torture is wrong

Marty Lederman joins the Obama Justice Department. Article by Faiz Shakir at Think Progress.

Judge Suspends Guantanamo Cases at Obama's Request.  Article by Peter Finn at the Washington Post 

Obama to sign order shutting Gitmo in a year.  Article from the Associated Press .

Here is Scott Horton's postfrom Harpers, referenced by Glenn Greenwald.

Manfred Nowak is the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Torture, appointed in 2004. He is one of the authors of the blistering UN report condemning Guantanamo and formerly a judge at The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina which was mandated by the Dayton Peace Agreement (not the ICC).  Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Secretary General and have a specific function - to investigate human rights abuses.

This seems to me to be a very big deal - the day after George Bush leaves office we have the UN Rapporteur for Torture saying that there is clear evidence that he has committed war crimes and the new US president MUST start a criminal investigation.

Here is a fascinating link to the audio of Philippe Sands' interview with Doug Feith, which was done for “The Torture Team”. Feith disputed Sands' account of their conversation, so Sands released the actual interview for the delectation of the Judiciary Committee and posted it on the Vanity Fair website. It is a hoot and a holler and an interesting window into the tinctured soul of Doug Feith. Sands reveals himself to be a very smooth operator. You can listen and follow along on the transcript.