U.S. Defense Panetta excuses lawless “core values,” Poland prosecutes lawbreakers

Rendition map

No one better appreciates rule of law than those long denied it

Excerpt, minor edit, brief commentary
By Carolyn Bennett

From Reprieve, investigating ‘rendition’ and secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror’

“Representatives of a prisoner tortured by the CIA and held without charge or trial for 10 years will today (Thursday) meet prosecutors to discuss charges against former senior members of the Polish intelligence services for complicity in his abuse.

“Polish prosecutors brought charges against the former head of the intelligence services, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski and his deputy in January this year, although news of the move only emerged in recent weeks. The charges include exceeding official powers and allowing corporal punishment – in other words, torture.

“The charges – the first of their kind brought anywhere in Europe – reflect the fact that, in 2002 and 2003, prisoners were flown secretly into Poland and tortured in a CIA-run facility on the military base at Stare Kiejkuty, in the north of the country.

Rendition plane

“Among them [the prisoners] was Abu Zubaydah, who was waterboarded 83 times in one month while in CIA custody in 2002. He continues to be held in Guantanamo Bay, where he was transferred after his imprisonment in Poland and other CIA ‘black sites,’ despite never having been charged with any crime.

“There has been concern among lawyers that, although the charges have been widely discussed in the media and confirmed by Mr Siemiatkowski himself, prosecutors have yet to make them public. Victims’ lawyers have until now not had any discussion with prosecutors about the charges. Joe Margulies, one of Abu Zubaydah’s U.S. lawyers, is in Poland to meet the prosecutor in charge of the case and discuss his client’s participation in the forthcoming steps.

Reprieve, attorneys respond to case, Poland’s prosecutorial action

Reprieve investigator Crofton Black —

‘Poland appears to be demonstrating its commitment to rigorous investigation and showing that European countries cannot be party to torture and secret detention with impunity. Now is the time for Lithuania and Romania to breathe new life into their moribund accountability exercises and emulate the Polish prosecutors’ lead.’

JSLegal’s Bartlomiej Jankowski representing Abu Zubaydah in proceedings in Poland —

‘We appreciate the work of all prosecutors involved in the matter so far. Their professionalism and independence mean a lot to democracy in Poland. They show that the law must be obeyed by authorities independently from the circumstances they act in.’

Northwestern University Law School (Chicago) professor, attorney for Abu Zubaydah, Joe Margulies —

‘It is no accident that charges like these were brought first in a former communist country. No one appreciates the rule of law better than those to whom it was so long denied.’

Underlying character

 

Outrageously unlawful actions of U.S. soldiers in Afghan and Iraq and other places where U.S. armed forces and mercenaries are deployed run deeper than failure in discipline.

Their actions rise from U.S. “core values” of contempt for the rule of law and contempt for majorities of peoples of the Middle East, Africa, South Central Asia.  In its most extreme, this contempt manifests itself in official Washington’s unchecked lawlessness (impunity). U.S./NATO Soldiers on the ground, on the seas, in the air, by remote drone are following Washington’s orders, extending into the world (in U.S. Defense Sec Leon Panetta’s words) U.S. “core values.”

Sources and notes

 “CIA torture victim’s lawyers to discuss prosecution with Polish authorities,” April 19, 2012, http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2012_04_19_poland_prosecution_rendition/

REPRIEVE’s article notes

Notes to editors

1. For further information please contact Donald Campbell at Reprieve's press office: +44 (0) 207 427 1082

2. Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.

Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 33 prisoners in the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty, and conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’ http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2012_04_19_poland_prosecution_rendition/

REPRIEVE

Reprieve uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners. Working on the frontline, from death row to Guantánamo Bay, Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, providing legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it.

Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world and secures each person’s right to a fair trial. In doing so, they save lives. Reprieve prioritizes the cases of prisoners accused of the most extreme crimes, such as acts of murder or terrorism, as it is in such cases that human rights are most likely to be jettisoned or eroded. Reprieve focuses on cases involving the world’s most powerful governments, especially those that should be upholding the highest standards when it comes to fair trials. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/about/

"Panetta Condemns Army Photos of Dead Insurgents in Afghanistan" (David Lerman, ©2012 Bloomberg News), April 19, 2012,


"The photos, taken in 2010 and published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times, show grinning troops mugging for photos with dead insurgents. One shows a smiling soldier with a dead insurgent's hand on his shoulder. Panetta promised a thorough investigation —

'I have strongly condemned what we see in those photos,' Panetta said at a press conference yesterday in Brussels, where he attended a NATO conference. 

'That behavior that was depicted in those photos absolutely violates both our regulations and, more importantly, our core values.'"

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/18/bloomberg_articlesM2OU6F6TTDS001-M2P5C.DTL#ixzz1sWcMAYAR


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/18/bloomberg_articlesM2OU6F6TTDS001-M2P5C.DTL

Images

Reprieve icon at Reprieve website

Air Rendition: One of the planes operated by the CIA's front, ...allvoices.com

Physician Heal Thyself

Posted June 17th, 2008 by quarsan:  I saw This sign outside the EU Charlemagne building, the slogan reads "Torture is unacceptable", "Fighting Torture Together"

No mention of the several European states involved in secret rendition flights, or the secret prisons in some European countries where suspects were tortured, http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/taxonomy/term/4

Rendition map: Rendition in February 2008 (updated 06.02.09), indexresearch.blogspot.com

map‑diegogarcia.gif, indexresearch.blogspot.com

Robicheaux's Nightmare: US Rendition, Guantanamo, Torture in February 2008

Dave Robicheaux is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by American crime writer James Lee Burke; About Robicheaux: Once an officer for the New Orleans police department, Robicheaux constantly breaches the ethical code over the course of just about every case he works on and currently pursues cases in New Iberia, Louisiana as sheriff's deputy. He is a recovering alcoholic whose demons stem from his service in the Vietnam War and his impoverished difficult childhood in rural Louisiana; his mother abandoned the family (and was later murdered) and his father died in an oil rig explosion.

He still experiences periods of savage depression and nightmares, which are only exacerbated by the murder of his wife Anne Ballard, a social worker. He married a mobster's widow Bootsie, a lupus sufferer, and adopted the El Salvadorean orphan Alafair (the namesake of Burke's own daughter), after he saves her from the wreckage of an airplane.

His best friend is the violent, alcoholic ex-police officer and private investigator / bail-bondsman Cletus Purcel. Appearances in movies: Robicheaux is played by Alec Baldwin in Heaven's Prisoners and by Tommy Lee Jones in In the Electric Mist, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Robicheaux

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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