(accessed Sept. 7, 2004), Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, August 12, 1949, 75 UNT.S. 287, arts. 3, 5, 27, 31, 32, 33, and 147 130 (prohibiting coercive measures and mandating humane treatment of captured civilians) [hereinafter Fourth Geneva Convention], available at http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c5 (accessed Sept. 7, 2004). 69 FAY REPORT, Supra, note 15, at 25. The Army Inspector General's report also points to interrogation techniques approved for use at Guantanamo Bay and by the Secretary of Defense following review by a Working Group on Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terror in March and April 2003. DAIG REPORT, supra, note 1, at 39-40 The Working Group concluded that these "officially approved" policies and practices "generally met legal obligations under US law, treaty obligations, and policy, if executed carefully, by trained soldiers, under the full range of safeguards." Id. at 39. The Inspector General's report does not make the connection between that conclusion about the "general" legality of official policies and its later findings that soldiers were not adequately trained and did not operate under the full range of safeguards. See id. at 27, 36, 38, 81-83, 89. 70 R. Jeffrey Smith, Lawyer for State Dept Disputed Detainee Memo, WASH. POST, June 24, 2004, at A7. Senior Pentagon lawyers of this view included chief Navy civilian lawyer Alberto J. Mora, Air Force Maj Gen. Jack L. Rives, Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin M Sandkuhler, Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Romig, and lawyers in the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Id. 73 See SCHLESINGER REPORT, supra, note 1, at 6. Brig Gen Charles Jacoby is conducting a "top-to-bottom review of the entire detainee set of operations done from 19 May to 24 June" in Afghanistan US Dep't of Defense News Transcript Background Briefing on Investigations on Abu Ghraib, Aug. 25, 2004 (quoting a "Senior Army Official"), available at http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/2004/tr20040825-1222 html (accessed Sept 7, 2004) 74 See, eg, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, quoted in Dep't of Defense News Transcript, Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing, May 10, 2004 ("The evidence of abuse inside Abu Ghraib has shaken public opinion in Iraq to the point where it may be more difficult than ever to secure cooperation against the insurgency ."). available at http://www.defenselink mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040510-0742.html (accessed June 14, 2004). PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, PERSECUTION TO PRISON: THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF DETENTION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS, June 2002 (noting that detention can "induce fear, isolation and hopelessness"), available at http://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/asylum network/detention execSummary/dr2-sum.html (accessed Sept. 7, 2004). 75 76 FAY REPORT, Supra, note 15, at 6 The Taguba Report, for example, begins with a review of the findings of Miller and Ryder reports on Abu Ghraib that had already been conducted TAGUBA REPORT, supra, note 1, at 8-12; see also EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, INVESTIGATION OF INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES AT ABU GHRAIB, at 1, JONES REPORT, supra, note 7, at 19; FAY REPORT, Supra, note 15, at 57-64. 77 SCHLESINGER REPORT, supra, note 1, at app B (Memorandum from Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld to the Honorable James R. Schlesinger, et al. re independent Panel to Review DOD Detention Operations, (May 12, 2004)). 79 US Dep't of Defense News Transcript, Press Conference with Members of the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations, Aug. 24, 2004 (statement of panel member Tillie Fowler). 85 FAY REPORT, supra note 15, at 8. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, quoted in Jackie Spinner, Abu Ghraib Policy Defended, WASH POST, Aug. 17, 2004. 86 87 88 DAIG REPORT, supra, note 1, at Foreword. SCHLESINGER REPORT, supra, note 1, at 5. See Letter to J. William Leonard, Director, Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives and Records Administration, from Steven Aftergood, Director, Project on Government Secrecy, Federation of American Scientists (May 6, 2004), available at http://www.fas org/sap/news/2004/05/sa050604.pdf (accessed Sept. 7, 2004). 89 90 91 FAY REPORT, supra, note 15, at 7 Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt, Report Faults General in Prison Abuse, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 27, 2004, at A1. See Ford ex rel. Estate of Ford v. Garcia, 289 F.3d 1283, 1286-93 (11th Cir. 2002); see also THE LAW OF LAND WARFARE. 499 (1956) (defining "war crime" as any violation of the law of war). Under the Federal War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2441, "war crimes' are defined to include, generally, "grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, violations of Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, and certain violations of the 1907 Hague Convention IV. "Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions include, among other things "torture or inhuman treatment... willfully causing great suffering or serous injury to body or health Third Geneva Convention, art. 130, Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 147. Likewise, Common Article 3 prohibits "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture.. [and] outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." Third Geneva Convention, art. 3(1), Fourth Geneva Convention, Art. 3(1). 93 U.S. DEP'T OF ARMY, FIELD MANUAL 27-10, THE LAW OF LAND WARFARE, ¶501 (1956). 99 TAGUBA REPORT, supra, note 1, at 27, Third Geneva Convention arts. 3, 13, 14, 17, 27, 87, 89, 13, Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 3, 5, 27, 31, 32, 33, 147. 100 Memorandum from Lt. Col. James Phifer to Maj. Gen. Michael Dunlavey, Commander at Guantanamo for Approval on Interrogation Techniques (October 2002), available at http://www.npr.org/documents/2004/dod prisoners/20040622doc3.pdf (accessed Sept 7, 2004). Memorandum from William J. Haynes II, General Counsel, Dep't of Defense to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (November 2002), available at http://www.npr.org/documents/2004/dod prisoners/20040622doc5 pdf (accessed Sept 7, 2004) (seeking and obtaining approval for Category I and II interrogation techniques) 101 See Third Geneva Convention arts, 3, 13, 14, 17, 27, 87, 89, 13; Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 3, 5, 27, 31, 32, 33, 147, 18 USC § 2441 (criminalizing grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions), 18 USC § 2441. 102 See Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld Interview with David Frost (BBC), June 27, 2004, available at http://www.defenselink mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040713-secdef1001.html (accessed Sept. 6, 2004), Tim Golden and Don Van Natta Jr., U.S. Said to Overstate Value of Guantanamo Detainees, N.Y. TIMES, June 21, 2004, A1. 103 104 105 SCHLESINGER REPORT, supra, note 1, at 81 JONES REPORT, supra, note 7, at 15 See FAY REPORT, supra, note 15, at 21-30 The use of dogs to intimidate detainees, forced nudity, and prolonged solitary confinement violates the United States' international and domestic legal obligations. See Third Geneva Convention arts 3, 13, 14, 17, 27, 87, 89, 13; Fourth Geneva Convention, arts. 3, 5, 27, 31, 32, 33, 147. 112 ld. TAGUBA REPORT, supra, note 1, at 26-27; see also JONES REPORT, supra, note 7, at 22. FAY REPORT, supra, note 15, at 9, 44-45, 53, 118, DAIG REPORT, supra, note 1, at 56-57 113 114 TAGUBA REPORT, supra, note 1, at 27. Red Cross Fears US Officials Are Holding Terror Suspects in Secret Locations Worldwide, ASSOCIATED PRESS, at http://www.able2know.com/forums/about28807.html (accessed Sept 7, 2004) 115 SCHLESINGER REPORT, supra, note 1, at 69, DAIG REPORT, supra, note 1, at 87; FAY REPORT, supra, note 15, at 116. 121 See Interview by Maxine McKew, Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Lateline, of Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, in Washington, DC. (June 9, 2004), available at http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/33460.htm. human rights first THE NEW NAME OF LAWYERS COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS New York Headquarters Human Rights First 333 Seventh Avenue 13th Floor New York, NY 10001 Tel: (212) 845-5200 Fax: (212) 845-5299 Washington, DC Office Human Rights First 100 Maryland Avenue, N E. Suite 502 Washington, DC 20002 Tel (202) 547-5692 Fax (202) 543-5999 GUANTANAMO AND BEYOND: THE CONTINUING PURSUIT OF UNCHECKED EXECUTIVE POWERS" SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY CHIP PITTS, CHAIR OF THE BOARD, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA Public amnesty international UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 13 May 2005 AI Index: AMR 51/063/2005 I used to think that America had respect for human rights when it came to prison. My husband is a tall man with black hair and black eyes... He is now imprisoned in Wife of Mohammed Nechle, Algerian national, 2004 1. Summary: The pursuit of unfettered executive power. 2. Violating human rights erodes security and trust in government. 3. Guantánamo detainees - the international legal framework.. 4. Hypocrisy vs. human rights 5. Human rights law rejected by a war mentality 6. Seeking to render the Rasul decision meaningless 7. A judge with security credentials takes a more critical view 8. The Combatant Status Review Tribunal no laughing matter. 2 -9 12 - 14 - 27 - 44 .51 -54 - 64 - 66 - 80 - 83 - 109 - 116 - 130 - 136 - 139 - 142 147 - 152 - 154 - 161 1 Mohammed Nechle, 19 October 2004. Nechle v. Bush. Unclassified records of Combatant Status |