‘Waterboarding Is, By Every Technical Rule, Not Torture’

From Think Progress with video

In May of 2009, President Obama instituted a new and improved Military Commissions process.

Military prosecutors in the Al Nashiri trial, conducted under the Military Commissions Act, say they cannot and will not promise to release the defendant if he is acquitted. The military prosecutors have filed a brief asking the judge to withhold this from the jury. “The U.S. military tribunal for the USS Cole bombing suspect has no power to free a captive found innocent of war crimes but shouldn't be told the terror suspect could be held for life anyway, Pentagon prosecutors said in a court document made public Wednesday”  Article

“As president, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and laws such as our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists.  The Administration has put forward a false choice between adhering to domestic and international law and providing security to the American people. These legal regimes exist precisely to keep us safe, and I will make clear that my Administration has faith in the rule of law".  — Candidate Barack Obama, 2008 

 http://politics.salon.com/ 2011/10/06/execution_by_ secret_wh_committee/singleton/

 The New York Bar Association releases a study on America’s Supermax prisons. Read it here.

 The article from Salon is here.

There is a new report just out from The Human Rights Institute of Columbia Law School called  Promises to Keep: Diplomatic Assurances Against Torture in US Terrorism Transfers

From the summary of the report:

“This report surveys the law and practice of assurances in US and, comparatively, in Canada and Europe.  It is the culmination of a long-term engagement by the Columbia’s Human Rights Clinic and its faculty to research and support advocacy on diplomatic assurances. That process has involved advocacy with Swedish NGOs, support for research by Human Rights Watch, FOIA requests with the ACLU and collaborative efforts with UN mechanisms. 

Over the past decade, human rights groups, in particular, have produced impressive documentation. But no single source presents the evolving evidence and jurisprudence of diplomatic assurances. This report seeks to fill that gap. We do not take a position on whether assurances can work. Rather, we seek to identify elements that are necessary in order to make assurances plausible. We focus on what is known about preventing torture and how that can be incorporated into the process.” 

Article is here.

EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Drug Given to All Guantanamo Detainees Akin to "Pharmacologic Waterboarding"

From the article:

The Defense Department forced all "war on terror" detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison to take a high dosage of a controversial antimalarial drug, mefloquine, an act that an Army public health physician called "pharmacologic waterboarding."

The US military administered the drug despite Pentagon knowledge that mefloquine caused severe neuropsychiatric side effects, including suicidal thoughts, hallucinations and anxiety. The drug was used on the prisoners whether they had malaria or not.

EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Drug Given to All Guantanamo Detainees Akin to "Pharmacologic Waterboarding"

from the interview: “[W]e passed laws that Congress endorsed and embraced, like the Terrorist Surveillance Program, military tribunals and enhanced interrogation techniques. The enhanced interrogation techniques are available to presidents if they so choose to use them.”  George Bush 

An article on Think Progress with Bush statement from The Dallas Morning News. Note the transcript and link to audio of the interview with the new UN Torture Rapporteur, Juan Mendez.