No More Secret US Prisoners: Call from Retired Generals and Admirals Today

ACTION AGAINST TORTURE from National Religious Committee Against Torture

Dear Friends:

Please contact your Senators tomorrow morning, Tuesday, September 16, 2008!

The Senate is currently debating the FY 2009 Defense Authorization bill, and one of the pending amendments, Amendment Number 5369, would provide the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with access to all detainees. The ICRC functions as an independent observer whose function is to ensure that prisoners are not denied their basic human rights. Allowing the ICRC access would help to end the use of torture and other abusive practices.

Please call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak with each of your Senators' offices. Tell them that you would like the Senate to vote on Amendment Number 5369 to the FY 2009 Defense Authorization bill, and that you hope that they will support providing the International Committee of the Red Cross with access to all U.S.-held detainees.

Thank you for your good work in the fight to end torture.

Sincerely,

Rev. Richard Killmer
Executive Director, NRCAT

More on this CALL:

This morning (Monday, September 15, 2008) a group of retired generals and admirals wrote a letter (below) to Senators Whitehouse, Feinstein, Hagel, and Rockefeller in support of legislation that would require the intelligence community to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with access to all prisoners in U.S. custody.

These military leaders know first-hand how important it is that the United States allow Red Cross access to all prisoners; when our troops go into battle, our nation owes them the assurance that, should they be captured by the enemy, the United States will be able to aggressively assert their rights to humane treatment, to be held in recognized places of detention, and to be registered with and visited by the Red Cross representatives who can raise concerns about their treatment.

Furthermore, the Red Cross specifically alerted military authorities in Iraq to the abuse at Abu Ghraib, leading to some of the military's first disciplinary actions against those involved. Adopting this amendment on (International) Red Cross access into law is an important step in restoring the moral authority of the United States.

Thank you,

Sharon Kelly
Campaign Manager,
Elect to End Torture '08

September 15, 2008

The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse
The United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building Room 502
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Diane Feinstein
The United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building Room 331
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Chuck Hagel
The United States Senate
Russell Senate Office Building Room 248
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV
The United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building Room 531
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators:

As retired military leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces, we write to express our strong support for Amendment Number 5369 to the pending defense authorization bill, originally introduced as section 323 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. We believe this provision, which would require the intelligence community to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross ("Red Cross") with notification of and access to prisoners in U.S. custody in a manner consistent with the practices of the Armed Forces, is a critical measure to ensure continuing respect for the norm that such access must be provided to all captives in wartime.

The U.S. military has a strong interest in all countries upholding this norm. When our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines go into battle, we owe them the assurance that, should they be captured by the enemy, the United States will be able to aggressively assert their rights to humane treatment, to be held in recognized places of detention, and to be registered with and visited by the Red Cross, which can raise concerns about their treatment. This is important no matter whether military or intelligence agents are holding our people captive. When we violate this norm ourselves, by holding prisoners in secret – "off the books" – denying that they are in our custody and refusing to permit the Red Cross access to them to monitor their treatment, we dangerously undermine our ability to demand that our enemies adhere to it, now and in future wars.

This is not just a theoretical concern. In 1993, when U.S. Warrant Officer Michael Durant was captured by forces under the control of Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed, the United States demanded assurances that Durant's treatment be consistent with the Geneva Conventions and that the Red Cross be given access to Durant, who was seriously wounded, to monitor that treatment. The United States asserted that it would afford Somali forces the same protections. Within five days, the Red Cross was permitted to visit Durant, and he was subsequently released.

We know from painful experience that Red Cross access to captured prisoners can be an important prophylactic against abuse and can help to ensure that we are in compliance with the laws of war in the treatment of those in our custody. Confidential Red Cross reports and recommendations alert military commanders to serious abuses that, left unaddressed, can undermine prison discipline and – if exposed – undermine the war effort. It was the Red Cross which, according to a report by Major General George Fay, notified military authorities in Iraq about the abuses at Abu Ghraib, leading to some of the military's first disciplinary actions against those involved.

The Red Cross has been visiting prisoners in armed conflict situations since the height of First World War. Under U.S. military policy, the Red Cross is presumptively authorized to have access to prisoners. Moreover, Department of Defense Directive 2310.01E, issued in September 2006, mandates that the Red Cross "be allowed to offer its services during an armed conflict, however characterized, to which the United States is a party."

Over time, the Armed Forces have built a mutually beneficial relationship with the Red Cross and have developed well established practices for Red Cross notification and access to prisoners. These practices are tailored to accommodate the demands of battlefield intelligence gathering and detention, and do not interfere with prisoner interrogations.

Red Cross notification and access to prisoners is an essential buttress to the integrity of humane treatment obligations under the Geneva Conventions. We strongly support Amendment Number 5369 to the pending defense authorization bill and urge its adoption into law as an important step in restoring the moral authority of the United States and demonstrating the commitment of our Nation to treat all prisoners humanely.

Sincerely,

General Joseph Hoar, USMC (Ret.)

General John P. Jumper, USAF (Ret.)

General Charles Krulak, USMC (Ret.)

General Merrill A. McPeak, USAF (Ret.)

General Volney F. Warner, USA (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn, USN (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, USA (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Albert H. Konetzni Jr., USN (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Charles Otstott, USA (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, USN (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.)

Lieutenant General James M. Thompson, USA (Ret.)

Major General John Batiste, USA (Ret.)

Rear Admiral James Arden Barnett, Jr. USNR (Ret.)

Major General Paul Eaton, USA (Ret.)

Major General Eugene Fox, USA (Ret.)

Major General Larry Gottardi, USA (Ret.)

Rear Admiral Don Guter, USN (Ret.)

Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, USN (Ret.)

Major General Melvyn Montano, ANG (Ret.)

Major General Eric Olson, USA (Ret.)

Rear Admiral David M. Stone, USN (Ret.)

Major General Antonio 'Tony' M. Taguba, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Hugh Aitken USMC, (Ret.)

Brigadier General Dorian Anderson, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General David M. Brahms, USMC

Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.)

Brigadier General James P. Cullen, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Evelyn P. Foote, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Lief H. Hendrickson, USMC

Brigadier General Oscar Hilman, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General John H. Johns, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General David L. McGinnis, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Murray G. Sagsveen, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Earl Simms, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Anthony Verrengia, USAF (Ret.)

Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, USA (Ret.)

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Please Join the Call: Write the above and/or check at Human Rights First and here:
http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/icrc_access/iiiunkd4z3xj6ib?

to write to your Senators and tell them that mandating Red Cross access to prisoners demonstrates our nation's commitment to treating all prisoners humanely and makes American troops safer.