slide show - what should be done with captured jihadists?

8/14/2019 Slide Show - What Should be Done with Captured Jihadists?

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WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH CAPTURED JIHADISTS?

THOMAS JALBERT

BENJAMIN HOLDSWORTH

PETE DIMONOSKI

WISSEM ABID

JASON COWLING

Al Qaeda 3700: 445


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Project Approach & Overview

Codified Interrogation and Torture Law

Currently used Interrogation Standards

Judicial application of InterrogationPractices

US and Middle East Public Perception ofInterrogation Standards.

Conclusions and PolicyRecommendations


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Thomas Jalbert Interrogation Conventions & Laws


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Third Geneva Convention - 1950

Rules regarding the treatment of POWs, put inplace in 1950

Prohibits violence against the detainee, includingtorture or degrading treatment

Article 17 says, No physical or mental torture,nor any other form of coercion, may be inflictedon prisoners of war to secure from theminformation of any kind whatever. Prisoners of

war who refuse to answer may not bethreatened, insulted, or exposed to anyunpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of anykind.

Signed and ratified by the United States


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United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT)

Prohibits torture and any cruel or degradingtreatment

Reinforced the ban on Refoulement, as set

forth in Third Geneva Convention Article 2 says, No exceptionalcircumstances whatsoever, whether a stateof war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency,may be invoked as a justification oftorture.

Signed by the United States in 1988, notratified until 1994


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US Interpretation of CAT

July 2007 Executive Order determinedthat members of Al Qaeda, the Taliban,and associated forces were unlawful

combatants, and therefore not coveredby the Geneva CAT

reinforced 2002 Bush Opinion

Affirms US Code, which prohibits the useof torture during interrogations by theCIA


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US Codified Definition of Torture (18 U.S.C. 2340)

US enacted 18 U.S.C. 2340 and2340A, which prohibit torture occurringoutside the United States, to be in

compliance with the UN CAT. Torture means an act committed by aperson acting under the color of lawspecifically intended to inflict severe

physical or mental pain or suffering(other than pain or suffering incidentalto lawful sanctions) upon another personwithin his custody or physical control.


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Interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A byDept. of Justice

Redefines meaning of "severe" painunder the statute as not being limited to"excruciating or agonizing" pain or pain

"equivalent in intensity to the painaccompanying serious physical injury,such as organ failure, impairment ofbodily functions, or even death."

Refines the definition that certainconduct specifically intended to cause"severe physical suffering" is distinctfrom "severe physical pain."


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Optional Protocol to the Convention againstTorture (OPCAT)

Not signed or ratified by the UnitedStates

Establishes an international inspection

system for places of detention modeledon the system which has existed inEurope since 1987

Seeks to prevent torture and other formsof ill-treatment through theestablishment of a system of regularvisits to places of detention carried out

by independent international and


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Currently Used Interrogation Standards Ben Holdsworth


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Overview -Current US InterrogationStandards

KUBARK FM 34-52 FM 2-22.3


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KUBARK (1963)

CIA Interrogation Manual Declassified in 1997

Addresses Interrogation Process

Includes section regarding CoerciveCounterintelligence Interrogation ofResistant Sources (CIA, 1963)


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KUBARK: Coercive CounterintelligenceInterrogation of Resistant Sources

Disclaimer

Techniques included Sensory Deprivation

Threats/Fear

Pain

Narcotics


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FM 34-52: Intelligence Interrogation

Written prior to GWOT (1992) Used for first few years of GWOT Details

interrogation processScreeningApproachesquestioning

processing of captured documents


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FM 34-52 Approaches

Direct

Incentive

Emotional

Increased Fear

Pride and Ego

Others


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FM 34-52 cont.

QuestioningDirect Follow upNon-pertinentRepeatedControl

Prepared


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Judicial application of InterrogationPractices Pete Dimonoski


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Confessions are used to produce show trials

Designed to get criminal convictions

Prosecutions take full advantage ofstatements


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Evidence against detainees is weak

Accusations as evidence

Less than objective sources

Additional evidence

Hearsay and coerced evidence


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Evidence may not be admitted

Highly coercive evidence barred

Statements made without witness


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Classified evidence necessitates closedhearings

Prohibits civil rights groups anddetainees

Difficult to challenge sources


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High-ranking government officialsinfluenced tribunals

Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann

Special Agent Robert McFadden


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Poorly administered justice underminesUnited States credibility

Supreme Court

European statement


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Public Perception of Torture WissemAbid


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US public opinion on interrogationtechniques

A large majority of Americans whether they aredemocrats or republicans oppose the treatment ofdetainees at Guantanamo bay.

Two of three Americans say the United States shouldchange the way it treats detainees at Guantanamo

Bay as prescribed by the UN Commission on HumanRights. Most Americans believe that the rules for treating

detainees should be the same for citizens and noncitizens.

A slight majority of Americans believe that USinterrogation techniques at Guantanamo bay arelegal.

A large majority of Americans think that the treatmentof the suspects should be binding by the UN treatiesand international law.


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Public opinion on interrogation techniques inArab and Muslim countries

54% of Egyptians believe that clear rulesof torture should bemaintained.

46 % believe that some degree of tortureshould be allowed in the case ofterrorism.

The large majority in the Middle Eastbelieves that the US has violatedinternational law in treating theGuantanamo detainees.

Abu Ghraib scandal led to anger and anti-


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Case Study

Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al Haj Captured in Pakistan while he was covering the war

on terrorism in 2001. He was held for nearly six and a half years without

charge or trial. He was released on May 8, 2008

"In Guantanamo ... rats are treated with morehumanity. But we have people from more than 50countries that are completely deprived of all

rights and privileges. "Our human condition, our human dignity was

violated, and the American administration wentbeyond all human values, all moral values, allreligious values. ~Sami Al Haj


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Effects of Torture

Torture has not been effective in reducingthe threat of Al-Qaeda

Anti-Americanism has increased world wideespecially in the Middle East.

Torture against suspects without chargemay destabilize the situation in the Muslimcountries.

It may affect US Arab relations and hurt USinterests in the Middle East. It helps al-Qaeda leaders to recruit more

young Muslims.


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Conclusion & Policy Recommendations Jason Cowling


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Policy Recommendations

Ratification of OPCAT Solely use Interrogation Techniques in FM

34-52

Close Guantanamo Bay Abolish Military Commissions Repeal ambiguous Executive Orders andJudicial Interpretations supporting torture

and other misfeasance. Treating Terrorists as Criminals not Enemy

Combatants Account for Past Abuses - Transparency


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Policy Blog:

http://jihadistinterrogation.blogspot.com/

slide show - what should be done with captured jihadists?

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