A First Tiny Step Towards Accountability

Today a bi-partisan report was released by the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Carl Levin (D-Mich) and John McCain (R-Ariz), after two years of investigation, finding former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials responsible for abuses of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and sites in Iraq.

According to the press release issued by Carl Levin's office, "A major focus of the Committee’s investigation was the influence of Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) training techniques on the interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. SERE training is designed to teach our soldiers how to resist interrogation by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions and international law. During SERE training, U.S. troops --- in a controlled environment with great protections and caution --- are exposed to harsh techniques such as stress positions, forced nudity, use of fear, sleep deprivation, and until recently, the waterboard. The SERE techniques were never intended to be used against detainees in U.S. custody. The Committee’s investigation found, however, that senior officials in the U.S. government decided to use some of these harsh techniques against detainees based on deeply flawed interpretations of U.S. and international law."

Senator Levin said: “The abuses at Abu Ghraib, GTMO and elsewhere cannot be chalked up to the actions of a few bad apples. Attempts by senior officials to pass the buck to low ranking soldiers while avoiding any responsibility for abuses are unconscionable. The message from top officials was clear; it was acceptable to use degrading and abusive techniques against detainees. Our investigation is an effort to set the record straight on this chapter in our history that has so damaged both America’s standing and our security. America needs to own up to its mistakes so that we can rebuild some of the good will that we have lost.”

The Committee concluded that the authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials was both a direct cause of detainee abuse and conveyed the message that it was okay to mistreat and degrade detainees in U.S. custody. It wasn't just Lindsey England at Abu Ghraib, acting as an irresponsible underling. It was Donald Rumsfeld, and I suspect even higher ups, who authorized such treatment of detainees, in violation of domestic and international law and common decency.

The 19 page executive summary is available at the bottom of the press release issued by Levin's office, along with the two preceding portions of the Armed Services Committee reports.

There are those who are urging the in-coming administration that it should continue to allow "torture lite" methods which don't appear to be so heinous when viewed individually. See Ray McGovern's piece in commondreams.org, dated December 11, 2008.

• force a detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts or pose in a sexual manner;
• use hoods or place sacks over a detainee's head or use duct tape over his eyes;
• beat or electrically shock or burn them or inflict other forms of physical pain-any form of physical pain;
• use water boarding, hypothermia, or treatment which will lead to heat injury;
• perform mock executions;
• deprive detainees of the necessary food, water, and medical care; and
• use dogs in any aspect of interrogation.

However, as Laurel Fletcher and Eric Stover found in their groundbreaking report, released November 2008, "Guantanamo and its Aftermath: US Detention and Interrogation Practices and Their Impact on Former Detainees," the cumulative effect of these procedures amounts to torture, unequivocally. This is torture. This is inhumane treatment. This must be stopped. There is no justification for use of these procedures.