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Guantánamo Bay and Torture in the United States

Submitted by BrianNapoletano on 22 March, 2008 - 02:07
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What does the decision to operate an illegal prison camp without Congressional or judicial oversight say about the United States government's commitment to its own legal system or to international humanitarian law? Very few spokespersons in the media seem to be willing to address this question directly, despite its apparent importance. Although the detention and interrogation policies implemented by the Bush administration were not particularly new in terms of the tactics employed, the blatant arrogance that accompanied them was largely unprecedented. Despite initial indications that it would at least superficially break with the Bush administration's policies, the Obama administration has perpetuated and tried to legitimize many of its predecessor's most egregious abuses. While this issue occasionally appears in the headlines, the media has thus far done little more than echo the debates between the establishment's "hawks" and "doves" under the banner of objective journalism. Admittedly, this mainstream journalism does appear to possess a certain level of objectivity when contrasted to its more extreme examples, such as FOX News---which has given up on journalism altogether and instead produces wholesale propaganda designed to terrify the public into believing that they're on the verge of being swarmed by masses of bloodthirsty terrorists hell-bent on destroying freedom, justice, and the American way. The range of this objectivity, however, is always circumscribed by the interests of the eight or so major corporations that own almost all the mass media in the US. In the case of illegal incarceration and torture, this means that much of the debate has been about whether these tactics help to further the United States' foreign policy objectives, and not what those objectives are, or what harms or benefits they will bring to the US and world public. I have collected the resources listed here in an effort to present the debate in this larger context.

The illegal prison camp in Cuba is part of a much larger system of international kidnapping and torture that the Bush administration helped to refine and expand in the wake of the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. For instance, government programs such as the School of the Americas (now known as the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation") have long been used to train military and police forces of Latin American and other underdeveloped nations in the latest techniques of torture, intimidation, and repression. The CIA has also carefully researched interrogation tactics employed by dictators worldwide, and invested in domestic research programs designed to identify new techniques to develop a highly brutal and effective set of torture techniques for use by its own agents and its proxy forces in various locations. Since the 11 September attacks, the government has been more openly torturing larger numbers of people in its own prisons, and has substantially enhanced its refoulement program, which transfers US prisoners to other nations with fewer (if any) human rights protections to be more brutally tortured or disappeared altogether. This procedure, which the CIA and other officials refer to as 'extraordinary' or 'irregular' rendition began in the Clinton administration with a secret agreement between the United States' and Egyptian intelligence communities that would allow US operatives to abduct suspected terrorists and transport them to Egyptian prisons for detainment and interrogation. The rationale behind the program was that it would allow agents to remove 'dangerous' terrorists from the playing field without being forced to divulge their intelligence-gathering techniques or definitively establish the prisoner's guilt in a public trial in a US court. Although the US officials responsible for these abductions would officially request assurances from Egyptian officials that the victims would not be tortured, most operations were conducted with the knowledge that Egypt's guarantees of human treatment were strictly perfunctory, and "don't ask, you don't want to know" became the official policy. After the first few successful operations (and retaliatory bombings), the program became much less 'irregular' and was expanded to include countries such as Morocco, Syria and Thailand. Michael Scheuer, one of the architects of the program, maintains that a detailed dossier was compiled for each suspect, the CIA's legal council approved each operation, and that assurances that the prisoners would not be tortured were consistently obtained from host countries (although he concedes that these were never given much credence or verified by an US observers). Scheuer also reports that after 11 September 2001, the numbers of renditions increased while both the quantity and quality of information in the fatal dossiers decreased dramatically.

In addition to expanding the rendition program and expanding the government's illegal military and paramilitary operations in foreign states, the Bush Administration also decided to reject the international laws regarding the treatment of official prisoners, which are explicitly stated in the Geneva Conventions, a series of universally binding international treaties which have been signed and ratified by the US government, making them the supreme "law of the land", second only to the Constitution itself (this holds despite John Yoo's darkly comical linguistic acrobatics). By relabeling people captured by US soldiers or sold by local warloads "illegal enemy combatants", the Bush administration has deluded itself into thinking that it can now operate outside the constraints of US laws. As part of the expansion of the President's network of illegal prisons run through the CIA and the DoD, the (incidentally illegally sited) U.S. Military Base in Guantánamo1 Bay, Cuba has been fitted with a series of inhumane prisons and interrogation chambers to facilitate the CIA's use of torture and abuse programs similar to those reported at Abu Ghraib and other secret prisons at a larger scale. The fact that the base is illegally sited within Cuba's sovereign territory was the very rationale behind situating the prison there, as this would allow the President to claim that the US courts have no jurisdiction over the victims or the persons torturing them (a war crime punishable by death under US law) because the crimes were not perpetrated on US soil.

A growing number of progressive and conservative domestic and international agencies (including the United Nations, Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross) have condemned the US policy, while the Bush and Obama administrations and other backers of the program have maintained that it is a "necessary evil" in what the media loves to refer to as "The War on Terror". In spite of the international outcry and the overwhelming public opposition to illegal detentions reflected in the 2008 election and in repeated surveys taken since, innocent people continue to suffer at the hands of those who claim to represent "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

International Humanitarian Law

The US government has consistently sought to subvert international law by declaring various treaties 'non self-executing'. This is an attempt to render the enforcement of such laws unattainable in US courts. This tactic is not particularly effective, however, and generally tends to simply imbue US violations with a degree of imperial arrogance that has severely strained international alliances.

US Government Documents

Items here are provided by different branches of the US Government. Some were released voluntarily, others through litigation.

White House Executive Orders, Fact Sheets & Press Releases2

Beginning of the Obama Administration, 20 January 2009

Executive Reports

Title Organization Date Links Notes
KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation CIA July 1963 PDF | Source Controversial manual written by the CIA about extracting usable intelligence from "reluctant sources". Many of the mental torture techniques described in this manual have expanded from the so-called CIA "black sites" to military prisons such as those in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay.
Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General 14 March, 2003 PDF | Source Memorandum for William J. Haynes II, General Counself of the Department of Defense by John Yoo. This is the infamous 'Torture Memo', and its infamy is very much merited. Yoo released an article on 4 January 2005 defending his memo.
Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities (September 2001 -- October 2003) CIA, Inspector General 7 May 2004 PDF | Source Released in August 2009, this report confirms that the CIA did indeed engage in torture under the direction of the White House. This is clear despite heavy redactions throughout the document.
Compilation of FBI Field Agents' accounts of interrogation techniques inconsistent with Bureau policy at Guantánamo FBI 2 September, 2004 PDF | Source After receiving reports from agents at the Guantánamo Prison of innappropriate interrogation practices being conducted by non-agency personnel, the FBI initiated an inquiry of all agents at the prison regarding the interrogation practices they witnessed
A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq DoJ, Office of the Inspector General May 2008 PDF | Source This report belies the claim that abuses were 'random acts' by 'rogue soldiers'.

Defense Department Reports

Freedom of Information Act Document Collections

Several non-profit human rights and civil liberties organizations have been working to shed light on the abusive treatment of prisons captured by the U.S. armed forces and intelligence services (e.g. Amnesty International, International Committee of the Red Cross, Center for Constitutional Rights, American Civil Liberties Union). In many cases, the Administration's reticence has forced these agencies to resort to judicial intervention under the terms of the FOIA. In an effort to avail the global community of the information they have been uncovering, organizations are beginning to maintain their databases online.

Third-party Reports

These reports have been compiled by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). While many such organizations still fail to question the global concentration of economic power in the hands of a decreasing number of multi-national corporations, they do tend to be a bit more skeptical about the US government's claims that it represents the united will of the "free world." Consequently, they tend to approach the US government's foreign policies from a slightly more neutral perspective than do officials within the US. Consequently, condemnation of the human rights abuses that the US has perpetrated in its bloody "War on Terror" is virtually unanimous.

Title Organization Date Links Notes
Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the treatment by the Coalition Forces of prisoners of war and other protected persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq during arrest, internment and interrogation ICRC February 2004 PDF | Source Evidently a confidential report (until the Wall Street Journal found it) that the ICRC delivered to the White House detailing instances of Coallition Forces violating International Humanitarian Law. The president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, didn't appear to be too thrilled that the report found its way the press3
Study on customary international humanitarian law: a contribution to the understanding and respect for the rule of law in armed conflict 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent March 2005 PDF | Source
This article explains the rationale behind a study on customary international humanitarian law recently undertaken by the ICRC at the request of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. It describes the methodology used and how the study was organized and summarizes some major findings. It does not, however, purport to provide a complete overview or analysis of these findings.
--Document Abstract4
Human rights and indefinite detention ICRC Review March 2005 PDF | Source
Indefinite detention is incompatible with Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While temporary derogation from this provision is allowed in article 4 ICCPR, such derogation is only possible “in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation” and “to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.” Persons deprived of their liberty are entitled to a prompt trial or release, and in cases of arbitrary detention, they are entitled to compensation. Neither the war on terror nor restrictive immigration policies justify indefinite detention.
--Document Abstract
Casting light on the legal black hole: International law and detentions abroad in the “war on terror” ICRC Review March 2005 PDF | Source
Thousands of individuals have been detained abroad in the context of the “war on terror”, both during the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and as a result of transnational law-enforcement operations. This paper argues that, notwithstanding contrary positions expounded by some States, the protections of international humanitarian law and/or international human rights law remain applicable to these individuals, wherever detained, and examines recent decisions of domestic courts and international bodies which appear to reveal a reassertion of international standards.
--Document Abstract
Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan HRF February 2006 PDF | Source Documentation of 12 deaths by torture and abuse of prisoners at the hands of U.S. forces. Also an indictment of the fact that no serious investigation has been conducted into these and other homicides, and that no one above the rank of Major has been implicated.
Enduring Abuse: Torture and Cruel Treatment by the United States at Home and Abroad ACLU April 2006 PDF | Source Summarizes and then supports with documentation obtained through FOIA litigation evidence of abuse and torture conducted by U.S. forces and orchestrated by the Bush Administration and high-ranking officials. Submitted to the United Nations Committee Against Torture as a shadow report to the U.S.'s second periodic report to the same committee
Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: Second report PACE 2007 PDF | Source A Council of Europe report summarizing the findings of an investigation into Council of Europe member states' participation in illegal CIA abductions. Governments of the United States, Poland, Romania, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Italy and Germany, as well as the Russian Federation in the Northern Caucasus have all been obstructing investigations into their participation, while those of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada have fully acknowledged their responsibilities.
ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody ICRC Review February 2007 PDF | Source The ICRC submitted this confidential report warning the Bush administration that the CIA's treatment of 14 "high value detainees" was illegal.
Disavowed: The Government's Unchecked Retaliation Against National Security Whistleblowers ACLU 14 May 2007 PDF | Source Highlights the absence of protections for whistleblowers in the "National Security" industry and the problems this poses for accountability.
A US government response to the International Committee of the Red Cross study Customary International Humanitarian Law ICRC Review June 2007 PDF | Source
Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Cambridge University Press/ICRC, Cambridge 2005 (hereinafter, ‘‘Study’’). On November 11, 2006, the General Counsel of the Department of Defense and the Legal Adviser for the Department of State transmitted a letter to the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, providing the U.S. Government’s initial reactions to the Study.
--Document Abstract
Leave No Marks: Enhanced interrogation techniques and the risk of criminality PHR and HRF August 2007 PDF | Source A report by PHR and Human Rights First demonstrates that "enhanced" interrogation techniques are likely to cause "severe" or "serious" physical and mental harm to detainees. It shows that the authorization of these enhanced interrogation techniques, whether practiced alone or in combination, may constitute torture and/or cruel and inhuman treatment and consequently place interrogators at serious legal risk of prosecution for war crimes and other violations.
El-Masri -- Petition to the IACHR ACLU 9 April, 2008 PDF | Source To the honorable members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States, Petition alleging violations of the human rights of Khaled El-Masri by the United States of America with a request for an investigation and hearing on the merits.
Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact PHR June 2008 PDF | Source Detailed report of a medical investigation of 11 former prisoners, including medical evidence of ill-treatment and short- and long-term consequences. None of the prisoners have been charged with any crimes. If you're looking for evidence of torture, this is a good place to start.
Trial and Error Amnesty International 30 July 2008 PDF | Source The first trial to take place before a military commission convened under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 opened on 21 July 2008 in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Amnesty International does not consider Salim Hamdan’s trial by this military court to be lawful under international law.
Back to the bigger picture Amnesty International 8 August 2008 PDF | Source Amnesty International calls for the military commission system to be abandoned and for such trials to be conducted in the ordinary US federal criminal courts.
USA: Military judge hears allegations of ill-treatment of teenager at Bagram and Guantánamo Amnesty International 15 August 2008 PDF | Source On 13 and 14 August 2008 in the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a military judge considered pre-trial issues in the case of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan national taken into custody when he was under 18 years old and held in US custody for the past five and half years and now facing a “war crimes” trial by military commission.
U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices and Their Impact on Detainees UC Berkeley and the CCR 12 November 2008 PDF | Source Based on a two-year study, the report examines the cumulative effects of the Bush administration's policies on the lives of 62 former detainees
USA: Investigation, prosecution, remedy: Accountability for human rights violations in the 'war on terror' Amnesty International 8 December 2008 PDF | Source Amnesty International has issued a report calling for an independent investigation into the Bush administration's human rights abuses
Current Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo CCR 23 February 2009 PDF | Source According to the CCR, even prisoners cleared for release are still languishing in inhumane prison conditions
No Direction Home: Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen HRW 28 March 2009 PDF | Source A critical examination of a proposal to transfer Guantánamo detainees to Yemen, ostensibly for "rehabilitation"
D.C. Circuit Court Decision Refuses to Allow Advance Notice Before a Guantanamo Detainee is Transferred CCR 7 April 2009 PDF | Source The upshot of the ruling is that we just have to take the government's word for it when they promise that they won't send prisoners off to be tortured--because that worked so well before...

Major Media Resources

Several news agencies, even in the mainstream media, have developed special reference sections dedicated to the Guantánamo issue. I have included links to the Washington Post's and the New York Times' specials, as well as to sections in non-commercial and independent press agencies.

Multimedia Resources

I love the written word, but images and sounds tend to trigger different parts of the brain than text, so they can act as helpful supplements. Here are some links to selected multimedia presentations on Guantánamo.

National and International Activists

Opponents of Guantánamo

The organisations and individuals listed here are opposed to illegal detentions and abusive treatment by U.S. forces, and have made substantial efforts in alerting the American and International public to these crimes and to changing the U.S. government's behaviour.

Proponents of Guantánamo

Organizations listed here believe the U.S. is being "appropriately aggressive"5. I have attempted to distil the empty rhetoric and the intentionally inflammatory and ignorant statements out of the lot. This, not surprisingly, left me with very few items in the end.

Reading Room

Here is a collection of some of the more interesting books and articles I encountered in my research of the issues surrounding Guantánamo Bay and the United States' conduct in the international arena. I am listing them here both to help me organize them and to make them readily accessible to others who wish to investigate the issue.

News Reports

This is an assorted collection of news reports on the issue. My list is neither extensive nor intensive in its coverage; my goal is to provide enough information for the reader to form h(er|is) own opinion on the issue, not to record every article written on the topic. If you know of an article whose inclusion would improve this collection, please direct me to it. Articles are listed chronologically by publication date, with the oldest first.

Date Title (and link) Source Description
6 Jan 2005 Commentary: We are all torturers now The New York Times The Bush Administration's torture policies have survived more than a full term of disclosure now. No one has an excuse any more; every mentally competent U.S. citizen, myself included, is party to torture
10 Feb 2005 Detainees Accuse Female Interrogators Washington Post Among other things, female soldiers were encouraged to splash colored water on the victims and claim that it was menstrual blood
14 Feb 2005 Outsourcing Torture: The secret history of America’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The New Yorker A brief history and examination of the CIA's use of "extraordinary rendition"
13 Jun 2005 Guantánamo detainees are 'bad people', says Cheney The Guardian World Service Cheney keeps Bush safe---I mean, would you want him to be the President?
19 Oct 2006 Developments in US policy and legislation towards detainees: the ICRC position ICRC In an interview for the ICRC website, the organization's President, Jakob Kellenberger, talks about the recent developments in US policy and legislation towards those detained in the fight against terrorism
31 Dec 2006 For Guantánamo Review Boards, Limits Abound The New York Times A report on some of the rather serious limitations of the status review boards
8 Jun 2007 CIA rejects secret jails report BBC The CIA has dismissed a Council of Europe report alleging that it ran secret jails for terror suspects in Europe after the 11 September attacks
5 Feb 2008 CIA admits waterboarding inmates BBC The CIA has for the first time publicly admitted that it has been using the criminal interrogation method of "waterboarding" on terror suspects
25 Feb 2008 The Water Cure: Debating torture and counterinsurgency—a century ago The New Yorker Discusses the use of water torture in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century
27 Mar 2008 Purdue community has place in torture discussion The Purdue Exponent Letter I wrote to the Editor of my school paper on the topic of torture
20 Apr 2008 The Message Machine: Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand The New York Times How the Pentagon has been using popular military analysts to spin coverage of its performance in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the globe
14 Apr 2008 Bush OK'd Torture Meetings Washington Post Bush has publicly stated that he personally approved the torture techniques they're using, but he wasn't having an affair with anyone at the time, so Congress decided to let it slide...
4 May 2008 Americans 'stole my life from me' The National This is what I mean when I say that in addition to being wrong, our current approach is counterproductive to our goals (I found this article on Richard Stallman's feed)
25 May 2008 Time in Guantanamo Bay inspires commitment to teaching Rutgers News Archive A former guard who realized that what the U.S. is doing is wrong hopes to educate people to think more critically and to be ready to challenge the State's authority to violate basic human rights.
12 Jun 2008 Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal in Civilian Courts The New York Times In a surprisingly close decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch could not arbitrarily suspend habeas corpus
2 Jul 2008 China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo The New York Times Those of you who read Margulies' book are already aware of the inspiration for the "mosaic" approach that the abusive interrogation tactics at Gunatánamo emulate. For the rest of you, the "mosaic" approach used in Guantá was used by North Korea on U.S. prisoners to coerce them into falsely confessing to bombing Koreans with bacteriological weapons.
17 Jul 2008 More Meddling at Gitmo The Nation As the United States moves forward with the first American military tribunal in over fifty years, in the case against Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan, new evidence has emerged in another Guantánamo case--that of Mohammed Jawad--that the integrity of entire military commissions system has been corrupted.
18 Jul 2008 Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now The Nation Voting for a new president in November doesn't fulfil our civic duty. Instead, we need to stop, take stock of what we've done, identify the parties responsible and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that such a breach of morality and constitutional law does not repeat itself.
30 Jul 2008 What It Feels Like... To Be a Prison Guard at Guantánamo Bay Esquire An interesting look at Guantánamo from the perspective of a guard. He doesn't strike me as a "rogue element" who is likely to engage in "isolated acts" of torture.
12 Aug 2008 Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands The New York Times Although he wasn't imprisoned in Guantánamo, Mr. Ng is still a victim of the U.S. PATRIOT Act and the abuses it incurs
13 Aug 2008 Guilty of Driving a Truck The Nation On August 6, a mere six and a half years after it brought its first prisoners to Guantánamo Bay, the Bush Administration obtained its first conviction from a military tribunal.
14 Aug 2008 Judge removes Guantanamo adviser BBC A military judge has barred a US general from the second war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay
14 Aug 2008 US jail guards in Iraq abuse case BBC Six US sailors working as prison camp guards in Iraq face courts martial for abusing detainees, the US Navy said
2 Sep 2008 US releases 3 from Guantanamo; about 255 left Associated Press Presently, the U.S. government plans to try prosecuting 80 prisoners for war crimes. They don't specify whether that number includes Bush and Cheney, though
29 Sep 2008 Justice Delayed and Denied at Guantanamo The Nation The Bush administration continues to side-step demands to justify the continued detention of the 255 people still being held illegally
4 Oct 2008 Despite Ruling, Detainee Cases Facing Delays The New York Times Debates over how to conduct the hearings have delayed indefinitely the majority of the cases still pending for most of the remaining 255 detainees
15 October 2008 Release of 17 Guantánamo Detainees Sputters as Officials Debate the Risk New York Times A little bit of forethought and intelligence (perhaps mixed in with a small dose of morality) would have forestalled this situation entirely.
3 March 2009 CIA Destroyed 92 Interrogation Tapes, Probe Says Washington Post Not that they had anything to hide---they just needed the space.
9 April 2009 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed – I was held in Poland Free Republic A former CIA prisoner identified Poland as one of the countries that hosted an illegal prison (see the February 2007 ICRC report above).
17 April 2009 Struggle brews in Washington over "torture memos" immunity Human Rights Tribune Obama may not show much determination when it comes to health care, but he's certainly taken a stance on torture---albeit, a remarkably similar stance to Bush's, but a stance nonetheless.
15 May 2009 Obama to revive Guantánamo military tribunals Guardian Such a betrayal of the people is hardly unprecedented or surprising, although it is still a bit disappointing.
11 August 2009 2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11’s Wake New York Times For some, torture turned out to be a growth industry. Odd that the CIA would chose to pay for this information, though, as it already had a bountiful reserve of torture tactics in its play book.
26 August 2009 Obama's rendition shame Guardian The Obama administration claims that it is stopping the use of torture, but it has decided to continue the extraordinary rendition program.
22 September 2009 Democrats look the other way Socialist Worker A brief account of the Democrats' efforts to prevent an investigation into human rights abuses and prisoners being held by the US from being released
4 November 2009 Italian court finds CIA agents guilty of kidnapping terrorism suspect Guardian 24 CIA agents probably won't be visiting Italy again anytime soon.
11 November 2009 Obama Says Guantánamo Won’t Close by January New York Times President Obama admits that he's not going to follow through on his commitment to shut down the prisons in Guantánamo by the middle of January, 2009.
15 December 2009 MPs sue CIA to shatter secrecy on Britain's role in rendition Guardian A group of British MPs, lead by a Conservative, are taking the CIA to a US court on an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request.
22 January 2010 Detainees Will Still Be Held, but Not Tried, Official Says New York Times The Obama administration has decided to continue to arbitrarily detain 50 people without judicial review. They can't actually provide evidence that these people have committed or plan to commit any crimes, but they want to detain these people anyway. Maybe they had a vision.
22 February 2010 Destroying C.I.A. Tapes Wasn’t Opposed, Memos Say New York Times Senator Pat Roberts (R-KA), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, raised no objections back in 2003 when he was told that the CIA planned to destroy the tapes of their agents torturing suspects. This may help to explain why Congress has refused to investigate the US government's treatment of its prisoners.
Guantánamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power Administration of Torture The Guantanamo Files America's Disappeared Five Years of My Life
Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power Administration of Torture The Guantanamo Files America's Disappeared Five Years of My Life
An analysis of the legal issues surrounding the detention center in Guantánamo Bay presented by the lead counsel in one of the first Supreme Court hearings on the prisoners' right to challenge their detentions. A detailed record of the policies and practices responsible for our current situation, largely in the form of the FOIA documents acquired by the ACLU. Tells the stories of many of the innocent people swept up in Bush's terror dragnet, and recounts the abuses they endured. A collection of essays on illegal detentions, immigration detention, and moving statements by the victims themselves. An autobiographical account by Murat Kurnaz, an innocent prisoner who was finally released in August 2006.
Ghost Plane Chain of Command The Dark Side 9-11 Imperial Hubris
Ghost Plane Chain of Command The Dark Side 9-11 Imperial Hubris
An investigation into the extraordinary rendition program that reconstructs several CIA operations using the plane's flight logs. Investigative journalist Sy Hersh's account of the Bush administration's decisions that brought us from 11 September to Abu Ghraib. Jane Mayer, also an investigative journalist, describes how the Bush administration used its "War on Terror" to undermine core public principles. Noam Chomsky, one of the nation's leading defenders of human rights around the world, shares his perspective on the 11 September attacks and their implications. The former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit provides a "hawk's" critique of the Bush administration's "War on Terror" and highlights the link between 11 September and the U.S. government's "pro-Israel" policy.

This page began as a supplement to a letter I wrote to the editor of the local paper regarding former president Bush's endorsement of torture. The unedited and unabridged version of the letter is available here. While I have tried to provide a balanced list of resources, many more groups are opposed to "GITMO" than are in favour of it, and the overwhelming majority of organizations, both domestic and international, are calling for immediate reform in the United States government. The actual prison camp in Guantánamo Bay has become a focal point for the opposition to the U.S. government's use of illegal detentions and torture in the "War on Terror", but is not the only place where people are being or have been held and tortured. If you know of other resources that should be included here, please mention them below!

  1. 1. alternatively rendered 'Guantanamo', without the accented a
  2. 2. Documents published on the White House website by the Bush administration have been moved. The links to those documents, which currently lead to the White House home page, will be updated when I find out where the documents are (or I upload my own copies)
  3. 3. http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/5yrl67?opendocument
  4. 4. The full report is available in two volumes for $114.00 (total) from Cambridge University Press
  5. 5. The phrase "appropriately aggressive" originates in Representative Stephen Buyer's position statement. The full line is, "Additionally, I believe that the current CIA interrogation program is an appropriately aggressive, effective, and lawful guide for that agency to carry out their prescribed duties combating terror around the globe." The full text of Mr. Buyer's statement can be found here.
  6. 6. I have purchased all of the books listed in this section, and the recommendations are based on my personal opinions of the texts (i.e. these are actual recommendations, not advertisements). In case you're interested in any of them, I have inserted a link to Amazon.com in the titles. While I do have an Associates account with Amazon that I sometimes use, I have chosen not receive any money if you purchase any of the books listed here.
AttachmentSize
15 May 2006 FOIA List of Detainees at Guantanamo409.73 KB
Study on customary International Humanitarian Law (Summary Report)410.92 KB
Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality1.74 MB
Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact1.88 MB
Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan803.68 KB
El-Masri -- Petition to the IACHR579.6 KB
Report of the ICRC on the treatment by the Coalition Forces of prisoners of war and other protected persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq during arrest, internment and interrogation1.29 MB
Casting light on the legal black hole: International law and detentions abroad in the “war on terror”612.64 KB
Human rights and indefinite detention476.39 KB
A US government response to the International Committee of the Red Cross study Customary International Humanitarian Law223.62 KB
Trial and Error198.52 KB
Back to the bigger picture72.59 KB
USA: Military judge hears allegations of ill-treatment of teenager at Bagram and Guantánamo105.07 KB
USA: Investigation, prosecution, remedy: Accountability for human rights violations in the 'war on terror'552.13 KB
Current Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo106.67 KB
No Direction Home: Returns from Guantanamo to Yemen1.16 MB
U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices and Their Impact on Detainees1.86 MB
Disavowed: The Government's Unchecked Retaliation Against National Security Whistleblowers304.99 KB
ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody162.82 KB
Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: Second report147.75 KB
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