Fw: Could Abu Ghraib Happen Again?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Guthrie" <kathyguthrie@fcnl.org>
To: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 4:52 PM
Subject: FCNL: Could Abu Ghraib Happen Again?

The U.S. government's failure to hold senior level military or
civilian officials responsible for the command failures that led to the
torture vividly documented in the photos from Abu Ghraib leaves open
the very real possibility that this type of abuse could happen again.
Investigations by the Army's Inspector General and by a former
Secretary of Defense have suggested that high ranking officials bear
some responsibility for these abuses, but so far none of these
officials has been called to account and there have been no official
recommendations of "next steps" to change any policies that
are in place.

On May 27, Rep. Henry Waxman (CA), minority ranking member of the House
Committee on Government Reform, was joined by senior congressional
leaders to announce that they would introduce legislation to open the
door for meaningful examination and change. The bill would establish a
bi-partisan House select committee to investigate the genesis and
extent of abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody in connection with
the war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism. Here's a link to that
announcement: http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/OMXNETANBZ/LGNTETANGP/

Please urge your representative to co-sponsor this legislation that
would create an independent, bi-partisan House select committee to
investigate prisoner abuse and suggest changes in policy to lessen the
possibility that such abuse will happening in the future.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Please email or call your representative today to encourage him or her
to cosponsor Rep. Waxman's effort to establish a bi-partisan House
select committee that would investigate U.S. allegations of torture. If
your representative is already one of the 15 members who has signed the
letter, please thank him or her.

CONTACTING YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS EASY: To view a sample letter and
write your own message, go to:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/OMXNETANBZ/NBLEETANGQ/ enter your zip
code, and click <Go> in the <Take Action Now> box.

BACKGROUND

Despite 11 investigations into allegations of torture by U.S. personnel
at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere, no senior level official
has been either implicated with responsibility for the torture scandal
or explicitly cleared of such responsibility. Why? None of the 11
investigations have been independent, bi-partisan probes into the
policies and directives that created the conditions for torture of U.S.
detainees.

None of the 11 investigations completed to date reported investigation
of high-ranking officials or suggestion of "next steps" to
change policies that are in place. Yet the conclusions of these
investigations are devastating:

* The initial military probe conducted by Major Gen. Taguba revealed
examples of "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" of
prisoners, clear violations of the Geneva Conventions, which the Bush
administration asserts applies to Iraqi and Taliban captives. Breaking
the Geneva Conventions violates and invites prosecution under the War
Crimes Act.

* The Department of Defense probe by former Secretary of Defense
Schlessinger determined that, "There is both institutional and
personal responsibility at higher levels."

* The Army's Inspector General concluded that Lt. Gen. Sanchez and his
actions at Abu Ghraib perpetuated the abuses.

So far, at least 130 low-ranking officers and enlisted soldiers have
been held responsible for their abusive actions towards captives abroad
as a result of the administration's 11 investigations into allegations
of torture by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and
elsewhere.

These 11 investigations did not report on the actions of high level
officials - the military and government personnel who generated the
policies carried out through brutal and abusive detention and
interrogation techniques. Rep. Waxman's proposed bi-partisan House
select committee of 14 members would have subpoena power to enable it
to investigate officials from all levels of government in order to
fully understand who was responsible and whether legislative or
executive action should result.

For more information on torture and detainee abuse, please visit our
web site at: http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/OMXNETANBZ/EJZPETANGR/

_______________________________________

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