Deputy Attorney General nominee talks torture

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Or), asks Deputy Attorney General nominee David Ogden his opinion on torture at his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today. February 5, 2009.
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Obama's attorney general must withdraw torture memos

Anthony Clark Arend, Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University and Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service in the Walsh School of Foreign Service says that whoever Obama appoints as attorney general must withdraw the Bush administrations memos regarding torture and detainee treatment (0:17).

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"Induced hypothermia" used on prisoners

Joshua Casteel, a former interrogator who served at the Abu Ghraib prison camp, says that special forces and CIA interrogators openly laughed at him for "going soft" in his techniques. He also says he learned from other interrogators that techniques he considers well within the bounds of torture were utilized, such as inducing hypothermia (1:04).
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Clarity on torture stance demanded from McCain

Father Roy Bourgeois, a former torture victim and Purple Heart Recipient calls on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to clarify his stance on torture in light of the senator's voting record on the issue (:28).
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Report, images show gross human rights abuse in North Korea

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs says that North Korea's human rights record is abysmal, and every day that it continues is an unacceptable day of oppression. He also says that he has seen satellite images of North Korea's extensive prison camp system, and has also seen reports of torture, forced abortion and even execution. He concludes by saying that the US remains committed to combating these injustices (:52).
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President Bush has a duty to protect American people

When asked about water boarding, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said that it has proved very valuable. The intelligence received from enhanced interrogation techniques has saved the lives of Americans. President Bush has a duty to do everything within the law and within his power to work against terrorist attacks. (1:30)
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U.S. practicing second hand justice

Colonel Will Gunn, retired legal council for the Department of Defense office of military commissions, says the use of coercive testimony is still allowed as long as it was obtained before 2005, this is a fundamental shift in the U.S. system of justice. Gunn said that the United States’ actions amount to second hand justice. (1:10)
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Doctor says enhanced interrogation is still torture

Dr. Allen Keller says that 'enhanced interrogation' is still torture at a discussion hosted by the National Endowment of Democracy (NED). Keller says that if it looks like torture and smells like torture, then it is torture. He also reiterates that water boarding is simulated drowning, not just something that sounds like a sport, and emphasizes that language has meaning. (0:26)
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Retired Army intelligence officer: Qualified interrogators led elsewhere

Colonel Stuart Herrington, a retired US Army intelligence officer, says that career disincentives prevent qualified individuals from becoming interrogators and that the only way to get many kinds of information is through human intelligence, a fact that is continually overlooked. (0:50)
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Tortured POWs continue to go without compensation

Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) spoke today at the Committee of the Judiciary hearing on ensuring legal redress for American victims of State-sponsored terrorism. He says that the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act is there to provide POWs with the compensation that they deserve. The President’s veto of the bill, will expose Iraq with billions of dollars of liability and reconstruction efforts, however the government of Iraq entered into commercial compensation resolutions with Japan for commercial claims, but people who suffered torture have gone without compensation. (1:19)
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CIA lawyer: “If detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong”

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) quotes CIA lawyer Jonathan Fredman who advised that if a detainee dies due to waterboarding, then the interrogator is “doing it wrong.” (0:40)
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Sen. Graham: US actions render law null and void

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) questions how the United States would react if a foreign executive decided that he/she had the authority to ignore the Geneva Convention, saying “the law means nothing” if the United States uses similar logic. (0:43)
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Cheney: US doesn’t torture

Vice President Dick Cheney says that the United States’s interrogations of al-Qaeda members is effective and has never involved torture. (0:43)

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In the war on terror, everything goes

When asked if political pressure or incompetence was the reason behind the slowness that the FBI took to respond to the torture allegations, Rep. Jerrold Nalder (D-N.Y.) said it was reluctance to confront senior administration officials, because of the belief that everything went in the war on terror. (0:43)

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President Bush's requests are unconstitutional and 'disturbing'

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) discusses the request by President Bush about getting legal opinions that can enable torture. Wexler claims the Administration has consistently acted to protect itself, ignored and set aside the constitution to further their aims.
(1:01)
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Severity of torture needs to be determined before legality can be known

David B. Rivkin, partner with Baker Hostetler LLP, discusses the morality of coercive techniques at the Committee on the Judiciary Hearing. The severity of tortures needs to be defined by experts and lawmakers. (0:35)
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United Kingdom doesn't believe coercion works

Phillipe Sands QC, professor of law at the University College London, discusses how the United Kingdom does not use coercion with prisoners in the Committee on the Judiciary Hearing today. The UK has found it to be detrimental to their cause and extended the conflict. (1:01)
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Torture is illegal

Marjorie Cohn, Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law discusses torture at the Committee on Judiciary hearing. Cohn says that torture does not work and the best way to get information out of prisoner or suspected terrorist is through other means. (0:30)
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Dan Patterson Describes the Stunning World of Genocide-Torn Sudan

Dan Patterson reports live in the sweltering heat of Sudan. Minutes after witnessing hundreds of slaves being freed, Patterson describes a world where people have lived in captivity for years, where freedom is "purchased", and where murder and torture is a part of every day life. (2:03)
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General Hayden defines torture as something depending on the adjectives in front of the word "pain"

During the Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) asks both Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency General Michael Hayden what defines torture, and says that pain is pain "it doesn't depend on the circumstances." McConnell says he was talking about "excruciating pain." General Hayden said that the requirement for something to be defined as torture depends on the adjectives that are in front of the word "pain," and that it also depends on level, duration, and lasting effects of the pain. (1:03)
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