Some U.S. prison contractors may avoid charges...contractors

[cally]

I don't think this was posted on DU before. Another hideous action by these insane bozos.

Interior Department hired Abu Ghraib interrogators; Loophole tangles prosecution; Army chain of command blurred in civilian abuses

By Scott Shane
Sun National Staff
Originally published May 24, 2004
The U.S. civilian interrogators questioning prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq work not under a military contract but on one from the Department of the Interior, a bureaucratic twist that could complicate any effort to hold them criminally responsible for abuse of detainees or other offenses.

The unexpected role of the Department of the Interior, usually associated not with wartime intelligence-gathering but with national parks, grew out of a government plan to cut costs. But in practice, it may have increased costs and reduced scrutiny, said Peter W. Singer of the Brookings Institution.

"You're placing a military interrogation task under Smokey the Bear," Singer said. "You can't have good oversight."

What's more, legal experts say, contractors for nonmilitary agencies such as the Department of the Interior may be able to escape prosecution for crimes they commit overseas because of an apparent loophole in the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The law, passed in 2000, applies only to contractors with the Department of Defense - a flaw some members of Congress want to remedy.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.contractor24may24,0,1298454.story

edited to correct my grammar. I can't believe some of the sentences I type..sigh.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. "increased costs and reduced scrutiny"

That folks, is the same result we'll get when we privatize the rest of the government. How much do we have to bear before the rest of America realizes that conservative ideas are stupid, stupid, stupid.

[Spazito]

2. They are still subject to the 1996 War Crimes Act, US Code, Title 18..

Section 2441:

STATUTE-

(a) Offense. - Whoever, whether inside or outside the United

States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described

in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned

for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the

victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.

(b) Circumstances. - The circumstances referred to in subsection

(a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of

such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States

or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of

the Immigration and Nationality Act).

(c) Definition. - As used in this section the term ''war crime''

means any conduct -

(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international

conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to

such convention to which the United States is a party;

(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the

Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on

Land, signed 18 October 1907;

(3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the

international conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or

any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a

party and which deals with non-international armed conflict; or

(4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and

contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or

Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices

as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3

May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol,

willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.

more

http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+1070+0++%28War%20Crimes%20Act%29%20%20AND%20%28%2818%29%20ADJ%20USC%29%3ACITE%20AND%20%28USC%20w%2F10%20%282441%29%29%3ACITE%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20


Re "(a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of

such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States

or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of

the Immigration and Nationality Act).

Here is the definition of a national from Section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act:

(21) The term "national" means a person owing permanent allegiance to a state.



(22) The term "national of the United States" means:



(A) a citizen of the United States, or



(B) a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States.

Link:

http://www.mctyrelaw.com/acts/article.asp?id=55&scope=acts

[Spazito]

3. It is interesting that the Dept of the Interior was used, simply...

to hide the use and payment of contractors. You would think the Pentagon could have found some of the missing trillions to pay them.