Does the Unites States Torture?
This weekend I watched a documentary entitled Torturing Democracy. It’s an in-depth look at the United States’ official policies on torture, complete with hard data (including official government documents) on the Bush administration’s clear approval of “enhanced interrogation techniques” which violate the Geneva Convention, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Constitution of the United States of America. It is a very hard pill to swallow. Regardless, it should be required viewing for those who insist that our policies are acceptable. From the website (where you can watch the entire documentary in three high quality parts):
When the publication of the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq made prisoner abuse an international controversy in April, 2004, both the National Security Archive and Washington Media Associates were already pursuing the story.
Award-winning producer Sherry Jones was in the final stages of editing the first full-length television investigation of the Administration’s detention and interrogation policies, with a focus on the detention camp at Guantanamo. That ABC news special, “Peter Jennings Reporting: Guantanamo” aired on June 25, 2004.
The Archive had just published a reference collection of more than 1500 documents on U.S. counter-terrorism policy – from the earliest plane hijacking crises in 1968 through the war in Afghanistan in 2002 – and had filed hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests for Bush administration documents on terrorism and detention policies.
In May, 2004 the Archive was the first to post on the web the historic CIA interrogation manuals that were precursors to the treatment of prisoners in U.S custody during the war on terror. In June and July, 2004 the Archive added the full posting of the administration’s legal and decision memos on interrogation policies – from the officially released papers, and the more revealing leaked documents.
Over the next two years, Washington Media would keep in touch with its sources and keep on the story. And the Archive would collect thousands of primary source documents, thanks to a multitude of investigations, leaks, journalistic coups, and successful lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Associated Press, and others. (For a more complete list of sources, see the introduction to the “Entire Archive.”)
In January, 2007, the Archive and Washington Media decided to join forces, as we had done on documentary film projects over the past 20 years. The results are seen on this web site: The documentary, “Torturing Democracy,” and the first stage of a comprehensive Torture Archive that aims to serve as the online institutional memory of the essential documentary evidence.
Take the time to watch the documentary in its entirety. You’ll be glad you did.
While surfing around reading about the National Security Archive and Washington Media Associates (the collaborators on Torturing Democracy), I came across this discussion panel reacting to the documentary. It’s worth watching too.
The participants are:
Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor, constitutional scholar and author of ‘Is There a Right To Remain Silent? Coercive Interrogation and the Fifth Amendment After 9/11′.
Carol Rosenberg, staff reporter for the Miami Herald covering the hearings at the Guatanamo Bay detention camp.
Philippe Sands, professor of law and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London and author of ‘Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the Betrayal of American Values’.
About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American college educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up and receive notifications of new content. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.
LaPaix | Oct 20, 2008 | Reply
I agree that everyone should see this, however hard it is to stomach. It’s despicable and Americans should be aware of what our government is perpetrating in the name of fighting terrorism.