U.S. Interrogators tortured to death at least eight people

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/139867/revealed:_u.s._interrogators_may_have_killed_dozens_of_detainees/

Revealed: U.S. Interrogators May Have Killed Dozens of Detainees

By John Byrne, Raw Story. Posted May 6, 2009.

In all, 98 detainees have died while in U.S. hands, with 34 identified as homicides, at least eight of which were tortured to death.

United States interrogators killed nearly four dozen detainees during or after their interrogations, according a report published by a human rights researcher based on a Human Rights First report and followup investigations.

In all, 98 detainees have died while in U.S. hands. Thirty-four homicides have been identified, with at least eight detainees -- and as many as 12 -- having been tortured to death, according to a 2006 Human Rights First report that underwrites the researcher’s posting. The causes of 48 more deaths remain uncertain.

The researcher, John Sifton, worked for five years for Human Rights Watch. In a posting Tuesday, he documents myriad cases of detainees who died at the hands of their U.S. interrogators. Some of the instances he cites are graphic.

Most of those taken captive were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. They include at least one Afghani soldier, Jamal Naseer, who was mistakenly arrested in 2004. “Those arrested with Naseer later said that during interrogations U.S. personnel punched and kicked them, hung them upside down, and hit them with sticks or cables,” Sifton writes. “Some said they were doused with cold water and forced to lie in the snow. Nasser collapsed about two weeks after the arrest, complaining of stomach pain, probably an internal hemorrhage.”

That is all

But let's not wallow in the past or make this into some kind of partisan witch hunt. I'm sure the friends, families and countrymen of the deceased will be far more magnanimous and forgiving than we ever expect us to be.

:mad:

how many human beings we've detained. The lid needs to come off this shit, and the world needs to step up and pry it open. Even if/when a special prosecutor is appointed, every attempt will be made to mitigate the horror of what we've done.

:nuke: