The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
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pending review. On April 14 th , 2003, Rumsfeld issued an updated list <strong>of</strong> approved techniques,<br />
restricted primarily to those methods included in Category II. However, <strong>the</strong>se were only techniques<br />
that could be used at <strong>the</strong> discretion <strong>of</strong> USSouthCom; o<strong>the</strong>r techniques (not specified) could be applied<br />
with <strong>the</strong> permission <strong>of</strong> Rumsfeld himself. (DoD, 04/04/2003) That Category III techniques were not<br />
necessarily ruled out <strong>for</strong> use in <strong>the</strong> War on Terror can be seen from <strong>the</strong> brief by John Yoo at <strong>the</strong> Office<br />
<strong>of</strong> Legal Council dated 14 th <strong>of</strong> March, 2003, and on which <strong>the</strong> JTF-170 review was based. Here <strong>the</strong><br />
highly expansive nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> administration's claim to be unbounded by ei<strong>the</strong>r domestic or<br />
international law is on full display. According to Yoo “federal criminal laws <strong>of</strong> general applicability do<br />
not apply to properly authorized interrogations <strong>of</strong> enemy combatants, undertaken by military personnel<br />
in <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> an armed conflict. Such criminal statutes, if <strong>the</strong>y were misconstrued to apply to <strong>the</strong><br />
interrogation <strong>of</strong> enemy combatants, would conflict with <strong>the</strong> Constitution's grant <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Commander<br />
in Chief power solely to <strong>the</strong> President.” (OLC, 2003; 1) In o<strong>the</strong>r words, <strong>the</strong>re is no law that Congress<br />
can pass limiting <strong>the</strong> President's actions in <strong>the</strong> conduct <strong>of</strong> a war.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first batch <strong>of</strong> 20 detainees arrived at GTMO in mid-January <strong>of</strong> 2002. <strong>The</strong>y were being<br />
flown in from <strong>the</strong> Afghani <strong>the</strong>ater, and were reputed to be members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Taliban and al-Qaeda. (St.<br />
Petersburg Times, 11/01/2002) By <strong>the</strong> 24 th <strong>the</strong> prison held an approximate 158 detainees, and Secretary<br />
Rumsfeld was already having to parry allegations <strong>of</strong> torture and mistreatment, stemming primarily<br />
from pictures <strong>of</strong> detainees being unloaded from planes hooded and shackled. (Washington Post,<br />
24/01/2002; Houston Chronicle, 23/01/2002) By May 7 th , <strong>the</strong> prison population had swelled to 384.<br />
(Reuters, 07/05/2002) In <strong>the</strong> next several months as <strong>the</strong> prison complex was expanded, more prisoners<br />
continued to flow in. According to in<strong>for</strong>mation provided by <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> Defense, between<br />
January 2002 and May 2006, <strong>the</strong> camp at Guantanamo held 759 detainees, although not all at one time:<br />
<strong>of</strong> those 517 would be transferred to <strong>the</strong> custody <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r country, or released outright by <strong>the</strong> 6 th <strong>of</strong><br />
October, 2008. Five o<strong>the</strong>rs would die in <strong>the</strong> camp, four <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m classified as suicides. (DoD,<br />
'Consolidated …', 'List <strong>of</strong> Individuals …')<br />
Beginning in 2004, <strong>the</strong> military began a process <strong>for</strong> determining how to classify detainees<br />
called <strong>the</strong> Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT). <strong>The</strong>se tribunals did not involve <strong>the</strong> judiciary,<br />
and although detainees were allowed to contest <strong>the</strong>ir imprisonment be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> tribunal, <strong>the</strong>y were not<br />
permitted access to lawyers, nor to secret evidence alleged by <strong>the</strong> government. (National Journal,<br />
04/02/2006: 6) <strong>The</strong> government's part in <strong>the</strong> tribunals was to submit summaries <strong>of</strong> evidence, outlining<br />
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