NEWS: Al-Qaeda Suspects "Disappear" In U.S. Custody

POLITICS: Al-Qaeda Suspects "Disappear" In U.S. Custody

According to a recently released report from Human Rights Watch, eleven members of al-Qaeda have "disappeared" while in U.S. custody. The detainees are suspected to have been moved to locations outside of the United States, denied access to the Red Cross and removed from the oversight provided by human rights organizations.

From the report's executive summary:

Although the report is not based on first-hand observation, it cites the testimony of "unidentified government officials" who have acknowledged the torture and mistreatment of detainees. These allegations are the latest in a string of negative reports regarding American treatment of detainees.

No one, including the reporters at Human Rights Watch, considers these individuals to be nice or good men. However, the fact that these individuals can no longer be located -- in fact, the United States has only admitted to the detention of six of the eleven mentioned individuals -- does not bode well for American credibility or future foreign relations. Most disturbing of all is the fact that these allegations, along with the previously reported abuses at Abu Ghraib and the recent allegations of torture and murder at an Afghani military base, are being used by other countries to justify the actions being carried out in their spheres of influence.

If true, these allegations entail a violation of several international agreements regarding incommunicado detention, including the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which the United States has ratified) and sections of both the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions.

Mark Mansfield, a CIA representative, stated that the agency has not yet seen the report and declined further comment.

There are no Al-Qaeda opratives in our custody, there were never Al-Qaeda opratives in our custody...

"An eye for an eye makes the whole wold blind."

[Edited on Oct 12, 2004 11:19AM]

who? the US Gov't?

what conspiracy? are you saying the US government isn't murdering people needlessly?

Well I very rarely lose sleep over much of anything, but then I'm a really bad person.

Yeah, its a lot better that they've disappeared so that we cant interrogate them for information.

Or, you know, find out if they actually DID what they are accused of.

so you just don't care that we're breaking international law and possibly killing people without due cause?

Word, if "the most powerful nation" in the world can't be expected to follow international law, then what country can?

Just because the U.S. governmnet has someone in custody doesn't mean they have been proven guilty of anything.

Just because the U.S. governmnet has someone in custody doesn't mean they have been proven guilty of anything.

Human rights schmuman rights. Anyways, isn’t there some clause that says "bad people" don't have any? And shouldn't we just take the Bush administration on their word that these people are guilty of something? I mean they have been truthful and straightforward about so many things, right? And I'm sure the fact that 5,000 Arab and Muslim men that were arrested after 9/11 in the US and detained sometimes for years without charge or trial and which has thus far led to the conviction of NO ONE is a complete fluke and is well within the statistical margin of error.

The CIA is authorized by the government to commit serious crimes, including murder. International laws which ban torture like the kind used by the CIA are simply pressures put on the agencies to keep those practices to a minimum, as far as I see it. There are nonetheless still some CIA interrogators who are trained to do this sort of thing, so it's obviously not that taboo. The disappearance still worries me though, since the missing persons may have been killed, or simply let go without much ado (which would mean the interrogation was unwarrented).

if these people are guilty, try them in a legal court and allow them to defend themselves. Don't just disappear them like a tinpot ditatorship.

[Edited on Oct 12, 2004 by Akrasia]

There is no "If these people are guilty" (though i do see your point)

These animals are guilty of nearly every horrible crime (including genocide) that a man can think of.

They "Disapeared" possibly by the hands of an M4 Assault Rifle curtosey of my tax dolars and the US Government. Good.

Al-Queda gets no mercy from me.


[Edited on Oct 12, 2004 3:38PM]

i have to go with this answer:

So?

One of the guys missing is the guy who thought up the 9/11 attacks. Better he be missing in US custody than in another nations custody...

Thank you, It's amazing to see how many people will support violation of international law and torture. I always thought that our unwillingness to do this bullshit made us the good guys.

These people were suspected al-Qaeda agents. Suspected. As in "we think they might have been but haven't proven it yet." Hence the fact that they've been detained. "Presumption of innocence" ring a bell for anyone? You can't make the claim that someone is a terrorist until you've proven it. Something our government has been particularly poor at doing thus far.

Innocent until proven guilty is a manta not designed to protect the guilty, but the innocent. The right to a fair trial is not something that can be given up just because you 'know' somebody is guilty because once this precedent is broken, eventually no innocent person anywhere is safe.

[Edited on Oct 12, 2004 by Akrasia]

rely on facts and proof? bah. humbug.

If it were up to me... only their heads would disappear, after I made them eat a whole plate of bacon!

let me guess, you're a bush voter. and you go to church and you believe in morality and forgiveness and all those other christian ideas