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Government Turns the Other Way As Judges Make Findings About Torture and Other Abuse
USA SEE NO EVIL GOVERNMENT TURNS THE OTHER WAY AS JUDGES MAKE FINDINGS ABOUT TORTURE AND OTHER ABUSE Amnesty International Publications First published in February 2011 by Amnesty International Publications International Secretariat Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom www.amnesty.org Copyright Amnesty International Publications 2011 Index: AMR 51/005/2011 Original Language: English Printed by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, United Kingdom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers. Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories, who campaign on human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. We research, campaign, advocate and mobilize to end abuses of human rights. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. Our work is largely financed by contributions from our membership and donations CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Judges point to human rights violations, executive turns away ........................................... 4 Absence -
Interrogation, Detention, and Torture DEBORAH N
Finding Effective Constraints on Executive Power: Interrogation, Detention, and Torture DEBORAH N. PEARLSTEIN* INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1255 I. EXECUTIVE POLICY AND PRACTICE: COERCIVE INTERROGATION AND T O RTU RE ....................................................................................................1257 A. Vague or Unlawful Guidance................................................................ 1259 B. Inaction .................................................................................................1268 C. Resources, Training, and a Plan........................................................... 1271 II. ExECuTrVE LIMITs: FINDING CONSTRAINTS THAT WORK ...........................1273 A. The ProfessionalM ilitary...................................................................... 1274 B. The Public Oversight Organizationsof Civil Society ............................1279 C. Activist Federal Courts .........................................................................1288 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................1295 INTRODUCTION While the courts continue to debate the limits of inherent executive power under the Federal Constitution, the past several years have taught us important lessons about how and to what extent constitutional and sub-constitutional constraints may effectively check the broadest assertions of executive power. Following the publication -
No Torture. No Exceptions
NO TORTURE. NO EXCEPTIONS. The above sketch by Thomas V. Curtis, a former Reserve M.P. sergeant, is of New York Times an Afghan detainee, Dilawar, who was taken into U.S. custody on December 5, 2002, and died five days later. Dilawar was deprived of sleep and chained to the ceiling of his cell—techniques that the Bush administration has refused to outlaw for use by the CIA. Further, his legs were, according to a coroner, “pulpified” by repeated blows. Later evidence showed that Dilawar had no connection to the rocket attack for which he’d been apprehended. A sketch by Thomas Curtis, V. a Reserve M.P./The 16 January/February/March 2008 Introduction n most issues of the Washington Monthly, we favor ar- long-term psychological effects also haunt patients—panic ticles that we hope will launch a debate. In this issue attacks, depression, and symptoms of post-traumatic-stress Iwe seek to end one. The unifying message of the ar- disorder. It has long been prosecuted as a crime of war. In our ticles that follow is, simply, Stop. In the wake of Septem- view, it still should be. ber 11, the United States became a nation that practiced Ideally, the election in November would put an end to torture. Astonishingly—despite the repudiation of tor- this debate, but we fear it won’t. John McCain, who for so ture by experts and the revelations of Guantanamo and long was one of the leading Republican opponents of the Abu Ghraib—we remain one. As we go to press, President White House’s policy on torture, voted in February against George W. -
Usa Amnesty International's Supplementary Briefing To
AI Index: AMR 51/061/2006 3 May 2006 USA AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY BRIEFING TO THE UN COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE This briefing includes further information on the implementation by the United States of America (USA) of its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention; UN Convention against Torture), with regard to the forthcoming consideration by the UN Committee Against Torture (the Committee) of the USA’s second periodic report.(1) The briefing updates Amnesty International’s concerns with regard to US "war on terror" detention, interrogation and related policies, as outlined in its preliminary briefing of August 2005, and provides additional information on domestic policies and practice. US OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE CONVENTION WITH RESPECT TO DETAINEES HELD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE "WAR ON TERROR" 1. General supplementary observations on definitions of torture and use of torture under interrogation, including deaths in custody (Articles 1 and 16) Evidence continues to emerge of widespread torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees held in US custody in Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and other locations. While the government continues to assert that abuses resulted for the most part from the actions of a few "aberrant" soldiers and lack of oversight, there is clear evidence that much of the ill-treatment has stemmed directly from officially santioned procedures and policies, including interrogation techniques approved by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld for use in Guantánamo and later exported to Iraq.(2) While it seems that some practices, such as "waterboarding", were reserved for high value detainees, others appear to have been routinely applied during detentions and interrogations in Afghanistan, Guantánamo and Iraq. -
The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: an Empirical Study
© Reuters/HO Old – Detainees at XRay Camp in Guantanamo. The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study Benjamin Wittes and Zaahira Wyne with Erin Miller, Julia Pilcer, and Georgina Druce December 16, 2008 The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empiricial Study Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 The Public Record about Guantánamo 4 Demographic Overview 6 Government Allegations 9 Detainee Statements 13 Conclusion 22 Note on Sources and Methods 23 About the Authors 28 Endnotes 29 Appendix I: Detainees at Guantánamo 46 Appendix II: Detainees Not at Guantánamo 66 Appendix III: Sample Habeas Records 89 Sample 1 90 Sample 2 93 Sample 3 96 The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empiricial Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY he following report represents an effort both to document and to describe in as much detail as the public record will permit the current detainee population in American T military custody at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. Since the military brought the first detainees to Guantánamo in January 2002, the Pentagon has consistently refused to comprehensively identify those it holds. While it has, at various times, released information about individuals who have been detained at Guantánamo, it has always maintained ambiguity about the population of the facility at any given moment, declining even to specify precisely the number of detainees held at the base. We have sought to identify the detainee population using a variety of records, mostly from habeas corpus litigation, and we have sorted the current population into subgroups using both the government’s allegations against detainees and detainee statements about their own affiliations and conduct. -
ANNEX a Some Publicly Known Deaths of Detainees in U.S
ANNEX A Some Publicly Known Deaths of Detainees in U.S. Custody in Afghanistan and Iraq ACLU-RDI 6826 p.1 Annex A: Some Publicly Known Deaths of Detainees in U.S. Custody in 1 Afghanistan and Iraq No. Name Location Cause of Circumstances Surrounding Death and Date Death 1. Mohammed Near Lwara, Death by Blunt Army Criminal Investigation Division found Sayari Afghanistan Force Injuries probable cause to believe that the commander and Aug. 28, 2002 three other members of Operational Detachment- Alpha 343, 3rd Special Forces Group, had committed the offenses of murder and conspiracy when they lured Mohamed Sayari, an Afghan civilian, into a roadblock, detained him, and killed him. Investigation further found probable cause to believe that a fifth Special Forces soldier had been an accessory after the fact and that the team's commander had instructed a soldier to destroy incriminating photographs of Sayari’s body. No court-martial or Article 32 hearing was convened. One soldier was given a written reprimand. None of the others received any punishment at all.2 2. Name Kabul, Death by The CIA was reportedly involved in the killing of a unknown Afghanistan Hypothermia detainee in Afghanistan. A CIA case officer at the Nov. 2002 “Salt Pit,” a secret U.S.-run prison just north of Kabul, ordered guards to “strip naked an uncooperative young Afghan detainee, chain him to the concrete floor and leave him there overnight without blankets,” the Washington Post reported after interviewing four government officials familiar with the case. According to the article, Afghan guards “paid by the CIA and working under CIA supervision” dragged the prisoner around the concrete floor of the facility, “bruising and scraping his skin,” before placing him in a cell for the night without clothes. -
The Fundamental Paradoxes of Modern Warfare in Al Maqaleh V
PAINTING OURSELVES INTO A CORNER: THE FUNDAMENTAL PARADOXES OF MODERN WARFARE IN AL MAQALEH V. GATES Ashley C. Nikkel* See how few of the cases of the suspension of the habeas corpus law, have been worthy of that suspension. They have been either real treason, wherein the parties might as well have been charged at once, or sham plots, where it was shameful they should ever have been suspected. Yet for the few cases wherein the suspension of the habeas corpus has done real good, that operation is now become habitual and the minds of the nation almost prepared to live under its constant suspension.1 INTRODUCTION On a cold December morning in 2002, United States military personnel entered a small wire cell at Bagram Airfield, in the Parwan province of Afghan- istan. There, they found Dilawar, a 20-year-old Afghan taxi driver, hanging naked and dead from the ceiling.2 The air force medical examiner who per- formed Dilawar’s autopsy reported his legs had been beaten so many times the tissue was “falling apart” and “had basically been pulpified.”3 The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, the result of an interrogation lasting four days as Dilawar stood naked, his arms shackled over his head while U.S. inter- rogators performed the “common peroneal strike,” a debilitating blow to the side of the leg above the knee.4 The U.S. military detained Dilawar because he * J.D. Candidate, 2012, William S. Boyd School of Law, Las Vegas; B.A., 2009, University of Nevada, Reno. The Author would like to thank Professor Christopher L. -
Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen WATCH
United States/Yemen HUMAN No Direction Home RIGHTS Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen WATCH No Direction Home Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen Copyright © 2009 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-466-4 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org March 2009 1-56432-466-4 No Direction Home Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 6 To the Government of the United States ...................................................................................... 6 To the Government of Yemen ...................................................................................................... 6 To the League of Arab States, Member States of the European Union, and United Nations Specialized Programs ................................................................................................................. -
Detainees with Pending Habeas Corpus Petitions As of February 4, 2009* Approved for Transfer Or Subject to Charges Under ISN Case No
Case 1:08-cv-01101-JDB Document 77 Filed 02/04/09 Page 1 of 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ________________________ ) IN RE: ) Misc. No. 08-0442 (TFH) ) GUANTANAMO BAY ) Civil Action Nos. DETAINEE LITIGATION ) ) 02-cv-0828, 04-cv-1136, 04-cv-1164, 04-cv-1194, 04-cv-1254, ) 04-cv-1937, 04-cv-2022, 04-cv-2046, 04-cv-2215, 05-cv-0023, ) 05-cv-0247, 05-cv-0270, 05-cv-0280, 05-cv-0329, 05-cv-0359, ) 05-cv-0392, 05-cv-0492, 05-cv-0520, 05-cv-0526, 05-cv-0569, ) 05-cv-0634, 05-cv-0748, 05-cv-0763, 05-cv-0764, 05-cv-0877, ) 05-cv-0883, 05-cv-0889, 05-cv-0892, 05-cv-0993, 05-cv-0994, ) 05-cv-0998, 05-cv-0999, 05-cv-1048, 05-cv-1124, 05-cv-1189, ) 05-cv-1220, 05-cv-1244, 05-cv-1347, 05-cv-1353, 05-cv-1429, ) 05-cv-1457, 05-cv-1487, 05-cv-1490, 05-cv-1497, 05-cv-1504, ) 05-cv-1506, 05-cv-1555, 05-cv-1592, 05-cv-1601, 05-cv-1607, ) 05-cv-1623, 05-cv-1638, 05-cv-1645, 05-cv-1646, 05-cv-1678, ) 05-cv-1971, 05-cv-1983, 05-cv-2088, 05-cv-2104, 05-cv-2185, ) 05-cv-2186, 05-cv-2199, 05-cv-2249, 05-cv-2349, 05-cv-2367, ) 05-cv-2371, 05-cv-2378, 05-cv-2379, 05-cv-2380, 05-cv-2384, ) 05-cv-2385, 05-cv-2386, 05-cv-2387, 05-cv-2479, 06-cv-1668, ) 06-cv-1684, 06-cv-1690, 06-cv-1758, 06-cv-1761, 06-cv-1765, ) 06-cv-1766, 06-cv-1767, 07-cv-1710, 07-cv-2337, 07-cv-2338, ) 08-cv-0987, 08-cv-1101, 08-cv-1104, 08-cv-1153, 08-cv-1207, ) 08-cv-1221, 08-cv-1224, 08-cv-1228, 08-cv-1230, 08-cv-1232, ) 08-cv-1233, 08-cv-1235, 08-cv-1236, 08-cv-1237, 08-cv-1238, ) 08-cv-1360, 08-cv-1440, 08-cv-1733, 08-cv-1789, 08-cv-1805, ________________________) 08-cv-1828, 08-cv-1923, 08-cv-2019, 08-cv-2083 ERRATA – CORRECTIONS TO RESPONDENTS’ EXHIBITS TO THEIR JANUARY 21, 2009 FILING Respondents hereby submit errata with respect to three exhibits filed on January 21, 2009, containing detainee information. -
Closing Gitmo Due to the Epiphany Approach to Habeas Corpus During the Military Commission Circus
50-1, BEJESKY, ME FORMAT.DOC 2/19/2014 7:36 PM CLOSING GITMO DUE TO THE EPIPHANY APPROACH TO HABEAS CORPUS DURING THE MILITARY COMMISSION CIRCUS ROBERT BEJESKY* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 44 II. DETENTION IN AFGHANISTAN ........................................................ 47 III. GUANTÁNAMO BAY ..................................................................... 53 A. Advantages of Moving Detainees to Guantánamo Bay ..... 53 B. Standard for Detention and Guilt ....................................... 55 1. “Suspected” Terrorists ................................................. 55 2. The Identity of Detainees and the Right to Detain ...... 57 C. Harsh Treatment ................................................................ 60 1. Interrogations and Human Rights Abuses ................... 60 2. Lack of Evidence of Guilt and No Legal Recourse ..... 66 IV. MILITARY TRIBUNALS & SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ................ 68 A. An Obscure System ........................................................... 68 B. Combatant Status ............................................................... 71 C. Due Process Under U.S. and International Law ................ 74 D. Due Process Afforded at Guantánamo .............................. 76 E. Procedures Applicable to U.S. Citizens ............................. 79 1. Three American Detainees .......................................... 79 2. Noncitizen Detainees ................................................... 81 -
Guantánamo and Its Aftermath
Guantánamo and Its Aftermath u.s. detention and interrogation practices and their impact on former detainees November 2008 Human Rights Center International Human Rights Law Clinic In partnership with University of California, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley Center for Constitutional Rights Guantánamo and Its Aftermath u.s. detention and interrogation practices and their impact on former detainees Laurel E. Fletcher Eric Stover with Stephen Paul Smith Alexa Koenig Zulaikha Aziz Alexis Kelly Sarah Staveteig Nobuko Mizoguchi November 2008 Human Rights Center University of California, Berkeley International Human Rights Law Clinic University of California, Berkeley, School of Law In partnership with Center for Constitutional Rights ISBN# 978-0-9760677-3-3 Human Rights Center and International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of California, Berkeley Cover photos: Louie Palu/ZUMA Design: Melanie Doherty Design, San Francisco Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley The Human Rights Center promotes human rights and international justice worldwide and trains the next generation of human rights researchers and advocates. We believe that sustainable peace and devel- opment can be achieved only through efforts to prevent human rights abuses and hold those responsible for such crimes accountable. We use empirical research methods to investigate and expose serious viola- tions of human rights and international humanitarian law. In our studies and reports, we recommend specific policy measures that should be taken by governments and international organizations to protect vulnerable populations in times of war and political and social upheaval. For more information, please visit hrc.berkeley.edu. International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law The International Human Rights Law Clinic (IHRLC) designs and implements innovative human rights projects to advance the struggle for justice on behalf of individuals and marginalized communities through advocacy, research, and policy development. -
SALAH ALI ABDULLAH AHMED ) AL SALAMI, Et Al., ) Petitioners/Plaintiffs, ) ) V
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA __________________________________________ ) SALAH ALI ABDULLAH AHMED ) AL SALAMI, et al., ) Petitioners/Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 05-CV-2452 (PLF) ) ) GEORGE W. BUSH, et al., ) Respondents/Defendants. ) __________________________________________) EMERGENCY MOTION FOR PRESERVATION ORDER AND POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT THEREOF Respondents allege that Petitioner Salah Ali Abdullah Al Salami (ISN #693) (“Al Salami”) is deceased as a result of an apparent suicide, but to date, Respondents have failed to provide counsel with a death certificate, an autopsy report, or any other official documentation of Al Salami’s death or the circumstances thereof. Counsel therefore persist in their habeas representation of Al Salami.1 In addition, counsel has been authorized to represent the family of Al Salami. See Declaration of Robert H. Knowles, attached hereto as Exhibit A. Al Salami and his father and Next Friend, Petitioner Ali Abdullah Al Salami (collectively, “Petitioners”) now respectfully request an Order compelling Respondents to (1) produce to the Court official documentation of Al Salami’s death; and (2) preserve and maintain 1 This is not the first time counsel has had to question Respondents’ unsupported allegations of Al Salami’s status. Respondents initially maintained that they were “unable to confirm the identity of petitioner Saleh Ali Abdullah Al Salami as a detainee at Guantánamo Bay,” and required counsel to produce evidence of Al Salami’s detention. See Dec. 30, 2005 E- mail from Preeya M. Noronha, attached hereto as Exhibit B. In response, counsel produced a letter Al Salami had written to his father from Camp Delta in 2003, along with other identifying information.