Sen Whitehouse issues warning of more shameful revelations to come about the treatment of suspects

[sabra]

http://www.projo.com/news/content/whitehouse_torture_05-07-09_3NE9S6O_v9.378b7d7.html

<snip>

Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the session in his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. This will be the first public hearing to delve into the memos since President Obama sparked controversy by releasing them last month, so it is likely to reignite the debate over such questions as whether officials of the Bush administration should be criminally charged for their roles in permitting waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods.

...

Based on his access to official secrets as a member of the intelligence panel, Whitehouse has issued dark — but non-specific — warnings of more shameful revelations to come about the treatment of suspects held in clandestine sites outside the United States.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/06/us-interrogators-killed-dozens-human-rights-researcher-and-rights-group-say/

US interrogators may have killed dozens, human rights researcher and rights group say

United States interrogators killed nearly four dozen detainees during or after their interrogations, according a report published by a human rights researcher based on a Human Rights First report and followup investigations.

In all, 98 detainees have died while in US hands. Thirty-four homicides have been identified, with at least eight detainees — and as many as 12 — having been tortured to death, according to a 2006 Human Rights First report that underwrites the researcher’s posting. The causes of 48 more deaths remain uncertain.

The researcher, John Sifton, worked for five years for Human Rights Watch. In a posting Tuesday, he documents myriad cases of detainees who died at the hands of their US interrogators. Some of the instances he cites are graphic.

[predfan]

1. Sounds like crap to me......everyone knows it was no different than frat- boy pranks.

[rucky]

7. Prisoners found their beds short-sheeted...

and were forced to chug from beer bongs. Many times they woke up with moustaches drawn on them in permanent marker.

[LakeSamish706]

2. One would think that some of these Bush Admin. types would be getting their...

asses out of the country about now. Some must be getting nervous about now.

[seemslikeadream]

3. They will have no where to run

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Paraguay's nice this time of year.

[LakeSamish706]

5. Thats the place I was thinking! n/t

[Sal Minella]

9. But I read somewhere that the extradition agreement between Paraguay and the U.S.

has now been reactivated, so the members of the Cheneyoid mutant strain can no longer hide out safely in Paraguay.

It must be a terrible feeling, having nowhere to run.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. If so, I'd bet the extortion agreement between Paraguay and the Bushes has also been...

...reactivated.

[mod mom]

11. Paraguay elected a Leftist ex-Bishop as President in 2008:

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Paraguay elects a Leftist ex-Bishop as President
Fernando Lugo was elected in the elections held on 20 April. It was not surprising, since he had been leading in the opinion polls for the last one year. I had been predicting and talking about this to the surprise and consternation of my Paraguayan friends.

It is a historic election for Paraguay. The Colorado party which was continuously ruling the country for the last 61 years was defeated for the first time. On the contrary, Lugo is a newcomer to politics. He took to politics only in 2006. He was one of those believers and practioners of Liberation Theology and was known as the Bishop of the poor. He formed a coalition with an assortment of political parties and indigenous groups and won the elections against formidable obstacles put in his way.

Lugo is the first Leftist President of the country. He wants to change the conditions of the poor. He wants to carry out land reforms and rid the society of corruption. Paraguay is the second most poor country in South America after Bolivia and one of the most corrupt and mismanaged.

But credit must be given to Colorado party candidate and the current President who quickly conceded defeat gracefully and committed to peaceful transfer of power due on 15 August. This shows the maturity of the leaders in contrast to what happened in Mexico. Credit is also due to the government which organised free and fair elections even after knowing that they risked losing power.

-snip

http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2008/04/paraguay-elects-leftist-ex-bishop-as.html

Let's hope that means no other nation will have to take our trash.

[rabs]

13. U.S.-Paraguay do indeed have an extradition pact

And with the election of Pres. Lugo, the bushies can forget even contemplating settling in Paraguay.

-------------------------------

THE WHITE HOUSE, July 13, 1999. To the Senate of the United States: With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay, signed at Washington on November 9, 1998. In addition, I transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to the Treaty. As the report states, the Treaty will not require implementing legislation.The provisions in this Treaty follow generally the form and content of extradition treaties recently concluded by the United States. Upon entry into force, this Treaty would enhance cooperation between the law enforcement authorities of both countries, and there-by make a significant contribution to international law enforcement efforts. The Treaty would supersede the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Paraguay signed at Asuncion on May 24, 1973. I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Treaty and give its advice and consent to ratification. WILLIAM J. CLINTON.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
snip
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article I obligates each Party to extradite to the other, pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty, any person sought in the Requesting State for trial or punishment for an extraditable offense.

[Supersedeas]

12. sipping wine coolies on a beach also known as a tax-shelter

[bvar22]

15. Paraguay has recently undergone a bloodless revolution.

Paraguay is no longer the "save haven" for War Criminals and Death Squads that it once was.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7357874.stm

[madokie]

14. The jails in some of the other counties

that may be charging them with crimes is not up to the USA's standards and that's what they are worried about and are willing to take a chance on staying put where they are. IMO

[Solly Mack]

6. Wanna know shameful?

War criminals are still walking around free.

[ShortnFiery]

8. It's all so beautiful ... flowers and chocolates ... and seemingly NEVER ending.

:puke:

[gratuitous]

16. Whitehouse is issuing warnings, but who is he warning?

Not Human Rights First. Not the Red Cross. Not the victims or their survivors. Not a lot of folks who have been badgering Congress to do someting about these atrocities committed in our names with our tax dollars. Not the perpetrators, surely. Who needs to be warned about these shameful revelations?

Well, first off are the Naivo-Americans who believed George W. Bush and his criminal cabal. But a lot of those folks don't seem quite so gullible now in 2009. And while the truth is indeed inconvenient and very uncomfortable, I think a lot of these people will be able to handle it, particularly once they've seen the documentary evidence. That leaves, really, only one group of people that I can think of who need to be "warned": The dimwits who front the popular media outlets and programs.

At least Sen. Whitehouse will be able to tell these fuckers that he tried to warn them.