Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Last week I received an email from a dear friend. The email came from Sweden, on Valentine’s Day. I have spent the better part of this week trying to craft a response. I have failed. This post is my attempt at a response.

This blog is anti-torture. There is a logo on the sidebar of this blog that declares the unequivocal position of this blog and its author. Being anti-torture seems to me to be a commonsense position to hold. It is however not a position that is universally held. There are torturers in this world and there are those who aid and abet the torturers. Then there are the victims. My friend, Tasneem Khalil, is a torture victim.

On May 10th of last year I received an urgent email from a friend. It was 4:04pm and I was at my mundane day job. Soon many other emails arrived with the same news. Tasneem Khalil, a Bangladeshi journalist and researcher for Human Rights Watch, had been picked just hours earlier by the Bangladesh military. Just before 1am on the morning of May 11 (Bangladesh time) members of Bangladesh military’s intelligence services, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), had taken away Tasneem from his home in Dhaka. Tasneem’s wife, left alone with their 6-month old baby boy, managed to get word out of his abduction.

Via email and SMS Bangladeshi bloggers from all over the world came together within minutes of hearing the news. Soon blog posts were going up everywhere. American and British bloggers joined in and the news spread quickly. Soon Human Rights Watch put out a press release demanding his release, and CNN and the Associated Press put the news out over the wire. After sustained pressure from human rights organizations, foreign diplomats, and the press Tasneem was released 22 hours later. He was alive, but he had been tortured.

After his release, Sweden offered Tasneem, his wife Suchi and his baby boy Tiyash, political asylum. Today they have begun a new life in Sweden, in exile.

On February 14th Human Rights Watch released a 44-page report  (PDF) entitled "The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power Under the State of Emergency". The report, in first person testimony, details how the DGFI brutally beat and threatened Tasneem during his 22 hour ordeal.

Tasneem was taken to one of the DGFI’s torture chambers known as a "black hole". The HRW report explains:

In Dhaka alone, the DGFI maintains at least three unofficial detention centers, known as "black holes." "Black Hole 1" is located in DGFI headquarters inside Dhaka cantonment near BNS Haji Moshin naval base. "Black Hole 2" is near Kachukhet, a civilian residential area inside Dhaka cantonment. "Black Hole 3" is maintained in the Uttara residential district near Zia International Airport.

 Of his ordeal Tasneem writes in the HRW report:

The Forum article made my interrogators furious. They started beating me again mercilessly, from all possible directions with hands and batons and kicks. I pleaded with them to give me one last chance. I said I would not do those things again. But one person said I had already "made the blunder." I think this was a reference to my lunch with the diplomats.

I started begging for mercy. The beating continued for some time. Then another person said, "We will think about giving you a chance, but you have to do as we say." He said I had to write a confession to the AIG [Additional Inspector General] of police, saying what they wanted me to say. Then I had to beg for his mercy.

…

There were two CCTV cameras in the corners attached to the ceiling. There was a fan. I was sitting in front of a table and three batons were on the table along with some stationery. One was a wooden baton, about a meter long. The other two were covered with black plastic. Poking out of the end of these were metal wires which appeared to fill the plastic covers. The plastic and wire batons were a little shorter than the wooden one. I assume these were the batons they tortured me with. When one guy saw that I was looking at them, he put them aside. I’m not sure if they used electricity on me. The pain often came like shocks, but they were hitting me so hard that I’m not sure whether it was just the force that hurt like this or if it was electricity.

They tortured Tasneem because he had dared to write an article critical of the Bangladesh military and he had just recently given an interview to the Washington Post. It was not a ticking bomb scenario. It was pure thuggery, as all torture is.

Tasneem’s torturers barked that he was "anti-state" because his journalism hurt the military’s "image":

And then the second voice said, "Baanchot [an abusive word], you have only reported on negative things. And you have fucked Bangladesh by your bloody anti-state reports. Whatever you have reported for CNN in all these years is all negative news. You shit on the same plate you eat, you are a traitor. You work for a foreign agency, and damage Bangladesh’s image outside."

Someone started punching the side and back of my head. I started crying out in pain. Then someone cried out an order, "Bring in salt and nails!"

Tasneem’s torturer was the military government of Bangladesh. It was the state torturing its own citizen. The most fundamental responsibility of a government is the protection of its own people. When a government not only fails to protect its own citizens but instead actively terrorizes and tortures them it has lost all legitimacy, moral or legal, to govern. It has become anti-state.

Yet there are defenders of Bangladesh’s military government. The defenders include elements of civil society within Bangladesh who see the military as their meal ticket to power and foreign governments such as the Bush administration and the British government who believe only the iron hand of the military can control 150 million people who are perceived to be unfit to govern themselves. To these defenders the minor inconveniences of torture, death in custody, extra-judicial killings, suspension of fundamental rights, and the occasional mass beating are the cost of doing business. Certainly to these defenders the torture of one man, Tasneem Khalil, does not matter.

To me it matters. It matters that my friend was tortured. It matters that, save for the overwhelming response to his detention, he would today be a statistic - a dead body as a result of the uniquely Bangladeshi opera known as "crossfire". It matters that the 150 million citizens of Bangladesh, who earned their freedom through blood and sacrifice, are today ruled by the gun.

So, this is my response to the email you sent me last week Tasneem. I was told over the weekend, in a harshly worded diatribe from a man with little regard for this "Virginia-based blogger", that we bloggers are cowards. That we don’t understand real life. That we hide behind our keyboards. That we are irrelevant.

Perhaps.

But I would not trade a thousand words that I write that fall on deaf ears for the one email that you sent me. I am glad you are here my friend. It is, in the sum total of my life, one of the facts I am most proud of.

[Click image above to enlarge]

[Cross posted at E-Bangladesh]

During last week’s mass protests in Bangladesh a demonstrator, possibly a student, lunged toward a Bangladesh army man with his feet raised in anger. The army man was running in fear to escape the fury all around him. A photographer from the Daily Star newspaper captured the moment in a dramatic photograph that has stripped bare the iron fist of the Bangladesh military. The man flying through the air is Bangladesh’s "Tank Man". Just like "Tank Man" today his whereabouts are unknown. The Bangladesh military hunts him.

The BBC has labeled the image the "photo the Bangladesh military cannot stand." To the army the image represents humiliation. So the army struck back in revenge. Students were pulled out of apartments and beaten publicly, journalists were detained and beaten mercilessly, and five prominent university professors were detained and tortured.

Today two of the professors, Dr. M. Anwar Hossain and Dr. Harun-ur-Rashid, were brought back to court to extend their interrogation (torture) period by another four days. Under the military’s watchful eye, the judge ordered them returned to custody for further interrogation. In court the two professors protested of torture, which the judge refused to enter into the record:

The two teachers of Dhaka University, detained in the wake of last week’s violent student protests, told a court on Thursday that they were taken to an unknown place after being picked up, kept there blindfolded and tortured and urged the court not sent them back to the ‘dark room’.

…

‘We were taken to an unknown place blindfolded, where we were tortured both mentally and physically by the law enforcers,’ Professor Harun-or-Rashid, dean of social sciences of Dhaka University, told the court.

‘The torture we have suffered is beyond description,’ he said adding that he could neither sleep nor take food in the four days on remand

…

Narrating the torture they allegedly faced on remand, Professor Anwar Hossain, dean of bio-sciences, told the court, ‘We were not at fault, but we have been torture mentally and physically in a dark room—the place where I was taken once before in 1976.’

‘We have also seen others arrested in connection with the university incidents being tortured there.’

He said, ‘We appeal to you [court] not to send us back to the dark room…It will be injustice if we are forced to go there again.’

Tonight they are back in the grip of the Bangladesh army.

Outside court today, the Bangladesh army got what it wanted from the two professors. They both apologized to the army.

Dr. Hossain said:

"It’s an unwarranted incident. Today’s military is not the same as the Pakistani army in 1971. I’m sorry about the attitude shown to the army. Our army has a glorious history. They are symbols of sovereignty, security and unity. We understand it very easily that how they would feel and what their reactions would be if somebody attacks the army in uniform. We also feel dishonoured seeing the insult meted out to an army man in uniform. The attacks on the army meant attacks on the sovereignty of the country. I am deeply sorry for the attacks that made the army feel dishonoured and dented their self-respect. As the general secretary of DUTA and as a guardian of students, I apologise to all, from a respectable soldier to the army chief. There is no shame in seeking forgiveness. It brings glory. I think what I am saying will console the army in their grievances and sadness." [Emphasis added.]

Dr. Rashid added:

"The attacks on the army in uniform are really unfortunate. I seek forgiveness from all in the army—from the army chief to the soldier on behalf of students." [Emphasis added.]

Torture made the professors "apologize" and seek "forgiveness". Torture exposed the Bangladesh military strongman, General Moeen U Ahmed, as a vindictive vengeful man, afraid of the unarmed citizens of Bangladesh.

To dispel any notion that the beatings and the torture being doled out by the Bangladesh military is anything but revenge, Mainul Hosein, the Information and Law Advisor of the Bangladesh military government told the BBC:

"You have seen how they kicked a uniformed man belonging to the armed forces, how they burnt the effigy of the army chief General Moeen U Ahmed. Its Ok as long as they criticize or burn the effigy of us, the civil leadership; but with what plan do they kick a uniformed man or burn the effigy of the army chief? I believe this is a very dangerous plan.” [translation based on Rumi Ahmed]

It is all about the picture.

One hundred and fifty million people are now living under the force of arms. The Bangladesh military has created a climate of fear. It is now ruling by intimidation and by thuggery. Yet it has exposed itself to be fearful and weak. It fears the common man in sandals. It fears the boot - the same boot it uses to torture the citizens of Bangladesh. In all its might, it has managed to beat an "apology" out of two unarmed old men. That is weakness.

Remember the picture.

[Cross posted at E-Bangladesh]

On August 26, the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Anwar Choudhury, apparently went off the reservation. After meeting with the foreign advisor in Dhaka Mr. Choudhury was the only foreign envoy to face the media. He apparently had a lot to say.

He described the protests and riots last week in Bangladesh as something "sinister". The Daily Star quoted him as follows:

"Our assessment from what we have heard is that it was initially spontaneous and then it was not. It became much more than the incident. It soon became something much bigger, something much sinister," said Anwar to the media, adding, "A lot of money and coordination came into the equation."

…

The Bangladeshi-born British envoy added, "Most neutral people could not understand why the escalation went into that dimension and that has caused a lot of question marks among the people."

…

Anwar said Britain’s assessment that the incidents were coordinated, stemmed from the fact that the demonstrations continued even after the government had issued an apology and met the students’ initial demands by withdrawing the army camp from the Dhaka University campus. [Emphasis added.]

It is striking that the High Commissioner makes the bombshell claim, a day after the Bangladesh army chief made the same claim, that "a lot of money and coordination" was involved and the protests had become something "sinister". He claims that his government’s "assessment" is based on the fact that the demonstrations continued even after the government apology and the withdrawal of the army camp. There is a giant leap from the High Commissioner’s observation to his claim. If indeed the High Commissioner has not gone off the reservation and was representing the position of the British government, it is incumbent on the United Kingdom to back up Mr. Choudhury’s claim with some evidence. Otherwise the British government is simply spinning conspiracy theories into a cauldron that is already spilling over with rumor and innuendo.

The High Commissioner went on to comment on the detention of five prominent university professors:

Asked about the detained university teachers, Anwar quoted Iftekhar as saying that the government will release those detained individuals who will be found not connected to last week’s incidents, but it will spare no one connected.

It is notable that a diplomatic envoy from the United Kingdom did not take the opportunity to raise concerns for the safety of the detained professors - especially after news reports from the previous day about allegations that at least on of the professors was tortured. Instead, he sounded like a Bangladesh military government spokesman when he echoed the Bangladesh foreign advisor that the government will "spare no one connected".

When asked for comments on the harassment and beating of journalists Mr. Choudhury’s stance was even more alarming:

The British envoy also condemned the reported harassment and beatings of journalists and called for an investigation, but added that the media could have exercised ‘restraint’ in their coverage for the sake of progress of the country.

Pressed for comments on the beatings and harassment of journalists by law enforcers during and between the curfews, Anwar said, "I condemn the incidents. I am really sorry to hear about that, I wish those didn’t take place. I hope the authorities will look into it and take action."

But, when asked about the requests for ’self-censorship’, Anwar said the media was allowed to be ‘very free’ since the state of emergency had been declared. "All parties should act responsibly so the country can progress. So if you [the media] exercise restraint then it might also contribute to the country’s progress," he added. [Emphasis added.]

Mr. Choudhury’s comments were not made in a vacuum. Human Rights Watch has protested the intimidation and torture of journalists by this military government. Reports of the beating and arrests of journalists are widespread and television stations have been directly threatened by this government. The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed serious concern about restrictions on the media in Bangladesh. In light of the military government’s suppression of the news media, the British High Commissioner’s comments urging the media to show "restraint" will only add international sanction to the stifling of freedom of expression in Bangladesh.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Mr. Choudhury’s employer, takes an uncompromising stand against torture and against the suppression of freedom of expression. Regarding torture, the FCO states on its website:

Torture is one of the most abhorrent violations of human rights and human dignity. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. Yet torture continues to be inflicted on men, women and children around the world.

International action against torture has been a priority of the Government since the launch of the UK Anti-Torture Initiative in 1998. The Government’s position on torture has always been very clear. We unreservedly condemn its use as a matter of fundamental principle. The UK is committed to combating torture globally, and continues to implement an active campaign to help eradicate it. The UK is one of the most active countries in the world on this subject. We continue to work hard with our international partners to eradicate this abhorrent practice. This includes efforts to strengthen UN and other international mechanisms, diplomatic activity such as lobbying, and funding project work. [Emphasis added.]

Regarding freedom of expression, the FCO website quotes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and states:

‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through and media and regardless of frontiers.’

- Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Freedom of expression and opinion is a foundation without which many other basic human rights cannot be enjoyed. Allowing people to publicly investigate and report on human rights abuses makes it much harder for those responsible for them to hide behind a veil of silence and ignorance. Similarly freedom of expression makes a valuable contribution to other key areas of concern – good governance, rule of law and democracy. The media has a vital role in scrutinising and evaluating the actions of government, forcing them to manage resources and set policies in a transparent and equitable way. And without journalists having the right to report on court cases and legal judgements, it would be much harder to guarantee an independent and fair judicial process. Finally, the ability to hold, exchange and challenge the opinions of yourself and others is a necessary component of a functioning democracy.

Governments have a duty to eliminate barriers to freedom of expression and information, and to create an environment in which free speech and free media flourish. Media professionals should be able to work freely without fear of intimidation, violence or imprisonment. Sadly, there are still many countries around the world in which governments stifle dissent and criticism or fail to prevent other groups from targeting the media. A free and independent media requires governments to provide a fair and transparent regulatory environment, an equitable distribution of broadcasting frequencies and opportunities for all sections of society to access and contribute to the media. [Emphasis added.]

The British government’s commitment to human rights is laudable. The British government has made "human rights a central theme" of its foreign policy and has taken the view that human rights are universal. When the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh claims to speak for the British government and fails to raise concerns about allegations of torture, when the High Commissioner encourages press censorship by asking the press to show "restraint" in their reporting in the face of mass protests in the country and a government crackdown, when the High Commissioner spins conspiracy theories as the Bangladeshi military government uses those same theories to crack down on its citizens, the British High Commissioner - and by extension the British government - is promoting the suppression of human rights, by its own definition.

The British government must clarify whether their man in Dhaka, Mr. Anwar Choudhury, speaks for the government or has indeed gone off the reservation.

Human Rights Watch has protested the growing pattern of abuses by the military government in Bangladesh. In response to the nationwide protests, the military has cracked down on students, academics and journalists. One of the five professors who have been taken away by the military in the middle of the night is Dhaka University professor Anwar Hossain. In a letter, his son has appealed for help in ensuring fair treatment for his father. His father is currently on a four day "remand" and is being interrogated by the Bangladesh military. It is quite likely he has been tortured and will be tortured until he "confesses".

I reprint the letter from Dr. Hossain’s son here because those who are holding him will try to dehumanize him. We who stand against torture will not allow that to happen.

Below is the text of the letter from Dr. Anwar Hossain’s son:

Subject: To the honored colleagues and loved students of my father Dr. M. Anwar Hossain who was recently arrested

Dear Sirs, Madams and Students of my father,

My name is is Sanjeeb Hossain. I am writing on behalf of my father Dr. M. Anwar Hossain who has been recently arrested at 12.20 am on August 24, 2007. I am aware that you had known him in different capacities. He is in urgent need of your help now.

The following account is a description of what happened when my father Dr. Anwar Hossain was taken away by the Military Intelligence of the Bangladesh Army:

At 12:15 am on August 24, 2007, we heard the consistent ringing of our doorbell. My father was asleep. My mother went to the door and heard shouts from outside to open it. She opened the door and 8-10 people barged into our house. They were all dressed in civilians clothes and carried heavy arms with them. They told my mother that they had arrived to take my father along with them. My father was asleep at that time. My mother woke him up and told him of what had happened. My father came out of the bedroom and addressed those who had arrived. He was very calm and confident while he spoke to them. He asked as to where he would be taken and how long he would be away from home. They replied saying that my father would be taken to the Shahbagh Thana (Police Station) for interrogation and that they did not know how long he would be away. When we asked them as to who they represented, they said that they were members of the Joint Forces, i.e. the Army. They also told my father, ‘Sir, we are the Bangladesh Army, not the Pakistan Army. We know that you are a patriot. Please be assured that you are in good hands’. We also came to know that two of the people who came were Commandos trained in Fort Bragg and Fort Benning in the US Army. Assuming that my father would not be returning in the next few days, my mother packed a small suitcase with several sets of clothes along with his medicine. It must be noted here that my father is a diabetic patient. This whole incident spanned over roughly 10 to 15 minutes. After this my father was taken away by them.

However yesterday ( August 25, 2007) at 4 pm, it was my father who suddenly called us from a number that we could not trace. I was able to speak with him for 15 seconds. He told me that he would be taken to the Lower court (known as the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court) and later on to the Shahbagh Police Station. My family along with the family of Dr. Harun Rashid (who has also been taken away like my father) rushed to the CMM court. After a long wait, my father Dr. Anwar Hossain and Dr. Harun Rashid were brought to the Court. The State pleaded that a remand of 10 days be given. At the end of it all, the judge granted 4 days of remand during which my father would be interrogated. I was fortunate enough to stand right beside my father. He gave me some extremely alarming news. He told me that the Army authorities had psychologically tortured him and even went to the extent of physically torturing him.
Being taken into ‘remand; is extremely alarming because ‘remand’ has a bad history in Bangladesh. It gives the State the opportunity to torture its victims and force them to say what they want to hear which is most of the time not true.

You all are aware of my fathers distinguished career as a scientist and academician. The following account will take you to his resume.
http://www.bmbudhaka.net/fac/mah.htm

As you probably know, there was severe agitation between the students of Dhaka University and the Army along with the police. We are apprehending that the present Non-Party Care Taker Government of Bangladesh is considering Dr. M. Anwar Hossain is an opponent. They probably hold the belief that he along with other renowned teachers of the Dhaka University have conspired and created this agitation. This is absolutely false. It is extremely unfortunate that academician like Dr. M. Anwar Hossain and others are being considered as opponents to the present government and are being falsely accused and tortured.

In this context I would be extremely grateful if you could use your influence to provide my father with any form of assistance and also convey this incident to the appropriate channels. In addition to this, please forward the link of his resume of his resume to the appropriate people. It will give them a picture of what he truly is, i.e. a Teacher a scientist and a researcher, not someone who is conspiring against the present government of Bangladesh. He really needs your help.
Thanking you with a lot of expectation and hope at heart.

Sanjeeb Hossain

[Cross posted at E-Bangladesh]

[Reports on the latest situation on Bangladesh from Rezwan.]

After declaring a curfew on Wednesday, the Bangladesh military began to systematically target journalists for beating and intimidation.  

Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by reports of the assault, detention, and harassment of local journalists by security forces attempting to enforce the indefinite curfew imposed yesterday on the capital, Dhaka, and five other cities in response to growing unrest across the country. CPJ is also deeply concerned about warnings to the media from members of the interim government and from the military that have resulted in widespread self-censorship, particularly among broadcast outlets.  

…

On Wednesday, the military-backed interim government announced an indefinite curfew in six urban centers that had been the scene of violent clashes between police and students calling for an end to emergency rule. Though officials had provided assurances that the media could operate freely during curfew hours without carrying special passes, dozens of journalists were assaulted and detained by members of the security forces in the course of their reporting, according to local news reports and CPJ sources.

…

“The political crisis will only be exacerbated by attempts to suppress news and opinion,” said Simon. “This government must not abuse the extraordinary powers it has under the state of emergency to keep the public in the dark.”

In May I wrote about the abduction of Bangladeshi journalist, and fellow blogger, Tasneem Khalil by the Bangladeshi military. Tasneem was picked up in the middle of the night for daring to criticize the military that had taken control of Bangladesh in a coup in January of this year. After a worldwide campaign by bloggers, human rights organizations, diplomats, and news organizations Tasneem was released a day later. According to Human Rights Watch, while in custody Tasneem was tortured and forced to "confess" to "anti-state" activities. Yet Tasneem is one of the lucky ones.

Since taking power in January the military regime in Bangladesh has suspended fundamental rights and has embarked on a systematic campaign of arrest, intimidation and torture under the guise of its so-called "anti-corruption" drive. The military has detained 200,000 citizens and tortured many of them as it tries to decimate the major political parties in what was the second largest democracy in the Muslim world.

Tasneem Khalil is now in Sweden after efforts by Human Rights Watch and western diplomats secured his safe passage out of Bangladesh. Today Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Bangladesh’s military regime protesting its record of human rights violations including its torture of Tasneem Khalil. The letter is a chilling indictment of the lawless regime that now rules Bangladesh with force of arms:

Since your administration took over, torture of persons in the custody of the security forces has continued to be routine. Many people have died in custody in unexplained circumstances. Your government has not put into place the most basic safeguards to ensure proper independent access to places of detention, requiring all persons to be held in official places of detention, and establishing a process whereby independent investigations are routinely undertaken when deaths in custody occur.  
 
The joint forces, led by the army, have shown almost complete disregard for established legal norms conducting arrests and holding people in detention. Instead of being brought immediately before a magistrate, detainees are routinely taken to army barracks and other unofficial places of detention and tortured, both as punishment and to force them to sign confessions. Many people are being picked up in the middle of the night without warrant. Led by Bangladesh’s military intelligence unit, the DGFI, the security forces are often in plainclothes and offer no identification. When asked, they claim they can do anything they want because they are thus empowered under Bangladesh’s emergency laws.  
 
…

We are particularly concerned because the rule of law appears to be breaking down under your administration. Under the emergency laws, the right to bail and the right to appeal are routinely denied. Court decisions are regularly ignored. Bangladesh’s many fine judges and lawyers are not being allowed to play their legitimate roles in the legal and judicial process. When some judges began ordering bail when habeas corpus petitions were filed, public prosecutors have secured contrary rulings from the Appellate Division, even in cases where there is clearly no threat to public security or risk of flight. This is all happening under an administration that claims to be committed to reform.  
 
Illegal acts by the security forces are being enabled by the sweeping emergency rules your administration has put in place, which are being misused on a daily basis by the armed forces. Under emergency rules that ban protests and limit effective legal remedies, the security forces believe they can commit abuses with impunity.

…

We would particularly like to use this opportunity to remind you of the case of journalist Tasneem Khalil, who has worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch and as a stringer for CNN. On May 11, 2007, Mr. Khalil was taken into custody after midnight by men in plainclothes claiming to be Bangladesh’s “joint task force.” Mr. Khalil was taken from his home in front of his wife and child, blindfolded and driven to an interrogation center, where he was tortured and questioned about his work as a journalist, writings on his blog, as well as his employment with Human Rights Watch and CNN. Many of Mr. Khalil’s possessions, including computers, phones and passport, were confiscated when his home was ransacked. We immediately contacted your government for help, and Mr. Khalil was eventually released after more than 22 hours in custody.  
 
We have since learned that Mr. Khalil had been held and tortured by the DGFI. The interrogation center Mr. Khalil was taken to is an extension of the DGFI headquarters in Dhaka cantonment that houses at least one torture chamber and a detention facility. This is a full-time illegal detention and torture facility. Mr. Khalil saw sophisticated torture equipment and could hear other detainees screaming in pain. At least five DGFI officers took part in the torture sessions that left Mr. Khalil with severe injuries. At one point he was photographed with a revolver and some bullets placed before him, suggesting that he was being set up for a faked “crossfire killing.” Before his release, Mr. Khalil was forced to make false confessions, and asked to sign documents and testify on video admitting to acts that could be considered treasonous. We have received other credible reports of the same type of activities by DGFI.  
 
As you know, Bangladesh’s military forces have become notorious for taking people into custody, torturing them to death or executing them in faked “crossfire killings.” We were concerned that Mr. Khalil would meet a similar fate even after his release. He had to remain in hiding until, after long and unnecessary negotiations, his passport was eventually returned and he and his family were able to leave Bangladesh for safety abroad.  
 
In a sense Mr. Khalil was fortunate. He had the advantage of foreign friends, colleagues, and diplomats who were in a position to appeal to your government for help. However, there are thousands now in custody, unable to secure bail and often subjected to torture, who are not so well connected. We do not know who is being tortured at this very minute by DGFI or others, but we do know that it is happening.  
 
We appreciate your personal intervention and that of other government officials to ensure Mr. Khalil’s release and safe exit from the country. But as his case makes clear, arbitrary arrest and detention and torture are a significant problem in Bangladesh today.  
 
Your government knows who was responsible for Mr. Khalil’s torture – and that of many other victims – where they work, and where the torture centers are located. Your government knows that these are not isolated cases – an untold number of people are being tortured every day. As a matter of basic human decency as well as your obligations under international law, you must act to close down such torture centers without delay. We look forward to public statements from you and members of your government on this subject, as well as action.  

The Bush Administration has offered tacit support to the military regime in Bangladesh. Last week Mr. Bush praised the military regime in Bangladesh by saying "we support your efforts to fight corruption and collect taxes." Mr. Bush also praised the military for its "roadmap" to hold elections at the end of 2008 and return democracy to Bangladesh. The last time the Bangladesh military presented a similar election "roadmap" was in 1975 when they came to power in a bloody coup. In that instance the military ruled for 16 years until finally the people of Bangladesh rose up to force the military back into the barracks and restore democracy.

This military regime in Bangladesh will eventually be driven back to the barracks. In the mean time, it is determined to practice its own special brand of thuggery while it fights "corruption" and collects "taxes".

"Of one thing we may be sure. The future will never have to ask, with misgiving, what could the Nazis have said in their favor. History will know that whatever could be said, they were allowed to say. They have been given the kind of a Trial which they, in the days of their pomp and power, never gave to any man.

But fairness is not weakness. The extraordinary fairness of these hearings is an attribute of our strength. The Prosecution’s case, at its close, seemed inherently unassailable because it rested so heavily on German documents of unquestioned authenticity. But it was the weeks upon weeks of pecking at this case, by one after another of the defendants, that has demonstrated its true strength. The fact is that the testimony of the defendants has removed any doubt of guilt which, because of the extraordinary nature and magnitude of these crimes, may have existed before they spoke. They have helped write their own judgment of condemnation.

But justice in this case has nothing to do with some of the arguments put forth by the defendants or their counsel. We have not previously and we need not now discuss the merits of all their obscure and tortuous philosophy. We are not trying them for the possession of obnoxious ideas. It is their right, if they choose, to renounce the Hebraic heritage in the civilization of which Germany was once a part. Nor is it our affair that they repudiated the Hellenic influence as well. The intellectual bankruptcy and moral perversion of the Nazi regime might have been no concern of international law had it not been utilized to goosestep the Herrenvolk across international frontiers. It is not their thoughts, it is their overt acts which we charge to be crimes. Their creed and teachings are important only as evidence of motive, purpose, knowledge, and intent.

…

Let me emphasize one cardinal point. The United States has no interest which would be advanced by the conviction of any defendant if we have not proved him guilty on at least one of the Counts charged against him in the Indictment. Any result that the calm and critical judgment of posterity would pronounce unjust would not be a victory for any of the countries associated in this Prosecution." - Justice Robert Jackson, July 26, 1946, Summation for the Prosecution, Nuremburg Major War Figures Trial

In 1987, I visited the Plötzensee Memorial Center in Berlin. In Plötzensee there is a small brick shed that served as the execution chamber. During Nazi rule nearly three thousand people were executed in that small shed. They were either hanged from the eight hooks that line the ceiling or beheaded using a guillotine. I still remember standing in that death room, looking up at the hooks (the guillotine had long vanished), with hushed silence all around me. The death room was small, almost claustrophobic, yet the thousands murdered there testified to the ruthless efficiency of the Nazi killing machine.

Plötzensee stands today in silent remembrance of the evil that touched this planet in the first half of the Twentieth Century. From the ashes of World War II and the Holocaust were born the great institutions of civilized society.

Faced with the horrors of Nazi atrocities, the victorious allies, the United States chief amongst them, decided to try the Nazi leaders involved in the Holocaust. The Nuremburg Trials laid bare for the world to see the Nazi crimes and, at the same time, the fairness and justness of the rule of law. But as Justice Jackson noted in his summation at Nuremburg, "fairness is not weakness."

The Nuremburg Trials became the foundation for much of international criminal law that followed. Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1949 adoption of the Geneva Conventions owe much to the trials at Nuremburg. Beyond its legal ramifications, the trials were important in establishing the moral authority of the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. That moral authority found its most powerful expression during the Cold War - there was never any doubt during the decades of struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States about who was on the right side of history. John F. Kennedy carried that authority when he asked the world to "come to Berlin"; Adlai Stevenson carried that authority when he demanded an answer from Soviet Ambassador Zorin at the U.N. Security Council; and, Ronald Reagan carried that authority when he asked Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

During the 1990s, as Islamist extremism began to spread its claws over the globe, once again there was very little doubt that the United States was on the right side of this struggle and on the right side of history.

Then 9/11 happened. The entire world rallied to the side of the United States in the aftermath of the attacks. On September 12, 2001 the French publication Le Monde declared, "We are all Americans":

In this tragic moment, when words seem so inadequate to express the shock people feel, the first thing that comes to mind is this: We are all Americans! We are all New Yorkers, just as surely as John F. Kennedy declared himself to be a Berliner in 1962 when he visited Berlin. Indeed, just as in the gravest moments of our own history, how can we not feel profound solidarity with those people, that country, the United States, to whom we are so close and to whom we owe our freedom, and therefore our solidarity?

The beacon of freedom, justice and liberty was attacked on September 11, 2001 and the world rallied in support. There was little doubt on September 12, 2001 that the United States would battle this extremism and come out victorious. There was little doubt that the United States would defeat this enemy and defend the ideals of freedom, liberty, and Justice Jackson’s fairness.

 That was then.

Five years later we have seen the willful destruction of a nation and its people over a fictional casus belli; we have seen the kidnapping and disappearing of individuals by the United States of America under the absurd sounding phrase "extraordinary rendition"; we have seen the rise of a modern variation of the gulag archipelago as American run secret prisons began to blanket the globe; we have seen the all too familiar justifications for torture posited by legal minds untethered by a moral compass; we have seen the detention of innocents on made-up charges presented in kangaroo courts; we have seen American torture practices roundly criticized by international human rights bodies; and we have seen the American President, George W. Bush, blithely declare that "we do not torture."

The Bush Administration has always committed or justified detention without charge and torture with a wink and a nod. However, last week it moved to legitimize its actions by writing torture into the law. The Bush Administration legitimized torture much in the same way other odious regimes have done in the past - they have redefined torture and then claimed that they do not "torture". So, small things like punching, kicking, cutting, and other thuggery are now not really torture unless you end up killing or seriously maiming the victim. They have also taken away the power of the Geneva Conventions by stating that the "Geneva Conventions" in effect do not exist for the purposes of defense against torture by the United States. Apparently, even if one could show that the United States violates the Geneva Conventions, the victim could not invoke the Geneva protections. They have left it up to the President to decide which methods constitute activity short of torture unless the method is a "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions - how very civil!

Ultimately, the Bush Administration’s retreat from international humanitarian laws and customs is not about the ability of the Administration to legally justify its position. It is about what kind of a country the United States is and wants to be. It is about the moral authority of the United States and its people. By broaching this discussion on torture and how to try to walk on the edge of the law without gravely violating it, the Bush Administration has already abdicated the moral authority of the United States on the issue. The era that began with the trials at Nuremburg has come to an end. The United States has declared that it is no longer important to be fair or just - the goal is to get your way at any cost. It is no longer important to uphold our values in the face of an onslaught from an enemy that seeks to destroy them. It is no longer important to show the enemy’s evils for what they are by holding them up for all the world to see in a forum that demonstrates the very values that we seek to defend and in a forum that makes it clear to all the stark difference between us and them. Justice Robert Jackson’s words no longer matter in this new era.

Now that we have abdicated our moral authority, the real question is what exactly are we fighting for?

[Cross posted at Taylor Marsh]

Blogathon 2006 ended at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. For the 24 hours preceding the end, my fellow bloggers from Bloggers Against Torture and I managed to hammer out 53 posts on torture. You can read all the posts here. I have also created a handy list of all the posts here for easy access.

This year’s Blogathon raised $100,015.49 for various worthy charities. Bloggers Against Torture raised $1167 for Amnesty International USA. You can see a complete list of all the bloggers that participated and how much money they raised for their respective charities here. The Blogathon started with 400 participating bloggers but only 285 bloggers survived the 24 hours of non-stop blogging.

I wanted to take the time to thank our sponsors for your support and your generous contributions to Amnesty International USA. Those of us who were blogging felt motivated during the waning hours when our minds had turned to mush by your generosity and compassion. Here is a list of all our sponsors and a link to the web sites that they represented (some sponsors pledged anonymously, so thank you to you too - you know who you are):

• Candy Stern
• Donkephant
• Greg Hartnett
• Hermel’s Drive-in
• Milkyway
• odanny
• PeacefulWaters.org
• Rummy’s Diaries
• Subodh
• The Heathlander
• The Peace Tree
• All the anonymous sponsors

We also just had a new sponsor sign up a little while ago. I don’t have the new sponsor’s information yet. When I do, I will add the sponsor to this list. If you are still interested in becoming a sponsor, you can do so until 9 a.m. Tuesday (August 1, 2006). Just click on the sponsorship link on the sidebar to sign up. The list of all sponsors is also posted on the Bloggers Against Torture web site.

I also want to thank the Bloggers Against Torture bloggers who toiled with me throughout the 24 hours to write some worthy posts. Here is a list of my fellow insomniacs:

• bodda
• Chuck Cliff
• Cyberotter
• Ingrid
• Marcella Chester
• Per
• Robbie
• The Heathlander
• The Heretical Jew

I want to especially thank The Heathlander for organizing the schedule and maintaining order throughout the 24 hours. Not only did he manage the posting schedule, he also found time to write posts himself. That is quite a feat - especially when you have to deal with bloggers spread throughout the world trying to post in a coherent manner every 30 minutes. I also want to thank elendil of Rummy’s Diaries for founding Bloggers Against Torture and offering her time and resources generously to the effort. She is the glue that holds this rag tag group of a few hundred bloggers together and is not nearly thanked enough for her dedication and boundless energy.

Finally, I want to thank Crooks and Liars for mentioning Bloggers Against Torture and the Blogathon yesterday on their blog roundup. I also want to thank Taylor Marsh for allowing me to post an announcement about the Blogathon yesterday on her blog.

Until next year…

Alan Dershowitz uses the "ticking bomb" scenario to justify torture. Though Dershowitz makes other equally flimsy excuses to justify torture, the so-called "ticking bomb" scenario is the one that has the most emotional appeal. This is also the argument trotted out most by torture apologists.

The "ticking bomb" scenario goes something like this: if a terrorist has planted a bomb (say, nuclear) in the middle of a major American city (say, New York) and you have managed to capture him but he won’t tell you where he planted the bomb, what do you do? No, this isn’t a question from the movie "Speed", but it is the torture apologists’ favorite question. Would you torture the terrorist in the hope that he will tell you where he planted the bomb? Most people, when confronted with this hypothetical scenario, will likely choose torture to extract the information that will save millions of lives. It sounds so simple.

There are plenty of arguments that can be made to debunk this notion. The moral and legal argument is that if you allow torture in one circumstance, then you are liable to slide down a slippery slope that is very dangerous for a law-abiding society. However, I want to make a rather basic argument that is often lost when this emotional scenario is discussed. My argument is rather simple: torture in this circumstance is guaranteed not to work.

I don’t say that torture in the "ticking bomb" scenario may not work; I say that it will never work. The reason is simple. If you are positing a scenario where a terrorist has already decided to kill millions of people, why would he cough up information to spoil his plans? Does it really matter how much you torture him? Does he believe that if he gives up the information you, the torturer, will somehow forgive him for trying to kill millions of people? He has a much better incentive to lie. By lying he achieves a two-fer. He not only ensures that the "ticking bomb" will go off killing the millions that he intended (including quite likely himself and his interrogators), he also ensures that the torture will stop (at least temporarily) while the hapless torturer and his cohorts follow the false lead. It’s that simple. He has every incentive to lie and no incentive to tell the truth.

While Alan Dershowitz busily tries to reshape his argument, his grand experiment in torture will have killed millions of people. One could then argue that Mr. Dershowitz, by advocating a path that was sure to fail (and thereby denying law enforcement the other more effective alternatives currently at their disposal), would be morally culpable for the deaths of millions. Perhaps, Dershowitz the Torture Apologist, should consider that before he writes another one of his torture tomes.

[Cross posted at Bloggers Against Torture]

According to Human Rights Watch, the Bush Administration has operated a secret prison near Kabul, Afghanistan since 2002. The secret prison is affectionately known as "The Dark Prison". It has served as the drop off point for detainees captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. Detainees are introduced to the art of torture here before being shipped off to other secret CIA torture stations or to Guantanamo Bay. The Dark Prison is the halfway house of the torture world. They practice the kinder gentler version of torture at The Dark Prison, leaving the more esoteric forms of torture to the more permanent CIA black sites.

The authorized kinder gentler torture techniques practiced by the CIA include (in increasing levels of discomfort):

1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.

2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.

3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.

4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.

5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.

6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner’s face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

These authorized techniques combine with creative freelance techniques to give The Dark Prison its reputation. Human Rights Watch has documented reports from detainees who have been guests there:

The detainees said U.S. interrogators slapped or punched them during interrogations. They described being held in complete darkness for weeks on end, shackled to rings bolted into the walls of their cells, with loud music or other sounds played continuously. Some detainees said they were shackled in a manner that made it impossible to lie down or sleep, with restraints that caused their hands and wrists to swell up or bruise. The detainees said they were deprived of food for days at a time, and given only filthy water to drink.  

…

It was pitch black no lights on in the rooms for most of the time…. They hung me up. I was allowed a few hours of sleep on the second day, then hung up again, this time for two days. My legs had swollen. My wrists and hands had gone numb…. There was loud music, [Eminem’s] “Slim Shady” and Dr. Dre for 20 days…. [Then] they changed the sounds to horrible ghost laughter and Halloween sounds. [At one point, I was] chained to the rails for a fortnight…. The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night…. Plenty lost their minds. I could hear people knocking their heads against the walls and the doors, screaming their heads off.

On the upside, no detainee claimed to have been kept at the facility for longer than six weeks. The other benefit of being in The Dark Prison is that it is convenient to the airport:

Most of the detainees said they were arrested in other countries in Asia and the Middle East, and then flown to Afghanistan. Detainees who arrived by airplane said they were driven about five minutes from a landing field to the prison. Afghan guards told some of them that the facility was located near Kabul. Some detainees who were kept at the facility were transferred at various times to and from another secret facility near Kabul. The detainees said they were later transferred to the main U.S. military detention facility near Bagram, where many other Guantánamo detainees say they were initially held.  

The downside of course is that if you are unlucky to be an inmate at The Dark Prison, you are likely at the beginning of a long journey that will be punctuated by torture and more torture at other facilities around the world. You will either be "disappeared" or find yourself in Guantanamo Bay.

There is some speculation that The Dark Prison may have been closed in late 2004 in favor of the better-equipped facility in Bagram, Afghanistan. Nevertheless, this facility remains as another dark spot in the tortured legacy of George W Bush and his Administration.

When the Bush Administration has been relegated to the dustbin of history, we will look back at facilities like The Dark Prison and Abu Ghraib with shame and disgust. We will look back at this time in history as the period when America misplaced its humanity.

[Cross posted at Bloggers Against Torture]