1 of 2

Write now Article Tools

Page 5 of 5

several European countries such as Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK for stifling the council's investigation and cooperating with the illegal abductions. The memorandum cited an article by Stephen Grey as he spoke with former CIA agent Robert Baer, "If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear - never to see them again - you send them to Egypt."

Since investigations and public embarrassment the UK government apologised when it discovered that two rendition flights had stopped over in Britain. Although the UK and many other European countries publicly condemn rendition and have made it clear they won't allow it in their airspace, they are yet to make strong appeals for the US Government to stop the practice.

In its War on Terror' the current Administration has believed it necessary to overturn the long and widely held Western ideal that torture is inherently wrong. The international community may disagree with the US position, but given the legal loopholes, secrecy and the hegemonic power of the United States, many states fail to condemn the US meaningfully - they turn a blind eye. It must also be noted that the current situation is intrinsically linked to the radical neo-conservative Bush Doctrine and likely to change with the upcoming 2008 elections. Even the Republican candidate, John McCain, opposes Bush's stance on torture. A former POW himself, the senator led the charge to ban torture by US personnel in late 2005.

The legislation does not halt the practice of extraordinary rendition and President Bush reserved the right to bypass the law using his presidential powers. The Supreme Court has also ruled that the Geneva Conventions apply to all combatants in US custody, including those in Guantnamo Bay. The Administration quickly moved to pass retroactive legislation pardoning itself of any war crimes charges that could be brought. President Bush: "The supreme courts ruling that says that we must conduct ourselves under the common article 3 of the Geneva convention, and that common article 3 says that there will be no outrages upon human dignity it's, like, very vague. What does that mean?"

The US administration has used secret operations and manipulated loopholes in international law in order to carry out torture on a wide scale. Whether through the deliberate clandestine practice of extraordinary rendition, torture-lite' at Guantnamo Bay or the unsanctioned actions of troops at Bagram and Abu Ghraib, the US government is responsible for numerous violations of international laws and conventions.

Learn more about this author, Ben Winsor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Add your voice

Know something about Reflections: Getting the word out on the US use of torture?
We want to hear your view. Write now!