Bait and switch: Having just passed Sen. John McCain’s anti-torture measure, the Senate is poised to pass legislation that would undercut it. Two defense bills that have already passed the House could be approved by the Senate this week and would allow the United States’ shameful torture practices to continue.
The Financial Times reports that the proposed legislation would allow the use of evidence extracted through torture to indefinitely detain “enemy combatants” at the U.S. torture center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and prevent them from suing their torturers.
The measure, included in two defence bills already approved by the House and awaiting Senate approval, would also restrict the rights of prisoners at the detention centre to appeal against their detention to US courts.
Human rights groups and lawyers for some of the Guantánamo detainees argue the law would undermine some of the guarantees to detainees following an agreement between Senator John McCain and the White House last week on legislation banning US personnel from abusing prisoners anywhere in the world.
“The most dramatic story is that the same legislation that passes the McCain amendment – which is this historic bill on torture – has this other provision, which undercuts it in two ways,” said Jennifer Daskal, US advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.
Typical of the Bush admin and the Repug Congress to say one thing and do another — which apparently does not constitute lying. Meanwhile the U.S. loses face worldwide for torturing prisoners with Dr. Dre and Eminem music in so-called “dark forts” in Afghanistan.
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