Sunday, March 15, 2009

Not nice reading for a Sunday morning

In 2006, President Bush allowed the Red Cross to interview fourteen 'high-value detainees' at Guantanamo and publish a confidential report of their interviews. Mark Danner was able to get a copy of that report. Danner's article in the New York Review of Books is harrowing. Here is the table of contents of the report:
Contents
Introduction
1. Main Elements of the CIA Detention Program
1.1 Arrest and Transfer
1.2 Continuous Solitary Confinement and Incommunicado Detention
1.3 Other Methods of Ill-treatment
1.3.1 Suffocation by water
1.3.2 Prolonged Stress Standing
1.3.3 Beatings by use of a collar
1.3.4 Beating and kicking
1.3.5 Confinement in a box
1.3.6 Prolonged nudity
1.3.7 Sleep deprivation and use of loud music
1.3.8 Exposure to cold temperature/cold water
1.3.9 Prolonged use of handcuffs and shackles
1.3.10 Threats
1.3.11 Forced shaving
1.3.12 Deprivation/restricted provision of solid food
1.4 Further elements of the detention regime
And here is the report's conclusion:
The allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees indicate that, in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in the CIA program, either singly or in combination, constituted torture. In addition, many other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
What have we become?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The operative words here are: Red Cross and high-value detainees (terrorists/murderers).

The International Red Cross is widely known as having anti-U.S. interests. As such, haven't they every reason at a minimum to embellish the truth, though probably they are more likely to create falsehoods from thin air?

The 'detainees,' well, since they have every incentive to harm and undermine the U.S.--although of course they're upright and honest murderers--are most certainly above reproach.

Even if the allegations are true, those acts are not illegal as there are no laws the U.S. are bound to when handling enemy combatants not on U.S. soil. (The Geneva Conventions apply only to legitimate wars fought among countries.)

After that, the ethicality is worthy of debate, but only this and nothing more.