Six Reasons the "Dark Side" Still Exists Under Obama

Six Reasons the “Dark Side” Still Exists Under Obama

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/six-reasons-the-dark-side-still-exists-under-obama/
April 22, 2013,

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The report aims to offer a definitive account of what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, as well as the numerous covert detention facilities, known as “black sites,” where detainees were held. It noted that since the Obama administration decided not to commission an official study or establish a Truth Commission, the report is likely to be the only record of what happened. You can read it in full here (pdf).

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1. Executive Orders Don’t Last: The most concrete step Obama has taken to end torture — signing an executive order banning the practice — could easily be rescinded by the next administration. This could be done in secret, the report notes, without any formal announcement.

2. It Hasn’t Deleted “Appendix M”: The Bush administration edited the Army Field Manual on Interrogations, which for 50 years has provided guidance to soldiers on how to treat prisoners. The latest version, produced in 1992, specifically prohibited “abnormal sleep deprivation,” which the manual calls “mental torture,” and “forcing an individual to stand, sit, or kneel in abnormal positions for prolonged periods of time” which it considers “physical torture.”

But in 2006, the Bush administration removed that language and added Appendix M, which authorized “separation,” isolating the detainee from others to prevent him from gathering information from others or learning new counter-interrogation techniques. The report found that the tactic “could inflict significant mental and physical stress” on a detainee and could technically allow him to be interrogated for 40 hours straight, with only four-hour rest periods on either end. Appendix M also forbids sensory deprivation, but allows goggles, blindfolds and handcuffs to “generate a perception of separation” for up to 12 hours, or longer if security necessitates it, the report said.

The Obama administration to date hasn’t re-edited the manual to remove Appendix M or restore the deleted language.

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