Mayer: Cheney ‘Repeatedly’ Held ‘Highly Unusual’ Meetings with CIA

[cal04]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/14/cheney-helgerson-mayer/

Mayer: Cheney ‘Repeatedly’ Held ‘Highly Unusual’ Meetings With CIA IG Before Torture Probe Stopped
In the spring of 2004, then-CIA Inspector General John Helgerson issued a classified report warning “that interrogation procedures approved by the C.I.A. after the Sept. 11 attacks might violate some provisions of the international Convention Against Torture.” Helgerson’s report “also raised concern about whether the use of the techniques could expose agency officers to legal liability.”

In an interview today, Harper’s Scott Horton asks investigative journalist Jane Mayer about the revelation in her new book that “Helgerson was summoned repeatedly to meet privately with Vice President Cheney” before his investigation was “stopped in its tracks.” Mayer said that Cheney’s interaction with Helgerson was “highly unusual“:

MAYER:Asked for comment, Helgerson through the CIA spokesman denied he felt pressured in any way by Cheney. But others I interviewed have described the IG’s office to me as extremely politicized. They have also suggested it was very unusual that the Vice President interjected himself into the work of the IG. Fred Hitz, who had the same post in previous administrations, told me that no vice president had ever met with him. He thought it highly unusual.

According to Mayer, Helgerson’s report is said to be “very disturbing, the size of two Manhattan phone books, and full of terrible descriptions of mistreatment.” Mayer added that Cheney’s interest in Helgerson proves that as early as 2004 “the Vice President’s office was fully aware that there were allegations of serious wrongdoing in The Program.”

In October 2007, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden “ordered an unusual internal inquiry” into Helgerson’s office, focusing on complaints that Helgerson was on “a crusade against those who have participated in controversial detention programs.”


Six Questions for Jane Mayer, Author of The Dark Side
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/hbc-90003234

Watchdog of C.I.A. Is Subject of C.I.A. Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/washington/12intel.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[spanone]

1. k&r

[EFerrari]

2. Who can file a complaint with the International Criminal Court?

Does anyone know?

[seemslikeadream]

6. Philippe Sands knows

watch my link

[bdamomma]

11. I am hoping that the ICC gets these thugs just how they

getting the Sudan dictator, he caused a genocide just like George.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. I have ben thinking about this for weeks now.

Can the citizens of the US petition the ICC to press charges??? I really want to know, because -- if we can -- I'll start the petition drive myself!

On edit: I went to to their site and found this information -- I believe it is entirely possible to petition for an investigation!


"General organisation
The Office of the Prosecutor is one of the four organs of the International Criminal Court. It is headed by the Prosecutor, who is elected by the Assembly of States Parties and has full authority over the management and the administration of the Office, including the staff, facilities and other resources of the Office. The Prosecutor is Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo who took office on 16 June 2003 by pledging his solemn undertaking as required by article 45 of the Rome Statute.

Mrs. Fatou Bensouda (Prosecutions) was elected Deputy Prosecutor by The Assembly of States Parties on the 8th of September 2004, following the publication of a call for applications or nominations of candidates to that post.

Mandate

The mandate of the Office is to conduct investigations and prosecutions of crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Court, that is, the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. At a later stage, once the States Parties have agreed to a definition of the crime of aggression, the Office will be empowered to investigate and prosecute this crime.

By conducting investigations and prosecutions, the Office contributes to the overall objective of the Court – to end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes.


Procedure
The Prosecutor may start an investigation upon referral of situations in which there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes have been or are being committed. Such referrals must be made by a State Party or the Security Council of the United Nations, acting to address a threat to international peace and security. In accordance with the Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Prosecutor must evaluate the material submitted to him before making the decision on whether to proceed.

In addition to State Party and Security Council referrals, the Prosecutor may also receive information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court provided by other sources, such as individuals or non-governmental organisations. The Prosecutor conducts a preliminary examination of this information in every case. If the Prosecutor then decides that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, he will request the Pre-Trial Chamber to authorise an investigation.

As a consequence of its mandate, the Office of the Prosecutor comprises three divisions. The Investigation Division is responsible for the conduct of investigations (such as collecting and examining evidence, questioning persons being investigated as well as victims and witnesses). In this respect, the Statute requires the Office to extend the investigation to cover both incriminating and exonerating facts in order to establish the truth. The Prosecution Division has a role in the investigative process, but will have principal responsibility for the litigation of cases before the various Chambers of the Court. The Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division (JCCD) analyses referrals and communications, with support from the Investigation Division, and helps secure the cooperation needed for the activities of the Office. The JCCD is led by Mrs. Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi.

The principle of complementarity
The Preamble of the Rome Statute recognises that the Court itself is but a last resort for bringing justice to the victims of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It therefore calls upon all States to take measures at the national level and enhance international co-operation to put an end to impunity, and reminds States of their duty to exercise criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for such crimes. Thus, the Rome Statute assigns the Court a role that is complementary to national systems.

Emphasising the primary responsibility of States to investigate and prosecute international crimes, the Statute provides that a case is inadmissible before the Court where the case is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution. The Prosecutor is obliged to consider this requirement of the Statute when deciding whether or not to start an investigation.

Independence
The Rome Statute provides that the Office of the Prosecutor shall act independently. Consequently, a member of the Office of the Prosecutor must not seek or act on instructions from any external source, such as States, international organisations, NGOs or individuals.

[EFerrari]

19. And I would be happy to buddy up with you. But

will the ICC move against our government?

[Lorentz]

3. "serious wrongdoing in The Program"

You know it must be illegal if this administration calls it a "Program," just like the "Terrorist Surveillance Program".

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

War.Crime.Nation.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Thanks Cal04.... I watched a film on historical evolution of crucifixion

that explained that the torture was really being suspended
with your arms above your shoulders which forces you to lift yourself
in order to breath, and yes it is torture within the first 10 minutes. The spikes to the hands
and legs were added later as a touch to add to the real torture.

Suspensions from the ceiling was done to prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq by American interrogators

[mopinko]

8. well that figures

can't they just stick to buggery to get their thrills?

[Mnemosyne]

7. KnR for more visibility.. n/t

[yardwork]

9. We knew that sooner or later people would begin to talk about this.

Slowly the truth will come out, in bits and pieces. Will Congress act? That is the question.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

10. Dick needs to swing at the end of gallows' rope after a lengthy, public trial.

[bdamomma]

12. and he needs to swing by his testicles. really.

[burythehatchet]

14. Personally, I prefer the ceaucesceau option.

[lovuian]

13. How did the Vice Prez get his fingers in the CIA and then

outed Plame and blew Brewster Jennings cover

this is serious crimes

[crimsonblue]

15. shouldn't the IG be on a crusade

against those that participated in controversial detention programs? I mean, considering those programs were illegal, immoral, and unethical?

[MadrasT]

16. DC is evil incarnate.

I really, really hate these bastards.

:kick:

[Marie26]

18. This is so through the looking glass... nt

[emcguffie]

20. I think they cannot, due to lack of jurisdiction--

The US is not a party to the Rome Statute, meaning there is no jurisdiction that way.

Another way to establish jurisdiction is for the UN Security Council to find that whatever is going on is a threat to international peace and security, and if it is, it can recommend that the Prosecutor look into it. By the same token, any one of the five Permanent members of the Security COuncil can veto any investigation, or put it off, for a year at a time, indefinitely.

I think that's close to correct, at least. I'm not positive, but I don't think they can go after the US, basically because it's a Permanent member of the Security COuncil.

I think regarding Sudan, the US went along with the other P-5 members of the Security Council.

[Frisbee]

21. My solution....

would be as soon as we have increased the Democratic majority in both houses, and have sworn in a Democratic president, set up a commission assembled by and headed by Dennis Kucinich to look in crimes committed by the Bush administration. Give him Carte Blanche to subpoena anyone he sees fit and to force them to testify under oath. And probably expanding the cellar prison would be a good idea as well. Oh, and suspend the visas of all high ranking Bush administration officials until the hearings are completed.

[paparush]

22. Dare we hope that this seething, writhing house of cards will collapse under its own putrid hubris?

One day? Maybe? Sometime in a brighter future, might these butchers be held accountable for their litany of crimes?

[The Blue Flower]

23. This really jumped out at me

"...the Fox television program “24,” which was developed to help sell it to the American public..."

A perfect marriage of government and the propaganda machine to do psyops on our entire nation.