Torture in the news
‘Shocks the conscience’
Professor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law examines torture in the context of criminal procedure in her analysis of Chavez v. Martinez.
'No justification' for torture
Nonpartisan report says brutal interrogation practices after Sept. 11, 2001, produced no valuable information that could not have been obtained by other means. “Acrobatic” legal advice helped provide justification. See SageLaw section on torture.
‘No torture’
On June 18, 1948, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” See SageLaw section on torture.
‘Nixon – No torture’
“I don't think Richard Nixon, in his darkest hour, would have authorized torture,” said former White House lawyer and Watergate figure John Dean in a report on the rollback of many post-Watergate reforms. See SageLaw section on torture.
Torture haunts South America
The current presidents of Brazil, Chile and Uruguay were all subject to torture during their countries’ tumultuous pasts. Torture became part of the common U.S. lexicon during the “war on terror.” See the SageLaw section on torture.
Drones, torture and executive power
President Obama's increased use of drones to kill suspected militants has revived the issue of executive power – as invoked during the torture debate during the Bush administration. See the SageLaw section on torture.
Corporations liable for torture?
The Supreme Court will weigh in on a lawsuit accusing Royal Dutch Petroleum and its Shell subsidiary in the United States of aiding a former Nigerian regime whose military police tortured, raped and executed minority residents in the oil-rich delta.
Bybee says CIA exceeded legal limits
Jay Bybee, who drafted the so-called "torture memos" with John Yoo, told the House Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department did not sanction some of the harsh methods the CIA used against detainees during the George W. Bush administration, including the repeated waterboarding of two suspected terrorists. Bybee was former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.
Thomas, Scalia and Yoo in sync on punishment
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia have consistent records of dismissing claims of prison brutality. In recent cases, Thomas ruled that harsh treatment by prison guards did not qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. "Judges – not jailers – impose punishment," he wrote. Scalia and Thomas reasoned that the word "punishment" as it was used in the English Bill of Rights in 1689 referred to judges imposing punishment for a crime. Prison guards do not impose "punishment" even if they mete out cruelty, they said. These views were reflected by Thomas' now-famous former law clerk John C. Yoo in his infamous "torture memos," written for the Bush administration.
Off the hook
The Justice Department has concluded that the lawyers who gave legal justification to the Bush administration’s brutal interrogation tactics for terrorism suspects used flawed legal reasoning but were not guilty of professional misconduct, which could have resulted in bar reviews or other disciplinary action. New York Times article, Los Angeles Times article, Los Angeles Times editorial
N.Y. terrorism trials won't disclose torture
Critics of the move to put Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged 9-11 co-conspirators on trial in a federal court in Manhattan are concerned that the U.S. intelligence system will be made a "shadow defendant," according to Petra Bartosiewicz in a Los Angeles Times column. "Some fear that the trial will be a referendum on rendition, interrogation and torture of suspects, and a potential bonanza of law enforcement trade craft for would-be terrorists.But if other post-9/11 cases are any guide, there is little chance that unknown details of waterboarding and other 'enhanced interrogation techniques' will be forthcoming. Prosecutors have no motive to introduce such evidence and will surely seek to classify potentially embarrassing or incriminating information." Also see "The Case Against Military Tribunals" by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
CIA releases report on detainee treatment
“You could not in good conscience reach a definitive conclusion about whether any specific technique was especially effective, or [whether] the enhanced techniques in the aggregate really worked.” according to former CIA Inspector General John L. Helgerson, author of the recently declassified CIA report. Also see L.A. Times news analysis.
Body-slamming
Recently released White House documents detail interrogations at CIA "black sites" – overseas locations set up without the knowledge of Congress or the Red Cross. Sessions would start with the prisoner standing with his back against a wall and a towel or collar to prevent whiplash wrapped around his neck. He could be thrown against the wall just once "to make a point, or 20 to 30 times consecutively." Prisoners so abhorred the repeated slamming that they would remain in so-called stress positions, such as painful kneeling postures, for hours to avoid a return to the wall, according to one Dec. 30, 2004, memo.
For lawyer, trial was tribulation
Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld quit his job as as a prosecutor in the Guantanamo military commissions, citing "grave misgivings" about the process. Vandeveld is at least the fourth prosecutor to resign under protest. Questions about the fairness of the tribunals have been raised by the very people charged with conducting them, according to legal experts, human rights observers and current and former military officials.
Holder launches criminal probe into torture
U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. appointed a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses of detainees. The prosecutor, John H. Durham, is expected to focus on contractors employed by the CIA to carry out interrogations. See stories in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Which way on torture?
Radio host Warren Olney presents "Human Rights, the Law and the Ongoing Threat of Terror" on KCRW-FM.
'Legal enabler': Profile of CIA counsel John Rizzo
CIA general counsel John A. Rizzo "set about making sure the agency had legal cover for the inevitable day those interrogation methods would come to light," according to a Los Angeles Times profile. "John was kind of the legal enabler of the agency."
Detainee says he lied to CIA to stop torture
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, told the U.S. military that he made up stories to appease his interrogators.
'Re-education' - North Korean style
American journalists jailed in North Korea may be sent to "re-education reformatories," where North Koreans who receive similar sentences often face starvation and torture.
Roxana Saberi released from Iranian custody
After weeks in isolation and continuous interrogation inside Tehran's Evin Prison, Iranian authorities said Saberi confessed to passing on intelligence to the United States. Saberi later recanted, saying her confession was made under duress.
Saving lives through torture: Hard to prove
“I'm convinced, absolutely convinced, that we saved thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives," said former Vice President Dick Cheney. "It's an easy thing to say and a difficult thing to prove," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University.
Dueling speeches on torture
President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney spar over torture in separate speeches May 21:
Obama: "Brutal methods like waterboarding ... undermine the rule of law."
Cheney: "United States has never lost its moral bearings."
'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques'
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said the administration's interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, yielded valuable information that saved lives. See CBS Face the Nation.
Congress informed of harsh interrogations
Information released by the White House describes dozens of briefings for congressional leaders on CIA methods, including waterboarding and the planned destruction of interrogation videotapes.
Prosecution of 'torture memo' lawyers unlikely
An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted.
Difficulty in prosecuting memo authors
Legal experts say prosecutors would have to show that the Bush administration lawyers intentionally misstated the law against torture.
Bush administration OK'd interrogation techniques before legal opinions
A report by Senate Armed Services Committee indicates that high-level Bush administration officials, including Condoleezza Rice and John Ashcroft, provided political backing to harsh interrogation techniques before the Justice Department issued legal approval.
Are memo authors criminally liable?
“If torture occurred before the memo was written, it's not worth the paper it's written on, and the writing of the memo is potentially criminal," said Brent Mickum, one of Abu Zubaida's attorneys.
Ruled out, ruled in
President Obama said he will not seek the prosecution of CIA operatives who used interrogation practices under the recommendations of the Office of Legal Counsel. But the president would not rule out the possibility of a probe to determine whether government lawyers acted illegally in approving interrogation practices.
Bybee mum on memos
Judge Jay S. Bybee declined to respond to the Senate Judiciary Committee calling on him to explain the "torture memos" that bear his signature.
Los Angeles Times coverage of Chapman debate
Report by Carol J. Williams, April 22, 2009