Bush to CIA: 'Leave No Marks'-With No Sign Of Torture On Prisoner-It Didn't Happen Right?

[kpete]

"The absence of physical evidence should not be construed to suggest that torture did not occur,
since such acts of violence against persons frequently leave no marks or permanent scars"

United Nations' "Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment," issued on August 9, 1999:
http://books.google.com/books?id=xO7TBbzsvOoC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=the+absence+of+physical+evidence+should+not+be+construed+to+suggest+that+torture+did+not+occur+since+such+acts+of+violence+against+persons+frequently+leave+no+marks+or+permanent+scars&source=web&ots=T2XQuBPAO8&sig=Dcz4pg9hhoC2UE4agYEHgGIywTk


VILLAGE VOICE
Nat Hentoff
Bush to CIA: 'Leave No Marks'
With no sign of torture on a prisoner, then it didn't happen, right?
by Nat Hentoff
August 21st, 2007 7:24 PM

..................

But McConnell...doesn't want the tenderhearted among us to fear that the world will regard our nation as monstrous for permitting the use of these methods. When Associated Press reporter Ben Feller asked him whether the American people would be upset if the enemy used these secret interrogation methods on American citizens, McConnell answered:

"I would not want a U.S. citizen to go through the process. But it is not torture, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen."

In other words, so long as no marks are left on a CIA prisoner, interrogators are left to their time-tested cruelties. However, Elaine Massimino, the Washington director of Human Rights First, makes a very pertinent point: "Administration lawyers may try to convince (CIA) interrogators that the secret interrogation techniques authorized by the president are lawful because they cause no 'permanent damage.' But interrogators shouldn't buy it."

"Officials and interrogators who authorize and participate . . . in the CIA's so-called interrogation techniques . . . face a substantial risk of criminal liability under the provisions prohibiting 'torture' and 'cruel or inhuman treatment' in the U.S. War Crimes Act, as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and under the Torture Convention Implementation Act of 1994."

much more at:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0734,hentoff,77589,2.html

more in depth here:

Those Who Authorize and Use CIA "Enhanced" Interrogation Tactics Risk Criminal Prosecution
Landmark Report: Techniques Previously Authorized for CIA Use — Not Ruled Out by President’s CIA Executive Order — Likely Violate U.S. Law

Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2007-08-02.html

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. Excellent article. K & R.

:kick: MKJ