Torture and Tribunals: The Treatment and Status of Detainees Worldwide Posted: 01/04/06
Update 01/05/06: After approving the bill outlawing torture of U.S. detainees last Friday, President Bush issued a ''signing statement" -- an official document in which a president lays out his interpretation of a new law -- declaring that he will view the interrogation limits in the context of his broader powers to protect national security. The Boston Globe reported that the White House and legal specialists say that this means Bush believes he can waive the restrictions.
Learn more and get involved in the fight for the humane treatment of U.S. detainees and detainees around the world.
U.S. Treatment of Detainees | U.S. and Due Process for Detainees | Torture Around the World
U.S. TREATMENT OF DETAINEES
Recent U.S. abuses of detainees have been widely reported, including last year's release of pictures of detainees being humiliated and tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Since then, evidence has shown that such torture and abuse also takes place in dozens of U.S. detention facilities worldwide. In many cases the abuse resulted in severe trauma or even death. A number of the victims were civilians with no connection to terrorism. The U.S. has also sent detainees to prisons controlled by other countries where torture is likely to occur.
Human rights groups blame administration policies that approve of the use of coercive interrogation methods and a lack of accountability and oversight. This is demonstrated by the fact that so far, only those at the lower levels of command have been tried for crimes against detainees. The U.S. has yet to issue clear guidelines and establish safeguards to ensure the humane treatment of U.S. detainees. Amnesty International's report documented U.S. abuses and particularly criticized Guantanamo Bay prison. Administration officials blew off the report as "absurd."
On October 5, the Senate voted 90-9 to attach an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that prohibits the torture of U.S. detainees by clarifying U.S. policy on the treatment of "enemy combatants." On November 4, the Senate voted by voice vote to include the same provision in the Defense Authorization bill. The provisions were sponsored by Vietnam POW Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). President Bush threatened to veto the bills if the provision was included in final language. On December 14, the House voted to instruct conferees to include the Senate anti-torture provision in the final Defense appropriations bill by a vote of 308-122.
The White House dropped its opposition to the McCain provisions in the Defense appropriations and authorization bills prohibiting torture of U.S. detainees. Sen. McCain (R-AZ) made a small concession for the administration to provide legal assistance and some protections for U.S. officials who are accused of torture that occurred before the anti-torture provision becomes law. However, the Defense authorization includes court-stripping language (PDF) denying enemy combatant detainees, such as those at Guantanamo Bay, access to the courts, which would make the anti-torture provision almost impossible to enforce.
Also, on December 16 the House voted by 228-187 to require the administration to provide Congress with a classified report on secret CIA detention facilities around the world. Even though the Senate had also passed this provision, the conference committee dropped the language from the final Defense Authorization bill.
Human rights groups are calling for an independent commission and special counsel to investigate U.S. treatment of its detainees.
Get in the Fight:
Resources:
- Bush Could Bypass New Torture Ban, 1/4/06, Boston Globe, Veterans for Common Sense*
- America's Gulag Problem, Aziz Huq, 12/15/05, Brennan Center for Justice*, Posted on TomPaine.com*
- McCain's Defining Moment, Ray McGovern, 12/13/05, TomPaine.com*
- Strategy Memo: How the Right Plans to Sink the Anti-Torture Amendment Behind Closed Doors, Think Progress
- Nearly 4,000 Veterans Send Letter Calling for Independent Commission on Torture (PDF), November 2005, Veterans for Common Sense*
- 90-9, Senators Vote to Protect Military Prisoners Despite Bush Veto Threat, 10/6/05, The New York Times, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- U.S. Military and Administration Clash Over Guantanamo, 8/1/05, Dailystar, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Statement of Senator John McCain Amendment on Army Field Manual, 7/26/05, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Cheney Working to Block Legislation on Detainees, 7/26/05, New York Times, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Pentagon Defies Order to Release Photos; Veterans Demand Commission, 7/25/05, Veterans for Common Sense*
- Pentagon Rejects Order to Release Abu Ghraib Abuse Images, 7/25/05, The New Standard, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Military Lawyers Fought Policy on Interrogations, 7/15/05, The Washington Post, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Italy's Challenge to the U.S., Jeffrey Laurenti, 6/28/05, Century Foundation*
- UN Uncovers Torture at Guantanamo Bay, 6/23/05, Associated Press
- Myths and Realities in Right Wing Attacks on the Geneva Conventions, CivilRights.org*
- Getting Away with Torture? Command Responsibility for the U.S. Abuse of Detainees (PDF), Human Rights Watch, April 2005
- Abu Ghraib: One Year Later, Who's Accountable?, Amnesty International*
- Government Documents on Torture, American Civil Liberties Union
- Guantanamo Abuse Emboldens Tyrants, Seyoum Tesfaye, 6/20/05, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Fear as Foreign Policy, John Brown, 6/14/05, TomPaine.com*
- Cheney Offended by Amnesty Criticism, 5/31/05, CNN.com
U.S. POLICY ON DUE PROCESS RIGHTS FOR DETAINEES
Many detainees are being held without due process rights established by the U.S. and international law. After September 11, 2001, the administration created the prisoner classification "enemy combatant", and created a military commission process to handle these prisoners. The "enemy combatant" classification allows the military to hold suspects without charging them for an indefinite amount of time. Often, detainee identities are kept secret from the public as well as their families.
At least 520 foreign national "enemy combatant" suspects from 40 countries are being held at Guantanamo Bay prison. Suspects being held in U.S. detention facilities across the world are also being held under this status.
In June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "enemy combatant" detainees have the right to access the courts and have hearings. In response, the administration began holding military commission pre-trial hearings to determine if detainees were being properly held as "enemy combatants." Only a handful of detainees have been charged so far, and none have gone to trial.
Civil liberties groups and members of Congress, such as Vietnam POW Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are calling for detainees to be given a trial or released. Furthermore, groups are urging the administration to allow detainees at least the full due process rights of regular military tribunals, and some groups are even calling for Guantanamo Bay prison to be closed.
In early August 2005, the U.S. announced that it was negotiating with the home countries of Guantanamo Bay prison detainees to transfer their imprisonment. The U.S. hopes to transfer all but approximately 100 of the most hard-core detainees it determines are security risks, who they plan to hold indefinitely until the "end of hostilities" in the global fight against terrorism.
In December, Congress included court-stripping language (PDF) in the Defense authorization that denies enemy combatant detainees, such as those at Guantanamo Bay, access to the courts, which would make the anti-torture provision also included in the bill almost impossible to enforce.
Get in the Fight:
Resources:
- Graham Detainee Court-Stripping Amendment Makes Enforcing Anti-Torture Provisions Impossible (PDF), 11/10/05, American Civil Liberties Union
- New Report Corroborates CIA "Black Sites", 11/7/05, Amnesty International*
- U.S. Holding Talks on Return of Detainees, 8/9/05, The Washington Post (free subscription required)
- GOP Senators Craft Legislation on War Detainees, 7/25/05, The Washington Times
- Hick Faces 'Political Show Trial': Military Lawyer, 7/25/05, ABC News, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Court: Military Panels to Try Detainees, 7/15/05, Associated Press, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- Military: Only Three Violations at Gitmo, 7/13/05, The Washington Post, Veterans for Common Sense* newsroom
- After Guantanamo: The Way Forward, Center for American Progress
- Anti-Terror Detentions Rest on a Flawed Legal Foundation, People for the American Way*
- Close Guantanamo and Disclose the Rest, Amnesty International*
- Halliburton to Build New $30 Million Guantanamo Jail, 6/16/05, Reuters
- Why Detention of U.S. Citizens is Illegal, People for the American Way*
- Congress Likely to Define War Detainees, 6/20/05, The Washington Times
- McCain: Guantanamo Captives Deserve Trials, 6/20/05, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Some Held at Guantanamo are Minors, Lawyers Say, New York Times, Veterans for Common Sense Newsroom*
- Dispatches from Guantanamo Hearings, 2004, American Civil Liberties Union
- Odah v. United States, People For the American Way*
- Conduct Unbecoming: Pitfalls in the President's Military Commissions (PDF), March 2004, American Civil Liberties Union
TORTURE AROUND THE WORLD
Amnesty International reports that from 1997 to mid-2000, more than 150 countries had reported cases of torture or ill-treatment. Abuse was widespread or persistent in 70 of those countries, and in more than 80 countries people died from the abuse. People were tortured for reasons ranging from being an activist for human or civil rights to being a suspected criminal. In some countries, torture was even used as a weapon of fear.
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Resources:
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