The enduring stain of torture
By
Max J. Castro
“…there is no longer
any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war
crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether
those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”
That
damning conclusion does not come from liberal critics of the
administration, Amnesty International, or Human Rights Watch. It is
that of Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret.), the man who conducted an
official Army investigation of the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq and wrote a report that belied the official story that it was
all the fault of a few low-ranking “bad apples”. Taguba
subsequently testified before Congress. As a reward for his unbending
integrity, Taguba was forced out of the Army.
By
Max J. Castro Read Spanish Version
majcastro@gmail.com
“…there is no longer
any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war
crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether
those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”
That
damning conclusion does not come from liberal critics of the
administration, Amnesty International, or Human Rights Watch. It is
that of Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret.), the man who conducted an
official Army investigation of the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq and wrote a report that belied the official story that it was
all the fault of a few low-ranking “bad apples”. Taguba
subsequently testified before Congress. As a reward for his unbending
integrity, Taguba was forced out of the Army.
The
words quoted above are from the General’s preface to a new report
by Physicians for Human Rights, "Broken Laws, Broken Lives:
Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact”
(http://brokenlives.info/).
The
doctors’ report, based on examination of 11 former U.S. “war on
terrorism” detainees, found medical evidence of “torture and
cruel or degrading treatment or punishment.” The study, the cover
of which shows a painting by Colombian painter Fernando Botero from
his Abu Ghraib series, gives a detailed account of the cases of three
detainees who suffered from horrific abuse including one who was
sodomized with a broomstick and had his testicles stepped on.
According
to the findings:
“All the detainees
experienced severe, even excruciating physical pain from being
kicked, punched, choked, shocked or sodomized, and many were
terrorized by both the experience of the assaults on them and threats
of more to come. Most of the detainees lost consciousness at least
once as a result of beatings or other physical assaults. Some
experienced bruising and trauma to their genitals. Some of the men
were not only severely injured as a result of torture, but they then
had to endure additional pain from the exploitation of those injuries
by their tormenters.”
The
pain of these men has not ended. After release, most of them have
continued to suffer from the physical after-effects of abuse. Ten of
the eleven former detainees continued to display severe psychological
effects from the torture.
While
the report notes that, given the small number of cases, the findings
cannot be generalized to all detainees, the fact that of the eleven
none were ever charged with a crime and eventually all were released
suggests that if anything this group might not have received as harsh
or as prolonged abuse as some other detainees who are still being
held.
The
report throws an especially harsh light upon physicians and
psychologists who were found to facilitate the abuse of detainees.
They “became complicit in the willful infliction of harm against
those the Hippocratic Oath demands they protect,” writes General
Taguba.
Ultimately,
however, the greatest responsibility of all falls upon top policy
makers who made the fateful decisions that led to torture and abuse.
Taguba writes:
“In order for these
individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were
subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby
the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were
disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately
ignored.”
Yet
the chances that Taguba’s question — whether the culprits in this
case will be held to account — will be answered in the affirmative
are slim. When it came to office — and long before 9/11 and Iraq —
the Bush administration opted out of the International Criminal
Court. The result, as intended, is that Americans judge themselves
and impunity reigns.
If,
as is the case, no one at any level will be held accountable for the
wanton killings of 24 Iraqis, including women and children, in
Haditha, can we expect that top officials will ever be indicted for
torture in the United States?
Meanwhile,
because of political calculation, and with exception of Dennis
Kucinich and a few fellow mavericks, there is no interest, even among
Democrats in Congress, in impeaching the President or other members
of the administration.
There
is always a chance that, once Bush has departed the scene, a bold and
brave prosecutor or judge in a foreign country might go after a top
former Bush administration official who sets foot in his or her
jurisdiction. But can any government withstand the ensuing fury of
the sole superpower?
It
is true, as General Taguba wrote, that “Our national honor is
stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received
from their captors.” It is a stain that will endure as long as
those who brought such disgrace upon this nation are not brought to
justice.
