Impunity Watch: North America

BRIEF: West Virginia Law Maker Proposes Gun Training Classes In School To Boost Interest In Hunting

WEST VIRGINIA, United States - West Virginian Senator Billy Wayne Bailey has proposed legislation that will allow public schools to offer hunter training during regular school hours.  The legislation was proposed in response to the state's depleted budget due to the reduction in the number of hunters within the state.
 
The proposed legislation had drawn criticism due to the proximity of guns (unloaded) to the school’s general body.  In the wake of school violence over the last decade, critics disapprove of the government’s attempt embed gun training within the public school curriculum.
 
To secure a hunter’s license in West Virginia, residents must complete ten hours of hunter’s training and be at least ten years old.  In addition, perspective hunters must prove that they can load and unload a gun, carry it across an obstacle, and correctly direct the muzzle of the gun.  Finally, the fee for the licenses is $33. 

For more information, please see:

AP – W.Va. May Offer Gun Training in Schools – 31 January 2008

Judicial Department Nominee Draws Criticism For Terrorism Views In Unreleased Legal Memos

WASHINGTON, United States – President Bush has nominated Steven G. Bradbury to a senior post at the Judicial Department.  If Bradbury were confirmed, he would become the permanent head of Judicial Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.  Bradbury has run the Office of Legal Counsel for nearly two years without Senate confirmation. 

Prior to his work with the Judicial Department, Bradbury co-founded the Federalist Society, clerked for a judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, became a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. 

The Bush administration has nominated Bradbury for the position on several different occasions.  Each time the nomination has failed to pass Senate scrutiny.  Chiefly, Senate delegates have resisted Bradbury’s confirmation because the Justice Department refuses to provide Congress with legal opinions, written by Bradbury, in which terrorism issues are confronted. 

In Bradbury’s most recent nomination, news reports accused Bradbury of authoring legal opinions and “classified memorandums” that authorized “harsh interrogation techniques, including head slapping, exposure to cold and simulated drowning” or any combination of the before mentioned techniques.   The White House has asserted that there no inconsistencies between Bradbury’s legal opinions and the laws governing interrogation techniques. 

Senate Democrats insists that the Judicial Department’s withholding of Bradbury’s opinions on terrorism is a way of “circumvent[ing] laws prohibiting torture.” 

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Justice Nomination Seen as Snub to Democrats – 24 January 2008

New York Times – Bush Pushes Justice Dept. Nominee – 23 January 2008

RINF – Bush Justice Nominee Authorized CIA Torture – 24 January 2008

France calls for Dismissal of Khadr Trial; US Vetoes UN Gitmo Visit

By Jacob Leon Beier
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, North America

WASHINGTON, United States – France has recently urged the United States to cease its prosecution of Omar Khadr and treat him as a minor.  Khadr is a Canadian citizen who was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15 for throwing a grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer and injured three other people.

Pascale Andreani, the French foreign ministry spokeswoman commented, “We consider that any child associated with an armed conflict is a victim and should be treated as such…As a minor at the time of the events, Mr Khadr must therefore be given a special treatment, a point on which there is a universal consensus.”

The Preamble and Principle 2 of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child provides, “[T]he child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection … [t]he child shall enjoy special protection [and in] the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.”

The United States and Somalia remain the only countries to have not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A US military judge had previously dismissed the charges against Khadr.  But, a subsequent military review rejected the ruling on October 2nd, 2007.

France’s call for dismissal came on the same day that the Pentagon denied a request to allow a French UN expert on child soldiers attend Khadr’s next hearing which will focus on issues international law pertaining to child soldiers.

Kt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, Khadr’s lead military defense attorney, commented on the fact that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had yet to protest the military tribunal proceedings.  “It’s difficult to see how Prime Minister Harper can defend the military commission as an ‘appropriate judicial process’ when the US refuses to let the leading international experts watch.”

Breaking its silence with respect to another matter, Canada recently apologized for placing the United States on a list of countries that torture.  The product of a Canadian “torture awareness workshop”, provided the country’s diplomats with a list of specific countries that torture.  Canada commented on US torture, which included “US interrogation techniques” of “forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation.”

Khadr’s next hearing before the US military commission is set for February 4th at the Guantanamo naval base.

For more information, please see:

AFP – France Urges US treat Candian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr as minor – 24 January 2008

AlterNet – Canada’s Child Soldier Problem – 24 January 2008

TheStar.com – UN observer can’t attend Omar Khadr hearing, Pentagon say – 24 January 2008

AFP – France Urges US to drop Guantanamo trial of Canadian – 23 January 2008

Canada.com – Pentagon vetoes Guantanamo visit by UN official – 23 January 2008

Attorney General Mukasey Addresses Questions of Waterboarding & the CIA Tapes Destroyed in 2005

By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON - United States - On Friday Attorney General Michael Mukasey addressed reporters for the second time since assuming the position of Attorney General.  During the press conference Mukasey was asked the direct question of whether the interrogation technique known as waterboarding amounted to torture.  The New York Times said Mukasey seemed to suggest that he might never answer the question.  Mukasey was quoted as saying, "I didn't say I wouldn't answer it...I didn't say that I would."  Mukasey told reporters that he was still looking into and learning about the current programs used to interrogate suspected terrorists.  In addition Mukasey stated he would also review the legal opinions of those in the Justice Department that authorized the use of such techniques.

The New York Times says the Bush administration has "acknowledged" that the CIA used waterboarding on some Qaeda leaders but that the number was small.  Waterboarding creates the feeling of one drowing.  The CIA was apparently using such a technique for a short time after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center but have since ended the use of waterboarding.

Mukasey has been pushed by Democrats in the Senate to address the question of whether waterboarding is torture since his confirmation in the Senate.  On January 23rd, Mukasey told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he personally thought the technique of waterboarding was "over the line" and "repugnant" but he would not ultimately state whether waterboarding was a form of torture according to CBS News.

Mukasey also addressed the issue of the destroyed CIA videotapes of the interrogations of suspected terrorists during the press conference Friday.  When asked whether a special prosecutor would be assigned to investigate whether the CIA broke any law Mukasey said he did not plan for such an investigation but the criminal investigation headed by John Durham would continue.  The San Francisco Chronicle stated that the criminal investigation was instigated on the "grounds of some indication - which is a lot less than probable cause - some indication that there was any violation of any federal statute."  This decision goes against the call of many Congressmen who are calling for an investigation by an independent source.

For more information, please see:

New York Times - So Is Waterboarding Torture?  Mukasey May Never Say - 26 January 2008

CBS News - Senate Dems Continue to Press AG on Waterboarding - 23 January 2008

YouTube - Mukasey:  Waterboarding is Torture if It's Torture - 18 October 2007

San Francisco Chronicle - Mukasey Vague About Videotapes, Attorney General also says Little on Waterboarding as Torture - 26 January 2008

BRIEF: US Senators Looking Into Contractor Waste in Iraq

HAWAII, United States – On January 24, 2008, Hawaiian Senator Daniel Akaka announced that he will be directing a congressional hearing in which Akaka will look into Iraq contract worker issues. 

The senator claims that the influx of contract workers in Iraq has lead to contractor waste and fraud.  Akaka said that the Pentagon froze contracting specialists at 30,000 workers but the number contracts have greatly increased.  This increase in contracts has resulted in poor oversight and low accountability. 

For more information, please see:

The Honolulu Adviser – Sen. Akaka leads hearing on contractor waste in Iraq – 24 January 2008

Army Times – Senators: Iraq contracts need a closer look – 25 January 2008

Human Rights Groups in Mexico Claim their Soldiers Have Tortured and Raped

By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY - Mexico - Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has been investigating allegations that soldiers have raped and tortured civilians for the past year.  Today, Reuters quoted the head of the commission as stating, "individuals belonging to the armed forces committed grave abuses...in 2007, we widely documented cases of torture, rape, and homicide."

Mexico's army and navy have been leading a campaign against the nation's dangerous drug rings under the leadership of President Felipe Calderon.  The American Bar Association Journal describes this military campaign as an attempt by Calderon to reclaim areas of Mexico that have fallen under the control of drug cartels.  The ABA also says the military is being used because they are viewed as relatively less corrupt than the police.  Mexico's police force has also been scrutinized for their treatment of civilians during protests in Oaxaca, Mexico in the past year.

Susan Pedroza, an official for the National Human Rights Commission stated that mosts of the evidence from their investigations has been the testimony of alleged victims and eye witnesses who have come forward.  Pedroza says the army has not been very cooperative in the investigation.  In October of last year, a Mexican civilian court ordered four soldier to be sentenced to up to forty years in prison for the rape of 9 women in Monclova, Mexico.  This is the first time troops have been tried in a civilian court but the judge stated it was because the soldiers had left their posts at the time of the rapes and were not acting under their military duties.  Nineteen soldiers involved in another case will also stand trial.  This time it involves the shooting of two women and three children at a roadblock in the state of Sinaloa in June of last year.  Sinaloa is known as a main area of the drug wars.

Reuters states that the United States is currently keeping tabs on the human rights issues associated with the drug campaign.  Currently Congress is debating a proposal that would begin the first payments in what President Bush has pledged to be a $1.4 billion aid to Mexico's efforts under the "Merida initiative."  David Johnson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said yesterday that "he did not see pressure to put human rights monitors on the ground."

For more information, please see:

Reuters - Mexico Right Official Says Army Tortured, Raped - 23 January 2008

SignOnSanDiego.com (Union Tribune) - Mexico Soldiers Kill Teenager at Military Checkpoint - 13 January 2008

American Bar Association Journal - Mexico:  Our Soldiers Raped and Tortured - 21 September 2007

Reuters - Mexico Jails Soldiers for Rape in First Civil Trial - 2 October 2007

BRIEF: Ridge: Waterboarding is Torture

WASHINGTON, United States - Tom Ridge, who served from 2003 to 2005 as the first secretary of homeland security, argued in a recent interview that the controversial ‘enhanced coercive interrogation technique’, waterboarding, qualifies as torture.  “There’s just no doubt in my mind – under any set of rules, waterboarding is torture…I believe, unlike others in the administration, that waterboarding was, is and will always be torture.  That’s a simple statement.” 

US government officials claim that Michael Hayden, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), banned the use of waterboarding in interrogations in 2006.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Former Secretary on Waterboarding – 19 January 2008

Georgetown University - Exploring International Law – 19 January 2008

Waterboarding.org – What Waterboarding Is

YouTube – Waterboarding Instructions

BRIEF: Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years

UNITED STATES - Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, was sentenced to 17 years in US prison for suspected involved in engineering a plot to use a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a terrorist attack following his return from Pakistan.

Padilla had been previously detained for three-and-a-half years as an “enemy combatant” in a Navy jail in South Carolina.  Padilla has claimed detention authorities tortured him during this time.  Military officials have consistently denied this claim. 

Judge Marcia Cooke, who sentenced Padilla to 208 months in prison, did agree with Padilla’s lawyers that he had experienced “harsh conditions” and “extreme environmental stresses.”  Judge Cooke argued that she took this treatment into consideration when sentencing Padilla.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Padilla Given Long Jail Sentence – 22 January 2008

CNN – Jury Reaches Verdict in Padilla Terror Case – 16 August 2007

Use of Tasers Draws Inquiry By the Judicial Department

By Andrew Benfield

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

UNITED STATES – In recent years, law enforcement has perpetuated the use of high-powered Tasers.  A Taser is a hand-held weapon that sends a burst of electricity through a set of wires that are propelled by compressed air.  The wires latch into a person’s skin and deliver a jolt of electricity that is intended to stun the target.  The jolt stuns the target by causing uncontrollable muscle contractions.  These muscle contractions leave the target immobile. 

Law enforcement uses Tasers, or “stun guns,” as an alternative to drawing their firearm.  The Taser allows the officer to incapacitate the individual without killing the person. 

Tasers have the ability to deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity to the target.  However, law enforcement officials claim that the actual voltage delivered to the targeted individual is usually around 1,500 volts.  The electricity must pass through air and clothing, poor conductors of electricity, which decreases the volts delivered to the individual. 

While Tasers are merely supposed to incapacitate the individual, an alarming amount of deaths have stemmed from incidents where a Taser was used.  The Justice Department launched an inquiry into taser use in 2006.  The inquiry revolves around the review of more than one hundred deaths of individuals subdued by police Tasers to determine whether the Taser played a significant role in the deaths.  The Justice Department is scheduled to report their findings in 2008. 

Amnesty International has compiled a list of nearly 290 cases of individuals who died after being struck by a police Taser in 2001.  Amnesty International’s research focused on the use of Tasers on “at-risk” adults (individuals who are in poor health, abuse substances or other like factors).  They claim that many of the Taser deaths come from this “at-risk” category of adults.  Amnesty International asserts that there has been insufficient testing of Tasers effects on this category of “at-risk” adults. 

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Briefing on Tasers submitted to the Judicial Department – 10 October 2007

CBC – Taser FAQs – 19 October 2007

AlterNet – Trouble with Tasers – 11 April 2005

Canada Promises to Fix Torture List to Exclude U.S.

By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA-Canada - Canada developed a manual to train its new diplomats on how to find and deal with cases involving the torture of Canadians being held in other countries.  The manual also lists various interrogations techniques classified under the definition of "torture" and used by the United States.  BBC News states this list includes forced nudity, isolation, sleep deprivation and blindfolding prisoners.  The manual also mentions the United States' detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where Canadian born prisoner Omar Khadr, is being detained.

Canada has recently come under great criticism for alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan after Canadian soldiers transfered suspects to Afghan security forces.  Amnesty international is asking that Canada halt all such transfers.  The 89 page training document was mistakenly included in documents given to Amnesty International who is bringing a suit against the Canadian government over its treatment of detainees in Afghanistan.  The training manual includes Afghanistan on the list of countries accused of using torture against detained suspects.  According the New York Times, the Canadian government, however, says that "prisoners turned over to the Afghan government by Canadian troops are not ill treated or tortured in violation of Canadian laws."

The torture awareness course was developed after the Canadian government began receiving criticism for its handling of a Canadian Maher Arar who was departed from the United States to Syria in 2002.  Arar was accused of being a member of al-Qaeda and claims he was tortured during his ten month stay in a jail in Syria.  Syria denies such torture took place.  The Canadian government since investigated Arar's case and concluded he did not have ties to terrorist organizations and Canadian diplomats were in great need of training.

David Wilkins, United States ambassador to Canada, was quoted by BBC News as saying the United States "finds it offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China."  Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier's spokesman apologized for the mistake but the listing of the United States in the training manual does not reflect any policy or opinion of the Canadian government.  The New York Times reiterated that the United States government has maintained that they do not torture detainees and Canada's Conservative government has always accepted this position.

For more information, please see:

BBC News - Canada Puts US on 'torture list' - 18 January 2008

BBC News - Canada FM regrets 'torture list' - 19 January 2008

New York Times - Canada to Rewrite Manual Linking U.S. and Torture - 20 January 2008

The Huffington Post - "Omar Khadr:  Canada's Guantanamo Torture Warning Shows Double Standards" - 19 January 2008