No, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, thou shalt not torture!!

"In our Name?" They torture?


user icon Karita Hummer in Quick Posts Feed of
8/31/2007 at 2:55 PM EST

Reposted from blog site at www.JohnEdwards.com

http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/8/31/61235/7771

No, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, thou shalt not torture! by Karita Hummer

Which is actually soul murder, as in Thou shalt not kill! and really, part of the Ten Commandments.

This simply must stop, and, no, you can not do it in our name!

Now, two very reputable organizations, Physicians for Human Rights and Human Rights First have prepared and released a new report, August, 2007, that lays the ugly truths bare. The Report is entitled:

"Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality"

The PHR (Physicians for Human Rights) Library summarizes the report this way:

"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. The report closely examines the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) and other US laws, informed by medical and psychological literature. 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."

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/libr ary/report-2007-08-02.html

In the Executive Summary of their combined report, PHR and Human Rights First, they

"On July 20, 2007, President George W. Bush issued an executive
order interpreting the application of Common Article
3 of the Geneva Conventions to a program of detention
and interrogation by the CIA. The order does not clarify
what techniques the CIA can and cannot lawfully engage
in. Press accounts, citing anonymous Administration officials, suggest that at least one of the "enhanced" techniques,
waterboarding, may no longer be used. The fact
that the Administration officials may have ruled out some
"enhanced" techniques, though, raises serious questions
about whether the CIA guidelines implementing the
Executive Order will permit Agency interrogators to resume
the other techniques previously authorized." Executive Summary, Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality, PHR and Human Rights First, August, 2007

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/libr ary/documents/reports/2007-phr-hrf-summa ry.pdf

And here are the Doctors's Orders, (and let's not say that they have not been warned, and that includes all of us, as American Citizens - we can not say we did not know.) (KH Author's own comment.)

"Recommendations to the Executive Branch
1. Prohibit the "enhanced" interrogation techniques,
in order to protect U.S. officials and personnel from
potential criminal liability and to ensure that all U.S.
personnel adhere to U.S. law.
2. Prohibit the use of any other method that, alone or in
combination with other interrogation methods, presents
a significant risk of causing serious or severe
physical and/or mental pain or suffering.
3. Instruct all U.S. interrogators in effective, legal, nonharmful
methods of interrogation.
4. Declassify and release all documents, from all relevant
U.S. agencies, which contain information on U.S.
interrogation policy and practice, including but not
limited to the "enhanced" interrogation methods.
Recommendations to the U.S. Congress
1. Clarify existing language in the MCA, which under a
reasonable interpretation currently prohibits the use
of the "enhanced" techniques, by explicitly listing the
techniques, forbidding them, and making clear that
they remain criminal.
2. Establish a single standard for detainee treatment
and interrogation practices to be followed by all U.S.
personnel, including CIA personnel."

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/libr ary/documents/reports/2007-phr-hrf-summa ry.pdf

In Nat Hentoff's hard-hitting piece, on the subject of torture and the PHR and Human Rights First report, "Bush to CIA: 'Leave No Marks'
With no sign of torture on a prisoner, then it didn't happen, right?", he asks the most troubling of questions.

"However, underlying the question of whether these horrific crimes (made in the USA) will ever be prosecuted in our courts is a basic problem: How many Americans will give a damn about demanding such justice?" Nat Hentoff, "Bush to CIA: 'Leave No Marks'
With no sign of torture on a prisoner, then it didn't happen, right?", August 21, 2007, Village Voice

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0734,he ntoff,77589,2.html

Indeed!!

When I am out campaigning for John Edwards, as I do a fair amount these days, especially at busy shopping centers, I always ask myself such questions. Do they know what the Administration has been doing in our name? The immorality of torture, the executive orders, the decimation of our Constitution, the ignoring of poverty here and in the world, global warming and an election system that can not be said to be working fairly. And sadly, I think to myself, and answer, not too much, do they seem to care, or even know, or any way have time to ponder? Is this the end product of our materialism or is it the overwhelmed state of a country, up against hard times or a country that is shell shocked, or soul shocked or helpless?

Karita Hummer
San Jose, CA
Co-Captain, SCV 4 Edwards (formerly Willow Glen One Corps Chapter)