They also want a declaration that he was tortured.
Seeing as how he was in CIA custody for over 3 years, this Ballmur man (he was largely raised in Baltimore) is almost certainly telling the truth on this.
Category: Crimes Against Humanity
Well, It Looks Like Pelosi and Rockefeller Will Be Needing Cells at The Hague Too
They were briefed on the CIA’s torture program in 2002, and they did nothing.
Harman at least submitted a letter protesting.
If the Bush administration is guilty of crimes against humanity, and I believe that it is, then Pelosi and Rockefeller, along with Republican Roberts, who did nothing, and by so doing enabled it, are guilty of crimes against humanity themselves.
Durbin asks DoJ Justice to Investigate Destruction of CIA Torture Tapes
He’s written a letter to Michael Mukasey about this.
I don’t expect any action prior to January 20, 2009.
CIA Destroyed Torture Tapes
According to reports, “They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said.”
So in addition to crimes against humanity, we have conspiracy to obstruct justice. Considering that this information was extant when the 911 commission and the Judge in the Moussaoui trial specifically asked for this sort of information.
Congress Moving to Ban CIA Torture
I would say, “what took you so long,”, but I’m pretty sure that Bush will ignore this with a signing statement.
They want to apply the 2006 Army Field Manual to the CIA.
US Policy is Not Good for Refugees, or Other Living Things.
So says Canadian Justice Michael Phelan.
According to Canadian news accounts, Justice Michael Phelan’s ruling struck down an agreement that once barred thousands of refugees seeking asylum in Canada. The judge said the United States does not protect refugees fleeing political persecution and torture, which international conventions require.
Instead, it adheres to rigid policies which may result in mistreatment, including forcing victims of abuse to return to the countries in which they were mistreated, he said.
As a result, the United States can no longer be considered a safe place for refugees, Phelan ruled. His ruling nullifies an existing U.S.-Canada agreement saying that if a refugee is turned away from one country, he or she cannot seek refuge in the other. The agreement was intended to reduce so-called “asylum shopping,” in which immigrants attempt to obtain refugee status from multiple countries.
I’d be offended, if I didn’t agree.
As a result of 911 we have abdicated our moral authority to sadists, cowards, and the delusional.
Scott Horton Nails it Again
Resurrecting the Star Chamber by Scott Horton (Harper’s Magazine), just go read it.
Rumsfeld Torture Case Dismissed
French prosecutors have dismissed a torture case against Donald Rumsfeld based on “customary immunity”…Funny thing though…I’ve never heard them claim this immunity with Israelis. (FWIW, I do believe that Sharon should have spent some time in the clink for his roll in the Sabra and Shatila massacres, because he was at the very least criminally negligent).
My guess is that this came straight from Sarkosy.
Sensitive Guantanamo Bay Day to Day Gulag Manual Leaked
The 238+ page document, “Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures”, dated March 2003, was leaked and the whole document (pdf) is now at available at wikileaks.org.
Among the revelations:
- Detainees prohibited access (or possibly concealed, it is unclear) to the Red Cross in violation of US treaty obligations, and the word of George W. Bush and senior members of his cabinet.
- Control of the availability toilet paper as a disciplinary tool. (WTF????)
- Routine use of dogs in the compound soley for the purpose of intimidation.
Nice gulag you have there, Bushie.
There Still Might be a Filibuster on Mukasey
It appears that there may be a filibuster on Mukasey. FWIW, I’m hoping that there is one.
I don’t expect it to stick, but this should be a defining issue for any Democrat: Do you support, or oppose torture? If you do, I, and you, should work towards defeating these people in the primaries, and yes, that means you Schumer and Feinstein.*
*Full disclosure, my great grandfather, Harry Goldman, and her grandfather, Sam Goldman were brothers.
U.N. Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries Calls “Private Security Contractors” Mercenaries
This has to be a something from the Secretariat of the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS.
However, this declaration is significant, if just because it places an official imprimatur on the term.
Hopefully, this will lead to more countries adopting the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
What Hilzoy Said: Torture Edition
I would also add as an addendum, that he likely expects to authorize such behavior, and an admission that it is torture would be an admission of guilt.
Revealed: how Blair rejected Bush’s offer to stay – Independent Online Edition > World Politics
It turns out that the Smiler* had an offer from his master George W. Bush to stay out of the war, but he rejected it. Apparently, he thought that it would look “pathetic”, as if being bush’s poodle was not already the height of pathos.
At least Blair isn’t covered by American laws regarding the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
*Tony Blair
Rat Leaves Ship
Karen Hughes is leaving the State Deptepartment.
Thinking of her, and the Hague court, I am reminded that in the Nuremburg trials, the publisher of Der Stürmer, Julius Streicher, was executed, and there is also the precedents regarding RTLM in Rwanda, and it’s principals, Ferdinand Nahimana, and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza.
This chain of thought applies to Karl Rove too.
UN Special Rapporteur on torture Accuses US of Torture
I think that you are a bit late to the game, dude. It’s been clear for years that not only are these guys supportive of torture when necessary, but that they see it as an independent good. They support torture for its own sake.
Mukasey Update
First, it appears that Dodd may have an outsized effect on the other senators running for president. Since Dodd’s promise of a filibuster on telco immunity, which as I’ve detailed earlier, I believe to be be sincere, principled, and deeply held, his campaign, and his campaign donations have taken a major leap.
Because of this, I think that there are a number of candidates out there who have felt compelled to take stands both on the warrantless wiretapping and on Mukasey as Attorney General. Hillary is now opposing Mukasey over his obfuscation over waterboarding, so has Obama, and Biden is in opposition too.
Among the non-senators, Edwards is calling for him not to be approved, using references to the Spanish Inquisition*.
Meanwhile, Mukasey is saying that waterboarding is “repugnant”, but still, as he has clearly been instructed (more detail further down) refuses to call it unconstitutional torture.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT ) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) have both said that their votes depend on Mukasey’s answer to this question, and Republicans Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) have expressed concerns. Truth be told, Graham is more significant than Specter. He always “expresses concern”, and then he votes with Bush and His Evil Minions™.
Time Magazine has an interesting account of the backstage negotiations:
Some Democrats on the committee have tried to help Mukasey get out of the box he’s in. Harold Kim, a former Specter staffer who works in the White House Counsel’s office, has been negotiating with Judiciary Committee Democrats, trying to find language they can live with. But attempts to compromise with Congress have met resistance from Cheney’s office, and when it comes to interrogation techniques, the Vice President and his chief of staff, David Addington, have notoriously pushed for presidential authority to go unchecked by the legislative branch.
So it looks like they are trying to split rhetorical hairs, but there is also the question as to why is this the Vice President’s business? The AG serves the President, not him.
*I didn’t expect a bloody Spanish Inquisition!†
†NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our *four*…no… *Amongst* our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I’ll come in again.‡
‡Yes, this did make my day.
How the International Criminal Court Might Have Jurisdiction
I don’t normally post my emails to other lists here, but I thought this one, part of the discussion on the JOINint* list involved enough thought (well actually enough Googling) that I should post it here.
We were discussing a rather bone-headed statement by Tom Lantos, and some issues of international law came up.
On Tue, 30 Oct 2007, Ari Blumenfeld wrote:
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for correcting that. Are you absolutely certain about the
child-prisoners?
At least one, and he is charged with throwing a grenade at a soldier in Afghanistan in a pitched battle and killing him, which he denies.
This story mentions 3 children aged 13-15, and “more than two and fewer than five” children aged 16-18.
What other war crimes are there?
Systematic torture. Rendition to be tortured. The admission of torture derived evidence.
Additionally, you have “Waging Aggressive War”, which is probably not covered, but was what some people were executed for following WW II (von Ribbentrop and Tojo).
Of interest are some of the charges against Tojo (from the Wiki):
- count 1 (waging wars of aggression, and war or wars in violation of international law)
- count 27 (waging unprovoked war against the Republic of China)
- count 29 (waging aggressive war against the United States)
- count 31 (waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth (Hong Kong))
- count 32 (waging aggressive war against the Netherlands (Indonesia))
- count 33 (waging aggressive war against France (Indochina))
- count 54 (ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) and others)
Can we extradite the Bush administration to the Hague for their part in what appears to be war crimes?
Agencies are forbidden under US law to cooperate with the ICC. That legislation also included an authorization of the use of Military force to remove US citizens from custody.
Of interest is the geographic range of the court (also from Wiki):
- where the person accused of committing a crime is a national of a state party (or where the person’s state has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court);
- where the alleged crime was committed on the territory of a state party (or where the state on whose territory the crime was committed has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court); or
- where a situation is referred to the Court by the UN Security Council.
Since Afghanistan is a signatory, it could apply to actions originating there, but the secret gulags in Poland would probably not be, because Poland is not a full signatory yet. It would, however, apply to someone seized in Afghanistan and sent to Gitmo or the other Gulags.
*Jewish Opinions, Ideas, and News, International It spun off from another group when it descended into right wing agitprop.
Mukasey Calls Torture Unconstitutional, Then Refused to Define It.
You just have to love the newspeak.
I think that someone on the Bush administration got to him between day 1 and day 2 of the testimony.
United Nations Panel Says Contractors “Akin to Merceneries:
The United States Government strenuously objects to this characterization, but if the shoe fits….
Seriously, these folks are performing explicitly military tasks, and as such, they are mercenaries.
It’s nice that other folks are recognizing this.
Are Blackwater and Other Mercenaries Security Contractors Unlawful Combatants?
There are a number of who think so.
The designation of lawful and unlawful combatants is set out in the Geneva Convention.Lawful combatants are nonmilitary personnel who operate under their military’s chain of command. Others may carry weapons in a war zone but may not use offensive force. Under the international agreements, they may only defend themselves.
The amount of force being used in Iraq by security firms like Blackwater has raised questions.
I would also add that under the UN convention on mercenaries (see my posts here and here), some of the activities, like protecting military supply convoys in a war zone are clearly illegal.
While the US hass not ratified the convention (Neither has the UK) the position of one of the many countries that has might very well be to treat these folks as common criminals, or worse.
Some readings Islamic law call for the prompt execution of mercenaries.