fwd: 'Ghost' prisoners Is the U.S. outsourcing torture?

The answer to the question they ask below seems to be, tragically, "yes." It is
hard to internalize. I think that is the reason that most Americans are not
alarmed. So many of the differences among us have to be over what we think is
"true." I have many friends who, if they really believed this was going on,
would be outraged. They are that kind of people. But so far, they don't really
believe it -- or at least it has not sunk in to them that our government now
countenances torture and even "outsources" it to rogue states like Syria. RLC

Please see my "concerns" page:
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~canfrobt/Concerns
My blog: http://rcanfield.blogspot.com/

Forwarded Message:
--
From: "Zalmai M."
To: afghaniyat@yahoogroups.com
Subject: 'Ghost' prisoners Is the U.S. outsourcing torture?
Date: Feb 27, 2005
--

>
>
> Sacramento Bee
> February 26, 2005, Saturday METRO FINAL EDITION
> prisoners Is the U.S. outsourcing torture?
>
> U.S.-born Ahmed Omar Abu Ali spent 20 months in prison without charge
> in Saudi Arabia before he was suddenly flown to the United States the
> other day to face charges that he abetted terrorist groups and
> conspired to kill President Bush.
>
> Abu Ali, who was studying in Saudi Arabia when he was arrested,
> denies the charges. It's unclear that the government has a strong
> case against him, since the only known witness to the alleged plot
> was killed in a shootout with Saudi police more than a year ago.
>
> Why, after such a long delay, has the Justice Department suddenly
> decided to prosecute? One reason may be that its hand was forced by
> Abu Ali's parents, who filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking their
> son's release and claiming he had been tortured.
>
> The judge hearing the suit at least partly supported that claim. He
> rejected the government's request for dismissal, saying there was "at
> least some circumstantial evidence that Abu Ali has been tortured
> during interrogations with the knowledge of the United States."
>
> However this case ends, the circumstances surrounding Abu Ali's
> detention raise again troubling questions about some of the Bush
> administration's tactics in its pursuit of terrorists, specifically,
> its use of "rendition" - turning over terror suspects to other
> countries for interrogation and, say some critics, U.S.-condoned
> torture.
>
> Who these "ghost" prisoners are, how many there are, where they are
> being held and exactly what crimes they are believed to have
> committed is a mystery, at least to the public. It's widely believed,
> however, that those "rendered" are being held by countries with
> reputations for harsh treatment of prisoners. Saudi Arabia is a prime
> example, and in this case it appears to have acted on Washington's
> behalf from the outset.
>
> What's especially troubling about this case is that it comes amid
> growing revelations about the atrocious treatment of U.S.-held
> prisoners in Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
> Although the full extent of this scandal is not yet known, what is
> known is so damning that each new charge against an alleged terrorist
> raises justifiable suspicions about the truthfulness of the charges.
>
> Someday, one must hope, a full, impartial investigation will cast
> much more light on how U.S. authorities have treated those arrested
> in the wake of the 9/11 attacks - from the dragnet-like roundup of
> Muslim men in this country, to those captured on the battlefield in
> Afghanistan and Iraq, to Americans of Arab descent, such as Abu Ali,
> accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. One must also hope
> that that investigation will pursue the evidence as far as it goes -
> including, if it comes to that, all the way to the top.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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