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TechnoratiJudge May Make CIA Torture Memo Public
ACLU Lawsuit Prompted A Federal Judge To Examine The Controversial Document
The CIA must let a judge view a 2002 memo purportedly including waterboarding among interrogation methods to be used on prisoners in U.S. custody so he can decide whether it should be made public, the judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein issued the order after he had earlier said the 18-page memo did not have to be turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union because it was protected by attorney-client privilege. The ACLU said it believes the memo includes a section addressing the subject of waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
Hellerstein said he reconsidered his ruling after hearing from both sides again on the subject. The CIA must turn the item over for review on Monday.
Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for government lawyers representing the CIA, said the government had no immediate comment.
Hellerstein said he realized he did not give sufficient consideration to an earlier court ruling related to the legal issue and to ACLU evidence indicating all or parts of the memo may have been incorporated into or used to justify official practice and policy.
The ACLU praised the decision, saying the memo written by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel is critical to the public debate over treatment of detainees because it specified brutal interrogation techniques including waterboarding.
Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project, said no Department of Defense memo made public so far has included a section addressing waterboarding.
"There are still significant gaps in the story of how U.S. interrogators came to use torture and this memo is a critical piece of this story," Jaffer said.
"We think that the public has a right to see the documents that provided a basis for the CIA's torture program," he said. "We know that interrogators waterboarded prisoners and subjected prisoners to other forms of torture. There's no legitimate reason why the basis for those interrogation practices should be withheld."
The order came as a result of a lawsuit brought in October 2003 by the ACLU and other civil rights groups seeking to use the Freedom of Information Act to get records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad. So far, more than 100,000 pages of government documents have been released as a result.
© 2008 Associated Press
11 Comments so far
Show AllStop calling it mainstream media. Fox news isn't mainstream is it? It corpmedia (corporate media). They have one thing to sell and it soap. So stop saying it mainstream.
Apparently the above posters still have some naive faith in the US "justice system". Since the Supreme Court placed junior in his current position, I've lost all confidence. The "justice system" is as corrupt and mafia-controlled as junior's entire administration.
So, a judge reversed his decision. I don't think he'd do it unless his handlers told him that he could. There aren't that many 'independent' judges around anymore. You can bet that the few independent ones aren't going to within ten miles of anything even smelling of torture. The handlers wouldn't give the go-ahead unless they were confident that they knew the reaction, were confident that they could control it - or better yet, use it for their purposes.
It's the first rule of 'justice' that lawyers learn - don't ask a question unless you know what the answer is going to be. In this case, don't let in evidence that will harm your case.
Nothing will come of this, unless it is to benefit the handlers.
Want to see and learn some real torture that was started in June of 1967, and has gone on since. Now it comes to an end at last, because those same Heros decided to step up and become heros all over again. To speak up and uncover "The Lies." To expose those who had true motives.
These heros went through hell, but No one was suppost to know, and thier torture has lasted since then , while they kept the secrets,and allowed those in charge to get away with it all. At last they are helping all of us learn what realy runs this country and what realy stands behind most war and the promise of even more .
"Loss of the Liberty "
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/18.html
The Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty
This isn't easy to watch, but neither is torture , war of seeing a country destroyed. This is truth and as real as anything we are experiencing.
Come on Judge Hellerstein! We have the right to know what is being done in our name. Witholding information of this type, particularly if used in briefings, reports, etc., is particularly important as major elections loom. Such matters are often treated as essentially "political questions", and elections are the only way we have of resolving them. The elections are rendered less meaningful in that regard if the information is not made public in a timely manner for use in those elections.
The majority of the American public believes that "Torture is OK under certain circumstances".
This truly sick idealogy makes it impossible to effectively condemn waterboarding.
I have to agree with Barn Burner. The public doesn't care anymore. Human life is cheap here.
One correction; waterboarding does not "simulate drowning" - it is "drowning" a person - just short of death.
What! the above post imply that this will be some kind of a smoking gun. Ha Ha Ha, scuse me as I wipe the tears from my eyes. The public doesn't care. They buy into this idea that if it saves the U.S. from just one terrorist then let the torture begin. Oh, some of them are innocent(?) - shit happens.
Make everything public. Governments need to function with complete transparency. It's the only way.
The game has changed. It is now "Pin the Tail on the Elephant." Justice will be realized.
Better to call it Corporate Media!
Dont let them think they are mainstream opinion!
The real news is starting to slip into the MainStreamMedia! Maybe there is a goddess after all. Reprint this and get it out to the masses!
Slowly, slowly, the PEOPLE will learn the truth about their institutions. This century will be about the suddenly expanded awareness made possible by technology, and the PEOPLE'S response. Utter transparency in the use of power must become the goal for all societies worldwide. When the majority of folks in the U.S. realize what has happened regarding their central government's catastrophic misuse of power, they we will begin the ardous task of reining it in, eventually disarming the war machine. The Bush-Cheny cabal must stand trial for gross and deliberate crimes under international and national law. It may take many years, but is essential if the world is to develop anything positive from the present disaster. Om Shanti.