http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/torture/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3019/interrogations_behind_barbed_wire/ His psychiatrists call it "Groundhog Day." José Padilla--the once-renowned "dirty bomber" who is now little more than a dim light in the government's galaxy of desperadoes--has spent almost five years in solitary confinement. Whenever his lawyers attempt to discuss his case with him, he has the same response, begging them over and over again not to. When they try, his face seizes in tics and his body contorts uncontrollably. "Mr. Padilla may be suffering from some form of brain injury," writes a forensic psychiatrist who evaluated him for his lawyers. His story illuminates what has happened to many prisoners of America's war on terror. In addition to being tormented psychologically, Padilla and other Guantánamo detainees say the U.S. military has… guantanamo prison torture Susan J. Douglas Thu, 24 May 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3197/locking_attorneys_out_of_guantnamo/ In recent weeks, disastrous court decisions have set back the cause of the hundreds of men and boys languishing in Guantánamo. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. has ruled that the Military Commissions Act (which strips Guantánamo inmates of habeas corpus rights) is a viable law, and the Supreme Court has told us Guantánamo attorneys that we must work within the framework of the Act before the Court will determine whether it is constitutional. The question before us: Can we salvage any of the miniscule progress we have made in the Guantánamo litigation given these disastrous decisions? The government is using the appellate court decision and the Supreme Court's inaction to try to keep us habeas attorneys away… civil rights guantanamo torture Susan J. Douglas Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3226/torture_by_another_name/ On May 15, America was treated to a televised celebration of war, torture and indefinite detention--the South Carolina Republican primary debate. Blending politics with Hollywood, moderator Brit Hume spun a hypothetical question involving the proverbial "ticking time-bomb" scenario. The candidates all tried to out-do each other over who could be trusted to best disregard fundamental constitutional principles. It was close, but the award went to Mitt Romney who declared: "I'm glad they're at Guantánamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them on Guantánamo, where they don't get the access to lawyers [Mitt: it is our soil and we lawyers are still there.] ... My view is we ought to double Guantánamo ... And enhanced interrogation techniques have… civil rights guantanamo torture Susan J. Douglas Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:00:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3374/suicide_and_spin_doctors/ Now that the U.S. military has "cleared" my notes, I can tell you about my July meeting at Guantánamo with my client Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi. Al-Ghizzawi was visibly shaken when I entered the meeting room and he immediately told me of his despair over the May death of a fellow inmate, a young Saudi man named Abdel Rahman Al Amri. Al-Ghizzawi knew that Amri had been suffering from Hepatitis B and tuberculosis, the same two conditions from which he himself suffers. Like al-Ghizzawi, Amri had not been treated for his illnesses. Al-Ghizzawi, now so sick he can barely walk, told me that Amri, too, had been ill and then, suddenly, he was dead. Al-Ghizzawi also mentioned that Amri had engaged… guantanamo prison torture Susan J. Douglas Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3429/rudy_guiliani_criminal_or_liar/ Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani raised serious questions about his record as a public servant when he announced on television that he had used "intensive questioning techniques" on New York mobsters and other criminals, and that his brand of intensive interrogation was difficult to differentiate from torture. Giuliani put on his best tough-guy act in an interview with Al Hunt on "Political Capital with Al Hunt," which aired on Nov. 2: I can't say that I [know more about torture than Sen. John McCain], but I do know a lot about intensive questioning and intensive questioning techniques. After all, I have had a different experience than John. John has never run city, never run a state, never run a government.… election 2008 torture Susan J. Douglas Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3465/kiriakou_and_the_kite_runner/ John Kiriakou, the CIA agent who led the team that waterboarded a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda in 2002, served as the security consultant for Paramount's soon-to-be released film, The Kite Runner. Lobbyists for Viacom arranged for Kiriakou to serve as a security consultant after concerns arose about the safety of the movie's child stars, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada and Ali Danish Bakhty Ari. Based in Pakistan from 1998 to 2004, Kiriakou led the team that captured Abu Zubaydah, the first high-ranking member of Al Qaeda to be captured after 9/11. On Monday, Kiriakou, now retired from the CIA, became the first person to admit publicly his involvement with the agency's coercive interrogation program for suspected terrorists. He told… asia movies torture war on terror Susan J. Douglas Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3775/if_the_detainee_dies_youre_doing_it_wrong/ Over the objections of senior lawyers across the military, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, acting on the advice of Department of Defense General Counsel William "Jim" Haynes, approved the use of 15 harsh interrogation techniques requested by officials at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be used on alleged "enemy combatants." Rumsfeld's December 2, 2002, decision has been widely reported, but the fact that the techniques he approved were heavily questioned just one month earlier -- including by senior military officials in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines -- was revealed at a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Armed Services committee. "While it has been known for some time that military lawyers voiced strong objections… civil liberties social justice torture Susan J. Douglas