UK suspects in new claims of torture at Guantanamo
The level of torture being carried out at Guantanamo Bay has been revealed for the first time in a series of exclusive interviews with Brits detained at the Cuban base.
This is an example of the "alternative interrogation techniques" that George Bush is attempting to legalise, and a further example that his rush to obtain this new legislation is more about legalizing past offences than it is about giving US authorities clear guidelines as to what is admissible and what is not.Some of the most serious allegations of torture concern the treatment of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national who until his arrest four years ago had been living in London with his wife and four children.
In June this year, Mr Aamer claims he was badly beaten and tortured because he failed to provide a retina scan and fingerprints to the camp authorities. He says he was strapped to a chair, fully restrained at the head, arms and legs.
The habeas corpus motion filed in the court of the District of Columbia states: "The MPs [military police] inflicted so much pain, Mr Aamer said he thought he was going to die. The MPs pressed on pressure points all over his body: his temples, just under his jawline, in the hollow beneath his ears. They choked him. They bent his nose so hard he thought it would break.
"They pinched his thighs and feet constantly. They gouged his eyes. They held his eyes open and shined a Maglite [torch] in them for minutes on end, generating intense heat. They bent his fingers until he screamed. When he screamed, they cut off his airway, then put a mask on him so he could not cry out."
Surely, there is no need for Article 3 to be clarified in order for anyone to realise that if you find yourself doing any of the above that you have stepped way beyond what is decent and right.
I find it incomprehensible that the US are even having a national debate on this subject. The world's greatest democracy is now openly debating to what extent they should be allowed to torture other human beings.
Since 9-11, I sometimes feel as if I am living in a parallel universe. When are ordinary decent Americans going to stand up and say, "Not in my name"?
Just as many Germans woke up after World War Two claiming they simply didn't know what came over them, many right wing Americans are going to have to one day explain their support for a regime that attempted to justify torture.
Their future justifications will deserve to be treated with contempt. It is very easy to identify a wrong after it has been universally recognised. The question should be why did so many Republicans not realise a fundamental wrong was taking place at the time?
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