(10:00 PM EST – [ed. note: content moved below the fold] – promoted by On The Bus)
Please support Torture Awareness Day
Simulposted at Daily Kos
Medical reports corroborated the detainee’s account, stating that the detainee had a broken nose, fractured leg, and scars on his stomach. In addition, soldiers confirmed that Task Force 20 interrogators wearing civilian clothing had interrogated the detainee. However, after initially reporting the abuse, the detainee said that he was forced by an American soldier to sign a statement denouncing the claims or else be kept in detention indefinitely. He agreed.
An investigator who reviewed the signed statement concluded that “[t]his statement, alone, is a prima facie indication of threats.” However, despite the medical report and testimony from other soldiers, the criminal file was ultimately closed on the grounds that the investigation had “failed to prove or disprove” the offenses.
Does anything stand against the American concept of the rule of law more than this?
At the bottom of this diary you can find contact information, which you can use to contact Attorney general Eric Holder and the Obama White House in order to voice your desire to see the criminals of the Bush Cheney Regime brought to justice under the rule of law.
Our entire foreign policy under Bush/Cheney was based on false confessions that were gathered via torture, threats of indefinite detention and other violations of American and International law.
Under Bush/Cheney, America covered up Saudi involvement with al-Qaeda and began an illegal torture program in order to connect al Qaeda with Saddam Hussein so they could justify an illegal war with Iraq so they could give no-bid contracts to their previous business connections.
This is what I believe, but we will never know until there are full investigations of the Bush/Cheney Administration.
If the United States does not hold the Bush/Cheney Administration accountable for the War Crimes and false war against Iraq that have helped contribute to the sordid state of affairs our country is in today, the only thing that is certain is that America will find itself in this situation again some day.
And that day may come sooner than expected.
criminal file was ultimately closed on the grounds that the investigation had “failed to prove or disprove” the offenses.
This reasoning is found in hundreds upon hundreds of ruling in cases where abuse or other war crimes are concerned. The question of whether these cases were closed because the Bush/Cheney Administration wished them to be is another matter, but it goes to the heart of the problem.
Without the rule of law, there can be no justice.
we must go – dont know when we can get internet – they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names – now we must move fast – #Iranelectionabout 5 hours ago from web
Though one cannot verify every tweet coming our of Iran, in Iran the threat of torture is real for citizens who fight the Power of Tyranny.
But . . .
Until we bring our own criminals to justice, America does not have the right to condemn torture used by other nations, or any other violation of international law. Until the Bush Administration is brought before justice, we do not have the moral high ground that is required before we can require other nations to abide by the same laws we do.
That moral high ground is gone, and there is only one way to get it back.
How many other times were detainees forced to choose between their freedom and holding their captors accountable for their crimes? My guess is, more than we would like to imagine. I can not imagine instances like these were isolated incidents. The torture/false confessions agenda that took place throughout our overseas military prisons is well documented. All we need is a real investigation and a trial to shore up the loose ends.
Will we get that? Will Attorney General Eric Holder do his constitutionally required duty?
Is there a public option in Democracy?
There is no choice in the matter.
Thursday, June 25, 2009, has been designated Torture Accountability Action Day by a large coalition of human rights groups planning rallies and marches in major U.S. cities, including a rally in Washington, D.C.’s John Marshall Park at 11 a.m. followed by a noon march to the Justice Department where some participants will risk arrest in nonviolent protest if a special prosecutor for torture is not appointed.
accountability4torture.comEvents are planned in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, CA; Pasadena, CA; Thousand Oaks, CA; Boston, MA; Salt Lake City, UT; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Las Vegas, NV; Honolulu, HI; Tampa, FL; Philadelphia, PA; and Anchorage, AK, with details available online:
Here you can find contact information which you can use to voice your support for Full Investigations and Prosecutions of High Crimes, War Crimes and violations of American and International law with the Attorney General of the U.S.A., Eric Holder.
BY E-MAIL
BY PHONE:
Department of Justice Main Switchboard – 202-514-2000
Office of the Attorney General – 202-353-1555
BY MAIL:
Correspondence to the Department, including the Attorney General, may be sent to:
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
You can contact the White House and voice your desire to see the Bush Administration brought to justice under the law
E-mail the White House with this link here at whitehouse.gov/CONTACT
CAll the White House at 202-456-1111
You can also call or write to the President:
Send letters to –
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500Please include your e-mail address
Sure chewing gum is more than Bush was capable of, but we are supposed to be walking too, right?
Well if we are going to walk, let’s make some progress with some action.
Merely moving forward is meaningless if we have no real direction.
Thank you for your time,
MoT
7 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
and a return to the rule of law that our Founding Fathers fought and died for.
thanks MoT for posting this at DK too, rec’d x 2!
Just think if the Iranians were doing this to someone right now. There would be a-twittering aplenty!
Angry twittering!
But when it’s America doing it to anyone else …? Ho hum.
We’re completely powerless about what happens in Iran, so we get all indignant about it. We’re supposedly NOT powerless in our own country, and what do we do?
People have used it for years to bolster themselves to the public to prove their worth by “solving” crimes quickly. Politicians and police forces have benefited from them. Numerous cases of False confessions have been identified in the papers and books have been written…
Why can’t our government put a stop to this? Would it discredit our policies somehow? Would it ruin credibility? Sheesh…and people talk about “right to life” and “freedom” and “liberty”, they just have no clue!