Saturday, October 02, 2004

Out-sourcing prisoner abuse

No more worries about Abu Gharib or Guantanamo if George W. Bush has his way. The torture of U.S. prisoners would be out-sourced under an administration backed proposal making it legal for U.S. intelligence officials to deport individuals to countries known to use torture to extract information. The "9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act" would make formal a policy used by the Bush administration known as "extraordinary rendition," whereby American authorities circumvent restraints on interrogations by sending suspects to countries known to employ torture.



Not a bad idea? Think of the implications. For example in the story linked below Canada says they'd have to think twice about sharing intelligence with the U.S. if our official policy is to transfer prisoner to known torturers. And then there's the practical implication: since one of the aims of George W. Bush's War on Terror is to eradicate regimes like that of Saddam Hussein precisely because they practice torture, then there ought to be an ever smaller list of countries willing to ... well you get the idea. I guess it's like he said on TV the other night, "This is hard work. I realize this is hard work."



The Star (Toronto) - White House backs torture-abroad law

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