Jimmy Carter on Bush Co’s Illegal and Immoral Treatment of Prisoners

[Time for change]

Though I’ve read a great deal on this subject, I found Jimmy Carter’s discussion of it in his 2005 book, “Our Endangered Values – American’s Moral Crisis”, to be especially illuminating – because of the additions it made to my knowledge base, the forceful and clear manner in which Carter describes it, and because of the authority he has to discuss these issues, as an ex- U.S. President and as someone who has devoted his life to world peace and human rights.

This is of particular interest to me because, more than any of the other awful things that the Bush administration has done, its illegal and immoral treatment of prisoners reminds of the early years of the Nazi’s rise to power, from 1933 to the start of World War II in 1939. And although I knew that Carter feels passionately about this issue, I was nevertheless a little surprised to hear what he had to say about it because … well, let’s just say that he’s usually more polite and diplomatic than I am.

Yet this must have been very difficult for him to say. As he says in his introductory sentence to the chapter: “This is an especially unpleasant chapter to write, because it includes some embarrassing assessments of the government I have led and whose values I have defended”

Carter puts the whole issue in perspective after describing the abuse of his favorite uncle, who was a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II:

The prevalence of such abuse of captured sevicemen and –women during World War II induced the community of nations to come together to define quite precisely the basic guarantees of proper treatment for prisoners…. known as the “Geneva Conventions.” The authenticity and universal applicability of these guarantees were never questioned by a democratic power – until recently, and by America!

And with this sad commentary:

…the United States now has become one of the foremost targets of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life. Some of our actions are similar to those of abusive regimes that we have historically condemned.

Facts and statistics

Much of Carter’s discussion on this issue is a litany of shocking facts and statistics concerning the record of the Bush administration on prisoner abuse.

Speaking of our illegal actions at Guantanamo Bay:

…about 520 people from forty nations have been incarcerated and held incommunicado for more than three years, almost all without legal counsel and with no charges leveled against them. I has also been confirmed by U.S. officials that many have been physically abused… the International Committee of the Red Cross reported registering 107 detainees under eighteen, some as young as eight years old.

And regarding the treatment of these prisoners:

The International Red Cross, Amnesty International, and the Pentagon have gathered substantial testimony of torture of children, confirmed by soldiers who witnessed or participated in the abuse…

Children… have been denied the right to see their parents, a lawyer, or anyone else… Pentagon spokesman told Mr. Hersh that “age is not a determining factor in detention”…

Physicians for Human Rights reported in April 2005 that “at least since 2002, the United States has been engaged in systematic psychological torture” of Guantanamo detainees that has “led to devastating health consequences for the individuals subjected to” it… the Secretary of Defense declared that most of them would not be released even if they were someday tried and found to be innocent…

Military officials reported that at least 108 prisoners have died in American custody in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other secret locations just since 2002, with homicide acknowledged as the cause of death in at least 28 cases. The fact that only one of these was in Abu Ghraib prison indicates the widespread pattern of prisoner abuse…

Subsequent evidence revealed that, despite previous denials…, American leaders had adopted a supplementary policy of transferring prisoners to foreign countries… most of which have been condemned in our government’s annual human rights reports for habitually using torture… this practice has been approved at the top levels of U.S. government…. Members of Congress and legal specialists estimate that 150 prisoners have been included in this exceptional program.

And specifically regarding the torture at Abu Ghraib:

This is especially disturbing, since U.S. intelligence officers estimated to the Red Cross that 70 to 90 percent of the detainees at this prison were held by mistake.

The example that the United States is setting for other countries

Carter goes on to talk about a 2003 and a 2005 conference hosted by his Carter Center, which brought together leading defenders of human rights and democracy movements from around the world to discuss this problem. Among their findings regarding the precedent that our country is setting:

The participants were in broad agreement that recent policies of the United States were being adopted … They told of a general retreat by their governments from previous human rights commitments, and emphasized that there was a danger of setting back democratic movements by decades in some of their countries…. Oppressive leaders had been emboldened to persecute and silence outspoken citizens under the guise of fighting terrorism…. The consequence was that many lawyers, professors, doctors, and journalists had been labeled terrorists, often for merely criticizing a particular policy or for carrying out their daily work. We heard about many cases involving human rights attorneys being charged with abetting terrorists simply for defending accused persons.

The response by the Bush administration

In response to the exposure of some of these scandals, the Bush administration has tried to give the impression that only lower level “bad apples” were at fault. Here’s what Carter has to say about that:

The superficial investigations under the auspices of the Department of Defense have made it obvious that no high-level military officers or government officials will be held accountable, but there is no doubt that their public statements and private directives cast doubt and sometimes ridicule on the applicability of international standards of human rights.

And the Department of Defense, speaking for the President:

The president, despite domestic and international laws constraining the use of torture, has the authority as Commander in Chief to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including torture.”

On the general response of our administration to the exposure of the scandals, Carter notes:

Instead of our correcting the basic problem, more and more prisoners are being retained, and there is less access to the facts about their treatment. A report released in March 2005 by Human Rights First said that the number of detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan has grown, just during the preceding six months, from six thousand to more than eleven thousand, and that the level of secrecy surrounding American detention operations has intensified.

And in response to Republican Senators proposing legislation that would prohibit the U.S. military from engaging in “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of detainees:

Representing the Bush administration, Vice President Cheney has made strenuous efforts to block the legislation…

Carter’s concluding paragraph of the chapter

It is an embarrassing tragedy to see a departure from our nation’s historic leadership as a champion of human rights, with the abandonment defended legally by top officials. Only the American people can redirect our government’s legal, religious, and political commitments to these ancient and unchanging moral principles.

[hootinholler]

1. Haven't read it yet, thanks. n/t