FBI's Trial Balloon- Torture
Matthew Gaylor
freematt at coil.com
Sun Oct 21 22:10:19 PDT 2001
[Note from Matthew Gaylor: It is an established procedure of a
government to first hint at something that they are considering to
gauge the reaction. This has got to be one of the more disturbing
items I've read over the course of the last couple of weeks. The US
constitution and bill of rights recognizes, not grants rights. Any
FBI agent who considers torturing a suspect should be fired and then
prosecuted for conspiracy to violate civil rights. Such an agent is
also a traitor to the US constitution. FBI agents when they take
their oath pledge their allegiance to the Constitution against all
enemies foreign and domestic. Any law enforcement officer who
tortures suspects or carts suspects off to be tortured in a foreign
land certainly deserve to be considered Un-American and an enemy of
the rule of law.]
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/attacked/A27748-
2001Oct20.html>
Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 21, 2001; Page A06
FBI and Justice Department investigators are increasingly frustrated
by the silence of jailed suspected associates of Osama bin Laden's al
Qaeda network, and some are beginning to that say that traditional
civil liberties may have to be cast aside if they are to extract
information about the Sept. 11 attacks and terrorist plans.
[...]
Said one experienced FBI agent involved in the investigation: "We are
known for humanitarian treatment, so basically we are stuck. . . .
Usually there is some incentive, some angle to play, what you can do
for them. But it could get to that spot where we could go to pressure
. . . where we won't have a choice, and we are probably getting
there."
Among the alternative strategies under discussion are using drugs or
pressure tactics, such as those employed occasionally by Israeli
interrogators, to extract information. Another idea is extraditing
the suspects to allied countries where security services sometimes
employ threats to family members or resort to torture.
Under U.S. law, interrogators in criminal cases can lie to suspects,
but information obtained by physical pressure, inhumane treatment or
torture cannot be used in a trial. In addition, the government
interrogators who used such tactics could be sued by the victim or
charged with battery by the government.
[...]
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