The Torture Epidemic

ACLU

December 21, 2004

While the actions at Abu Ghraib have been passed off as the work of a few bad apples, newly released documents suggest that these actions might have come from the top of the chain of command. Through the Freedom of Information Act, the ACLU has released a series of internal documents from the FBI that acknowledges the use of torture on both enemy combats and potentially civilians in Iraq. Among the most indicting is an email from June of this year that "described that such abuses included strangulation, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations." In addition, an email refers to an Executive Order issued by the President that permitted interrogation techniques which the FBI itself did not employ. Are we beginning to see the rest of the iceberg? SEE THE DOCUMENTS