ABA urges override of CIA interrogation techniques

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

The American Bar Association overwhelmingly adopted a strong resolution Monday urging Congress to override a Bush administration order authorizing the CIA to use "enhanced" interrogation techniques, including water-boarding, sensory deprivation and sleep deprivation.

The nation's largest lawyers' organization, without dissent, also passed a resolution calling on Congress to give federal judges more oversight of government efforts to use the "state secrets" doctrine to throw out legal challenges to anti-terrorist programs.

The first resolution dealt with an executive order adopted by the Bush administration less than a month ago that Barbara Berger Opotowsky, president of the New York City Bar Association, said was clearly "inconsistent with U.S. obligations" under Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which requires humane treatment of detainees.

"The use of official cruelty has repeatedly been shown to be far from the best means of extracting truthful information," said Opotowsky, who proposed the resolution. She noted that a U.S. Army field manual on intelligence interrogations issued last September barred the controversial interrogation techniques that will be available to the CIA.

"Unfortunately, the executive order sets a lower standard for the CIA," she said.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-aba14aug14,0,3526554.story?coll=la-home-center

[neuvocat]

1. What good will it do?

This was exactly why Bush chose to ignore the bar in the first place if I remember correctly.

[Supersedeas]

9. and a long long long long time overdue--the resolution is mute counselors

[merwin]

2. Pardon me, but I don't see ABBA as being in a position to comment.

Considering their music is probably part of the "interrogation techniques" :)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Could human voices get any shriller? They sound like dental drills.

Just the thought of their big "hit," "Dancing Queen" makes me want to confess to almost anything.

[merwin]

7. That photo makes my eyes burn!

My wife loves ABBA, however. Luckily, I don't have to be tortured too often.

[crikkett]

10. my goodness all this time I thought ABBA was a girl group.

Oops.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Hope this will make a difference. It should. From the article:

By passing the resolution, the ABA's 546-member House of Delegates paves the way for its officials to speak out in favor of legislation, testify in Congress or submit friend-of-the-court briefs. The ABA has 413,000 members nationwide.
(snip)

[soothsayer]

5. ok, but congress only invites whomever it wants to testify, so is never interested

in getting to the pure 'truth' of anything

[annabanana]

6. This admin has always preferred the judicial philosphy of the

Federalist Society to the ABA. . .

[Seabiscuit]

8. The ABA is one of the few institutions we have left who are interested in

doing what they can to preserve our freedoms, rights, and responsibilities to each other under the U.S. Constitution.

You know what the ABA is? Just a voluntary group of lawyers across all 50 states who pay annual dues to become members.

Who woulda thunk that someday the only ones left that could save our otherwise doomed democracy would be us damned steenking lawyers.

[defendandprotect]

11. Agree -- !