Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 20. september 2004 / Timeline September 20, 2004
Version 3.519. September 2004, 21. September 2004
09/20/2004
New US Financing for Indonesian Military
By: Patrick Kennedy The Bush administration is working to assist
the brutal Indonesian military with alarmingly new haste. ETAN has
recently learned of State Department plans to budget foreign
military financing (FMF) for Indonesia in 2006.
FMF, which funds weapon sales, has been banned for Indonesia since
2000 following its scorched-earth campaign in East Timor. Not a
single Indonesian officer has served jail time for the crimes
against humanity committed then, and the military continues to
commit heinous rights violations with impunity throughout the
archipelago.
The final decision on inclusion of FMF in the 2006 State Department
budget has not yet been made.
09/20/2004
Center for Constitutional Rights Seeks Injunction to Require
Private Contractors in Torture Suit to Properly Train
Interrogators
Recent Accusations of Continued Torture Prompt Filing
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=PPbySqgPIb&Content=437
Synopsis
On September 14, 2004, the legal team led by the Center for
Constitutional Rights and the Philadelphia law firm of Montgomery,
McCracken, Walker & Rhoads filed for a preliminary injunction
against CACI International, the U.S. government contractor at
Abu-Ghraib Prison and other facilities in Iraq. The injunction asks
that the court require all CACI interrogators to receive proper
training in the laws on torture and how to conduct interrogations
free of torture.
Plaintiffs have filed a class action complaint on behalf of torture
victims in Iraq that alleges private contractors Titan Corporation
of San Diego, California, and CACI International of Arlington,
Virginia and its subsidiaries conspired with U.S. officials to
humiliate, torture and abuse people detained by U.S. authorities in
Iraq. The complaint also names three individuals who worked or
subcontracted with the companies: Stephen Stephanowicz and John
Israel and Adel Nahkla of Titan.
Reports by U.S. military investigators state that CACI sent
untrained interrogators to the detention facilities in Iraq. The
Fay Report states that CACI interrogators used tactics such as
threatening detainees with dogs and forcing detainees to simulate
sex acts and other sexual abuse and threats of violence.
The Schlesinger Report makes clear that torture during
interrogations conducted by untrained interrogators is a
predictable result. Plaintiffs also included in the filing
statements by two experienced military interrogators who criticized
CACI practices.
It is still unclear why CACI was permitted to send over untrained
interrogators when the military knew it needed trained
interrogators. What is known is that CACI improperly influenced the
military procurement system.
Plaintiffs' lawyers have received reports that recently released
detainees were tortured as late as July 2004, despite the earlier
reports of torture coming to light.
Susan Burke, of Montgomery, McCracken, stated, "In light of this
newly released information, we were compelled to protect our
clients by filing this injunction. We hope that the court will
grant our narrow and modest request. Clearly, both the detainees
and American troops remain at risk if we let CACI keep sending over
interrogators not trained in the law of war."
Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney Jennie Green
added, "The interrogation techniques used violate the most basic
principles of international law, and U.S. courts have been clear
that plaintiffs may sue their torturers in U.S. court. The courts
must act to prevent such torture from continuing. We strongly
believe that the credibility of U.S. claims to abide by the rule of
law is at stake."
Added Shereef Akeel, who met with the recently released detainees,
"I interviewed a 15-year-old boy who said he was stripped naked,
starved, beaten and repeatedly sodomized by Americans. His 18-year
old brother and uncle were also tortured. CACI must be required to
take action to make such barbaric actions stop."
Barbara Olshansky, Deputy Director for Litigation at the Center for
Constitutional Rights, said, "We all have to be concerned about the
hidden role of private contractors in detention centers in Iraq and
elsewhere. The abuses committed in this country's name and the
absence of any investigation into the corporations' responsibility
by the Bush Administration sends a terrible message to the world
about our commitment to human rights."
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