NORTH CAROLINA
STOP TORTURE NOW
PO Box 50345
Raleigh, NC 27650
e-mail via:
contact AT ncstoptorturenow.net
(919) 834-4478
(evenings, or messages during business hours)
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WATT QUESTIONS MUELLER ON FBI INVESTIGATION
IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER DISPUTES AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT
BUSH ADMITS USE OF WATERBOARDING
A CHRONOLOGY OF NCSTN ACTIVITIES
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WATT SPELLS OUT HIS DEMAND
FOR A REPORT ON FBI INVESTIGATION:
"A-E-R-O CONTRACTORS"April 23 - Congressman Mel Watt, asked FBI Director Robert Mueller for an update on the investigation into Aero Contractors' support of the extaordinary rendition program during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee today.
Watt noted during questioning of Mueller that the North Carolina Attorney General had referred the matter to the FBI more than a year ago, following an inquiry from 22 state legislators. He also noted that three Aero employees had been indicted in Germany.
And, he wondered, when might Mr. Mueller provide the committee an update on an investigation of which Mueller claimed he was completely unaware.
Thanks to Congressman Watt for raising this issue and to his constituents for their persistence in bringing this to his attention.
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IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES PRISONERS FLOWN THROUGH SHANNON; ALLIES REMAIN VIGILANT
March 15 - Dermot Ahern, Irish Foreign Minister, rejected concerns raised by human rights group, Amnesty International, that United States security forces brought a tortured prisoner through Shannon Airport.
RTÉ news reports as well as coverage in the Irish Examiner quote Executive director of Amnesty’s Irish section Colm O’Gorman on the group's investigation into the arrest, detention and torture of Khaled al-Maqtari.
The investigation revealed that a plane used to transfer him between two of the prisons where he was kept during his 30-month ordeal refuelled at Shannon the day before he was transported.
Mr. al-Maqtari, a 31-year-old Saudi-born resident of Yemen, was arrested in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in January 2004 and was held for over a week in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
It was during his subsequent transfer to another prison in Afghanistan that the plane stopped at Shannon. Al-Maqtari was eventually released without charge late in 2006.
“We think there is a compelling case that he was on (the plane)” when it landed at Shannon in January 2004, the Irish Examinar reported O’Gorman said.
And, even if Mr. al Maqtari was not aboard, the fact that Shannon was used by an aircraft involved in the practice of extraordinary rendition defies international humanitarian law.
“What that [the investigation] specifically tells us is that Shannon Airport is at the very least being used as a staging post for these kind of missions by CIA-fronted operations and that Shannon in this case was used as a fuelling stop,” he said.
NCSTN continues to work with cooperators in Ireland, and especially the Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance to monitor rendition-linked aircraft as they pass through Shannon.
Indeed, during the first two weeks of March, Irish allies greeted, rendition-linked aircraft: N478GS, N54PA, and N475LC as they arrived at Shannon, and even photographed a pilot as he monitored refueling.
Read more in these Independent Media dispatches:
TWO UNWELCOME RETURN VISITORS TO SHANNON
CIA TORTURE PLANE BACK AT SHANNON
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BUSH INSISTS TORTURE STAY IN U.S. TOOLKIT, NEXT REGIME IS SILENT -- OR WORSE -- SUPPORTIVE
March 8 - President Bush, today, announced his veto of a bill that would have limited the CIA to 19 interrogation techniques that are used by the military and spelled out in the Army Field Manual.
Bush said he vetoed the measure because it is important for the CIA to have a separate and classified interrogation program for suspected terrorists who possess critical information about possible plots against the United States.
Senator Jay Rockefeller, (D-W. Va.) chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had heard nothing to suggest that the CIA, through enhanced interrogation methods, had obtained information to thwart a terrorist attack. "On the other hand, I do know that coercive interrogations can lead detainees to provide false information in order to make the interrogation stop."
The leading Democratic presidential candidates did not vote on the bill, signaling their agreement with Bush's reluctance to deny "future presidents, from authorizing the CIA to conduct" interrogations using cruel and inhumane techniques.
Senator McCain earlier admitted his belief that the CIA needs wider latitude than the U.S. military is allowed and voted against the restrictive language added to the intelligence appropriations bill.According to some observers, Bush's stance directly jeopardizes U.S. troops and civilians.
"The president's refusal to sign this crucial legislation into law will undermine counterterrorism efforts globally and delay efforts to rebuild U.S. credibility on human rights," said Elisa Massimino, Washington director for Human Rights First.In the North Carolina Congressional delegation, every Democrat AND Walter Jones, (R-3rd District) voted to ban torture. Both US Senators endorsed torture as an interrogation technique.
There are not enough votes to override the veto. Whether opponents of torture have the courage to choke off intelligence funds entirely remains to be seen.
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For the more headlines and independent video of NCSTN actions and press briefings, visit:
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FIND OUT WHERE WE'VE BEEN SO FAR
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updated 11 May 2008, JMcI