The First Set of Disappearances Were Called Extraordinary
Renditions
While extraordinary renditions were the sanitized words the US Government,
and, sadly, the media, used to label the disappearances, there was nothing
extraordinary about them.
The CIA used the same tactics that survivors of torture everywhere have come
to know all too well. Without an arrest, without charges, in darkness or in
shadows, people were disappeared, drugged, hooded, and sent to a clandestine
prison where they were tortured.
After denying the existence of CIA-run secret prisons for
years, the Bush administration now claims to have closed them. As always the
case when governments disappear people, we may never know what happened to all
of the prisoners. We do know that at least some of the prisoners were
transferred to DoD custody and sent to Guantanamo.
The Second Set of Disappearances Are Being Called
'Transfers' and Are Happening Now
If extraordinary renditions were the sanitized words used to describe the
first set of disappearances, transfer and repatriation are the sanitized words
being used to describe the second set of disappearances.
Yesterday, the Department of Defense 'transferred' eight more prisoners from
Guantanamo to
governments where torture and indefinite detentions are common. According to
the DoD, six prisoners (the Pentagon uses the sanitized term 'detainees') were
'transferred' to Afghanistan,
one was 'transferred' to Libya
and one to Yemen.
Languishing in those countries’ prisons is an unfortunate fate for men that
the US Government has already held for years, likely tortured, and is only
releasing now because prosecutors lack any evidence to prove their guilt. As with
all disappearances, authorities have refused to release even the names of the
prisoners.
These eight are the latest in a series of transfers – disappearances – as
the government attempts to escape from the legal pit it climbed into while attempting to bypass the
Geneva Convention and US Constitution. So deep in the dark hole of torture, the only option
they see is to keep digging.
Much like the Military Commissions Act, the law created to govern Guantanamo, the 'transfer' and 'repatriation' of
prisoners is designed to look good on paper. DoD press releases state that 'the
transfer is a demonstration of the United States' desire not to hold
detainees any longer than necessary.'
But, much like the Military Commissions Act, the transfers continue a system
of disappearances and torture. Much like the Military Commissions Act, the
transfers are a PR stunt that hides torture and denies survivors any hope of
ever telling their story and seeking justice.
The men 'transferred' yesterday may never see a day in court. They may never
get to tell their stories. Along with the Military Commissions Act – the
Torture Law – we must demand that the second set of disappearances comes to an
end.
Subjects:
Guantanamo |
Language |
Transfers
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