America's dirty secrets

A Times Editorial
Published November 17, 2006


The fact that the Bush administration has used abusive and coercive interrogation techniques against certain detainees is America's worst kept secret. Despite later denials, Vice President Dick Cheney was forthright on the subject as recently as last month when he said it was a "no-brainer" that interrogators could use a "dunk in water" to gain information from a suspect - a clear reference to the notorious simulated drowning technique of waterboarding. The CIA's harsh interrogation practices have been regularly reported in the national news using insiders and former detainees as sources.

So it is rather disingenuous for the administration to now claim that the 14 high-value detainees recently transferred to Guantanamo after being held in secret "black"-site prisons should not have access to their civilian attorneys because it might jeopardize national security if classified details of their interrogation are disclosed.

In a case involving one of the 14 high-value detainees, the Bush administration has asked a federal judge to keep Majid Khan's attorney from meeting with him on the grounds that Khan might be in possession of "alternative interrogation techniques" as well as other information that is top secret and cannot be shared. The Bush administration wants to keep Khan incommunicado for potentially months more as it considers new rules for tightening attorney-client communications.

In effect, the Bush administration is saying that what happened to these men at the hands of U.S. interrogators is to be secreted away. It is an attempt to hide the administration's misdeeds behind a shield of secrecy and further delay access to counsel for these men.

Khan was held as a "ghost detainee" for more than three years before being transferred to Guantanamo. He has not been charged with a crime or designated an enemy combatant, although intelligence officials have accused Khan of working with al-Qaida leaders to research how to blow up gas stations and poison reservoirs. Khan's lawyers and family dispute the accusations.

Gitanjali Gutierrez, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, is seeking a meeting with her client. She has been to Guantanamo 10 times since 2003 to meet with various prisoners there, and Gutierrez stated in court documents that established government rules regarding counsel access procedures already protect top-secret information from disclosure.

There is no way to judge Khan's guilt or innocence, since our government refuses to justify Khan's continued detention through any formal process. At this point, Khan has received substantially less due process than Saddam Hussein. He should be afforded the ability to speak to his counsel and share the details of what happened to him at American hands. Then the rest of us should find out.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/17/Opinion/America_s_dirty_secre.shtml