Time to clean house on torture - Guardian

Time to clean house on torture Letta Tayler guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 December 2010 09.00 GMT

As WikiLeaks reveals how the US has covered the CIA's dirty tracks, the Obama administration must hold officials to account

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/02/torture-cia-wikileaks

In the already sordid annals of US torture in the name of countering terrorism, November proved to be an unusually embarrassing month – not just for the Bush administration, which sanctioned the abuses, but also for the Obama administration, which has failed to hold its predecessors accountable.

First, former President George W Bush boasted in his new memoir and on talkshows how he had authorised waterboarding, a form of torture. Then, a US special prosecutor announced that he will not pursue criminal charges against CIA officers for intentional destruction of videotapes that reportedly show two terrorism suspects being waterboarded in one of its secret prisons in Thailand in 2002. Now, classified diplomatic cables newly released by WikiLeaks confirm that both the Obama and Bush administrations sought to quash criminal investigations in Europe into illegal counterterrorism activities such as kidnapping and torture by Bush-era officials.

In Spain, US diplomats in April 2009 joined with a pair of Republican members of the US Congress to urge a Spanish prosecutor, as well as officials with Spain's justice ministry and foreign affairs ministry, to drop a potentially landmark investigation against six top Bush administration officials, the cables show. The Spanish probe sought to indict former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and five other Bush administration officials for creating the legal framework to justify the use of torture and other coercive interrogation techniques. The case "would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship" between Spain and the US, the Americans warned, according to one cable. Immediately following those meetings, Spain's attorney general recommended dropping the investigation, which has foundered ever since.

In Germany, other classified cables show, a US diplomat in 2007 warned Berlin that issuing international arrest warrants for CIA agents involved in the abduction and mistreatment of an innocent German citizen "would have a negative impact" on US-German relations. In 2003, the CIA abducted Khaled el-Masri, an unemployed German car salesman who was vacationing in Macedonia, and allegedly beat him and secretly flew him to a prison in Afghanistan. There, he was again beaten, he said, and held for months in solitary confinement. The CIA thought el-Masri was a similarly named al-Qaida member.

Nearly two months after determining they were holding the wrong man, and five months after his abduction, US officials arranged to have el-Masri dumped on a remote road in Albania. A German prosecutor issued arrest warrants for the suspected CIA agents in 2007, but the country's justice ministry did not pursue them.

These cables made few headlines in the US. Nearly a decade after President Bush launched his "war on terror", acts such as a former chief executive's unrepentant admission of torture, the CIA's destruction of evidence with impunity, and diplomatic efforts to subvert justice no longer hold much shock value. The humiliating snapshots from Abu Ghraib are already part of the nation's collective memory. The public has read of fatal beatings of suspects in Afghanistan and questionable detainee deaths at Guantánamo. It has been inundated with the so-called "torture memos", in which President Bush's top justice department officials justified waterboarding and other coercive interrogation methods that had long been prohibited under US and international law.

But public weariness does not make the legal case against Bush administration officials less compelling. Indeed, every new piece of evidence underscores the need for the Obama administration to conduct a full-scale criminal investigation into senior-level responsibility for planning, authorising and ordering torture and other abuses committed in the aftermath of 11 September 2001. In the case of the CIA-linked abduction and ill-treatment of el-Masri, and the probe into the architects of President Bush's torture policy, Germany and Spain should do the same.

Despite his welcome ban on torture and secret prisons, President Obama has shown scant enthusiasm for prosecuting such crimes. John Durham – the same special prosecutor who declined to pursue charges for the destruction of the CIA tapes – is conducting a broader investigation into abusive interrogation methods. But the Obama administration has made clear that the scope is limited to "unauthorised" acts. That means it will not prosecute CIA agents who committed abuses authorised by Bush's top justice department lawyers, even if the abuses violated domestic and international law. It also means there is little hope that these former justice department officials will be investigated, let alone prosecuted, for concocting a legal rationale for these blatantly illegal acts, or that President Bush and other senior officials will be held accountable for criminal offences justified by this dubious legal advice.

While the Obama administration buries its head in the sand and pressures Europe to do the same, some European countries have, nevertheless, taken a few important steps towards accountability for abusive counterterrorism actions. In 2009, Italy convicted 23 Americans in absentia, most of them CIA agents, for kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in 2003. (The Obama administration criticised the ruling.) In Spain, in addition to prosecutors seeking indictments against the six legal architects of President Bush's torture policy, they also asked a judge last spring to issue an arrest warrant for the 13 CIA agents implicated in the kidnapping and rendition of el-Masri. The agents allegedly entered Spain using false documents.

President Obama justifies his reluctance to investigate Bush administration officials by saying that the country needs to "look forward and not backwards". Yet, he admitted the fallacy of that attitude during an interview in March 2010 in a reference to Indonesia, a country with its own history of abuses. "We have to acknowledge that those past human rights abuses existed," President Obama said of the regime of former Indonesian President Suharto, a US ally. "We can't go forward without looking backwards."

If the US hopes to exert any moral authority over abusive regimes past and present, it is incumbent on President Obama to heed his own advice, rather than merely preach it to the rest of the world.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

Lecture on American Torture

But I just wanted to let you know that a talk I gave to Burlington Friends Meeting on October 24, 2010 in VT made it's way on to community TV. This is a QUIT Update (QUIT - The Quaker Initiative to End Torture). There are no explicit horror stories here about torture, only the questions about our democracy since American torture continues. There's a half hour lecture and a half hour Q & A.

http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/burlington-friends-meeting-discussion-john-calvi-quaker-initiative-end-torture

Please share this widely.

Thanks, John

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301
Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org

QUIT 4 Conference a Great Success!

Dear All,

Thank you for all your notes and for holding the QUIT conference in the
Light.  The conference was excellent!  All 4 presenters outdid themselves in
presenting current information from their fields.  Terry Kupers, author of
Prison Madness, gave us clear information about how the use of torture in
American prisons results in deformed people unable to live as whole humans.
Fr Roy Bourgeois explained the history of the School of the Americas and the
torture training for more than 60,000 Latin American military and police
that continues.  Scott Horton, lawyer and Harper's magazine writer of the No
Comment column, explained the legal context in which Obama not only
continues Bush policies but in some instances makes things worse regarding
torture.  And Hector Aristizabal, Columbian therapist and torture survivor,
showed us how movement and play can help us integrate all the information
and subsequent emotions after learning so much about torture.  California
has good and active groups working against torture and we heard of several
actions taken in recent years- everything from clown protests to
legislation.  Friends from Durham, North Carolina and Bosie, Idaho and
Eugene, Oregon along with mostly Californians attended, plus several
non-Quakers joined us.  Thanks again for your good care and support, John

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301
Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org

4th QUIT Conference - last call

Dear Friend,

I know how you feel: who wants to think about the Quaker Conference on Torture & Accountability (9/24-26/2010) over Labor Day weekend?
Even if the conference has a superb set of speakers and brainstorming sessions.
Even if it will kickstart the work of ending this awful blot on our national conscience.
Even if it could change our future.
Yours. Mine. Our children’s.
I mean, it’s holiday time. The “last hurrah” of summer.
And don’t we all know it’s been a long, hot, climate change, hard times kind of summer?
Yes, we know.
So go ahead and kick back. Take a break. Get some sun, surf, or just chill from the heavy stuff.
We're with you.
It's all good. Don’t think about it.
Just do it: go to www.quit-torture-now.org and register online.
It only takes a few minutes.
Then forget about it, and have an outrageous holiday.
Don’t reflect on all the great programming until after you’re back.
Never mind about the chances to do planning and networking.
They’ll keep til you’re rested up.
We won’t even mention the great food and serene atmosphere of the Quaker Center at Ben Lomond.
(No, we won’t mention it; some might think it’s really a vacation.)
But it’s not. The conference will be serious work, on an issue that’s shaping our future.
All the more reason to register now: so you can quit being serious about it til you’re back in the regular routine. When you’re looking ahead to autumn, the full-steam-ahead school year and all that goes with them.
The conference will be there, on the list. A memorable part of it, in fact.
But we’re not going to dwell on that.
Because now it’s time to party.
Register. Then party.
See you there.

John Calvi

PS. It only takes a few minutes to register: www.quit-torture-now.org . Then go get those bags of ice.

Hector Aristizabal at QUIT 4 Sept 24-26 Quaker Center Ben Lomond CA

Dear All,

When The Quaker Initiative to End Torture – QUIT began its work in May of 2005, we began to look for teachers who could show us the various aspects of the torture industrial complex. One of the very first talented people we found was Hector Aristizabal. He taught at QUIT conferences in Ottawa and twice at Guilford. And now we are very happy have the blessing of his good work at QUIT 4 September 24-26 at Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, CA. Check out registration – www.quit-torture-now.org

Hector is a native from Medellin Colombia and currently lives in Pasadena CA. Hector’s commitment to the human rights work forced him to leave his country in 1989 due to death threats. Hector holds an MA degree in Psychology from the Antioquia University in Medellin, Colombia and a degree as a Marriage Family Therapist from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena.

During the last 15 years Hector’s main work and interest has been on the use of Theater of The Oppressed techniques, traditional myths and story telling as a way to combine theater, drumming, and dance with psychotherapy in the creation of “modern rituals” as a way to address the healing needs of many of our communities. In his recent book Blessing next to the Wound Hector talks of his transformation from torture victim to healer.

Hope to see you there,

John Calvi
Founding convener QUIT

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301
Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org

QUIT 4th Conference 9/24-26/2010 Ben Lomond, CA

Dear Friend,

Several questions are bothering me today. Do they bother you too? Does it bother you that Jay Bybee sits as a federal judge after defying US and international law to make torture legal? If so, coming to the 2010 QUIT Conference on Torture & Accountability is a way of putting your feelings into action. (QUIT: The Quaker Initiative to end Torture.)

And what about John Yoo? Is it okay for him to green-light waterboarding and then go blithely back to teaching “law” at a distinguished California law school? If you think this is a disgrace, the Conference (September 24-26 at Quaker Center) is the place to put words into concrete effort.

Then there's Jeppesen Dataplan: when scores -- more likely hundreds – of “torture taxis” took off from an airfield in North Carolina, those flights were planned and coordinated in San Jose, from Jeppesen's faceless offices. The ACLU has sued Jeppesen. But more is needed.

The QUIT Torture Conference is the time to gather and find ways to broaden the challenge. Modern American torture: it's not just a few men in black masks beating blindfolded Muslims in Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. It's a far-flung, complicated network, well represented on the West Coast. How well represented? It goes beyond Yoo, Bybee and Jeppesen. When investigators tracked down a CIA front company for torture planes, the trail led to a Reno office building, and a prominent Nevada Republican politician's lobby firm. And there's more we could include, but space is limited.

Unfortunately, the network is still largely in place, even after the change of administration in Washington. The new “ban” on torture came with significant loopholes. Guantanamo is not yet closed. Efforts to hold the torturers and their masters accountable have hit a stone wall. But many are chipping way at that wall.

At the QUIT conference, we'll hear from some of the most effective anti-torture and accountability activists:

* Scott Horton, who broke the story of the secret “prison-within-a-prison” at Guantanamo, and the prisoners who were murdered there.

* Father Roy Bourgeois, who has spearheaded the campaign to close the School of the Americas, and its torture academy.

* Dr. Terry Kupers, who has helped expose the extent of torture in prisons across the US.

And we'll have time for brainstorming to turn their information and inspiration into plans for action. The work to end torture is a long-term struggle. The 2010 QUIT Conference is one important step on that long journey.

Yet one more thing is bothering me: as I'm writing this, registrations for the QUIT conference are below our expectations. If torture is a concern for you, and you've been thinking about attending, we need to hear from you. Or if someone you know is considering it, please pass this note on to them. Torture won't end unless we make that happen.

Peace, John Calvi, Convener

PS. By the way, you don't have to be a Quaker to attend the QUIT Conference. All who want to end this practice are welcome and urged to attend. Online registration is easy, here: http://www.quit-torture-now.org/

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301 Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org

One More Thing Needed - 4th QUIT Conference Sept 24-26 Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA

The 4th Quaker Initiative to End Torture Conference is all ready to go! The site is in the beautiful Redwood Forests of Ben Lomond, CA. We’ve leased the entire of Quaker Center, an intimate conference center known for good food and comfort in a quiet, natural setting.

We’ve 3 renowned experts on American torture as our speakers. Scott Horton is a human rights attorney and author of Harper’s Magzine No Comment column- http://harpers.org/subjects/NoComment - his overview of torture’s legal scene is a must read and makes him one of the most in-demand speakers. Fr. Roy Bourgeois is the founder of School of the America’s Watch. For 2 decades he’s collected information about America’s instruction of torture and formed the largest annual protest in American history. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year by the American Friends Service Committee. Dr. Terry Kupers is the author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It. He’s expertise on torture and abuse in American prisons is known to Congress and courtrooms across the country.

This will be the best QUIT conference yet. Everything is set to go September 24-26. Except one thing- registration is lagging. If you’ve been intending to register- now is the time. If you go on-line right now – www.quit-torture-now.org - and register, QUIT can be sure to go ahead. We would love to share all we’ve organized for the past year. It’s going to be a great gathering of dedicated people doing good and important work.

Thanks, John Calvi – founding convener QUIT

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301
Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org