Legal Commentary

Torture Techniques

By Jeralyn

It's one thing to read the memos. It's another to read how they were executed.

• Nudity, sleep deprivation and dietary restrictions kept prisoners compliant and reminded them they had no control over their basic needs. Clothes and food could be used as rewards for cooperation.

• Slapping prisoners on the face or abdomen was allowed. So was grabbing them forcefully by the collar or slamming them into a false wall, a technique called "walling" that had a goal of fear more than pain.

• Water hoses were used to douse the prisoners for minutes at a time. The hoses were turned on and off as the interrogation continued.

• Prisoners were put into one of three in "stress positions," such as sitting on the floor with legs out straight and arms raised in the air to cause discomfort.

• At night, the detainees were shackled, standing naked or wearing a diaper. The length of sleep deprivation varied by prisoner but was authorized for up to 180 hours, or 7 1/2 days. Interrogation sessions ranged from 30 minutes to several hours and could be repeated as necessary and as approved by psychological and medical teams.

• Justice Department lawyers said the CIA could place Zubaydah in a cramped confinement box. Because Zubaydah appeared afraid of insects, they also authorized interrogators to place him in a box and fill it box with caterpillars (that tactic ultimately was not used).

For photos, here are a few I found in 2006.

Now Obama plans on amnesty for the torturers, because they followed orders. How about punishing the people who gave the orders? Or at least removing their rewards? Former President Bush promoted torture memo author Jay Bybee to a federal appeals judgeship in 2002. He was confirmed in 2003 and still sits on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Here's what Bybee, whose chambers are in Las Vegas, had to say about himself in 2003:

"I would like my headstone to read, `He always tried to do the right thing,' " Judge Bybee said.

Will Spain step up to the plate? Not if the country's Attorney General gets his way...but he doesn't have the last word.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 17, 2009 (boomark / email).