Campaign Update, March 3, 2006:
The Bush administration is continuing its efforts to undermine the McCain Anti-Torture amendment. Lawyers for the Justice Department have argued that detainees at Guantanamo Bay are not entitled to protections outlined in the torture ban due to the Graham-Levin amendment passed in the same bill. Graham-Levin severely restricts the ability of detainees to challenge the legality of their detention, including the conditions of their confinement. Thus, Congress prohibited torture while simultaneously making it impossible for prisoners at Guantanamo to seek enforcement of the prohibition.
President Bush aggressively supported Graham-Levin, even arguing for changes that would further limit the power of anti-torture provisions. Bush also produced a "signing statement" that outlined his interpretation of the McCain amendment when he signed it into law. In his statement, the President said that, "the executive branch shall construe [the law] in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President", apparently reserving the right to order torture in contravention of the explicit prohibition of the statute.
The gruesome reports of detainee treatment at Guantanamo Bay are even more disturbing because of the involvement of medical personnel in intentionally painful force-feeding. The U.S military must resist and reject this culture of torture before it corrupts the very ideals our army defends. Military personnel deserve the clear standards of interrogation they have requested, and President Bush should honor his pledge to the American people that "We do not torture!" without exceptions or limitations.
More Information:
- Justice Department argues that detainees at Guantanamo Bay are not protected by the torture ban
- Bush undermines the McCain Amendment in his signing statement
- Latest allegations of torture in Guantanamo Bay
- High level military officials aggressively oppose the Administration's interrogation policies, including the general counsel of the US Navy
- U.N. report calls for the U.S. to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and either try prisoners in an international tribunal or release them
- Comprehensive report from Human Rights First on the government's handling of the 98 cases in which detainees have died while in custody
- The names of almost 400 hundred detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be released by Department of Defense in compliance with a court order
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Campaign Update, December 15, 2005:
The White House has backed down and ended its opposition to the McCain Anti-Torture Amendment. The announcement clears the way for passage of the Anti-Torture Amendment. It represents an important step in preserving American values. Now even the President has conceded that torture puts our troops at risk, undermines our relationships with our allies, and simply doesn't work.
We thank the more than 10,000 people who took action on our site and sent a message to Congress and the White House: "Torture Is Not US." In the coming weeks, we'll be watching to make sure that there is follow-through on today's announcement and that the Anti-Torture Amendment is not undermined by other measures.
To read our statement on the announcement, click here. To read a statement from six groups working to put a stop to torture (including the Center for American Progress), click here. And, for the latest analysis on the torture issue and other developments, please visit our blog ThinkProgress.org.
