CIA TORTURE: It Was Worse Than Anyone Knew

[ProSense]

79. Well,

The link has been provided ... I'm hoping you have an actual retort beyond that...Curious as to what it is?

Do you REALLY think that torture has stopped under Obama's administration? Cause I'm a fairly big fan of PBO, but not even I am remotely sure that it has stopped. Curious as to how you're so sure?

...thanks for sharing that you're a " fairly big fan of PBO" and that your gut feeling is that torture hasn't stopped "under Obama's administration."

What exactly does that mean? This debate has been ongoing, and it's not the first time information that counters these bogus claims are dismissed. You want a "report" beyond the ACLU's? Want me to point to MSM articles like those trying to make the bogus claims?

The fact is that the President does not condone torture and took steps to end it. What hasn't happened is holding the Bush administration accountable.

Here is the relevant section from the most recent UN report.

<...>

Positive aspects
3. The Committee notes with appreciation the many efforts undertaken, and the progress made in protecting civil and political rights by the State party. The Committee welcomes, in particular, the following legislative and institutional steps taken by the State party:
(a) The full implementation of article 6(5) of the Covenant in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), despite the State party’s reservation to the contrary;
(b) The recognition by the Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008), of the extraterritorial application of constitutional habeas corpus rights to aliens detained at Guantánamo Bay;
(c) The Presidential Executive Orders 13491 (“Ensuring Lawful Interrogations”), 13492 (“Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities”) and 13493 (“Review of Detention Policy Options”), issued on 22 January 2009;
(d) The support for the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples announced by President Obama on 16 December 2010;
(e) The Presidential Executive Order 13567 establishing periodic review for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility who have not been charged, convicted, or designated for transfer, issued on 7 March 2011.

<...>

Accountability for past human rights violations
5. The Committee is concerned at the limited number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions of members of the Armed Forces and other agents of the U.S. Government, including private contractors, for unlawful killings in its international operations and the use of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in U.S. custody, including outside its territory, as part of the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” program. While welcoming the Presidential Executive Order 13491 of 22 January 2009 terminating the programme of secret detention and interrogation operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Committee notes with concern that all reported investigations into enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment that had been committed in the context of the CIA secret rendition, interrogation and detention programmes were closed in 2012 leading only to a meagre number of criminal charges brought against low-level operatives. The Committee is concerned that many details of the CIA programme remain secret thereby creating barriers to accountability and redress for victims (arts. 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 14).

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http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/USA/CO/4&Lang=En

Let's see if the Senate report leads to any progress.

Report: CIA deceived on torture
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024763527