AFGHANISTAN: US official: torture is 'just and necessary'

BY ROHAN PEARCE

A report in the December 26 Washington Post has revealed that US forces are torturing Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at its Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

According to the report, "Those who refuse to cooperate inside this secret CIA interrogation center are sometimes kept standing or kneeling for hours, in black hoods or spray-painted goggles, according to intelligence specialists familiar with CIA interrogation methods. At times they are held in awkward, painful positions and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights — subject to what are known as 'stress and duress' technique."

"Some who do not cooperate are turned over ... to foreign intelligence services whose practice of torture has been documented by the US government and human rights organizations", the Washington Post added. These include the intelligence services of Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

The article described the base at Bagram as "one of a number of secret detention centers overseas where US due process does not apply."

The Washington Post conducted interviews with 10 US national security officials and several former intelligence officials. One of those interviewed commented, "If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job... I don't think we want to be promoting a view of zero tolerance on this [torture of prisoners]. That was the whole problem for a long time with the CIA."

Several of those interviewed said that Jordan was a favourite destination for carrying out "interrogations". The 2001 US State Department human rights report noted that in Jordan "the most frequently alleged methods of torture include sleep deprivation, beatings on the soles of the feet, prolonged suspension with ropes in contorted positions and extended solitary confinement. Defendants in high-profile cases before the State Security Court claimed to have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse while in detention. Government officials deny allegations of torture and abuse."

The Washington Post article stated that, while "the US government publicly denounces the use of torture, each of the current national security officials interviewed ... defended the use of violence against captives as just and necessary. They expressed confidence that the American public would back their view."

According to Kenneth Roth, the executive director of the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), "Torture is always prohibited under any circumstances... US officials who take part in torture, authorise it, or even close their eyes to it, can be prosecuted by courts anywhere in the world."

A December 27 statement issued by HRW warned, "Direct involvement or complicity in torture, as well as the failure to prevent torture by subordinates, may subject US officials to prosecution under international law. Such acts are 'grave breaches', or war crimes, under the 1949 Geneva Conventions... Any competent court anywhere in the world is required to prosecute violations of the prohibition against torture. Moreover, should senior US officials become aware of acts of torture by their subordinates and fail to take immediate and effective steps to end such practices, they would be criminally liable under international law for 'command responsibility'." The allegations of torture of prisoners echo concerns of human rights organisations over the treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners transported to Camp X-Ray at the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in the immediate aftermath of the war on Afghanistan. Amnesty International issued a statement on April 15, which detailed its concerns of the handling of the prisoners. According to AI, the US:

• transferred and held people in conditions that may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and that violate other minimum standards relating to detention;

• refused to grant people in its custody access to legal counsel, despite ongoing interrogations which may lead to prosecutions;

• refused to grant people in its custody access to the courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention; and

• refused to disclose full information about the circumstances of many of the arrests, including whether they occurred in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or elsewhere.

Concern over the possible torture of the Camp X-Ray prisoners was heightened after media outlets published photos of the captives, shackled, kneeling and wearing blacked out face masks to prevent them from seeing their surroundings, a technique for maintaining prisoner "disorientation" before interrogations. A letter of protest, sent by HRW to US President George Bush on December 26, states: "The allegations made by the Washington Post are extraordinarily serious. They have put the United States on notice that acts of torture may be taking place with US participation or complicity. That creates a heightened duty to respond preventively.

"As an immediate step, we urge that you issue a presidential statement clarifying that it is contrary to US policy to use or facilitate torture. The Post's allegations should be investigated and the findings made public.

"Should there be evidence of US civilian or military officials being directly involved or complicit in torture, or in the rendition of persons to places where they are likely to be tortured, you should take immediate steps to prevent the commission of such acts and to prosecute the individuals who have ordered, organized, condoned, or carried them out.

"The United States also has a duty to refrain from sending persons to other countries with a history of torture without explicit and verifiable guarantees that no torture or mistreatment will occur."

From Green Left Weekly, January 15, 2003.
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