QUOTE
Opinion
The CIA Torture Loophole
A contractor was found guilty in the death of a detainee, but the potential for more abuses is high.
By Priti Patel, PRITI PATEL is an attorney at Human Rights First.
August 18, 2006
I SAT IN A federal courthouse in Raleigh, N.C., for three days watching the trial of CIA contractor David A. Passaro, the first and, so far, only individual connected with the CIA to be charged with abusing a detainee in U.S. custody. Passaro was implicated in the June 2003 death of Abdul Wali at an Army base in Asadabad, Afghanistan. The trial revealed little about Wali, other than he turned himself in to U.S. forces because he had heard they wanted to question him about a rocket attack on the base. Three days later, he was dead.
Passaro was one of his interrogators. U.S. soldiers testified that Passaro kicked Wali in the groin and repeatedly beat him, at times with a metal flashlight, over a period of two days. Prosecutors said Wali pleaded to be shot to end his pain. A jury on Thursday found Passaro guilty of four counts of assault.
Although the conviction is a welcome change from the culture of impunity that has generally prevailed with respect to detainee abuse, it doesn't ensure that other detainees in U.S. custody won't face the same fate as Wali.
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Last year, enacting Sen. John McCain's anti-torture measure, Congress attempted to draw a clear line between acceptable and unacceptable treatment of prisoners for anyone acting in the name of the United States. Now the Bush administration wants to blur the line and possibly erase it. The administration proposes to amend the 10-year-old War Crimes Act to weaken the Geneva Convention's prohibitions against cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment. If the administration succeeds in changing the definition of cruel treatment, it would send soldiers and civilians like Passaro the wrong message about acceptable conduct.
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The CIA Torture Loophole
A contractor was found guilty in the death of a detainee, but the potential for more abuses is high.
By Priti Patel, PRITI PATEL is an attorney at Human Rights First.
August 18, 2006
I SAT IN A federal courthouse in Raleigh, N.C., for three days watching the trial of CIA contractor David A. Passaro, the first and, so far, only individual connected with the CIA to be charged with abusing a detainee in U.S. custody. Passaro was implicated in the June 2003 death of Abdul Wali at an Army base in Asadabad, Afghanistan. The trial revealed little about Wali, other than he turned himself in to U.S. forces because he had heard they wanted to question him about a rocket attack on the base. Three days later, he was dead.
Passaro was one of his interrogators. U.S. soldiers testified that Passaro kicked Wali in the groin and repeatedly beat him, at times with a metal flashlight, over a period of two days. Prosecutors said Wali pleaded to be shot to end his pain. A jury on Thursday found Passaro guilty of four counts of assault.
Although the conviction is a welcome change from the culture of impunity that has generally prevailed with respect to detainee abuse, it doesn't ensure that other detainees in U.S. custody won't face the same fate as Wali.
...
Last year, enacting Sen. John McCain's anti-torture measure, Congress attempted to draw a clear line between acceptable and unacceptable treatment of prisoners for anyone acting in the name of the United States. Now the Bush administration wants to blur the line and possibly erase it. The administration proposes to amend the 10-year-old War Crimes Act to weaken the Geneva Convention's prohibitions against cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment. If the administration succeeds in changing the definition of cruel treatment, it would send soldiers and civilians like Passaro the wrong message about acceptable conduct.
Full Story LINK