Tortured to Death: New Details On Detainee Abuse Prove Bush Officials Are (Literally) Getting Away With Murder

By Suzanne Ito, Blog of Rights. Posted June 30, 2009.

Habibullah was being interrogated by the military. Upon autopsy he was clothed only in an adult diaper. Because he was taken from his cell to the Bagram medical facility "dead on arrival" it is likely he was wearing a diaper when he was found "unresponsive, restrained in his cell" (hanging shackled from the ceiling). This is consistent with the nudity and use of diapering during "sleep deprivation" approved by Rumsfeld and described as part of the protocols for CIA interrogation during one technique: sleep deprivation -- in which the detainee is shackled standing or sitting for up to 7 1/2 days straight. We have learned from the 2005 Bradbury memos that sleep deprivation causes venous stasis in the legs and has led to severe leg edema. We know that Habibullah was shackled to the ceiling of his cell for sleep deprivation, where he was ultimately found dead. This scenario is reinforced by a citation of a DOD criminal investigation report in the recently released Senate Armed Services Committee Report on Detainee Treatment (PDF). This citation noted that "the use of stress positions and sleep deprivation combined with other mistreatment at the hands of Bagram personnel, caused or were direct contributing factors in the two homicides [Habibullah and Dilawar]."

The most shocking and saddening part: these deaths are the direct result of authorizations for abusive techniques at the highest levels of the Bush administration. And the Obama administration has yet to hold those who authorized those techniques

.

Today is the last day of June, which is Torture Awareness Month. If you haven’t already, send the Justice Department evidence of torture. Tell the DOJ you demand accountability and justice.

See more stories tagged with: cia, torture, barack obama, glenn greenwald, waterboarding, dailykos, marcy wheeler, drational

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