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July 31: Tell Congress to Let the Red Cross Into Secret Prisons PDF Print E-mail
Written by Michael Berg   
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
torture_graphic.jpgPresently the United States Central Intelligence Agency is operating secret detention centers in Eastern Europe and other parts in the world. Detainees in these centers are taken from all over the world. There are no formal charges and no legal processing under international law, American law or the law of the country from which they are taken. The CIA does not release their names and locations. Detainees in these centers are interrogated and (according to testimony of former detainees) sometimes tortured, and sometimes sent to be interrogated and tortured by authorities in other countries such as Syria and Egypt .

There are members of congress who realize that this kind of think should not continue. Being one of the most influential Senators on these matters, it is imperative that we convince Graham to do what is morally right join those who are working to let let the International Committe of the Red Cross in the sites to monitor. Call Senator Graham at (202) 224-5972 and tell him to let the let the Red Cross in!

If you would like to write a letter to a local paper on this issue or otherwise get involved, call Michael Berg at 803-760-9208 or else write to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information, see the enclosed article.

A great recent book on the issue of secret dentention centers is The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals written by Jane Mayer. For a recent interview between Jane Mayer and Amy Goodman on Democracy now, click here.

An excellent article with background information can be found at the Wikipedia aricle on Black Sites.

ICRC Access:  It Matters Background: 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a mandate under international law to act as a neutral observer in conflicts.  The ICRC’s role is to protect from abuse civilians, prisoners, and others who are not actively involved in the fighting.  For decades, the ICRC has acted to ensure that captured soldiers are not simply “disappeared,” but rather given the rights guaranteed to them under international law.

 

Traditionally, the U.S. has respected the importance of the ICRC and its role in protecting the rights of detainees.  ICRC access is credited with saving the lives of numerous American soldiers – including, in 1993, that of U.S. Warrant Officer Michael Durant, whose abuse at the hands of a Somali warlord ended when the U.S. demanded assurances of ICRC access and asserted that it would give captured Somalis the same protections.

 

Since Sept. 11, 2001, however, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has opened several secret prisons in Eastern Europe and other parts of the globe for holding terrorism-related detainees.  Few people know exactly what goes on in those prisons.  Many former detainees claimed to have been tortured in them, but, of course, most are unable to prove their allegations.  The ICRC does not have access to these prisons, nor does any other neutral third party.

 

An amendment to require the CIA to inform the ICRC of all prisoners and to allow the ICRC access to them will probably be offered during debate on the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate in the month of July.  As of yet, however, the amendment has not been offered, and it does not have a number.

 Why we should report all detainees to the ICRC and give the ICRC access to them: 

1.)  Providing ICRC access to all detainees is the right thing to do.  We should not “disappear” people.

 

2.)  ICRC access protects our soldiers from being tortured and abused.  The current conflict is not our last, and if we show the world that the U.S. doesn’t follow international norms in protecting the rights of prisoners, then our own soldiers will not be given their rights when they are captured by foreign enemies.

 

3.)  ICRC access helps to prevent the abuse of detainees.  It is much easier to torture or otherwise mistreat a detainee when an interrogator is operating in a legal vacuum without any independent entity checking up on the detainee’s welfare.

 

4.)  ICRC access helps protect U.S. interrogators both from false accusations of abuse – and from actually becoming torturers.

 5.)  Reporting all detainees to the ICRC, and ensuring ICRC access to them, is an essential step toward restoring U.S. credibility on the issue of torture.  Few people will believe we don’t torture so long as we are holding prisoners incommunicado in secret prisons with nobody to ensure they’re not being mistreated.
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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
 
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