Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The ACLU and Torture

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a coalition of lawyers that focuses on protecting the civil rights. The ACLU both acts as lobby group and as a non-profit litigation. The also ACLU focuses on represents groups of the population that are often denied their rights. The ACLU has taken several steps to raise awareness torture and also hold those accountable who are responsible for torture that violates the Geneva Conventions and the constitution. The ACLU recently released a book entitled Administration of Torture. The book details accounts of prisonor abuse at Abu Ghraib and Gauntanomo Bay. The purpose of the book is to expose elements of America's methods of combating terrorism that need to be further questioned on their ethical consequences, effectiveness, and the violation of human rights.
The ACLU has been aggressive in their assertion that U.S interrogation tatics violate the Geneva Convention. Here is what the ACLU says about torture:

Torture threatens our most treasured values and it is wrong:

    Torture is illegal, banned by both domestic and international law.
    Torture doesn't work. The information elicited is inaccurate; torture victims themselves tell us they have confessed to crimes they did not commit in order to end their suffering.
    Torture puts our troops at greater risk, increasing the chance that, should they fall into enemy hands, our servicemen and -women will be tortured in kind. Countries around the world have already begun citing the United States when justifying their use of cruel and unusual punishments - most recently the Junta in Myanmar.
    Torture tarnishes the image of the United States abroad. Torture degrades the rule of law and puts the core values of our democracy - the belief that all men are created equal and have the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - at risk. It not only creates new enemies abroad, but is damaging our relationships with long-term allies.

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