May 30, 2008

Last week, the Department of Justice inspector general released the findings of an internal investigation, revealing that U.S. officials at the highest level of government received reports on the abuse of prisoners in military custody as early as 2002. The May 2008 report is the first to identify former national security advisor Condoleezza Rice as having received complaints of torture.

The 437-page report details regular meetings of the White House National Security Council Policy Coordinating Committee, chaired by Secretary Rice's lawyer John Bellinger, in which Justice Department Criminal Division officials reported FBI complaints of detainee abuse and subsequent concerns about damage to the rule of law at Guantanamo. FBI agents who witnessed torture and mistreatment at the U.S. prison camp began documenting the incidents in 2002 and created what was termed the "war crimes" file. The file was active until 2003, when an FBI official reportedly ordered that the FBI agents cease documenting the illegal acts they had witnessed because, according to the report, "investigating detainee allegations of abuse was not the FBI's mission."

According to the New York Times, the DOJ's report "shows the FBI's leadership failed to act aggressively to end the abuse," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. The report "only underscores the pressing need for an independent and comprehensive investigation of prisoner abuse."

The report also details friction between the FBI and the CIA over certain cases, including the interrogations of Abu Zubeida, a senior al-Qaeda figure captured in 2002, and Mohammed al-Qahtani, an al-Qaeda member who was believed to be the 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks. In the days following Zubeida's arrest, the FBI conducted an interrogation to obtain information. Six months later, due to government pressure, the CIA took over Zubeida's questioning, utilizing waterboarding or simulated drowning, as a means to extract information. FBI agents present at the interrogation denounced the Agency's methods, bringing the issue to top FBI officials, who decided not to participate in interrogations that used techniques not authorized by their service.

The same doubts occurred at Guantanamo, when the military began to use harsh methods in questioning Qahtani. According to an account of his interrogation, Qahtani was subjected to sleep deprivation, loud music, and extreme temperatures during interrogation sessions that lasted 20 hours a day. FBI agents expressed concern over the legality of his treatment, but the main debate centered on whether information gathered in that way could be completely reliable and admissible in court. In the end, the views of both the Pentagon and the CIA prevailed, convincing the FBI not to take part in interrogations using the controversial techniques.

This report continues to peel away at the layers of denial surrounding the U.S. government's use of torture, and exposes the lack of scrutiny from high level government officials regarding the legality of U.S interrogation tactics.

Although the Administration continues to maintain that government does not practice or condone torture as a matter of policy, evidence continues to surface that the very definition of torture, as promoted by the Bush Administration, remains tenuous.

The Administration's current tactic of denying its use of dubious interrogation methods, while maintaining government compliance with international obligations, debases the very core of our American value system. It is time the Administration ceases this inconsistency and begins to work toward the restoration of a government that all Americans can believe in.