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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.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
CIA Torture To Continue
Friday's Executive Order has done little to reign in the use of CIA "alternative methods"/tortures. The order makes this clear right from the start. It begins:
The order bans "torture" as defined by the loosely worded 2340, plus treatment amounting to and/or comparable to "cruel and degrading treatment" as defined by 2441. As I argue in American Torture, these laws do not outlaw the use of waterboarding, limited stints of forced standing, hand-slaps, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, hypothermia and humiliation. Coincidentally, these have been at the core of the CIA's "alternative techniques"/tortures.
On a positive note, the Executive Order does state that three tortures are no longer on the table. They are: "forcing the individual to perform sexual acts or to pose sexually", "acts intended to denigrate the religion", and "extremes of heat and cold". The removal of these three tortures-- sexual humiliation, religous abuse, and hypothermia-- are the only palpable changes to current CIA interrogation policy.
Waterboarding, plus the other tortures listed above, are clearly still in play. Fittingly, the Bush Administration still refuses to deny that waterboarding is authorized. As noted on the always incisive Balkinization, one administration official went even further. According to the Washington Post:
On February 7, 2002, I determined for the United States that members of al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces are unlawful enemy combatants who are not entitled to the protections that the Third Geneva Convention provides to prisoners of war. I hereby reaffirm that determination.Thus, the Bush Administration believes-- contrary to the Hamdan decision-- that detainees are not entitled to the protection of Geneva, including the broad guarantees of Common Article Three. The directive continues, noting it merely "interprets the meaning and application of the text of Common Article 3 with respect to certain detentions and interrogations."
The order bans "torture" as defined by the loosely worded 2340, plus treatment amounting to and/or comparable to "cruel and degrading treatment" as defined by 2441. As I argue in American Torture, these laws do not outlaw the use of waterboarding, limited stints of forced standing, hand-slaps, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, hypothermia and humiliation. Coincidentally, these have been at the core of the CIA's "alternative techniques"/tortures.
On a positive note, the Executive Order does state that three tortures are no longer on the table. They are: "forcing the individual to perform sexual acts or to pose sexually", "acts intended to denigrate the religion", and "extremes of heat and cold". The removal of these three tortures-- sexual humiliation, religous abuse, and hypothermia-- are the only palpable changes to current CIA interrogation policy.
Waterboarding, plus the other tortures listed above, are clearly still in play. Fittingly, the Bush Administration still refuses to deny that waterboarding is authorized. As noted on the always incisive Balkinization, one administration official went even further. According to the Washington Post:
Bush's order requires that CIA detainees 'receive the basic necessities of life, including adequate food and water, shelter from the elements, necessary clothing, protection from extremes of heat and cold, and essential medical care.'
[...]
A second senior administration official acknowledged sleep is not among the basic necessities outlined in the order.