Waterboarding IS TORTURE - Page 2
IT IS ILLEGAL, INHUMAN, VIOLATES
GENEVA CONVENTION RULES
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Several accounts reported that Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed was waterboarded while being interrogated by the
CIA. According to the Bush administration, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
divulged information of tremendous value during his detention.
He is said to have helped point the way to the capture of
Hambali, the Indonesian terrorist responsible for the 2002
bombings of night clubs in Bali. According to the Bush administration,
he also provided information on an Al Qaeda leader in England.
During a radio interview on October 24, 2006,
with Scott Hennen of radio station WDAY, Vice President Dick
Cheney seemed to agree with the use of waterboarding. The
following are the questions and answers at issue, excerpted
from the transcript of the interview:
Hennen: "…And I've had people call
and say, please, let the Vice President know that if it
takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if
it saves American lives. Again, this debate seems a little
silly given the threat we face, would you agree?"
Cheney: "I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat,
for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate
high value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's
been a very important tool that we've had to be able to
secure the nation. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided us with
enormously valuable information about how many there are,
about how they plan, what their training processes are and
so forth, we've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue
that."
…
Hennen: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer
if it can save lives?"
Cheney: "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a
while there I was criticized as being the vice president
for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved
in."
The administration later denied that Cheney
had confirmed the use of waterboarding, saying that U.S. officials
do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because
they are classified. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
said that Cheney was not referring to waterboarding, but only
to a "dunk in the water", prompting one reporter
to ask, "So dunk in the water means, what, we have a
pool now at Guantanamo and they go swimming?" Tony Snow
replied, "You doing stand-up?" On September 13,
2007 ABC News reported that a former intelligence officer
stated that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been waterboarded in
the presence of a female CIA supervisor
Classification as torture
Today, waterboarding is considered to be torture
by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, politicians,
war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges, and
human rights organizations. However, arguments have been put
forward that it is not torture in all cases, or that they
are uncertain. The U.S. State Department has recognized that
other techniques that involve submersion of the head of the
subject during interrogation would qualify as torture.
Controversy in the United States
As a political issue in confirmation
hearings
The issue of whether waterboarding is torture
became an issue in confirming certain appointments to the
Department of Justice. Judge Michael Mukasey was intended
to be a consensus candidate to replace Alberto Gonzalez as
Attorney General, but his confirmation briefly looked in doubt
when he wouldn't state whether waterboarding is torture. Mukasey
stated that waterboarding seemed "over the line or, on
a personal basis, repugnant to me, and would probably seem
the same to many Americans" but that "hypotheticals
are different from real life, and in any legal opinion the
actual facts and circumstances are critical." As reported
by the Washington Post: Mukasey also stated that he was "reluctant
to offer opinions on interrogation techniques because he does
not want to place U.S. officials 'in personal legal jeopardy'
and is concerned that such remarks might 'provide our enemies
with a window into the limits or contours of any interrogation
program.'"
The issue came up again in the confirmation
hearings of Federal District Judge Mark Filip for the position
of deputy attorney general. Filip stated that he considered
waterboarding to be "repugnant," and stated that
with a grandfather in a POW camp in Germany, he considered
the issue to be somewhat personal. That being said, he refused
to state whether waterboarding was torture and stated instead
that "the attorney general of the United States is presently
reviewing that legal question" and that "I don't
think I can or anyone who could be potentially considered
for his deputy could get out in front of him on that question
while it's under review."
As a political issue in 2008 presidential
election
The issue of whether waterboarding should be
classified as torture also became a political issue for candidates
running for president in the 2008 election, which candidates
being asked whether they would consider waterboarding to be
a form of torture. Several political candidates have stated
unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, while others
have refused to state this position or have stated that they
do not believe waterboarding is torture.
For example, Rudolph Giuliani stated in response
to a direct question of whether he considered waterboarding
to be torture, he stated "I’m not sure [waterboarding]
is [torture]. It depends on how it’s done. It depends
on the circumstances. It depends on who does it. I think the
way it’s been defined in the media, it shouldn’t
be done. The way in which they have described it, particularly
in the liberal media. So I would say, if that’s the
description of it, then I can agree, that it shouldn’t
be done. But I have to see what the real description of it
is. Because I’ve learned something being in public life
as long as I have. And I hate to shock anybody with this,
but the newspapers don’t always describe it accurately."
"Recently, Senator McCain has come out
strongly against using waterboarding as an instrument of interrogation.
My question for the rest of you is, considering that Mr. McCain
is the only one with any firsthand knowledge on the subject,
how can those of you sharing the stage with him disagree with
his position?" In response to this question Mitt Romney
stated "I oppose torture. I would not be in favor of
torture in any way, shape or form." Prompted by the moderator
as to whether waterboarding was torture, Romney said "as
a presidential candidate, I don't think it's wise for us to
describe specifically which measures we would and would not
use" which prompted the following exchange between McCain
and Romney: McCain: "Well, governor, I'm astonished that
you haven't found out what waterboarding is." Romney:
"I know what waterboarding is, Senator." McCain:
"Then I am astonished that you would think such a –
such a torture would be inflicted on anyone in our —
who we are held captive and anyone could believe that that's
not torture. It's in violation of the Geneva Convention."
Legality
All nations that are signatory to the United
Nations Convention Against Torture have agreed they are subject
to the explicit prohibition on torture under any condition,
and as such there exists no legal exception under this treaty.
(The treaty states "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever,
whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political
instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked
as a justification of torture.") Additionally, signatories
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are bound to
Article 5, which states, "No one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
United States
The United States has a historical record of
regarding waterboarding as a crime, and has prosecuted individuals
for the use of the practice in the past. In 1947, the United
States prosecuted a Japanese military officer, Yukio Asano,
for carrying out a form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian
during World War II. Yukio Asano received a sentence of 15
years of hard labor. The charges of Violation of the Laws
and Customs of War against Asano also included "beating
using hands, fists, club; kicking; burning using cigarettes;
strapping on a stretcher head downward."
In its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices, the U.S. Department of State formally recognized
"submersion of the head in water" as torture in
its examination of Tunisia's poor human rights record, and
critics of waterboarding draw parallels between the two techniques,
citing the similar usage of water on the subject. On September
6, 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense released a revised
Army Field Manual entitled Human Intelligence Collector Operations
that prohibits the use of waterboarding by U.S. military personnel.
The department adopted the manual amid widespread criticism
of U.S. handling of prisoners in the War on Terrorism, and
prohibits other practices in addition to waterboarding. The
revised manual applies only to U.S. military personnel, and
as such does not apply to the practices of the CIA. However,
under international law, violators of the laws of war are
criminally liable under the command responsibility, and could
still be prosecuted for war crimes.
BUSH AUTHORIZES CIA to RESUME WATERBOARDING
On FEB. 7 / 08, The White House said that the
widely condemned interogation technique known as “WATERBOARDING”
was authorized by Bush to continue.Two laws passed by Congress,
as well as the Suprems court ruling on the treatment of detainees,
were interpreted to have banned this method. However, Dick
Cheney and Bush consider it “A dunk in the water.”
For years the White House has denied that the U.S. had ever
engaged intortureAt the White House briefing the announcement
was denounced by key lawmakers. This is a black mark on the
United States, said the Senate Intelligence Committee. It
has long been suggested that Bush and Cheney should be subjected
to the treatment to see if indeed it was just “a dunk
in the Water.”
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