Part the 3454th, ie, way too many entries on this topic!
Chicago Tribune | U.S. policy of `no torture, no excuses' urged
The Bush administration's policies for holding and detaining suspected terrorists came under sharp scrutiny and criticism Wednesday after disclosure that the CIA had set up covert prisons in several East European democracies and other countries. The UN special rapporteur on torture said he would seek more information about the covert prisons, referred to in classified documents as “black sites.” Congressional Democrats and human-rights groups warned that the system would damage the U.S. image overseas.House Democrats said they will introduce a motion as early as Thursday to endorse language in the defense spending package written by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would bar cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody, including those in CIA hands. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, ranking Democrat on the appropriations defense subcommittee, urged the U.S. to adopt a doctrine of “no torture, no excuses” and said Congress needs to speak on the issue. McCain's amendment was endorsed last month by the Senate 90-9 over the objections of the White House, which said it would restrict the president's ability to protect the country. House Democrats said they already have 15 GOP supporters for their motion, and Republicans have told the White House they expect it to pass, an Appropriations Committee spokesman said.
Whatever happened to the Shining City on the Hill metaphor, so lovingly trotted out by President Reagan?
Human-rights groups said Al Qaeda prisoners should be brought to trial rather than held indefinitely in covert prisons in which they have no recognized legal rights.“We think these people should be prosecuted and punished fully for the murders of thousands of people,” said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. “What is really clear is that this is a dead-end policy and they are close to the dead end.”
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, has been pushing for more than a year to conduct a review of the CIA's interrogation and detention practices. He lashed out Wednesday at the administration for not being more forthcoming.
“They have made it clear that anyone who suggests that oversight is needed should be labeled as unpatriotic,” he said.
Manfred Nowak, the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said he had heard allegations of secret detention facilities sponsored by the United States but had not heard of any in Eastern Europe before Wednesday.
“Every secret place of detention is usually a higher risk for ill treatment, that's the danger of secrecy,” Nowak said from Austria, adding he wants to pursue access to all U.S. detention facilities outside its territory.
Torture, secret prisons, and the United States should never be mentioned in the same sentence, unless the U.S. is trying to stop torture, or free people from secret prison facilities.
