Enhanced Interrogation Techniques

1. Does the war on terror legitimate the use of interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay? Do these techniques constitute a violation of international law?

2. Enhanced Interrogation Techniques • 1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him. • 2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear. • 3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage. • 4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions. • 5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water. • 6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866

3. Torture under International Law 1. “Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental • It is intentionally inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or confession • Punishing him for an act he has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating him or other persons. 2. Torture constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” http://www2.ohchr.org/english/about/funds/torture/docs/compilation_torture.pdf

4. Most Common Miami University Responses • “Terrorist give up their rights as soon as they carry out their destruction.” • “Under international law, torture is illegal.” • “I do not agree with President Obama’s decision to shut down facilities over this matter.” • “I do not want these terrorist on American soil. I think that would be extremely dangerous.” • “Guantanamo Bay is highly illegal based off the Geneva Conventions that we (the United States) helped put into place.” • “I do not want to know what the government is doing to keep the country safe.” Anonymous Sources

5. Thesis • The techniques used at Guantanamo Bay do constitute a violation of international law. Torture, under international law, is any form of physical or mental abuse. • I believe that the war on terror does legitimate the use of enhanced interrogation methods. Therefore, these types of techniques should not be banned. However, there are more effective ways to receive information. Intelligence officials agree that a majority of the information received through “torture” is unreliable. At a certain point, the captive will say whatever the interrogator want him/her to say. It should be the last resort for an officer has to resort to these types of techniques. • At the current time, these techniques should remain available for specific cases.

6. Waterboarding • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ocGJdZE9c • “After the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, the Bush administration issued legal opinions that gave the C.I.A. more latitude in its interrogation methods than the military had, prohibiting only measures that could be defined as torture. A list of approved tactics included waterboarding. • In April 2009, the Obama administration released the series of opinions. The memos include what in effect are lengthy excerpts from the agency's interrogation manual, laying out with precision how each method was to be used. Waterboarding, for example, involved strapping a prisoner to a gurney inclined at an angle of "10 to 15 degrees" and pouring water over a cloth covering his nose and mouth "from a height of approximately 6 to 18 inches" for no more than 40 seconds at a time. “ • http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/torture/waterboarding/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

7. Breaches of Geneva Convention • “Crime against Humanity • Torture • 1. The perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon one or more persons. • 2. Such person or persons were in the custody or under the control of the perpetrator. • 3. Such pain or suffering did not arise only from, and was not inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions. • 4. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. • 5. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.” • http://www2.ohchr.org/english/about/funds/torture/docs/compilation_torture.pdf

8. War Crime of Torture • “1. The perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon one or more persons. • 2. The perpetrator inflicted the pain or suffering for such purposes as: obtaining • information or a confession, punishment, intimidation or coercion or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind. • 3. Such person or persons were either hors de combat, or were civilians, medical personnel or religious personnel taking no active part in the hostilities. • 4. The perpetrator was aware of the factual circumstances that established this status. • 5. The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with an armed conflict not of an international character. • 6. The perpetrator was aware of factual circumstances that established the existence of an armed conflict.” • http://www2.ohchr.org/english/about/funds/torture/docs/compilation_torture.pdf

9. Does the war on terror legitimate the use of these techniques? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBOd1XB943o&feature=related The city medical examiner's office said that Dr. Sneha Anne Philip, 31, was the 2,751st victim killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.It cited the Jan. 31 court ruling in a brief release, saying the state Supreme Court's appellate division "determined that Sneha Anne Philip died at the World Trade Center. Therefore, we have added her name to the list of World Trade Center victims.” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/10/national/main4250100.shtml

10. Recklessness Cloaked in Righteousness • Dick Cheney demonstrates support for Enhanced Interrogation Methods and for former president George W. Bush.

11. Positives to Enhanced Interrogation • The most horrorific terrorist event that has occurred in this generation is the tragic events of September 11, 2001. On this day, thousands lost their lives because of one single terrorist act. This act sparked a nationwide outcry toward the immediate disposable of all terrorist. The “War on Terror,” named by former President George W. Bush, has been an ongoing event for decades. In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by terrorist in an attempt to bring down the towers from below. Over the next couple years U.S. facilities and citizens were killed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Khobar Towers, the East Africa embassies, the USS Cole, and the 9/11 hijackings. Months after the two commercial planes crashed into the World Trade Centers, George W. Bush reopened a naval port in Cuba. This port is known as Guantanamo Bay. He also allowed interrogation techniques that are now revered to as “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.” These were imposed to prevent any further terrorist acts and to protect the United States of America. There has been much debate over whether or not these acts can be considered torture.

12. Questions • There are many questions that often arise when questioning international law. Do these villains deserve the same rights as other human beings? Do mass murders deserve habeas corpus? In a political debate involving President Barack Obama and Former Vice President Dick Cheney, these questions and more were addressed. The two politicians both gave compelling arguments. This analysis is attempting to answer two questions. Does the war on terror legitimate the use of interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay? Also, do these techniques constitute a violation of international law?

13. No More Terrorist Attacks • In his address, Dick Cheney spoke of the time after the nine-eleven as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” The question at that time was not if the terrorist would strike again, but when? Cheney spoke how the war could not be won with a defensive attitude. Something had to be done to take down terrorist, the regimes that sponsored them, and anyone that aids terrorist actions. In order to prevent any future act, the executive branch allowed intelligence officers the tools and authority to needed to gain information. In Cheney’s defense, this strategy has “worked” for the past eight years. There was not a single terrorist attack on American soil during his remaining time in office. One particular part of the speech illustrated why he believed these interrogation techniques were not only lawful, but skillful and entirely honorable.

14. SPEECH • “In the years after 9/11, our government also understood that the safety of the country required collecting information known only to the worst of the terrorists. And in a few cases, that information could be gained only through tough interrogations. • In top secret meetings about enhanced interrogations, I made my own beliefs clear. I was and remain a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program. The interrogations were used on hardened terrorists after other efforts failed. They were legal, essential, justified, successful, and the right thing to do. The intelligence officers who questioned the terrorists can be proud of their work and proud of the results, because they prevented the violent death of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people.”

15. Arguement • Dick Cheney’s essential argument was that the presiding Commander in Chief left out essential details in recent memo’s that were introduced to the public. The memos included that tactics that are used to gain the information, but none of the information gained. He also argued that this open government caused a humanitarian uproar. At the same time, it gave American enemies information on what types of techniques to train against. Techniques, such as waterboarding, were not used often and always. Cheney claims that these techniques were used on three individuals. These were members that masterminded the nine/ eleven attacks, and knew of more attacks in motion.

16. Negative Attitudes Toward Torture • President Obama also addressed this same crowd. His first argument was that the American government made a “series of hasty decisions” after the events on September 11th. He stated that these events were sincere, but that they were made out of fear. It was not completely the governments fault either. After the terrorist acts, the entire nation was willing and ready to use all means necessary. We did not stand up against these acts because the entire nation was scared. President Obama did not call the acts at Guantanamo Bay “Enhanced Interrogation.” He referred to these instances as torture. Because of this torture, he believes that Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed.

17. “Series of Hasty Decisions”

18. Banned • President Obama banned the use of enhanced interrogations. He disagrees that acts like water-boarding were necessary. He stated that these kinds of interrogations are not the most effective way to gain information. His stance on these tools was best refrained in this part of the speech. • “I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What’s more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts – they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.”

19. Information Legitmacy • Intelligence Agencies believe that most of the information gained through Enhanced Interrogation is unusable and invalid information. http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/d/q/1/torture_policy.jpg

20. How Reliable is Information? • There is no clear-cut answer. Studies have shown that people will eventually talk, and sometimes the information is factual • Two instances where torture has “worked” : • Abdul Hakim Murad, a co-conspirator of 1993 World Trade Center bomber RamziYousef, revealed details about the Bojinka plot to crash 11 commercial airliners into the Pacific Ocean. • French counterinsurgency campaign (1957) in Algeria in which using torture helped the French to brutally suppress the uprising in seven months. (PBS, Frontline)

21. Terrorist Say the Darndest Things • Instances of false information: • Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, who ran Al Qaeda's Khalden training camp in Afghanistan, told authorities that Iraq provided chemical and biological weapons training to Al Qaeda operatives, and that information wound up in Secretary of State Colin Powell's Feb. 7, 2003 speech to the U.N. making the case for war in Iraq. • Al-Libi later recanted, saying he made it all up under coercive interrogation. • The “Tipton Three,” after undergoing a year and a half of coercive interrogation at Guantanamo, admitted to being present at a speech by Osama bin Laden at an Al Qaeda training camp. • British authorities later uncovered evidence that the men were in the U.K. at the time they had admitted to meeting bin Laden. (PBS, Frontline)

22. Guantanamero In the film Guantanamero, a prisoner is asked repeatedly “are you a terrorist.” He is then bagged, has water dumped on his head, and is asked again “are you a terrorist.” This happens over and over. The movie displays the psychological damage this causes this person.

23. Work Cited • Works Cited • "After Guantánamo | Foreign Affairs." Home | Foreign Affairs. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63393/kenneth-roth/after-guant%C3%83%C2%A1namo>. • Cheney, Dick. "Cheney's Speech: Obama "Deserves An Answer" (TRANSCRIPT, VIDEO)." The Hufington Post. 21 May 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/21/cheneys-speech-obama- dese_n_206165.html>. • "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described - ABC News." ABCNews.com - Breaking news, politics, online news, world news, feature stories, celebrity interviews and more - ABC News. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. <http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866>. • "International law expert comments on status of Guantanamo Bay detainees." Washington University in St. Louis News & Information. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. <http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11935.html>. • JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/pss/3598406>. • "Middle East Report 229: From Nuremberg to Guantánamo: International Law and American Power Politics. by Lisa Hajjar." MERIP - Middle East Research and Information Project. Web. 25 Oct. 2009. <http://www.merip.org/mer/mer229/229_hajjar.html>. • Obama, Barack. "Obama’s Speech on Detainees and National Security." The Wall Street Journal. Washington Wire. The Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau, 21 May 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/05/21/obamas-speech-on-detainees-and-national-security/>. • "Official 9/11 Death Toll Climbs By One - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/10/national/main4250100.shtml>. • PBS. "The Torture Question." Frontline. 18 Oct. 2005. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. • "Torture Under International Law." Web. • "Waterboarding." New York Times. 15 May 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2009. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/torture/waterboarding/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>.