Torture
CIA Crucified Captive in Abu Ghraib
CIA Crucified Captive in Abu Ghraib Prison By Sherwood Ross June 29, 2009 "Global Research"
"The Central Intelligence Agency crucified a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a report published in The New Yorker magazine. ''A forensic examiner found that he (the prisoner) had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs,'' Jane Mayer writes in the magazine's June 22nd issue. ''Military pathologists classified the case a homicide.'' The date of the murder was not given. ''No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program, despite the fact that at least three prisoners interrogated by agency personnel died as a result of mistreatment,'' Mayer notes.
An earlier report, by John Hendren in The Los Angeles Times, indicted other torture killings. And Human Rights First says nearly 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hendren reported that one Manadel Jamadi died ''of blunt-force injuries'' complicated by ''compromised respiration'' at Abu Ghraib prison ''while he was with Navy SEALs and other special operations troops.'' Another victim, Abdul Jaleel, died while gagged and shackled to a cell door with his hands over his head. ''Yet another prisoner, Maj. Gen. Abid Mowhosh, former commander of Iraq's air defenses, ''died of asphyxiation due to smothering and chest compression'' in Qaim, Iraq.
"There is no question that U.S. interrogations have resulted in deaths," says Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "High-ranking officials who knew about the torture and sat on their hands and those who created and endorsed these policies must be held accountable. America must stop putting its head in the sand and deal with the torture scandal." At least scores of detainees in U.S. custody have died and homicide is suspected. As far back as May, 2004, the Pentagon conceded at least 37 deaths of prisoners in its custody in Iraq and Afghanistan had prompted investigations. Nathaniel Raymond, of Physicians for Human Rights, told The New Yorker, ''We still don't know how many detainees were in the black sites, or who they were. We don't fully know the White House's role, or the C.I.A.'s role. We need a full accounting, especially as it relates to health professionals.''
Recently released Justice memos, he noted, contain numerous references to CIA medical personnel participating in coercive interrogation sessions. ''They were the designers, the legitimizers, and the implementers,'' Raymond said. ''This is arguably the single greatest medical-ethics scandal in American history. We need answers.''
The ACLU obtained its information from the Pentagon through a Freedom of Information suit. Documents received included 44 autopsies and death reports as well as a summary of autopsy reports of people seized in Iraq and Afghanistan. An ACLU statement noted, ''This covers just a fraction of the total number of Iraqis and Afghanis who have died while in U.S. custody.'' (Italics added). Torture by the CIA has been facilitated by the Agency's ability to hide prisoners in ''black sites'' kept secret from the Red Cross, to hold prisoners off the books, and to detain them for years without bringing charges or providing them with lawyers.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, denounced the Obama administration for considering ''prevention detention,'' The New Yorker's Mayer wrote. Roth said this tactic ''mimics the Bush Administration's abusive approach.'' From all indications, CIA Director Panetta has no intention of bringing to justice CIA officials involved in the systematic torture of prisoners. Panetta told Mayer, ''I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt. If they do the job that they're paid to do, I can't ask for a hell of a lot more.''
Such sentiments differ markedly from those Panetta wrote in an article published last year in the January Washington Monthly: ''We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.''
One way to discern who really runs a country is to look to see which individuals, if any, are above the law. In the Obama administration, like its predecessors, they include the employees of the CIA. Crucifixions they execute in the Middle East differ from those reported in the New Testament in at least one important respect: Jesus Christ had a trial.
See http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22941.htm and comments. In Global Research originally.
Holding Health to Ransom
4 Aug 2008
PHR-Israel published a new report on August 4, 2008 entitled: "Holding Health to Ransom: GSS Interrogation and Extortion of Palestinian Patients at Erez Crossing". Testimonies in the report reveal: GSS (Shabac) demands cooperation as a precondition for exiting Gaza for medical care In defiance of the UN Convention Against Torture, the GSS is attempting to systematically use sick patients as informers.
Since July 2007, PHR has received 32 testimonies from Gazan patients, whose exit from Gaza was prevented after refusing to cooperate with GSS interrogators at the Erez Crossing. Since October 2007, some of the Palestinian patients with referrals for medical treatment outside of Gaza are required to undergo a GSS interrogation as an integral part of the decision-making process regarding their request for an exit permit.
In a new report released on August 4th, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) has exposed that the General Security Service (GSS- Shabac), who make the final decisions regarding exit permits, are targeting sick patients as potential collaborators, making informing and cooperation with the GSS a pre-condition for exiting Gaza. This practice constitutes a violation of The Fourth Geneva Convention and the UN Convention Against Torture, as well as criminal law.
For the first time in the report Holding Health to Ransom, Palestinian patients testify as to the process they undergo when attempting to exit Gaza for medical treatment. Eleven detailed first-person testimonies of patients who were subjected to interrogation and pressure are included in the report.
Take the Physicians out of the System and it Will Cease to Exist
Following the Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling in 1999 prohibiting torture, it seemed – or at least we hoped – that the era of torture in Israel was over, and with it the shameful complicity of medical personnel who served as a safety net for torture and as collaborators whose silence constituted consent. One might have assumed, then, that the various institutions that failed to extricate medical personnel from this terrible practice would follow the Supreme Court's ruling and recognize their failure. However, the reaction of the Ministry of Health was typical. For ministry officials, the ruling resolves the dilemma: if torture has ended, physicians are also no longer participating in torture. Therefore, it is of no surprise that none of those involved – chief medical officers or physicians who examined the prisoners – was summoned for review or punished. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and left the past behind them.
In recent years, there is growing testimony that torture, albeit in a different form, has returned and is again being supported by the familiar “ticking bomb” argument. This argument should not affect the perspective of medical personnel, however, because even if one considers torture to be justified – and it is not – medical personnel are prohibited from participating in it in any shape or form. Yet it is impossible to ignore the fact that the prevalent environment has an impact on the willingness of physicians to turn a blind eye to torture and even participate in it in a monitoring role, such as by examining the prisoner before, during and after interrogation. Some will ask why we focus on medical personnel; shouldn’t torture itself be the focal point of the struggle? The answer is: Of course it should. However, we should not downplay the importance of removing physicians from the system as the most effective step toward eradicating torture entirely. Medical personnel are a central tool or a kind of fig leaf that enables others within the system to continue to carry out this prohibited activity under a veil. Try to imagine an execution taking place in the United States without an anesthesiologist to enable the execution to be conducted without pain. Or try to imagine the Shin Bet (GSS) designing methods of torture without seeking medical consultation, or an interrogator working without a medical safety net to treat those who are injured. In addition, the mere existence of torture harms the whole of society and the involvement of physicians in torture destroys the ethical cornerstone of the medical profession. Its ramifications extend to medical activity in general beyond the walls of the prison and interrogation facilities.
Read more: Take the Physicians out of the System and it Will Cease to Exist
Letter by Dr Derek Summerfield to the British Medical Journal
Owen Dyer quotes from a recent response from the IMA to the arguments for boycott made recently by the 18 leading Palestinian organisations in the health field we alluded to in our letter. I'm afraid the IMA response is empty rhetoric written for public relations purposes. A world away from these words are the decisions the IMA has taken with its eyes open over many years: it is on this account that the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights (PHRI), a principled and committed group, labelled the IMA in the Lancet, as an arm of the Israeli establishment whose role it was to obscure the health-related realities of Israeli occupation. IMA President Blachar has taken this Duty with him to the World Medical Association: his presence there - as Chair of Council no less - ensures that the WMA does nothing. True to form, I note that the WMA Secretary General has declined to comment on our letter – yet this is a matter that goes to the heart of their mandate as the world's official watchdog on medical ethics. The charges against the IMA are broadly in 2 categories.
Read more: Letter by Dr Derek Summerfield to the British Medical Journal