Torture Update

There have been some significant new developments since I last posted on this topic. Despite the Hamden case, the Bush administration's zeal for torturing people is undiminished. As usual, Marty Lederman is on top of the story.

The issue pertains to proposed amendments to the War Crime Act, which imposes penalties for violating Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. The Bushites thought they were in the clear by declaring that Common Article 3 never applied to AlQaeda. The Hamden decision said otherwise. A number of theories have been put forward to explain the amendments, including the need to immunize government officials for war crimes that took place prior to Hamden. It is also designed to water down the law, by eliminating the Common Article 3 violations based on "outrages upon personal dignity" and "humiliating and degrading treatment." But Lederman thinks the intent is even more sinister than this. In his words:

"The real importance of the amendment has little or nothing to do with the military, or with past conduct, and very little to do with "humiliating and degrading treatment." It is, instead, that this amendment is part of an effort to authorize the CIA to continue to use interrogation techniques that violate Common Article 3's prohibition on "cruel treatment and torture" -- including hypothermia, threats of violence to the detainee and his family, stress positions, "long-time standing," prolonged sleep deprivation, and possibly even waterboarding."

He gets to this position by noting that the proposed amendment restricts the definition of torture to that under the federal torture statute, which is substantially weaker than under Common Article 3. The administration claims that the "enhanced CIA techniques" are not torture under the federal torture statute.

Just remember, Bush is a "Christian" president who "shares our values"...