MPAC URGES PRESIDENT, CONGRESS TO UPHOLD
GENEVA CONVENTION IN ALL CASES

(Washington, DC - 9/25/06)—The Muslim Public Affairs Council today called on all Muslim Americans and people of conscience to contact their Senators and urge them to vote against a “compromise” bill setting out procedures for interrogating terror suspects. The bill, which will be put before a Senate vote this week, would allow the CIA to adopt “alternative methods” which undermine international law, including the Geneva Convention banning cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees.

SEE: “Senate Leaders Reject Explicit Redefinition of Geneva Conventions” (Reuters, 9/22/06)

SEE: “Political Solution to Detainee Issue” (Boston Globe, 9/25/06)

The Republican-sponsored legislation would tamper with the interpretation of the Geneva Conventions and put detainees on trial without letting them see all the evidence against them. Allowing the CIA to use “alternative” interrogation methods - including simulating drowning, hypothermia and sleep deprivation - on suspected terrorists is both ineffective and un-American not to mention counterproductive in the war on terrorism. If the U.S. falters on its support of internationally recognized standards, it will further erode its image in the internationally community. As noted by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, “the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.”

The White House and Senate Republicans settled a disagreement Thursday on a bill setting out procedures for interrogating terror suspects. Key Senate Republicans have been at odds with the Bush Administration regarding controversial plans governing the rules on interrogation of detainees at secret CIA prisons. With a compromise reached, the measure will have to be approved by the Senate and then go back to the House for consideration.

The negotiations came after Senators John McCain (AZ), John Warner (SC) and Lindsey Graham (VA), who each have extensive military backgrounds, argued that the President’s proposals would redefine the Geneva Conventions to allow harsh treatment of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. They argued that this inhumane treatment would open the door for other governments to treat U.S. troops in the same manner. Furthermore, several key Republicans such as Colin Powell and George Schultz (President Reagan’s Secretary of State) have opposed the President’s proposal. During the negotiations, President Bush asserted that the CIA must continue using highly controversial interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists. Several of these coercive methods used by the administration have been reported to cause extreme discomfort and are considered harsh methods of coercion.

The administration is attempting to define the explicit meaning of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which states that no U.S. “detainees shall be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” as well as “outrages upon personal dignity”.  Arming CIA officials with explicit policy regarding the acceptability of various interrogation methods would only create faulty legislation that would generate a “context-sensitive” standard that would create shifting application of the rules.   

While the administration compromised on elements of the bill, unfortunately the agreement still gives the President the explicit authority to interpret the language and application of the Geneva Conventions, therefore in a sense redefine conditions of torture. The compromise allows hearsay evidence to be used against detainees as well as bars individuals from protesting violation of Geneva Convention standards in courts. The agreement also says that statements made by detainees under coercion would be allowed as evidence if the judge determines the evidence to be reliable.

The administration’s use of torture and unjust principles with detainees is a disgrace to all Americans.  There is no such thing as an “honorable” debate about torture because torture simply does not work. This will only lead to the degrading treatment like that seen at Abu Ghraib as well as the inhumane detention of innocent people, such as Maher Arar.  Arar is a Muslim Canadian citizen who was whisked away to Syria and was tortured by U.S. authorities. According to results of a yearlong investigation into the Arar case announced this week, Canadian intelligence officials passed false warnings to American agents as a part of the “extraordinary rendition” program which has secretly transferred suspects to foreign countries for interrogation by often brutal methods.

SEE: “Torture Victim Had No Terror Link, Canada Told U.S.” (New York Times, 9/24/06)

The inquiry found that agents who were under pressure to find terrorists after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, falsely labeled an Ottawa computer consultant, Maher Arar, as a dangerous radical. They asked U.S. authorities to put him and his wife, a university economist, on the al-Qaeda “watchlist,” without justification, the report said. Arar was detained by U.S. authorities as he changed planes in New York on Sept. 26, 2002. He was held for questioning for 12 days, then flown by jet to Jordan and driven to Syria. He was beaten, forced to confess to having trained in Afghanistan—where he never has been—and then kept in a coffin-size dungeon for 10 months before he was released, the Canadian inquiry commission found. It also found that “categorically there is no evidence” that Arar did anything wrong or was a security threat. These types of illegal operations on behalf of the administration will continue to occur if the President’s legislation passes in Congress.  MPAC calls upon all people of conscience to take a principled stand against this type of legislation. 

ACT NOW!

Call the Congressional switch board at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected with your Senator or Representative’s office. Please tell your elected officials to vote AGAINST legislation that allows for:

Any deviation from Geneva Convention Common Article 3 that will lead to the cruel and degrading treatment of detainees in prisons.
Any trials that utilize coerced or secret evidence
Interrogation techniques that allow torture or inhumane punishment
The President to interpret “the meaning and application” of the Geneva Convention