Virginians: Help us stop the torture!

[oxbow]

Virginia's own Senator Warner is the chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee. He has the ability to start a formal investigation into recent allegations of US prisoner abuse by the Int'l Red Cross, Amnesty Int'l, The UN and many other human rights watchdog groups. If you have a minute, please write him an email urging him to do so. As his constituents, we have alot more sway in this situation. We have the ability to stop things like what happenned in Abu Ghraib. (incidentally, the ACLU has just won a case that frees up photographs and videos of prisoner abuse many times worse than what has been leaked so far. Expect to see these hit the media in the next few weeks).

So there are two things we can do: General Wesley Clark has a petition that you can sign here calling on Senator Warner to start formal investigations: http://ga4.org/campaign/prisonerabuse


As his constituents, we can also send him personal emails and/or call him. We vote for him, so he is much more likely to take these seriously. My email to Senator Warner is copied below to give you some ideas. You can contact Senator Warner here: http://capwiz.com/rollcall/officials/congress/?state=VA&azip=22027&lvl=C&district=11

You can also call him at [phone]. He is one of the few good Republicans in Congress. I believe that this campaign will succeeed if we all give a few minutes to it. Thanks alot guys!


Dear Senator Warner,
As your constituent, I want you to know that I am very proud of you. Your words have been a voice of sanity in a Congress that seems increasingly disconnected from normal, moderate American people. Your morals in particular have been on display, as you refuse to yield to partisan pressure from either side of the aisle. My email today has a lot to do with morals.
Unfortunately, I feel that the Bush Administration has squandered our legacy of moral leadership on the international stage.


Although the President has said the United States is "committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example," the Administration's actions don't match his words. In his infamous memo, Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush to ignore the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war – a treaty that protects our soldiers captured abroad – to give the president more "flexibility." This so-called "flexibility" along with other Administration policies and statements may have ultimately contributed to the environment in which the abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan have occurred.


I urge you to open a formal investigation into allegations of torture and prisoner abuse stemming from Bush administration policies enacted since September 11th. Among the disturbing practices identified so far: the rendition of prisoners to countries where they can be tortured, failing to register "ghost prisoners" to deny them visits by the Red Cross, employing civilian contract agents to conduct interrogations outside military rules, and the reported prolonged degrading treatment of some detainees in U.S. custody. All of these deserve further investigation.


With the right leadership and accountability, couldn't the Administration have prevented the embarrassment of Abu Ghraib and the controversy at Guantanamo Bay? While some are blaming individual soldiers, doesn't at least some of the responsibility rest with the civilian leadership of our government? Don't the American people deserve the truth? Shouldn't Congress lead an investigation?


Please respond at the earliest possible date to this very pressing issue.

[magnolia]

1. Done

And done.

[oxbow]

2. thank you magnolia

please also consider calling his office. I plan to again tomorrow

[oxbow]

3. Anyone interested in a citizen's lobby to visit Warner's office?

I went there once before as part of a PFAW citizen's lobby during the filibuster fight. It was a very positive experience. We could coordinate with Wes Clark and set something up for Virginians to talk with Warner's staff.

I would also like to point you to a new article in the Guardian titled "Revealed: grim world of new Iraqi torture camps"

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1520136,00.html

These are, in my opinion, the most important excerpts:

"To add to HRW's allegations of beatings, electric shocks, arbitrary arrest, forced confessions and detention without trial, The Observer can add its own charges These include the most brutal kinds of torture, with methods resurrected from the time of Saddam; of increasingly widespread extra-judicial executions; and of the existence of a 'ghost' network of detention facilities - in parallel with those officially acknowledged - that exist beyond all accountability to international human rights monitors, NGOs and even human rights officials of the new Iraqi government.

What is most shocking is that it is done under the noses of US and UK officials, some of whom admit that they are aware of the abuses being perpetrated by units who are diverting international funding to their dirty war."