Canada
must seek the immediate return of Toronto-born Guantánamo captive Omar
Khadr rather than await the outcome of his U.S. military trial because
American troops mistreated the alleged teen terrorist and Canadian
officials knew about it, Canada's appeals court ruled Friday.
The Federal Court of Appeal's 2-1 ruling, issued in Ottawa, effectively
instructs the Canadian government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to
intervene in the case before Khadr is tried by military commission.
In 2003, at a meeting with a group of senior staff from the US judge advocate general's office (which deals with criminal trials of military personnel), I was told that as a result of decisions taken in the Bush White House, a long American tradition of compliance with the Geneva conventions had come to an end.
A number of disturbing statistics emerged from a recent survey commissioned by Australian Red Cross. More than 40 per cent of Australians believe it is okay to torture captured enemy soldiers.
Yet almost all of the 1030 people interviewed believe those accused of war crimes should be prosecuted, and 90 per cent think the international community needs to strengthen and enforce the rules of war. It appears we have a strong case of "it is bad when others do it but okay for us".
WASHINGTON — Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen were military retirees and
psychologists, on the lookout for business opportunities. They found an
excellent customer in the Central Intelligence Agency, where in 2002 they became the architects of the most importantinterrogation program in the history of American counterterrorism.
WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court will hear the U.S. government's appeal on a lower court ruling requiring the release of photos showing the abuse of prisoners held in overseas facilities.
The government is appealing a 2008 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which ruled that the government must release the photos to comply with an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
Over the weekend, the government has identified another way to embarrass itself.
Karen Steyn is the barrister representing David Miliband, who has been arguing that we must suppress evidence of torture in the case of Binyam Mohamed. On Saturday, the high court judges sent the foreign secretary a transcript of their interrogation of Steyn for him to confirm in writing whether he really means what she says.
I've written several times before
about the amazing quest of Binyam Mohamed -- a British resident
released from Guantanamo in February, 2009 after seven years in
captivity -- to compel public disclosure of information in the
possession of the British Government proving he was tortured while in
U.S.
Secrecy is endemic in all governments. It goes with the turf, especially if their leaders hope to hide illegal or immoral behavior, such as torture of foreign prisoners.
Many Americans heaved a sigh of relief last January when President Barack Obama banned the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
It made the administration look more humane than the Bush-Cheney team. But that is not the whole story.
The Washington Post Editorial Page -- keeper of all establishment Washington wisdom -- today advocates that low-level CIA interrogators who went beyond John Yoo's torture guidelines, and only them, be criminally investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department:
Amazingly, reports that Eric Holder is considering commencing an
investigation into Bush-era torure crimes has created extreme
consternation in multiple Beltway circles despite how narrow and limited those investigations would be.
