Guantanamo

30. 05. 2008

New Justice Dept. Report Reveals Top Official Knowledge of Guantanamo Abuse

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.

Zum Volltext  >>>>

Quelle: MPAC-DC