Title 18, U.S. Code 2340 defines torture as "an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering...upon another person within his custody or physical control;"
USC 2340A defines the penalties:
"Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life."
And adds this:
"A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy."
Article VI of the Constitution reads:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby..."
One such treaty, the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, says:
"...torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
Adding that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture" and that "each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture."
So with that being said, how does the Obstruction of Justice Department reach this conclusion?
"Bush administration lawyers [John Yoo and Jay Bybee] who wrote memos that paved the way for waterboarding of terrorism suspects and other harsh interrogation tactics "exercised poor judgment" but will not face discipline for their actions, according to long-awaited Justice Department documents released Friday."
As an example of how upside down this case is, Yoo's attorney Miguel Estrada (remember him?) paints the two torture co-conspirators as victims, not perpetrators:
"Professor Yoo served our nation well and honorably in times of great peril," Estrada said. "The only thing that warrants an ethical investigation out of this entire sorry business is the number of malicious allegations against Professor Yoo and Judge Bybee that leaked out of the department during the last year."
I can sense the arguments of the defenders of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized by Yoo and Bybee's memos--they didn't rise to the level of torture, it wasn't "severe" physical or mental pain. A few examples from ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) interviews, keep in mind the complete title of the UN treaty against "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."
"The detainee would be made to wear a diaper and dressed in a tracksuit...The detainee would be shackled by [the] hands and feet and transported to the airport by road and loaded onto a plane. He would usually be transported in a reclined sitting position with his hands shackled in front. The journey times...ranged from one hour to over twenty-four to thirty hours. The detainee was not allowed to go to the toilet and if necessary was obliged to urinate and defecate into the diaper."
"I was stripped naked. I remained naked for the next two weeks. I was put in a cell measuring approximately [3 1/2 by 6 1/2 feet]. I was kept in a standing position, feet flat on the floor, but with my arms above my head and fixed with handcuffs and a chain to a metal bar running across the width of the cell...During the first two weeks I did not receive any food. I was only given Ensure and water to drink. A guard would come and hold the bottle for me while I drank.... The toilet consisted of a bucket in the cell.... I was not allowed to clean myself after using the bucket."
"I do not remember for exactly how many days I was kept standing, but I think it was about ten days.... During the standing I was made to wear a diaper. However, on some occasions the diaper was not replaced and so I had to urinate and defecate over myself. I was washed down with cold water everyday."
"...on a daily basis during the first two weeks a collar was looped around my neck and then used to slam me against the walls of the interrogation room. It was also placed around my neck when being taken out of my cell for interrogation and was used to lead me along the corridor. It was also used to slam me against the walls of the corridor during such movements."
"On one occasion during the interrogation I was offered water to drink, when I refused I was again taken to another room where I was made to lie [on] the floor with three persons holding me down. A tube was inserted into my anus and water poured inside. Afterwards I wanted to go to the toilet as I had a feeling as if I had diarrhoea. No toilet access was provided until four hours later when I was given a bucket to use.
Whenever I was returned to my cell I was always kept in the standing position with my hands cuffed and chained to a bar above my head."
These actions, repeated many times over, were authorized and legitimized by the memos written by Yoo and Bybee. And no one will be held accountable? This is a shame and a disgrace upon our country.
Back to the wording of the Convention Against Torture:
"Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law.constitutes complicity or participation in torture." The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which
And USC 2340A:
"A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy."
This includes former, and current, presidents, vice-presidents, attorneys general, and Justice Department officials. Knowledge of these activities and failure to investigate or prosecute them is a violation of the law and the Constitution, which ALL presidents take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend. Anything less is a dereliction of duty.
Looking forward, not back, is no excuse.
USC 2340A defines the penalties:
"Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life."
And adds this:
"A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy."
Article VI of the Constitution reads:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby..."
One such treaty, the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, says:
"...torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
Adding that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture" and that "each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture."
So with that being said, how does the Obstruction of Justice Department reach this conclusion?
"Bush administration lawyers [John Yoo and Jay Bybee] who wrote memos that paved the way for waterboarding of terrorism suspects and other harsh interrogation tactics "exercised poor judgment" but will not face discipline for their actions, according to long-awaited Justice Department documents released Friday."
As an example of how upside down this case is, Yoo's attorney Miguel Estrada (remember him?) paints the two torture co-conspirators as victims, not perpetrators:
"Professor Yoo served our nation well and honorably in times of great peril," Estrada said. "The only thing that warrants an ethical investigation out of this entire sorry business is the number of malicious allegations against Professor Yoo and Judge Bybee that leaked out of the department during the last year."
I can sense the arguments of the defenders of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized by Yoo and Bybee's memos--they didn't rise to the level of torture, it wasn't "severe" physical or mental pain. A few examples from ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) interviews, keep in mind the complete title of the UN treaty against "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."
"The detainee would be made to wear a diaper and dressed in a tracksuit...The detainee would be shackled by [the] hands and feet and transported to the airport by road and loaded onto a plane. He would usually be transported in a reclined sitting position with his hands shackled in front. The journey times...ranged from one hour to over twenty-four to thirty hours. The detainee was not allowed to go to the toilet and if necessary was obliged to urinate and defecate into the diaper."
"I was stripped naked. I remained naked for the next two weeks. I was put in a cell measuring approximately [3 1/2 by 6 1/2 feet]. I was kept in a standing position, feet flat on the floor, but with my arms above my head and fixed with handcuffs and a chain to a metal bar running across the width of the cell...During the first two weeks I did not receive any food. I was only given Ensure and water to drink. A guard would come and hold the bottle for me while I drank.... The toilet consisted of a bucket in the cell.... I was not allowed to clean myself after using the bucket."
"I do not remember for exactly how many days I was kept standing, but I think it was about ten days.... During the standing I was made to wear a diaper. However, on some occasions the diaper was not replaced and so I had to urinate and defecate over myself. I was washed down with cold water everyday."
"...on a daily basis during the first two weeks a collar was looped around my neck and then used to slam me against the walls of the interrogation room. It was also placed around my neck when being taken out of my cell for interrogation and was used to lead me along the corridor. It was also used to slam me against the walls of the corridor during such movements."
"On one occasion during the interrogation I was offered water to drink, when I refused I was again taken to another room where I was made to lie [on] the floor with three persons holding me down. A tube was inserted into my anus and water poured inside. Afterwards I wanted to go to the toilet as I had a feeling as if I had diarrhoea. No toilet access was provided until four hours later when I was given a bucket to use.
Whenever I was returned to my cell I was always kept in the standing position with my hands cuffed and chained to a bar above my head."
These actions, repeated many times over, were authorized and legitimized by the memos written by Yoo and Bybee. And no one will be held accountable? This is a shame and a disgrace upon our country.
Back to the wording of the Convention Against Torture:
"Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law.constitutes complicity or participation in torture." The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which
And USC 2340A:
"A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy."
This includes former, and current, presidents, vice-presidents, attorneys general, and Justice Department officials. Knowledge of these activities and failure to investigate or prosecute them is a violation of the law and the Constitution, which ALL presidents take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend. Anything less is a dereliction of duty.
Looking forward, not back, is no excuse.
Carguy, I firmly believe that Gerald Ford should not have pardoned Richard Nixon in 1974. By allowing him to not face the consequences, now a new generation of (sorry but it's true) Republicans has come to believe that anything they can get away with is ok.
And there are/were too many leftovers from Nixon's day in Georgie Boy's administration.
Such as the dickhead himself.
Maybe if more of them had been cellmates of the few who did spend time behind bars, the others might have gotten an "inkling" that the ends don't always justify the means.
Meanwhile, I still despise Cheney and I always will.
And if I see one more ad or notice for GWB that says "Miss me yet?" I will vomit.
How can anyone miss that mediocre moron?
I am very dissapointed that Obama has not addressed this. His excuse is flimsy, at best.
I see that the Dickhead Cheney is still defending torture on all the Sunday morning talk shows.
Explain to me exactly why that horse's ass is not in a federal prison?
You nailed it Des. If someone lets them get away with it, they are complicit in the crime themselves. I wonder how it would fly if someone charged with armed robbery were to plea it was "only an error in judgment" and not a criminal act - exactly how would the court react?
Bingo. My thoughts exactly Des.
Excellent!
This whole thing makes we very sad. That we, as a nation, supposedly condone this type of interrogation is just beyond all imagination.
In order to justify these travesties, you have to think like Dubya thought. Let me offer a simple formula to help:
If:
A=W
And:
A=N
Then:
W=N
Simply stated:
If America uses certain techniques during interrogations, but does not use torture, then it must be the case that the techniques America uses are indeed not torture. Math doesn’t lie, folks.
Discalimer: I do not believe any of the horses**t that I just emitted.