[Vision2020] Project Censored: US Operatives Tortured Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq

[Ted Moffett]

The discussion with those who refuse to admit facts regarding this
issue appears pointless and redundant, but perhaps there is educational or
entertainment value for some in the attempt to convince a brick wall(s) to
admit the truth:

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/7-us-operatives-torture-detainees-to-death-in-afghanistan-and-iraq/

Sources:

American Civil Liberties Website, October 24, 2005
Title: “US Operatives Killed Detainees During Interrogations in Afghanistan
and Iraq”

Tom Dispatch.com, March 5, 2006
Title: “Tracing the Trail of Torture: Embedding Torture as Policy from
Guantanamo to Iraq”
Author: Dahr Jamail

Faculty Evaluator: Rabi Michael Robinson
Student Researchers: Michael B Januleski Jr. and Jessica Rodas

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released documents of forty-four
autopsies held in Afghanistan and Iraq October 25, 2005. Twenty-one of those
deaths were listed as homicides. The documents show that detainees died
during and after interrogations by Navy SEALs, Military Intelligence, and
Other Government Agency (OGA).

“These documents present irrefutable evidence that U.S. operatives tortured
detainees to death during interrogation,” said Amrit Singh, an attorney with
the ACLU. “The public has a right to know who authorized the use of torture
techniques and why these deaths have been covered up.”

The Department of Defense released the autopsy reports in response to a
Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU, the Center for
Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common
Sense, and Veterans for Peace.

One of forty-four U.S. military autopsy reports reads as follows: “Final
Autopsy Report: DOD 003164, (Detainee) Died as a result of asphyxia (lack of
oxygen to the brain) due to strangulation as evidenced by the recently
fractured hyoid bone in the neck and soft tissue hemorrhage extending
downward to the level of the right thyroid cartilage. Autopsy revealed bone
fracture, rib fractures, contusions in mid abdomen, back and buttocks
extending to the left flank, abrasions, lateral buttocks. Contusions, back
of legs and knees; abrasions on knees, left fingers and encircling to left
wrist. Lacerations and superficial cuts, right 4th and 5th fingers. Also,
blunt force injuries, predominately recent contusions (bruises) on the torso
and lower extremities. Abrasions on left wrist are consistent with use of
restraints. No evidence of defense injuries or natural disease. Manner of
death is homicide. Whitehorse Detainment Facility, Nasiriyah, Iraq.”

Another report from the ACLU indicates: “a 27-year-old Iraqi male died while
being interrogated by Navy Seals on April 5, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq. During
his confinement he was hooded, flex-cuffed, sleep deprived and subjected to
hot and cold environmental conditions, including the use of cold water on
his body and head. The exact cause of death was ‘undetermined’ although the
autopsy stated that hypothermia may have contributed to his death.”

An overwhelming majority of the so-called “natural deaths” covered in the
autopsies were attributed to “arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease”
(heart attack). Persons under extreme stress and pain may have heart attacks
as a result of the circumstances of their detainments.

The Associated Press carried the story of the ACLU charges on their wire
service. However, a thorough check of LexisNexis and ProQuest electronic
data bases, using the keywords ACLU and autopsy, showed that at least 95
percent of the daily papers in the U.S. did not bother to pick up the story.
The Los Angeles Times covered the story on page A4 with a 635-word report
headlined “Autopsies Support Abuse Allegations.” Fewer than a dozen other
daily newspapers including: Bangor Daily News, Maine, page 8;
Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, page 6; Charleston Gazette, page 5;
Advocate, Baton Rouge, page 11; and a half dozen others actually covered the
story. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Seattle Times buried the story
inside general Iraq news articles. USA Today posted the story on their
website. MSNBC posted the story to their website, but apparently did not
consider it newsworthy enough to air on television.

Janis Karpinski, U.S. Brigadier General Commander of the 800th Military
Police Brigade, was in charge of seventeen prison facilities in Iraq during
the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2003. Karpinski testified January 21, 2006 in New
York City at the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes against
Humanity Committed by the Bush administration. Karpinski stated: “General
[Ricardo] Sanchez [commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq] signed the
eight-page memorandum authorizing a laundry list of harsh techniques in
interrogations to include specific use of dogs and muzzled dogs with his
specific permission.” Karpinski went on to claim that Major General Geoffrey
Miller, who had been “specifically selected by the Secretary of Defense to
go to Guantanamo Bay and run the interrogations operations,” was dispatched
to Iraq by the Bush administration to “work with the military intelligence
personnel to teach them new and improved interrogation techniques.” When
asked how far up the chain of command responsibility for the torture orders
for Abu Ghraib went, Karpinski said, “The Secretary of Defense would not
have authorized without the approval of the Vice President.”

UPDATE BY DAHR JAMAIL

This story, published in March 2006, was merely a snapshot of the ongoing
and worsening policy of the Bush administration regarding torture. And not
just time, but places show snapshots of the criminal policy of the current
administration—Iraq, like Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Bagram Air Force Base in
Afghanistan, and other “secret” U.S. military detention centers in Eastern
European countries are physical examples of an ongoing policy which breaches
both international law and our very constitution.

But breaking international and domestic law has not been a concern of an
administration led by a “president” who has claimed “authority” to disobey
over 750 laws passed by Congress. In fact, when this same individual does
things like signing a secret order in 2002 which authorized the National
Security Agency to violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by
wiretapping the phones of U.S. citizens, and then goes on to allow the
secret collection of the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans,
torture is but one portion of this corrupted picture. This is a critical
ongoing story, not just because it violates international and domestic law,
but this state-sanctioned brutality, bankrupt of any morality and decency,
is already coming back home to haunt Americans. When U.S. soldiers are
captured in Iraq or another foreign country, what basis does the U.S. have
now to ask for their fair and humane treatment? And with police brutality
and draconian “security” measures becoming more real within the U.S. with
each passing day, why wouldn’t these policies be visited upon U.S. citizens?


While torture is occasionally glimpsed by mainstream media outlets such as
the Washington Post and Time Magazine, we must continue to rely on groups
like the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City, Human Rights
Watch, and Amnesty International who cover the subject thoroughly,
persistently, and unlike (of course) any corporate media outlets.
Since I wrote this story, there continues to be a deluge of information and
proof of the Bush administration continuing and even widening their policy
of torture, as well as their rendering prisoners to countries which have
torturing human beings down to a science.

All of this, despite the fact that U.S. laws prohibit torture absolutely,
clearly stating that torture is never, ever permitted, even in a time of
war.

To stay current on this critical topic, please visit the following websites
regularly:
http://www.amnesty.org/
http://www.hrw.org/
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/home.asp

------------------------------------------

Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20090429/7f935763/attachment-0001.html