Jurist reluctant to duplicate DoJ's efforts in CIA investigation
New York Times Dec 21, 07 3:28 PM CST
(Newser)
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In the first public hearing on the issue, a federal judge today refused to immediately order an investigation into the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes. Lawyers for Yemeni nationals held at Guantanamo argued that the destruction violated a 2005 order by Judge Henry Kennedy, who ordered today's hearing. The White House countered that the order may not even apply to the prisoners in question, the Times reports.
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Bloodstained chamber thought to belong to
Iraq Al-Qaeda
CNN Dec 20, 07 8:07 AM CST
(Newser)
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Coalition forces in Iraq have unearthed a blood-stained torture chamber north of the city of Muqdadiya, which the military suspects belonged to Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Troops stumbled upon a network of buildings comprising the torture room, three detention facilities and a headquarters. Forces also uncovered a mass grave containing 26 bodies.
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Interrogations must meet Geneva standards under bill
Reuters Dec 13, 07 3:20 PM CST
(Newser)
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The House of Representatives today approved a bill that would forbid the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, Reuters reports. The measure follows revelations that the agency destroyed tapes showing al Qaeda suspects subjected to simulated drowning. But the bill still has to pass the Senate, and has already incurred the promise of a presidential veto.
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Hayden backtracks after 'stunning' closed-door committee testimony
New York Times Dec 12, 07 5:41 PM CST
(Newser)
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CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden acknowledged today that the agency did not inform Congress about the creation or destruction of videotapes of harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda detainees, the New York Times reports. “We could have done an awful lot better at keeping the committee alert and informed,” Hayden said after a three-hour, closed-door meeting with the House Intelligence Committee.
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Hayden grilled by Senate panel, says videos predate him
Associated Press Dec 11, 07 6:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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Senators grilled CIA chief Michael Hayden for 90 minutes today, but his appearance behind closed doors shed little light on the agency's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Hayden's session was "useful and not yet complete," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller of the intelligence panel. Afterward, Hayden said that because the tapes were not made or destroyed during his watch, he couldn't answer all questions.
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He saw a key prisoner break in 35 seconds; intel saved many lives
ABC News Dec 11, 07 8:09 AM CST
(Newser)
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The highly controversial use of waterboarding in terrorist interrogations has "probably saved lives" but is torture, a former CIA officer told ABC News last night and the Today show this morning. John Kiriakou watched a prisoner break down under waterboarding in 35 seconds, he said, and "from that day on, he answered every question." The information "disrupted maybe dozens of attacks," he said.
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CIA chief to testify before Congress tomorrow
Associated Press Dec 10, 07 3:00 AM CST
(Newser)
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Sen. Joe Biden has called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videos of interrogations of suspected terrorists. Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cited Mukasey's unwillingness, during confirmation hearings, to take a stand on whether waterboarding is torture.
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Attorneys demand court safeguard evidence
New York Times Dec 9, 07 7:15 AM CST
(Newser)
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Attorneys representing a former US resident detained in Guantanamo have demanded a court order preventing the CIA from destroying evidence of what they call "ruthless application" of "state-sanctioned torture" of their client. The court action details specific acts of torture of Majid Khan, 27, one of 14 so-called "high-value" detainees, but the document has been so heavily redacted that all incidents have been blacked out.
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Inmates say police tortured them into confessions in '70s
New York Times Dec 8, 07 3:12 PM CST
(Newser)
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The city of Chicago has agreed to pay almost $20 million to settle lawsuits by four black men who alleged they were tortured into false confessions by police, the New York Times reports. The settlement with the former death row inmates, pardoned in 2003, "speaks volumes about the seriousness of the systematic torture, abuse, and cover-up that went on in the city of Chicago for decades,” said one lawyer.
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At least 12 terror suspects have been held, possibly tortured
Washington Post Dec 1, 07 4:48 PM CST
(Newser)
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The CIA has been using the Jordanian spy agency to secretly hold, interrogate, and possibly torture terrorism suspects, reports the Washington Post . At least 12 suspects have been detained near Amman before being shipped to Guantanamo and other prisons, says the report, based on interviews with former prisoners and human rights advocates.
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VP's chief of staff
is architect of some
of his most extreme positions
New York Review of Books Nov 25, 07 3:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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A new book by former Bush insider Jack Goldstein, The Terror Presidency , spotlights David Addington, the reclusive counsel and key player to Dick Cheney. Called "Cheney's Cheney" in some circles, Addington has designed some of the White House's most controversial policies, including rendition, warrantless wiretapping, and the use of torture, the New York Review of Books reports.
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Agency told court no recordings existed during trial of Moussaoui
McClatchy Newspapers Nov 14, 07 10:27 AM CST
(Newser)
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Though it twice declared otherwise in court, the CIA has three video and audio recordings of high-level al Qaeda interrogations, federal prosecutors revealed yesterday. The defense team for convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui requested the tapes, but the CIA denied their existence. The tapes probably won’t undo Moussaoui’s conviction—the detainees don’t mention him—but could shed light on CIA interrogation techniques.
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Senators asked AG nominee 'unfair questions' on torture
Washington Post Nov 1, 07 1:39 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Interrogation techniques held the spotlight today as President Bush accused Senate Democrats of asking attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey "unfair" questions about waterboarding and torture. Bush claimed Mukasey "doesn't know whether we use that technique or not," and lauded the candidate for not telling "an enemy what we're doing," the Washington Post reports.
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AG nominee's 'massive hedge' worries critics
CNN Oct 31, 07 6:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey frustrated senators on both sides of the aisle by again refusing to specify whether he considers waterboarding a form of torture, calling it only "repugnant," CNN reports. "Hypotheticals are different from real life," Mukasey wrote to confirmation committee members yesterday, adding that he wasn't privy to what techniques investigators are allowed to use.
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