Tort(ure) reform
In the year I was born, 1976, the word “disappear” went from being an intransitive verb to a transitive verb in the world’s vocabulary. Objects no longer just disappeared. Now people could disappear objects. It didn’t make grammatical sense. But in light of the numerous victims of military dictatorships in South American countries, notably Argentina, it became acceptable to refer to someone who had been disappeared; meaning abducted by government forces, tortured, and in many cases, never seen again.
30 years later in the US, the Senate and White House are working together on a bill that will decide how the US will treat “enemy combatants”. How are they treated now? Well, we can glean some information from people who have been through the system.
One such case is that of German citizen Khaled el-Masri. The CIA suspected he was involved in 9/11. And so he was kidnapped by the CIA, flown to a secret prison in Afghanistan, and tortured for four months, until the CIA decided he wasn’t a threat and released him. It’s our normal justice system in reverse, with beatings and cold cells thrown in.
There are other confirmed accounts of Canadian and British citizens being designated as enemy combatants and undergoing this process the CIA calls “extraordinary rendition.” You may ask, “How does one become an enemy combatant?” This designation is at the sole discretion of the President. The detainee does not get to argue that he may not be an enemy combatant. In fact, the detainee may not even be allowed to see the charges against him.
As a result of these White House-sanctioned practices, CIA agents may face legal charges in the countries from which they abducted their detainees.
But this isn’t Argentina. It’s not Chile or the Soviet Union. This is America. And the US Congress is here to make sure that no one gets sued.
Yes, that seems to be a major focus of this legislation. The White House wants to prevent CIA agents from being sued or possibly prosecuted for war crimes. (No doubt they would also like to protect themselves since they are giving the orders.)
The President has been pushing hard to legalize what the CIA has been doing under his orders. At a recent press briefing, the President told reporters, “As long as the War Crimes Act hangs over their heads, they [CIA interrogators] will not take the steps necessary to protect [Americans].” It doesn’t seem to have occurred to him that he could order them not to commit war-crimes.
