This post is going to serve as bit of a catch up - there has been a lot going on in the last few weeks and I would like to point you in some important directions for further research.
1) Since I am currently reseraching torture I often run across documentation of how it is ineffective. Here is a link to a well documented and interesting documentary put together by Human Rights First about the consequences on military interegators and soldiers when torture is shown in entertainment media (such as shows like Lost, Alias, or 24). Important information again demonstrating the fact that torture is not the most effective method of interogation, not to mention the moral, social, and psychological ramifications for both the victim and the torturer.
2) Yes it is true that Obama has said many times that he plans to close Guantanamo Bay within his first year in office. This is great news but unfortunately it is not the great news we are looking for. Saying one will close Guantanamo Bay is a very simplistic statement that is often mistaken for a solution to the legal, moral, social, and political problems created through the Bush administration's interrogation and detention techniques (demonstrated in an easy to see location at GB).
Unfortunately there are big questions that are not answered by this statement: where will the men who have been declared innocent (and who are still being held there) be released to? What will happen to those who are still labled enemy combattants when the prison is closed? Will there be any future oversight as to how, where and until when they will be detained?
A highly commended research report dealing with these exact questions was published in November of 2008 by Graduate Students from UC Berkeley in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights. "Guantánamo and Its Aftermath: U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices and Their Impact on Detainees, based on a two-year study, reveals in graphic detail the cumulative effect of Bush Administration policies on the lives of 62 released detainees." Click here for a link to the website where you can find the report.
Another important question that is raised here is will there be any ramifications for the illegal detention, and interrogation techniques used at GB? Obama was recently quoted in an interview on ABC's This Week saying:
"US President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday he was not ruling out possible
prosecution for abuses committed under the George Bush administration, saying no
one "is above the law".
"We're still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of
interrogations, detentions, and so forth,"...when asked about alleged abuses
under Bush." ... "Obviously we're going to be looking at past practices and I
don't believe that anybody is above the law," Obama said."
This is the first time that he has mentioned such an option. Furthermore it is an important statement since prosecution of elected officials within the executive branch is unheard of - to my knowledge it has never happend within the US government. Part of this is due to the ability of a president to give persidential pardons (as done on behalf of Nixon by President Ford).
Here is a link to a very well written, well documented article outlining a bit of the history behind executive prosecutions internationally, as well as the different options available for prosecuting Bush administration officials. I especially like this article because it focuses on the importance of educating the public on the crimes committed as a benefit in and of itself, apart from actual criminal prosecution. This is an essential step in creating a historical record that denounces the illegal practices and makes it less likely they will be repeated by future administrations. Furthermore it is very indepth but pretty easy to understand - I highly recommend taking the time to read it, it is a fantastic article.
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