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Michael Otterman is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, as well as an award-winning journalist and filmmaker.
Friday, June 01, 2007
CIA Torture: The Great Unraveling
Illegal CIA programs continue to unravel on all fronts; a sampling of this weeks news:
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Senators Seek Legal Review of CIA Methods
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has demanded a legal review of the CIA's detention and interrogation program for terrorism suspects as part of its version of the fiscal 2008 intelligence authorization bill.
[...]
The panel's chairman, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), said that "significant legal issues about the CIA detention and interrogation program remain unresolved," along with questions about the agency's decision to operate under rules different from those governing military and law enforcement officers.
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Senate Panel Questions C.I.A. Detentions
WASHINGTON, May 31 — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday questioned the continuing value of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret interrogation program for terrorism suspects, suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created to criminal prosecution may outweigh its worth in gathering information.
[...]
“More than five years after the decision to start the program,” the report said, “the committee believes that consideration should be given to whether it is the best means to obtain a full and reliable intelligence debriefing of a detainee.”
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Interrogation Methods Are Criticized
WASHINGTON, May 29 — As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.
[...]
The science board critique comes as ethical concerns about harsh interrogations are being voiced by current and former government officials. The top commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, sent a letter to troops this month warning that “expedient methods” using force violated American values.
In a blistering lecture delivered last month, a former adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called “immoral” some interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon.
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ACLU to Sue Boeing Subsidiary in Alleged Torture Cases
The American Civil Liberties Union announced this morning that it would sue a Boeing subsidiary in San Jose federal court today, alleging that the company helped the Central Intelligence Agency with "the forced disappearance, torture and inhumane treatment" of three men the government suspected of terrorist involvement.
"Corporations should expect to get sued where they are making blood money off the suffering of others," said Clive Stafford Smith, an English lawyer who has been representing Binyam Mohammed and is serving as co-counsel with the ACLU lawyers in this case.
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Senators Seek Legal Review of CIA Methods
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has demanded a legal review of the CIA's detention and interrogation program for terrorism suspects as part of its version of the fiscal 2008 intelligence authorization bill.
[...]
The panel's chairman, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), said that "significant legal issues about the CIA detention and interrogation program remain unresolved," along with questions about the agency's decision to operate under rules different from those governing military and law enforcement officers.
---- ---- ---- ----
Senate Panel Questions C.I.A. Detentions
WASHINGTON, May 31 — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday questioned the continuing value of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret interrogation program for terrorism suspects, suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created to criminal prosecution may outweigh its worth in gathering information.
[...]
“More than five years after the decision to start the program,” the report said, “the committee believes that consideration should be given to whether it is the best means to obtain a full and reliable intelligence debriefing of a detainee.”
---- ---- ---- ----
Interrogation Methods Are Criticized
WASHINGTON, May 29 — As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.
[...]
The science board critique comes as ethical concerns about harsh interrogations are being voiced by current and former government officials. The top commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, sent a letter to troops this month warning that “expedient methods” using force violated American values.
In a blistering lecture delivered last month, a former adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called “immoral” some interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon.
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ACLU to Sue Boeing Subsidiary in Alleged Torture Cases
The American Civil Liberties Union announced this morning that it would sue a Boeing subsidiary in San Jose federal court today, alleging that the company helped the Central Intelligence Agency with "the forced disappearance, torture and inhumane treatment" of three men the government suspected of terrorist involvement.
"Corporations should expect to get sued where they are making blood money off the suffering of others," said Clive Stafford Smith, an English lawyer who has been representing Binyam Mohammed and is serving as co-counsel with the ACLU lawyers in this case.
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