Om amerikanernes og englændernes anvendelse af tortur.

Bush startede med at trække USA ud af det internationale samfund allerede i begyndelsen af sin præsidentperiode (The Guardian, lederen, 100504).

Det er for så vidt ikke nyt, Bush-holdet, de neokonservative, har længe skrevet for netop det, det samme har Kissinger og Brzezinski, se f.eks. EA Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 2000, 79, 6; Kissinger, F.A., 2001, 80, 4, 86 - 96; JJ Mearsheimer, F.A. 2001, 80, 5; F Ajami, F.A. 2001, 80, 6, 2 - 16.

Modstanden mod Den internationale Krigsforbryderdomstol (ICC) og forsøgene på at gennemtvinge undtagelsesaftaler igennem er et led i denne holden USA udenfor - eller snarere over det internationale samfund.

The Guardian skriver i sin leder, 100504, at vi har behov for et signal fra Bush (og Blair) om at "han forstår sin fejl, ikke de fejl, som er begået af et antal dårligt uddannede reservister, som gennemfører den politik, som efterretningstjenesterne har udviklet over mange år. Dette signal kunne have form af en præsidentiel ordre ... om at lukke Guantanamo."

Jeg synes nok, der er brug for mere. Hvis vi skal slippe dem ind i det internationale samfund igen, må vi forlange at de først underskriver torturkonventionen og Rom-aftalen om den internationale krigsforbryderdomstol - dette er det absolutte minimum, de bør også underskrive de øvrige internationale aftaler og konventioner og betale deres gæld til FN.

John Kerry udtaler (citeret fra MoveOn.org nyhedsbrev, 100504): "Som præsident vil jeg ikke være den sidste til at få at vide, hvad der sker under min kommando. Jeg vil forlange ansvarlighed af dem der gør tjeneste og jeg vil tage ansvaret for deres handlinger. ... Som øverstkommanderende vil jeg respektere jeres pligttroskab og jeg vil tage ansvaret for det dårlige såvelsom for det gode".

Ser man på tidstavlen fik Bush besked i januar, så Kerry's forudsætning holder ikke.

Og som The Guardian skriver i sin leder, 100504, mangler vi en klar stillingtagen fra Kerry til at og hvordan han vil undgå den slags fremover.

Når vi tager hensyn til, hvad alle undtagen den almindelige hæderlige amerikaner, har vidst længe,

- at mange amerikanske militære anser tortur som berettiget (som nogen f.eks. har udtalt det til Skånska Dagbladet, 120504, p. 11).

- at man i mange år har undervist militære først og fremmest fra Sydamerika i tortur på School of the Americas, Fort Benning, nu omdøbt til Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

- at USA stadig er dybt racistisk og mange - især indenfor politiet og fængselsvæsenet ikke anser "fejlfarvede" for at være rigtige mennesker med menneskerettigheder

- at mishandel er almindeligt forekommende i amerikanske fængsler, Gary Younge, The Guardian, 110504.

så må vi forlange, at USA tiltræder konventionen mod tortur.

Gen. Taguba anfører i sin rapport, at nogen af dem, der forhører fanger i Abu Ghraib er "private contractors", altså firmaer ansat til formålet.

Et af disse firmaer er CACI International Incorporated. CACIs direktør Jack London var på kursus i Beit Horon, Israels centrale træningslejr for politiets og grænsepolitiets anti-terror-korps i januar.

Det giver anledning til spekulationer over, om der direkte anvendes israelsk personale, http://www.DailyStar.com.lb/printable.asp?art_ID=3446&cat_ID=2 Libanon, 110504; Wayne Madsen, Counterpunch, 100504.

Madsen skriver, at Tagubas rapport omtaler udlændinge som deltagere i torturen i Abu Ghraib.

Krigen blev bl.a. begrundet med at der skulle indføres demokrati, frihed og andre vestlige civilisationsværdier i Iraq. Det stilles i et uhyggeligt perspektiv af de mange billeder fra virkeligheden i iraqiske fængsler under Koalitionen. Gary Younge undtrykker det sådan i The Guardian 110504: "Det stærkeste modsigelse, der er kommet ud af denne affære er, at mange amerikanere ser deres land som et der bringer demokrati og frihed, men har begået en fejl, mens resten af verden ser USA som en brutal bølle, der har et tilbagefald."

Nazi-lederne blev efter 2. verdenskrig stillet for Nürnberg-domstolen, bl.a. fordi de havde accepteret/beordret, at der anvendtes tortur. Beviserne var af samme karakter, som dem, der nu foreligger mod Bush, Blair og Fogh m.fl.

Milosevic er stillet for Haag domstolen, fordi han var topmanden, der kontrollerede dem, der begik krigsforbrydelser (ganske som Bush, Blair, Fogh m.fl).

Vi må forlange, at Bush, Blair og Fogh m.fl. også stilles for en domstol. I modsætning til Milosevic, har de startet en ulovlig krig på et grundlag af falsk og bevidst løgnagtig propaganda. Og som den amerikanske anklager ved Nürnberg-domstolen sagde, "at starte en angrebskrig er roden til alle andre krigsforbrydelser".

(Fogh og Blair m.fl. har faktisk godkendt Rom aftalen om ICC og bør derfor stilles for denne ret).

030407, Haaretz, Colombia seeks Israelis accused of training death squads. "Interpol issued an international arrest warrant Tuesday for three Israelis accused of training private armies of Colombian drug cartels and right-wing death squads."Yair Klein, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham were being sought on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism and face nearly 11 years in prison if convicted...Klein, a former lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, appeared in a 1998 video used to train far-right squads. In 1991, he was convicted and fined US$13,400...by an Israeli court for selling arms to Colombia's illegal groups. Klein also spent 16 months in a Sierra Leone prison for his role in a guns for blood diamonds deal."

160710, The Independent, Robert Verkaik, Law Editor, Army 'involved in torture mission with US troops'. Claims that British soldiers used water torture on a badly beaten Iraqi man before unlawfully handing him over to US interrogators are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence. The troubling case includes the first evidence before a UK court of British soldiers being directly involved in a joint torture operation with US forces. Ali Lafteh Eedan, 37, says that for three hours British and US soldiers attempted to drown him by pushing his head into a bucket of water in August 2008. His case is the latest of 100 allegations being investigated by the Ministry of Defence's Iraqi historic abuse team. Today High Court judges are to clear the way for a court case to force the Government to open a judicial inquiry into all allegations of abuse and torture. Mr Eedan, who is being represented by human rights solicitors Public Interest Lawyers, says he was a senior member of Iraq's National Intelligence Service before his arrest and detention. In his witness statement he alleges that a joint unit of American and British soldiers raided his Basra home at around 1am on 11 August 2008 [???] while he, his wife and four children were asleep.

160710, Daily Mail, Paper trail points to Blair: Former PM 'sanctioned the abuse of UK Citizens'. Tony Blair was accused of ordering Jack Straw to 'violate the law' as the row over Britain colluding in torture took a new twist. Previously secret documents exposed their alleged roles in sanctioning British Citizens being sent to Guantanamo Bay, where they were abused. For the first time, the former Prime Minister's office is implicated in a series of explosive classified files which Labour ministers battled to suppress but which have been released on the orders of the High Court. .... Mr Blair's office gave direct orders to the Foreign Office to deny help to a British citizen later taken by the CIA to he Guantanamo prison. Mr Straw, then Foreign Secretary, decided in January 2002 that Guantanamo was the 'best way' to ensure UK nationals were 'securely held'. The Foreign Office issued instructions that transferrig British citizens from Afghanistan to Guantanamo was its 'preferred option'. More than 900 documents have been released on the orders of High Court judges who are hearing a lengthy case brought by Binyam Mohamed, a British resident who claims his genitals were slashed by his torturers, and other former Guantanamo inmates who are suing the British government. ... Last week David Cameron announced a judicial inquiry into the torture allegations, to help 'restore Brifain's moral leadership in the world'. ...The documents ... were released after the state had asked a judge to direct six former Guantanamo inmates, and six others who plan to launch similar cases, to halt their lawsuits and focus on reaching out of court settlements. But High Court judge Stephen Silber ruled that the men can press ahead with their cases, even if their lawyers decide to take part in mediation talks aimed at reaching a deal outside the courts. ...telegram attributed to Jack Straw. 'If it is from him, it reveals that as Foreign Secretary in 2002 he stated that the transfer of UK detainees to Guantanamo Bay was the 'best way' and should take place 'as soon as possible' after the detainees had been interviewed by a British team. ... There is no evidence of any British agent directly torturing suspects, and ministers have always insisted the security services had no knowledge at the time of the waterboarding and other interrogation techniques being used the CIA. But yesterday it was revealed that MI5 did know in at least one case of some of the brutal treatment being meted out. ... A British Citizen detained without trial in Zambia was denied diplomatic help on the direct orders of Downing Street before being sent for interrogation to Guantanamo Bay as a terror suspect, it was revealed yesterday. A furious official at the British High Commission in the Zambian capital Lusaka said Martin Mubanga was entitled to consular assistance following his detention by local detectives on the instructions of American agents. But the High Commission was placed in an 'impossible position' by No. 10 which banned any contact with the Briton. Memos written by the increasingly frustrated official - whose name is blacked out - disclose how Tony Blair's office ordered that 'under no circumstances' should the UK take responsibility for Mr Mubanga, who was a dual UK-Zambian national. ... He was subsequently 'rendered' by the CIA to Guantanamo Bay prison camp where he was tortured, and is now one of the Britons suing the Government for compensation. ... 'Any UK national, no matter what they are alleged to have done, has a right to consular assistance. But one half of the foreign Office said we should not take responsibility for him, and the other half said we should.' ... Yesterday, a rather different story emerged. For three years earlier, in January 2002, not long after the start of the 'war on terror", the Foreign Seaetary had sent a secret telegram to the British ambassader in Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer. It read: 'We accept that the transfer of UK nationals held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to the U.S. base in Guantanamo is the best way to meet our counter-terrorism objective by ensuring that they are securely held.' According to the documents, Mr Straw added that he wanted British nationals to be questioned by MI5 before they were moved to Guantanamo.

110411, Mother Jones, Nick Baumann, Did Obama Kneecap the 9/11 Suspects' Defense Lawyers? Last week, on the same day President Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign, his administration announced [1] that it had officially reversed its decision to try the accused 9/11 plotters — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed "mastermind" of the attacks — in federal court and would instead prosecute them via the military commissions system. .... For well over a year, civilian and military defense lawyers representing so-called "high-value detainees" at Guantanamo Bay were caught up in a secret Justice Department investigation. (The agency won't say whether the investigation is still ongoing.) Can Guantanamo lawyers mount full and fair defenses of the 9/11 conspirators while under the pressures of a past or present DOJ investigation — and the threat of a future probe by the Pentagon itself, as some congressional Republicans have called for? We're about to find out. .... guards at Guantanamo found a series of photos in the cell of Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi, an accused Al Qaeda financier and one of KSM's four co-defendants. The photos, according to multiple [2] reports [3], showed CIA employees suspected of involvement in the interrogation of high-value detainees, including al Hawsawi himself. ... [CIA] "It's always operating out there on the edge, not unlawfully, but generally at the farthest reaches of executive prerogative." ... The Justice Department launched an investigation, headed by Donald Vieira, a former Democratic Hill staffer. Vieira soon found that the photos had been taken for a reason. Since any successful defense of a high-value detainee would likely require proving torture — and calling the alleged torturers, if they existed, to the stand — members of the Gitmo defense bar felt they needed to identify whom, exactly, had interrogated their clients. In any other criminal case, this would normally be a breeze — defense lawyers generally know which cops or FBI agents questioned their clients and can call them as witnesses if necessary. But when you're dealing with the CIA, it's a whole different story. The details of many of the high-value detainees' interrogations are secret. Ditto the identities of the interrogators. The defense attorneys needed to identify the interrogators, and the prosecution wasn't interested in lending a hand. ... John Sifton, a longtime human rights investigator, attorney, and firebrand, stepped into the breach. As Daniel Schulman and I reported last year [5], Sifton was the major force behind a highly controversial effort to identify, photograph, and, in some cases, tail CIA officials and contractors whom he and others believed had been involved in the torture of Guantanamo detainees. Sifton's clients included the John Adams Project [7], .... It was named after the founding father who defended Brifish soldiers in court in the wake of the Boston massacre. ... "The real scandal," he said in a statement [8], "isn't that we're investigating the torture of our clients, but that the government isn't." ... Under serious pressure from inside and outside the government, Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Patrick Fitzgerald, the US attorney who handled the Plame matter and the Rod Blagojevich case, to take over the investigation into the Gitmo lawyers. Holder was sending a message, to the Gitmo bar and the Right: He took the matter very seriously. .... There are some signs of activity. In the year since Fitzgerald took over, people and organizations connected to the case began to change their behavior. Sifton sharply reduced his role in the private investigation firm he founded, One World Research, to take an investigative job with a white-shoe law firm. For some time during 2010, Mother Jones has learned. Sifton was being represented by a top Washington lawyer with deep connections in the Justice Department. ... But privately, Romero has continued to complain that Guantanamo defense lawyers associated with the ACLU were under enormous legal pressure from the DOJ. .... . If defense lawyers at Guantanamo believed that they needed photos of CIA interrogators in order to meet their ethical obligations to mount a vigorous defense of their clients. 'It's hard to think they'd be confident given what happened to their colleagues," Prasow said. .... says he's "sure" that the military lawyers currently assigned to the 9/11 defendents would argue that they were not intimidated by the DOJ investigation. But if he were a defendant, Saltzburg says, he would "want to know whether my lawyer had been under investigation, because I wouldn't be so sure how it was going to effect how the lawyer was handling my case." The DOJ probe isn't even the only option on the table for investigating the Gitmo defense bar. Last year, Republicans in Congress pushed hard for a provision [10] that would have essentially instituted a permanent Defense Department investigation of the activities of all Guantanamo defense lawyers. [originalartiklen har links, OJ]

Tidstavle

I marts 2003 aflægger ICRC besøg i fangelejre. I h.t. ICRCs standardprocedure ledsages røde kors repræsentanterne af "detaining authorities" og holder som afslutning "a final talk to inform them about findings and recommendations"

I september 2003 klager Amnesty International i en rapport over tortur

I efteråret 2003 henvender Bremer sig direkte til bl.a. Rumsfeld og forlanger at få løsladt tusinder af ikke anklagede fanger for at skaffe plads til nye, og bedre vilkår for dem, der bliver tilbage (MoveOn, 100504)

051103, Maj.Gen. Donald J Ryder aflægger rapport, der fastslår, at der er menneskerettighedsproblemer mm. (MoveOn, 100504)

Jan. 2004 får Rumsfeld besked om, at de senere offentliggjorte fotos findes. (MoveOn, 100504)

Midt i Januar 2004 får Bush besked. (MoveOn, 100504)

I februar 2004 afleverer det internationale røde kors, ICRC en rapport til "Coalition Forces" "Report of the International committee of the red cross (ICRC) on the treatment by the coalition forces of prisoners of war and other protected persons by the Geneva conventions in Iraq during arrest, internment and interrogation. Rapporten beskriver et antal alvorlige overtrædelser af International humanitær Lov. Rapporten, der egentlig er hemmelig kan findes på http://www.informationclearingshouse.info

Sidst i februar aflægger Maj. Gen. Antonio M Taguba rapport om "sadistiske, grove og formålsløse kriminelle overgreb" i Abu Ghraib. (MoveOn, 100504)

I marts 2004 anklages 6 soldater for mishandling af fanger. En stilles for krigsret. (MoveOn, 100504)

I midten af april får CBS billederne. (MoveOn, 100504)

200404, viser CBS billederne. Rumsfeld orienterer kongressens ledere om situationen i Iraq uden at fortælle om billederne. (MoveOn, 100504)

040504, Rumsfeld siger, han er uenig med de kritikere, der siger, at Pentagon har reageret for langsomt.

General George Casey taler om et "totalt disciplinsammenbrud". (MoveOn, 100504)

270307, BBC, Torturers 'must pay victims' - UN. Det er FNs Special Rapporteur om tortur Manfred Nowak, der har det glimrende forslag. Regningen for behandling af torturofre skal sendes til det lands regering, som har stået for torturen. Regningen kunne siden sendes videre til de enkelte involverede bødler. [Det er klart tiltag af den type, der skal til for at standse uvæsenet, OJ] Nowak vil også have en regel om universel jurisdiction ind i Torturkonventionen. Også det er en god ide.

140710, guardian. Ian Cobain, Omar Deghayes: 'He was brought in manacled and hooded'. Libyan-born British resident held in Afghanistan was warned he faced a long perlod of incarceration in US hands ... In an MI5 report on the interrogation of Omar Deghayes, a Libyan-born British resident held by the Americans at Bagram airbase north of Kabul, an officer wrote to his superiors in London: "Deghayes was brought to the interview room manacled and hooded. When the hood was removed, Deghayes looked pale and shaky." ... Deghayes told the officers that he was suffering internal bleeding and complained that no evidence had been presented against him. "He was also being treated badly, with head-braces and lock-down positions being the order of the day," wrote the officer. "He was treated better by the Pakistanis; what kind of world was it where the Americans were more barbaric than the Pakistanis? We listened but did not comment." ... In the autumn Deghayes was flown to Guantánamo Bay, where he stayed for more than five years. At one point he was so severely beaten that he was blinded in one eye. [De ansvarlige embedsmænd i UK Foreign Office/MI5 - og hvor ellers - der fik denne rapport, bør retsforfølges !!!]

150710 The Guardian, Ian Cobain and Owen Bowcott, Classified Documents Reveal UK's Role in Abuse of its Own Citizens. Previously secret papers show true extent of involvement in abduction and torture following al-Qaida attacks of 2001. ... Among the most damning documents are a series of interrogation reports rom MI5 officers that betray their disregard for the suffering of a British resident whom they were questioning at a US airbase in Afghanistan. The documents also show that the officers were content to see the mistreatment continue. ... chapter 32 of MI6's general procedural manual, .. they need to consider before becoming directly involved in an operation to detain a terrorism suspect ... the question of whether "detention, rather than killing, is the objective of the operation". .... The Foreign Office decided in January 2002 that the transfer of British citizens from Afghanistan to Guantanamo was its "preferred option". ...Downing Street was said to have overruled FO attempts to provide a British Citizen detained in Zambia with consular support in an attempt to prevent his return to the UK, with the result that he too was "rendered" to Guantanamo. [Her skulle være tilstrækkeligt til at stille såvel Blair som Straw for retten.] ... The govemment ... has failed to hand over many of the locuments that the men's lawyers have asked for, and on Friday failed to meet a deadline imposed by the high court for the disclosure of the secret interrogation policy that governed MI5 and MI6 officers between 2004 and earlier this year. ... However, a number of highly revealing documents are among the released papers, as well as fragments of heavily censored emails, memos and policy documents. ... Cameron also made clear that ... "Let's be frank, it is not possible to lave a full public inquiry into something that is meant to be secret," he said. "So any intelligence material provided to the inquiry panel will not be made public and nor will intelligence officers be asked to give evidence in public." [hvordan man så kan have en betryggende retssag. OJ]