Details of the 24 page confidential Red Cross report on Iraqi prisoner abuse are leaking out. The report says most of the abuses occurred during military interrogation and were "tantamount to torture":

The Red Cross saw American officers mistreating Abu Ghraib prisoners by keeping them naked in total darkness in empty cells, and up to 90 percent of Iraqi detainees were arrested by mistake, according to a report disclosed Monday. The report by the International Committee of the Red Cross supports its allegations that abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers was broad and "not individual acts" - contrary to President Bush's contention that the mistreatment "was the wrongdoing of a few."

"ICRC delegates directly witnessed and documented a variety of methods used to secure the cooperation of the persons deprived of their liberty with their interrogators," according to the confidential report. The delegates saw in October how detainees at Abu Ghraib were kept "completely naked in totally empty concrete cells and in total darkness," the report said. It said it found evidence supporting prisoners' allegations of other forms of abuse during arrest, initial detention and interrogation. Among the evidence were burns, bruises and other injuries consistent with the abuse that prisoners alleged, it said.

Among the acts considered to be torture are "brutality, hooding, humiliation and threats of "imminent execution."

The ICRC has issued a press release on the premature release of its 24 page confidential report on the coalition forces’ treatment of persons held in Iraq:

Geneva (ICRC) – The Wall Street Journal of 7 May has published extensive excerpts from a confidential document entitled "Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq During Arrest, Internment and Interrogation" of January 2004. "I am profoundly disturbed that the report was made available for publication without the consent of the ICRC." declared ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger. "The ICRC fulfils its mandate to protect persons detained in armed conflict by addressing problems and violations through private approaches to the detaining authorities and their superiors. This long-standing practice allows us to act in a decisive manner, while ensuring that our delegates have continued access to detainees around the world."

The ICRC has visited persons held by the coalition forces and submitted its confidential reports to the authorities responsible on the basis of its mandate under the Geneva Conventions. This report summarizes a series of working papers handed over to coalition forces. ICRC delegates’ findings were based on their observations and on private interviews with prisoners of war and civilian internees during the 29 visits the ICRC conducted in 14 places of detention throughout Iraq between 31 March and 24 October 2003.

by TChris

Tempering justice with mercy is one of the most difficult tasks of the criminal justice system -- almost as difficult as deciding what constitutes "justice" in the first place.

Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer, killed his daughter in 1993. He says he did it to spare her from unbearable suffering.

At trial, Tracy's pediatric orthopedic surgeon testified that the tiny girl, contorted by cerebral palsy, would likely face "incredible" pain after surgery to ease a permanently dislocated hip. The procedure involved removing part of her upper leg to create a "flail limb" that would no longer be connected by bone.

Both the surgeon and a family doctor had told the Latimers that Tylenol was the only painkiller Tracy could have after her release from hospital. Anything stronger could have shut down her fragile respiratory system, Mr. Latimer said.

Knowing that his daughter would eventually need the same surgery on her other hip, Latimer couldn't bear to see his daughter suffer. A jury found him guilty of second-degree murder but recommended that he serve only one year in jail and another under house arrest at his farm. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Latimer would have to serve the ten year mandatory minimum sentence for the crime.

Latimer, who has served more than three years, hasn't yet applied for clemency because he thinks the Supreme Court misspoke when it said he could have controlled his daughter's pain with more effective medications. He worries that the misunderstanding needs to be resolved before his clemency petition will be taken seriously. That's unfortunate, because Latimer is a perfect candidate for clemency. Whether his actions are viewed as morally right or wrong, it's obvious that Latimer poses no risk to others. The unique and tragic circumstances of his case make the sentence proposed by the jury a more just outcome than continued incarceration.

Shades of the Roman Colliseum and gladiators? The first court martial trial of a U.S. soldier charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners will be that of Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., who served as part of the now infamous 372nd Military Police Company. The trial will take place May 19 at the Baghdad Convention Center and will be open to the public and the media.

Has Sivits met with a lawyer yet? How can a lawyer prepare for such a complex trial involving the military, the intelligence agency and private contractors on ten days notice? Oh, we get it. That's enough time for the prosecution to parade the soldier's action before the world but not enough time to compel the Government to furnish the defense with sufficient detail about the chain of command to allow it to prepare a credible defense that the soldier's actions were condoned or initiated at the behest of higher-ups , whether they be intelligence officers by or private contractors.

Sounds to us like this young man is being fed to the lions. We're not in any sense condoning his actions, whatever they might have been...we assume the Government chose his case first because it was the easiest for them to prove....but we do object to him being held out as a sacrificial lamb to show the world the U.S. will punish these offenders to the fullest extent possible if at the same time it precludes an investigation and airing of the higher-ups along the chain of command.

[comments open again--our new close comments script seems to prevent old comments from being showed. Until it's fixed, we're re-opening the comments on this thread. But please try to stay on topic]

Via FourthAmendment.Com:

Strip frisk policy of inmates was related to a penological purpose and was valid: Davidson v Kyle (2004, WD NY) 2004 US Dist Lexis 8013. Defendant answering door in response to police knock was in public place for arrest on warrant under Santana; he was not under compulsion by answering door: State v Shellenbarger (2004, Ida App) 2004 Ida App Lexis 37.

Comment: One cannot help but wonder what the current allegations of U.S. violations of the Geneva Conventions in Iraq are having, consciously or subconsciously, on the deliberations of the U.S. Supreme Court in Rasul v Bush, the Guantanamo detainees case, considering that the government argues that the detainees at Guantanamo are not subject either to the Geneva Conventions or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, treaties championed by the U.S. when they were adopted. If the Baghdad press conference at 9 am ET CNN today is an indication, we consider the allegations there a violation of the Geneva convention. In addition, a Canadian citizen living in Los Angeles has sued in the U.S. Claims Court claiming he was tortured in Iraq at the beginning of the war, and he saw worse than he received. What happened happened, and we'll know more soon, if the alleged rape and homicide photographs are released. But, the fact that it might happen in the future was the reason the U.S. military gave in early 2001 for not wanting the U.S. to ratify the International Criminal Court treaty because we did not want our soldiers tried as potential war criminals. Makes one wonder what they were planning for Iraq.

by TChris

More images of abusive treatment of Iraqi prisoners are coming. As disturbing as they will be to see, as damaging as they will be to the reputation of the United States, they can't be hidden.

Inside the White House, several of Mr. Bush's aides have argued that he has little choice but to make them public. Sooner or later, they say, the images will leak out, prolonging the pain, fueling Iraqi and Arab suspicions of a Pentagon-orchestrated cover-up, and giving new life to calls for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's removal.

Some Pentagon officials argue that releasing the pictures would jeopardize criminal prosecutions by giving defense lawyers the opportunity to argue that the publicity has made it impossible for their clients to have a fair trial. But crime scene pictures are splashed across newspapers and TV screens every day. Scott Peterson, Martha Stewart, O.J. Simpson, et al. demonstrate that pretrial publicity doesn't keep a case from going to trial.

Other military officials argue that the pictures will only make the Arab world, and the Iraqi public, angrier. True, but even if the pictures weren't likely to leak out, they shouldn't be hidden from public view. Suppressing the truth because we know that others won't like it isn't consistent with our core values.

Pretending that the pictures don't exist and hoping that it all blows over was the Rumsfeld strategy. It didn't work then, and it won't work now. The pictures should be made public.

by TChris

The President's web page on corporate responsibility claims that his administration "continues to pursue an aggressive agenda to fight corporate fraud and abuse" for the protection of investors. So the Bush administration must support regulatory proposals that benefit investors, right?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has come under intense pressure from business and some members of the Bush administration to water down proposed rule changes in the way corporate boards are elected, mutual funds are governed and hedge funds are regulated.

The proposals, which flow from scandals in the mutual fund industry and at some of the nation's largest corporations, have split the agency largely along partisan lines. The two Democratic commissioners support them, the two Republicans have expressed skepticism about them, and the swing vote is in the hands of the agency's chairman, William H. Donaldson, a Bush appointee.

Donaldson is being pressured to water down the rules by "an administration eager to court the chief executives during an election year."

The White House web page gives the President credit for leading the S.E.C.'s effort to improve corporate accountability, and it leaves the impression that the administration fully supports proposals for reform. The administration's effort to sway the S.E.C. in favor of corporate executives isn't mentioned.

by TChris

Even before they met John Thompson, the kids in an eighth grade class in Philadelphia understood that it's easy to be falsely accused of a crime.

His message sunk in with students at the school in North Philadelphia's Olney section, who said they had seen neighbors questioned for crimes they did not commit, who themselves have been targeted as thieves just for picking up a jar in a grocery store.

That's what happened to 14-year-old Stacey Scott. The owner of the market threw her out, humiliating her in front of other customers. "I felt like, why would she do that to me? Did I look different?" Scott said. "I didn't really know how to feel."

Thompson talked to the kids about his 18 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. His message: "I never gave up." Thompson's lawyer, Michael Banks, also had a lesson for the kids.

"You can make a difference in someone's life if you put your mind to it," he told the students. "Despite John's near-execution, our system has the potential to work if all of us work with it."

by TChris

Until recently, the White House did a masterful job of maintaining control of its message. The message wasn't usually accurate, but at least the main players stayed on the same page as they parroted the administration's line.

Those days are gone, says Time.

Top Bush officials griped about what one called Rumsfeld's "destructive arrogance." Says the adviser: "You have no idea what it's like to deal with the United States of Rumsfeld." Colin Powell's closest aides, like chief of staff Larry Wilkerson, were quoted in GQ magazine, saying that Powell was weary of fighting ideological "utopians" in the Administration and being forced to do "damage control" and "apologizing around the world." Powell's foes, perhaps in retaliation, blamed him for being slow to decide to travel to the Middle East to help quell the furor over the abuse scandal. Says a senior Bush official of the open warfare: "It is not very conducive to a healthy working environment."

The White House will surely try to regroup, but Bush and those who surround him are natural finger-pointers. Keeping on message will grow increasingly difficult as the administration struggles to find a positive message to spread.

by TChris

As TalkLeft reported yesterday, there's some uncertainty as to whether a fingerprint found in the van used by the persons responsible for train explosions in Madrid belongs to Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon lawyer who was arrested last week. The government arrested Mayfield before checking to see if he'd been to Spain (his family says he hasn't). It's now clear that Mayfield's activities as a lawyer contributed to his arrest.

Mayfield represented Jeffrey Battle in a child custody dispute. Battle was convicted of conspiring to help the Taliban fight against the United States. The government acknowledges that it views Mayfield's choice of clients with suspicion. An official says it would be different if the print matched "some little old lady in Peoria."

Mayfield's brother thinks Brandon is being "profiled" by the government. At the very least, Brandon Mayfield is being judged by the company he keeps -- a frightening prospect when the association is a professional one.

by TChris

Nobody should need to hear a legal opinion in order to understand that it's wrong to degrade and humiliate prisoners, but some are asking whether Pentagon officials blew it by rejecting a plan to send Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) to help supervise the unit responsible for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. Buyer, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, volunteered for the assignment.

In a telephone interview Friday with The Associated Press, Buyer said military officials all the way up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff had approved his assignment to the 800th Military Police Brigade, which has handled Iraqi prisoners of war since the beginning of the conflict.

Buyer had experience, having served as a lawyer at a POW camp during the first Gulf War. Nonetheless, the Army decided that Buyer's "high-profile status could bring danger to the troops around him." In retrospect, the decision not to take advantage of Buyer's experience brought danger to prisoners who were at the mercy of poorly supervised troops.

We're on the road today. The TL kid is in New York, studying for law school finals, so we'll be spending much of Mother's Day with Markos of Daily Kos, his wife Elisa and baby Ari in Berkeley, who are just back from a trip to El Salvador. Monday we're giving a lecture to habeas (death penaltyappeals) lawyers in San Francisco on how to challenge eyewitness identification evidence, and then we'll be back. TChris will be around some while we're gone, as his schedule permits, and we'll post a bit from the road, just not at our usual pace.

We hope all you readers (including the TL kid) will remember to call your mothers today....and we wish all the mothers reading this a happy and relaxing day Mother's Day.

P.S. Check out this picture of Ari in Wired News, part of an article Elisa wrote about the environmental dilemma of diapers.

Update: What a great day. We're now Tia Jeralyn. The cutest baby we've seen in 20 years.