatz

...First to appear was a series of articles in the National Journal by Corine Hegland. Next came a study by Professor Mark Denbeaux of Seton Hall and attorney Joshua Denbeaux, counsel for two Guantanamo detainees. Then came the report from the UN Commission on Human Rights. In dismissing the UN Report as a “rehash”, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, “We know that these are dangerous terrorists that are being kept at Guantanamo Bay. They are trained to provide false information.” Donald Rumsfeld has called them "the worst of the worst" and characterized them eight months ago as “people, all of whom were captured on a battlefield. They’re terrorists, trainers, bomb makers, recruiters, financiers, bodyguards, would-be suicide bombers, probably the 20th 9/11 hijacker.”

But like so much from this Administration, Rumsfeld’s statement was untrue, and he most certainly knew that. Instead, the National Journal examination of the cases of 132 prisoners who have asked for court assistance, and the Denbeaux’s examination of the evidence against all of the detainees produced by the US Government for the Combatant Status
Review Tribunals shows a very different picture

[Canuckistanian]

11. K&R, wow

[stop the bleeding]

13. uh oh, I hear bombs dropping inside the beltway - has this been picked

up by the MSM or the AP yet?

[kpete]

14. stop the bleeding

Have you read the whole thing. Who does this point to exactly? I want names!!!

I will continue to check MSM & AP and update.

Thanks...

[stop the bleeding]

17. Dumbsfeld - here is the key part

Other documents released by the ACLU today provide more evidence that abusive interrogation methods used at Guantбnamo 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.”

Does the Deputy Secretary of Defense operate without Dumbsfeld's knowledge??? I think not.

[Emit]

42. Hey, stb

this is way off subject, but I think it really odd that the ACLU attorney quoted in this story was suposedly one of the members on the list that helped coach Alito. I remember his name because I made a comment about that here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=124864#131791

Oh well. Just a weird observation.

Also, the ACLU reported on Wolfowitz's connection last spring:

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:i5WA4H6gf1MJ:www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm%3FID%3D17767%26c%3D206+Wolfowitz+torture+ACLU&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1


Wolfowitz, an Architect of U.S. Torture Policies, Nominated to Lead World Bank; ACLU Notes Move is Latest to Reward Officials Implicated in Abuse of Detainees

March 18, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON - President Bush's nomination of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to be the new head of the World Bank continues a pattern of rewarding those involved in crafting torture policies with prestigious appointments, the ACLU said Friday.

"As privates and sergeants are getting jail time, top level officials are getting promotions," said Christopher Anders, an ACLU legislative counsel. "Government documents show the torture at Abu Ghraib wasn’t an isolated incident. The only way to get to the bottom of the issue is if we go straight to the top."

Documents turned over to the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit reveal that the Defense Department used "torture techniques" on detainees at Guantanamo. The documents include e-mails indicating that the FBI raised objections over interrogation techniques that appear to have been authorized by Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz.

Wolfowitz isn’t the first individual involved in the torture scandal to continue up the career ladder. Alberto Gonzales, who drafted memorandums on torture and gave legal advice on the matter as White House counsel, is now the attorney general. Michael Chertoff -- the force behind the detention of hundreds of Arab, South Asian and Muslim men after 9/11 - become the secretary of Homeland Security. And Jay Bybee, the head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel who signed the notorious August 2002 torture memorandum, was given a lifetime post on the influential Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Other senior officials implicated in torture, like Major General Geoffrey Miller and Major General Barbara Fast, were re-assigned to new positions, but never held accountable....

Maybe these newly obtained documents show even clearer evidence of the Defense Department officials involved.

[stop the bleeding]

49. I guess good lawyers get around - this time for the ACLU the papers

are not redacted like they were last March when the article that you highlighted was published:

Documents turned over to the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit reveal that the Defense Department used "torture techniques" on detainees at Guantanamo. The documents include e-mails indicating that the FBI raised objections over interrogation techniques that appear to have been authorized by Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz.


this appear part seems like the ACLU had a good idea who approved of the techniques but since the documents were redacted they couldn't be 100% sure, now that that documents have had some of the redacting removed then the ACLU is able to determine with absolute certainty that Wolfy was in charge of this.

[Emit]

51. Yes, gotcha, I agree, thanks.

And, from the RawStory article, looks like the ACLU is gonna try again to get more of the previously redacted parts:

...The less-redacted versions released by the ACLU today were made available by the FBI after the ACLU challenged the FBI’s redactions in court. The ACLU’s challenge to other redactions in FBI documents is pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A hearing has been scheduled for April 5.

[kpete]

63. stop the bleeding - here you go - it's made Reuters

Files show military rebuffs FBI Guantanamo worries
Thu Feb 23, 2006 05:10 PM ET

By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents accused U.S. military personnel at the Guantanamo prison of using illegal "aggressive interrogation tactics" on detainees but senior military officials rejected FBI concerns, documents made public on Thursday showed.

The FBI documents, released by the American Civil Liberties Union after being obtained under a court order, further exposed the rift between the agency and the Pentagon over treatment of foreign terrorism suspects imprisoned at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The FBI said the military's techniques, which involved homosexual pornographic movies, loud music and the Israeli flag, not only were illegal but were ineffective.

Maj. Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman, said 12 major investigations have found that no Pentagon policy "ever encouraged or condoned abuse of detainees at Guantanamo" and that "the Department of Defense is treating and will continue to treat all of the individuals detained at Guantanamo humanely."

"This is another example of recycling old information," Shavers said.

The United States has faced international criticism over treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo base and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An FBI agent described in one document witnessing two military investigators at Guantanamo interrogating a detainee while showing him homosexual pornography movies and using a strobe light in the room.

The agent said military interrogators routinely masqueraded as FBI agents while subjecting detainees to interrogations lasting 16 to 18 hours using tactics such as wrapping them in the Israeli flag and bombarding them with constant loud music.

FBI agents expressed concern to agency officials in a May 30, 2003, memo about the actions of military interrogators and the rejection of the agents' concerns by the Guantanamo prison commander at the time, Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller.

'QUESTIONABLE EFFECTIVENESS'

The document said members of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense HUMINT (human intelligence) Service, or DHS, "were being encouraged at times to use aggressive interrogation tactics in GTMO (Guantanamo) which are of questionable effectiveness and subject to uncertain interpretation based on law and regulation." Continued ...




"Not only are these tactics at odds with legally permissible interviewing techniques used by U.S. law enforcement agencies in the United States but they are being employed by personnel in GTMO who appear to have little, if any, experience eliciting information for judicial purposes," the memo said.
"Unfortunately, these arguments were met with considerable skepticism and resistance by senior DHS officials in GTMO, despite several attempts to convince them otherwise."



The memo said FBI agents took their concerns to Miller but he "favored DHS's interrogation methods, despite FBI assertions that such methods could easily result in the elicitation of unreliable and legally inadmissible information."

Miller is a central figure in the detainee controversy for his role at Guantanamo and later in Iraq detention operations.

A May 5, 2004, FBI document stated that "hooding prisoners, threats of violence and techniques meant to humiliating (sic) detainees" had been "approved at high levels" at the Pentagon.

U.N. human rights investigators last week said detainees at Guantanamo faced treatment "amounting to torture," and Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it should be closed.

Files released a year ago revealed tensions between FBI agents and the military at Guantanamo.

ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said the new documents "show conclusively that the abuse and torture of prisoners at Guantanamo was not the result of rogue elements but rather the consequence of policies that were deliberately adopted by senior military and Pentagon officials."

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=11322038&src=rss/politicsNews

[stop the bleeding]

74. cool - now AFP An even better version on Yahoo.com

Documents show FBI questioned Guantanamo interrogation tactics

WASHINGTON (AFP) - FBI officials raised repeated objections to "aggressive interrogation tactics" at the US "war on terror" prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including some they said were approved at high levels of the Defense Department, documents show.

~snip~

"As it relates to (redacted) and (redacted) the techniques employed against them in the interrogation process were, based on numerous inquiries I made, in addition to my personal review of the DoD interrogation plans, approved by the Deputy Secretary of Defense."

The deputy defense secretary at the time was Paul Wolfowitz, now head of the World Bank.

Another message sent minutes later from an unidentified sender to FBI officials,referred to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"Based on Rumsfeld's public statements, DoD is against hooding prisoners, threats of violence and techniques meant to humiliating (sic) detainees (there is a list of these I have seen)," it said.

"I know these techniques were approved at high levels w/in DoD and used on (redacted) and (redacted)," it said.

The documents were released in December 2004 but in heavily censored form. The American Civil Liberties Union then took the FBI to court, gaining release of the current version with newly uncensored passages.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060224/pl_afp/usattacksguantanamoprisonersfbi_060224022812;_ylt=Am9YMcw4gKlc90y0zMHBP1is0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

[The Stranger]

15. Kicked and recommended.

[Longhorn]

18. Thanks for reminding me to renew my ACLU membership!

www.aclu.org

[Just Me]

20. LET THE PROSECUTIONS BEGIN!!!!

:grr: Let justice prevail!!!!

[iconoclastNYC]

22. The admin succesfully avoided responsibility

Add this to the "things to impeach for" file. I think that file takes up 5 filing rooms by now.

[Lochloosa]

23. Kick

[EFerrari]

25. Good for the ACLU! K&R

[Warren Stupidity]

26. We are going to proceed with tribunals

and pass down and carry out death sentences based on tortured confessions. Is it fascism yet?

Oh I know: it is not your grandfather's fascism because you can read this on the internets. You can read this on the internet in Iran or China too if you find that fact to be comforting.

[savemefromdumbya]

33. Wolfy the torturer

what about Herr Rumsfeld?

[twaddler01]

35. I thought we already knew this?

Now, I guess we have more concrete evidence...Thanks ACLU!

[The Animator]

36. I think it's about high time we made a list of all Bush Transgressions

It will be long. We probably won't even be able to remember them all. However seeing Letterman the other night as he broke down the laundry list of Cheney's misdeeds re-affirmed for me the need to chronicle all the wrongdoings of this administration. One scandal after another is too distracting. It's like the whole country has A.D.D. or something. We'll abandon examining one scandal to focus on an all new scandal.

We need to look at them all at once. Compile all the wrongs and see how many are connected. Maybe in doing so we'll remember a few forgotton or overlooked fiascos. Taking a few large steps back, glancing up and down the timeline of this administration, we can see a much larger picture. Individually all these transgressions are insignificant, much like hurling bbs at a tank. You take thousands of bbs mass them into one soild ball, and drop it from 100 thousand feet... bye bye tank.

I'll go first.

All the shenanigans in the 2000 election of course, should probably go first in the Timeline, but here something that happened between the election and 9/11

My first memory of a Bush screw-up was almost immediatley after he took office, does anyone remember big flap with a downed "spy plane" and China. Apparently there was an AWAC (one of those big radar planes with the big honkin' disk on top.) Flying over or too close to China. I don't remember if there was a midair collision, or if it was shot down, but the crew was detained in China, and the plane was seized.

That's when he got our first glimpse at Bush diplomacy, after we got our pilots back, he gave China the though act.

"Oh great, the last thing this idiot should do is piss of China" I remember thinking to myself. If you gave every adult male in China a fork and told them to swim to the US and take it over they could do it with the sheer size of there population alone. Bush had a hard on for war, he was trying to pick a fight. Then on 9/11 a fight was brought to him, and he finally had someone to fight, he finally had an excuse to go to war. I don't even think it mattered to him whether he went to war in Asia or the Middle East as long as he got to go to war with somebody.

Anyway, that's my first impression...

[kpete]

37. once the news dies down

I will give it a shot............

here's a start:

He lost the entire city of New Orleans.

He sold out our ports to the 9/11 financiers.

He created the largest Deficits in our Country's history.

He wired-tapped and spied on us.

He let Osama Bin Laden go free.

He lied repeatedly to start an unnecessary War that has killed & mamed thousands, created world chaos, and tarnished our Country's good image.

He had people tortured at multiple facilities.

He tried to take away Social Security.

He fired no one for the 9/11 failures and even tried to obstruct the investigation.

He talks tough but tramples on our constitution, picks our pockets, sends our children off to die, makes us weaker, and shames our nation.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/23/131915/554

[twaddler01]

43. and that is just the beginning nt

[Usrename]

47. The AWAC was actually a P-3 Orion

But before that, a nuclear sub with some big donors aboard (pioneers?) surfaced and sank a Japanese ship with students onboard. No big deal really. Much fuss over the Clinton White House coffees, but joy riding on a boomer, no big deal. (I have a mental picture of them waving their cowboy hats in the air and screaming "yippie" while the colision occured.)

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/13/japan.substrike.02/

But even before that happened there was the big vandalism of the White House flap. Those were the good old days, I guess. Lies, lies, and damned lies. grrrr

[RaleighNCDUer]

39. General Miller

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller was subsequently transferred to Iraq, where he was in charge of Abu Grahib.

Surely just a coincidence.

[mzmolly]

40. So many scandals, so little time.

One wonders what will finally undo this insane posse? Certainly "war crimes" SHOULD concern American citizens?

[Jack Rabbit]

41. Impeach and indict

If the US government isn't willing or able to impeach and indict those responsible, then an international tribunal should be convened for the purpose of trying and punishing war crimes in Iraq and crimes against humanity growing out of the so-called War on Terror.

[ClintonTyree]

45. It may violate all law, domestic and international, but.........

it doesn't violate bush law. Bush law states, "there is no law, for me anyway. The rest of you obey the law, I'm above it all". :mad: At least that's the way it's been since he was appointed president by the Supreme Whores.
One day, if there's any justice in this world whatsoever, bush and his mob will be tried, convicted and imprisoned for their crimes against the country and mankind. That will be the happiest day of my life. :party:

[leftchick]

46. I read this Memo Story in the NewYorker

on Monday.

[kpete]

52. ACLU Press Release - Documents

http://action.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/022306/

[FreedomAngel82]

54. Why am I not surprised?

[HereSince1628]

57. So....could British, Canadian, Dutch, German or French lawyers

now bring a case in the World Court against senior administration officials?

[Trevelyan]

61. Don't forget Switzerland - They are investigating the CIA torture planes

using Swiss airspace for Crimes Against Humanity.

Swiss open investigation into CIA flights swissinfo
December 16, 2005 9:50 PM

The US air base in Ramstein in Germany may have been used for CIA flights (Keystone) The Federal Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation into alleged overflights in Swiss airspace of CIA planes carrying detainees...

Kidnapping

One plane registered to the US Department of Defense flew across the country twice on February 17, 2003, on a flight from Ramstein, Germany, to Aviano, Italy, and back again to Ramstein.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=6325344
Several articles about Swiss investigation into CIA on this site.

[HereSince1628]

65. Who brings cases to the Hague? Lawyers & clients, or nations?

This information is obviously looks like the US broke a number of international conventions to which it is a signatory. The US specifically seem to have violated the rights of specific people.

Who makes the complaint or brings the indictment? Can a group of people in the who feel their country has broken the law petition the International Court?

My question is simple..."What do we do with this information to be sure that accountability and punishment of the guilt occurs?"

[Trevelyan]

69. That's a very good idea, Here. I have heard of US citizens petitioning

the UN recently and a while back http://www.ccr-ny.com/ had a petition to the German judge with broad powers to bring war crimes charges. That judge turned it down but recently, don't know if it was the same judge, but a German judge was doing something official about the Crimes Against Humanity of the US and also mentioned in the legal brief the German govt cooperation with the bush regime enabling the torture and rendition.

A Belgium Court started proceedings about two years ago and some US attorneys and citizens were involved in asking for War Crimes charges against bushco but after Rumsfeld threatened not to build some huge expensive building in Belgium they passed a law stating that Belgium's war court could not indict a sitting US president.

The Hague is in Netherlands and despite reading "Send Buschco to the Hague" so often, which I agree with, have never heard of anyone petitioning the Hague. I have read that the Hague has many International members that are very powerful but who had chosen not to pursue bushco for whatever reason but with all the international bodies finally condemning this inhumanity, maybe bushco will be held accountible or at least run to Saudi Arabia for shelter.

[Trevelyan]

58. There was a play on Guantanamo and a photo on Guantanamo Human Rights

Guantanamo ran from August 19 - December 19
http://www.guantanamohrc.org/old_index.html http://www.45bleecker.com/about.html
"It opens a door that our theater has foolishly kept shut.
Crisply staged... Extremely well acted." (Village Voice)

"Deeply moving... exerts an icy visceral charge." (NY Times)

"You may find your mind-set profoundly challenged by this
skillfully assembled, moving documentary-style work." (The Washington Post)

Click here to see photos of the production READ FULL REVIEWS:
The New York Times, Village Voice, Time Out New York, Variety

Weaving together personal stories, legal opinion, and political debate, Guantanamo: 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom' looks at the questions surrounding the detentions in Guantanamo Bay, and asks how much damage is being done to Western democratic values during the 'war on terror.'

by Victoria Brittain & Gillian Slovo from spoken evidence
directed by Nicolas Kent & Sacha Wares

[Trevelyan]

60. Belmarsh - Britain's Guantanamo Bay?

By Denise Winterman BBC News

You don't have to go to Cuba to find terror suspects controversially imprisoned. Nine foreigners have been held in London's Belmarsh Prison for almost three years without charge or trial. So is it the UK's Guantanamo Bay? In December 2001 nine foreign nationals were removed from their families by police and taken to Belmarsh Prison in south east London. They have been held there ever since and still do not know why. The detainees are unable to see the intelligence evidence against them and are confined to their cells for up to 22 hours a day. Their solicitors say they have been "entombed in concrete". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/3714864.stm
Cageprisoner published remarks from one of the Belmarsh prisoners who had been released saying that one man had completely lost his mind from the torture and others were about to commit suicide - how would we ever hear about it - and that "The brothers were not thinking well because of the torture."

An Open Letter From The Brothers in HMP Belmarsh
In the name of Allah, the most Kind, the most Merciful, to whom belongs all praise and honour

To: All our honourable brethren and sisters worldwide May Allah’s peace and grace be upon you.

We, your brothers at Belmarsh prison and on behalf of brothers captive across the UK, especially those who are deprived of any form of communication with the outside world, collectively and with one voice would like to say thanks to Allah that we have you out there and thanks to you for being what you are. We praise your undivided attentions, care and love which touched our hearts and brought tears of joy to our eyes. We value every word of comfort and advice.

Surely Allah makes best of his servants the instrument of his blessings - all your letters, postcards and artworks are being gathered and preserved for historical records.Our praise and admiration extended first and foremost to all the children who continuously wrote to us. Then to all those who tirelessly and zealously campaigned for us, organized websites, arranged meetings, demonstrations and made speeches in propagation of the Truth, to our staunch friends who, unwavering in grace and belief, are unswayed by the
political winds and influx of climate fluctuations.

We strive to cast the die of your valor on the golden pages of history, that future generations may honour you and derive lessons from all your courage, self sacrifice and care. May Allah reward you manifold.

We often ponder what we may have done to our great men of knowledge, the magnanimous learned, those who enjoy a great deal of respect within the Muslim Community, that we have not heard of them unless through media interviews and scholars whom are conversant with the Holy Quran and book of traditions and well versed; the enlightened intellects and intellectuals and those whom are rightly known as leaders of Muslims in UK and Europe.

Have we misunderstood their duties or are their duties other than what the Holy Book commands? Have we become invisible in their eyes or insignificant in their attention? Does not rank impose obligation? Surely, we have been noticed by children. Would one prefer the shades of the spider’s webs to the light of the Truth? Then to what benefit is this abandonment and to what wisdom this silence that it has become our duty to bring to their attention, their unintentional negligence?

Please do accept our apology in advance if we may have been hasty.

Yours sincerely,
Your brothers
Belmarsh 25-11-05
http://www.cageprisoners.com/

[Miss Chybil]

62. Will it matter?

I'm not holding my breath for anybody in Congress, or the judicial system, to do anything about it. At least, not until next year. Even then, all the rich, white guys will get a slap on the wrist and a pardon.

[flashdebadge]

70. my thoughts exactly.

[Disturbed]

71. None will be held accountable.

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public on TV that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Iraqi prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graihib but the prisoner was purposefully not listed at that location, also an illegal act. Rumsfeld also admitted to signing orders for tougher interogation methods which violated the Geneva Conventions.

Rumfailed has commited at least three violations of the Geneva Convention thereby also violations of The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that Rumsfailed and Tenet have not been charged speaks volumes. If Congress wishes to garner any respect they should move forward with Rep. Rangle's Impeachment Declaration of Rumsfailed and also prosecute Ex. CIA Tenet.

The US, Govt., Congress, and the Justice Dept no longer abide by the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA.

[pat_k]

72. Navy general counsel's 22-page memo is an eye opener too. . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x503566

[dermalogic]

73. ACLU always needs more members!

I imagine im preaching to the choir to some extent, but the ACLU always need new members to help uncover things like this and defend the right of all americans.

I'm a card carrying member and I live in Australia, but I know that the US is the pointy end of the conservative stick in a lot of regards and I'd hope that the land of the free can set a better example for the leaders of the world!

So, go on, join up, its a modest contribution to a wonderful organization!

[newyawker99]

80. Hi dermalogic!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Wilms]

76. K&R n/t

[BelgianMadCow]

77. Seymour Hersch explained it all in a 2003 article

which I'll try to find. The torture practices developed in Gitmo were exported to the military and contractors, and on to Abu Ghraib.

Very insightfull article, have to find it.

[ktlyon]

78. to all readers don't forget to renew your membership to the ACLU

they are fighting for our rights

[luke_nichols]

79. Muslims being provoked to spawn Social Cataclysm

Islam is being provoked by the Globalists, to spawn a Social Cataclysm. In the Globalist Mind, the hastening of the Social Cataclysm is a big step towards the World accepting World Government. They seem to be in Mach 10 Mode now, and will we ever be the same?

Luke Nichols
USA

http://truth4you.no-ip.org/special/cfr.html

The Coming Financial Collapse, also leading to the Social Cataclysm:

http://truth4you.no-ip.org/tat.html

[newyawker99]

81. Hi luke_nichols!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: