U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11, Nonpartisan Review Concludes
Source: NYT
WASHINGTON — A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/world/us-practiced-torture-after-9-11-nonpartisan-review-concludes.html?ref=world
Not like we didn't know this already. But torture by Bush/Cheney is confirmed.
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duhneece
(4,510 posts)Shouldn't torturers be subject to prosecution? Of course we know they believe they are above the law...
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,477 posts)Torture is prohibited under 18 USC § 2340. See See also § 2340A, which says that those who order the torture are just as culpable (note: I tried to link to this, but the link would not work). I should mention the Supreme Court case of Wilkerson v. Utah, 99 U.S. 130 (1879). Justice Clifford, in delivering the opinion of the Court, said:
Difficulty would attend the effort to define with exactness the extent of the constitutional provision which provides that cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted; but it is safe to affirm that punishments of torture, such as those mentioned by the commentator referred to, and all others in the same line of unnecessary cruelty, are forbidden by that amendment to the Constitution.
(The "commenter" is Blackstone.)
There is also the UN Convention Against Torture, to which the US is a signatory. See in particular Article 1 and Article 16.
Actually, should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed get his day in court, virtually all evidence against him will have to be thrown out because it was obtained under torture. See Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278 (1936) for the legal precedent. Thank you, Bushmen.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial
or punishment, is an accessory after the fact.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3
At a minimum, the Bush Administration personnel who were accessories after the fact should have been prosecuted.
avebury
(11,196 posts)
mpcamb
(3,228 posts)"What are you going to do about it?"
It's so exhausting to have these repeated violations of local, national and international laws and NOBODY ever does jail time.
No matter how the crime flies in the face of plain human decency, there's no punishment for the perps. I'm so sick of it.
Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)mpcamb
(3,228 posts)And he did jail time.
In fact, died in jail, having stolen ~ $25 million by one calculation.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,477 posts)Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)But I'm repeating myself!
Just kidding. Haw haw haw!
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Which is the most infantile sort of thinking there is, and that comes from living in the bubble.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,477 posts)If you look at the definition of torture as given to the Bushmen, it is “serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death”. In other words, racking is not torture.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Oh wait, the rule of law was thrown out with the Constitution.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)We're Looking Forward!
Solly Mack
(96,940 posts)but let's pretend stating the obvious is the best we can do toward accountability.
hepkat
(143 posts)It's on the record, it's part of history and it very likely will have implications in the future.
Kind of a shame this came out in the midst of the right wing terrorism in boston. Won't get any attention.
Solly Mack
(96,940 posts)hepkat
(143 posts)is self kicking bad form?
Solly Mack
(96,940 posts)Sometimes you have to be the noise. 
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Solly Mack
(96,940 posts)Just cause.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)just1voice
(1,362 posts)The problem is that most Americans think criminal activity is A-OK, such as torture. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"In one of the most comprehensive studies of U.S. treatment of terrorism suspects, the panel concluded that never before had there been "the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody."
"It is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture," the 11-member task force, assembled by the nonpartisan Constitution Project think tank, said in their 577-page report."
Still, we're told to just forget about it and "look forward" as if the worst crimes in the history of the U.S. political system can just be shoved out of our consciousness. Sadly, for many who believe our massive propaganda networks, that is exactly what they've done.
sakabatou
(46,143 posts)hepkat
(143 posts)This would be the latter and that is significiant.
Uncle Joe
(65,127 posts)Thanks for the thread, hepkat.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)"I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture..."
- George W. Bush, June 2003
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)just sayin.
K&R
realFedUp
(25,053 posts)This report, in a quieter week, would have been a news story, not only because of what the final report stated but that it took 12 years to make some somewhat soft but pointed accusations about Bush Inc.
Connecting that story and the Bush lowering of American laws on torture and terror can explain some of the knee-jerk conclusions on who is a terrorist and whether justice should be different for the "other".
Connect the dots. Bush/Cheney's years in office still have impact on our lives today. Obama has continued some of the same policies. Until we have elected politicians who have the courage to do the right thing for the people, history will repeat itself.