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UUSC Recommendations to Congress to End Torture and Illegal Detention
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Freedom
from torture is one of the most fundamental human rights recognized by the
global community today. In the United States, torture has been deemed abhorrent to our
values and incompatible with our legal principles since the framing of the constitution.
Patrick Henry, the U.S. statesman and orator, spoke passionately on
the subject, insisting that if the rack and the screw were not left behind,
"we are lost and undone." It is the firm position of UUSC that any government-sponsored acts of torture,
under any circumstances, are
profoundly immoral, unjustified, and illegal. We are committed to bringing such practices to an end.
We propose that Congress adopt a ten-step plan as a way of ending the practice of torture and illegal detention by U.S. personnel.
Ten Steps to Restore The United States' Moral and Legal Authority
(1) Restore Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus is one of the most important protections against the
arbitrary exercise of executive power. It ensures that all persons can
challenge the legality of their detention before an independent court. We
welcome the June 2008 ruling by the United States Supreme Court to restore
habeas corpus to some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. As Justice
Anthony Kennedy aptly wrote: "The laws and Constitution are designed to
survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security
can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework
of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first
importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law." However,
restoring the rights of some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay is only part of
the solution to a systematic problem in U.S.-controlled detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other
secret locations.
(2) Stop Renditions to Torture
Extraordinary rendition — the practice of
sending persons for interrogation to a foreign country that is known to
practice torture — is a current U.S. practice to
avoid scrutiny at home.
Congress should pass legislation to protect detainees in U.S. custody from being transferred to other countries for abusive interrogation.
(3) Abolish Secret Prisons
Although the United States has long
criticized other nations for the practice of secret disappearances (detaining
or killing persons in secret), the Bush administration continues to assert the
right to do so.
Congress should pass legislation to ensure that secret detention centers are shut down permanently and that no one in U.S. custody is forcibly disappeared. Congress should also demand an accounting of the whereabouts of all those formerly held in secret locations.
(4) Hold Abusers Accountable
Although U.S. military and civilian personnel have been implicated in
known instances of detainee abuse — including 25 cases in which the detainee
ultimately died — very few perpetrators have been prosecuted. Only 11 service
members, all low-ranking, have been sentenced to more than one year. No one has
been convicted on the basis of command responsibility.
Congress should demand that the Pentagon and Department of Justice vigorously prosecute those responsible for engaging in, authorizing, or condoning detainee mistreatment, including those higher up in the chain of command. This would deter future abuse and demonstrate to the world the U.S.'s condemnation of the ill-treatment of prisoners.
(5) Hold Fair Trials
The rules for military commissions to try noncitizen detainees raise
serious concerns about the integrity and fairness of such trials. For example, rules
allow the use of coerced evidence and evidence obtained through cruel, inhuman,
and degrading treatment if obtained before January 2006 and found "reliable" by
a military judge. They also allow the government to withhold information from
defense lawyers about how evidence was obtained. As a result, defendants could
be convicted based on evidence obtained from interrogation techniques such as
extended exposure to extreme cold, prolonged sleep deprivation, and
"waterboarding" (mock drowning).
(6) Prohibit Abusive Interrogations
In the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Congress amended the War Crimes
Act of 1996, specifying a list of eight grave breaches of the humane-treatment
requirements of the Geneva Conventions. However, the Bush administration
continues to imply that it could continue the CIA secret detention
program and presumably abusive interrogations.
Congress should clarify that the full range of abusive interrogation techniques have been prohibited for use by the U.S. military and the CIA.
(7) Close Guantánamo Bay
The United States continues to hold hundreds of detainees in Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where
many have been held since 2001 without charges and without access to a court to
challenge the legality of their detention. Detainees who have engaged in
terrorism-related crimes should be charged and held accountable. Those who cannot
be charged with criminal acts should be released.
(8) Respect the Laws of War
The Bush administration's unilateral reinterpretation of the Geneva Conventions
to support its questionable detention policies undermines respect for the rule
of law around the world — and puts U.S. service members and civilians at risk should
U.S. policies and practices be adopted by other nations. Since 2006, an
overbroad definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" in the Military Commissions
Act has been used to detain hundreds of prisoners. When the definition is inappropriately
applied, a civilian munitions worker, a mother who provides food to her
combatant son, and a U.S. resident accused
of giving money to a banned group could be defined as an "unlawful enemy combatant,"
detained without charge in military custody, and/or tried by a military court.
Congress should strike this definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" and reaffirm the United States' longstanding commitment to using civilian — rather than military — courts to prosecute civilians who violate the law.
(9) Protect Victims of Persecution from Being Defined as Terrorists
The United States will never be able to effectively fight terrorism if
it cannot distinguish between terrorists and victims. Yet, overbroad
terrorism-related restrictions in U.S. immigration law
are now being used to define innocent victims as terrorists — and deny them
entry to the United States. By these laws, Hmong
and Montagnards are being labeled as terrorists solely because they took up
arms alongside the United States during the
Vietnam War. Rape victims who were forced into sexual slavery by West African
rebel groups are being labeled "material supporters" of terrorism because they
performed household chores while enslaved.
Congress should adopt a reasonable definition of terrorism (and terrorists) that does not equate victims with terrorists.
(10) End Indefinite Detention Without Charge
Since 9/11, the Bush administration has relied on a variety of means to
detain individuals indefinitely and without charge. The Material Witness
Warrant Law — enacted in 1984 to allow the government to temporarily detain key
witnesses who pose credible flight risks — has been misused to detain dozens of
terrorism-related suspects, some of whom were held for months without charge. In
the last few years, the administration has invoked the "enemy combatant" label
to justify the indefinite detention without charge of hundreds of detainees.
Congress should use its oversight authority and pass legislation to prevent the administration from evading basic due process protections and undermining respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law.
Learn more:
» A Guide to Torture and Human Rights
» Resources
