2
Torture, Rendition, Illegal Detention and
Murder Indictment
Torture:
Count 1: The Bush administration authorized the use of torture and abuse
in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and
domestic constitutional and statutory law.
Rendition:
Count 2: The Bush administration authorized the transfer (“rendition”) of
persons held in U.S. custody to foreign countries where torture is known
to be practiced.
Illegal Detention:
Count 3: The Bush administration authorized the indefinite detention of
persons seized in foreign combat zones and in other countries far from any
combat zone and denied them the protections of the Geneva Conventions on
the treatment of prisoners of war and the protections of the U.S.
Constitution.
Count 4: The Bush administration authorized the round-up and detention in
the United States of tens of thousands of immigrants on pretextual grounds
and held them without charge or trial in violation of international human
rights law and domestic constitutional and civil rights law.
Count 5: The Bush administration used military forces to seize and detain
indefinitely without charges U.S. citizens, denying them the right to
challenge their detention in U.S. courts.
Murder:
Count 6: The Bush administration committed murder by authorizing the CIA
to kill those that the president designates, either US citizens or
non-citizens, anywhere in the world.
Count 1
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice
President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, former Director of
Central Intelligence, George Tenet; Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, V Corps,
Commanding General and formerly in charge of Combined Joint Task Force 7,
Iraq; Colonel Thomas M. Pappas, Brigade Commander, 205th Military
Intelligence Brigade; Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller; Alberto Gonzales,
formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United
States; Jay S. Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and David Addington,
Vice Presidential Counsel.
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law, including crimes of war and crimes against
humanity. The U.S. laws violated include, but are not limited to: the
Fifth Amendment to the Constitution; 18 U.S.C. Section 242 (War Crimes);
18 U.S.C. Section 2340 (Convention Against Torture Statute); the Uniform
Code of Military Justice, Army Regulation 190-8, Articles 3 and 5 of the
Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, and customary international law as
reflected, expressed, and defined in multilateral treaties and other
international instruments, international and domestic judicial decisions,
and other authorities.
c. In commission of Count 1, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) In or about December, 2001, Bush ordered torture by authorizing Tenet
to order the Special Access Program that led to the secret detention of
Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rushul, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaida and dozens
of other detainees without any contact with the outside world in secret
prisons around the world and ordering them subjected to tortures including
water-boarding, severe beatings, subjection to extreme temperatures,
suspension in painful positions, denial of pain-killing medicine after
gunshot wounds, severe burning by hot metal, asphyxiation and by threat of
death and sexual assault against themselves and members of their families.
During such torture an unknown number of detainees died, including Manadel
al-Jamadi, Abdul Wali and Abid Hamad Mahalwi.
2) On or about August 1, 2002, upon the initiative of Cheney, Addington
and Gonzales drafted a memorandum, “Re: Standards of conduct under USC
2340-2340 A” signed by Bybee, justifying torture and authorizing its use
on detainees and detailing possible defenses in the event of prosecution
under the Convention Against Torture Act. The memorandum was approved by
Bush, Cheney and the National Security Council.
3) In October, 2002, Miller requested authorization of torture techniques
for use at Guantanamo.
4) Beginning in November, 2002, Miller, acting with the authorization of
the above-cited memorandum, committed grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions by ordering coerced interrogation of hundreds of detainees at
Guantanamo Bay, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment,
including the forced removal of clothing, sleep deprivation, sensory
deprivation, subjection to loud and prolonged noise, by denying them
medical care and by submitting them to torture. Miller ordered the torture
of at least dozens of detainees at Guantanamo Bay by ordering them
subjected to extremes of heat and cold, shackled in painful positions for
many hours, subjected to beatings with batons, all of which caused the
detainees severe pain and suffering. In addition he ordered them
threatened with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and
suffering by dog-bite. In addition he ordered that detainees be threatened
with transfer to countries known for extreme methods of torture.
5) In December, 2002, Rumsfeld, acting under the authorization of the
August, 2002 memorandum, committed grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions by ordering the coerced interrogation of detainees at
Guantanamo, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment,
including the forced removal of clothing, sensory deprivation, stress
positions, and torture ordering that detainees at Guantanamo be threatened
with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and suffering by
dog-bite.
6) In August, 2003, Rumsfeld sent Miller to Iraq to institute torture
techniques there.
7) In September, 2003, Sanchez committed grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions by ordering coerced interrogation of hundreds of detainees in
Iraq, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment, including
the forced removal of clothing, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation,
subjection to loud and prolonged noise, by denying them medical care and
by submitting them to torture by ordering them subjected to extremes of
heat and cold, shackled in painful positions for many hours, all of which
caused the detainees severe pain and suffering. In addition he ordered
them threatened with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and
suffering by dog-bite. Furthermore when Sanchez was informed by the ICRC
of additional torture and degrading treatment occurring in detention
centers throughout Iraq, he did nothing to stop these acts.
8) Beginning in September , 2003 many detainees at Abu Ghraib, and
elsewhere in Iraq were tortured pursuant to the directives of Rumsfeld,
Miller and Sanchez, authorized by the August, 2002 memorandum. During the
commission of the acts of torture that the defendants conspired to commit,
at least 28 detainees died.
Count 2
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, John Ashcroft,
formerly Attorney General of the United States; Tom Ridge, formerly
Secretary of State for Homeland Security; George Tenet, formerly Director
of Central Intelligence.
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not
limited to: the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution; 18 U.S.C. Section 242 (War Crimes); 18 U.S.C. Section 2340
(Convention Against Torture Statute), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, note (the Torture
Victim Protection Act), 5 U.S.C. § 702 (Administrative Procedure Act); the
Convention Against Torture and implementing regulations.
c. In commission of Count 2, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) Since September 11, 2001, the Defendants committed grave breaches of
the Geneva Conventions and authorized torture by authorizing covert
“extraordinary renditions,” -- the detention and transfer of over 100
detainees including both US citizens, such as Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, and
non-citizens, such as Canadian Maher Arar, to countries known for torture,
to be tortured at CIA direction. The Defendants who have adopted,
ratified, and/or implemented the “extraordinary renditions” policy know
that non-U.S. citizens removed under this policy will be interrogated
under torture.
Count 3
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice
President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Alberto Gonzales,
formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United
States; George Tenet, formerly Director of Central Intelligence, Jay S.
Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and David Addington, Vice Presidential
Counsel.
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law, including crimes of war and crimes against
humanity. The U.S. laws violated include, but are not limited to: Article
II of the U.S. Constitution; the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment
to the Constitution; the due process requirements embodied in the common
law; 5 U.S.C. Section 702 (the Administrative Procedure Act); 18 U.S.C.
Section 242 (War Crimes); Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC
242); Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241); the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, Army Regulation 190-8, Articles 3 and 5 of the Third and Fourth
Geneva Conventions, and customary international law as reflected,
expressed, and defined in multilateral treaties and other international
instruments, international and domestic judicial decisions, and other
authorities.
c. In commission of Count 3, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) In October, 2001 Cheney and Addington committed grave breaches of the
Geneva Conventions by directing that a Presidential order be drafted
authorizing the indefinite detention without charge of detainees and their
subjection to military tribunals.
2) On November 16, 2001, Bush did under color of law willfully subject
thousands of detainees outside the United States to the deprivation of
their rights to due process under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments
to the Constitution by on Nov. 16, 2001 issuing a Military Order
authorizing unconstitutional detention without charge of non-citizens,
also thereby committing a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
3) In November, 2001, pursuant to the above-cited Military order,
thousands of individual were detained in camps in Afghanistan and at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without charge or trial. The detainees have been
imprisoned at the Guantánamo since January 2002. They have been held
incommunicado without access to their families or counsel or to the
courts.
4) In or about December, 2001, Bush committed authorized Tenet to order
the Special Access Program that led to the secret detention of Hiwa Abdul
Rahman Rushul, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaida and dozens of other
detainees without any contact with the outside world in secret prisons
around the world.
5) In January, 2002, Gonzales committed grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions by advising Bush in written memos to suspend the application
of the Geneva conventions to detainees.
6) On February 7, 2002, Bush committed grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions by issuing in February 7, 2002 a Memorandum stating that
Geneva Convention does not apply to detainees, “unlawful combatants”.
7) Beginning in March, 2003, tens of thousands of individuals are detained
in Iraq without charge or trial, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Count 4
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: John Ashcroft, formerly Attorney General of the United States;
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States; Tom Ridge,
formerly Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chernoff Secretary of
Homeland Security
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not
limited to: the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the
Constitution, Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242);
Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241); the Alien Tort Statute (28 U.S.C.
1350) ,customary international law, and treaty law as incorporated into
federal common law and statutory law.
c. In commission of Count 4, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) Thousands of male non-citizens from the Middle East, South Asia, and
elsewhere who are Arab or Muslim or have been perceived by Defendants to
be Arab or Muslim, were detained on minor immigration violations following
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States (“post-9/11
detainees”), and were treated as “of interest” to the government’s
terrorism investigation and subjected to a blanket “hold until cleared
policy” pursuant to which the Immigration and Naturalization Service
(“INS”) denied them bond without regard to evidence of dangerousness or
flight risk, and detained them until the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(“FBI”) cleared them of terrorist ties. All were in fact cleared of any
connection to terrorism.
2) Subsequently, in the period from January, 2002 to the present, tens of
thousands of non-citizens from many countries, primarily from the
Caribbean, and Africa but also from the Middle East, South Asia, Latin
America and Eastern Europe, were detained without criminal charge for
months and in some cases years as “administrative detainees”, a practice
in violation of the basic provisions of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Amendments.
3) The victims were subjected to one or more of the following
unconstitutional policies and practices: they were held without an
indictment by a Grand jury, they were denied the right to counsel, the
right to a trial by jury and denied any form of judicial review. They were
held without any criminal charge being brought against them. They were
denied bond. Some were classified as being “of high interest” to the
government’s terrorism investigation, “Witness Security” and/or
“Management Interest Group 155” detainees in the absence of adequate
standards or procedures for making such a determination or evidence that
they were involved in terrorism. They were subjected to a communications
blackout and other actions that interfered with their access to counsel
and their ability to seek redress in the courts. After receiving final
removal orders or grants of voluntary departure, some were held in
immigration custody far beyond the period necessary to secure their
removal or voluntary departure from the United States, again without
regard to whether they posed a danger or flight risk.
4) While in detention, the detainees have been subjected to unreasonable
and excessively harsh conditions. Some have been held in overcrowded and
unsanitary county jail facilities and housed with potentially dangerous
criminal pretrial detainees, even though they themselves have never been
charged with a crime. Others have been kept in federal and county
facilities where they have been placed in tiny cells for over 23 hours a
day and strip-searched, manacled, and shackled when taken out of their
cells. Many have suffered physical and verbal abuse by their guards. These
abuses include being badly beaten and being attacked by dogs. Many have
been denied the ability to practice their faith during their detention.
5) During their confinement, Defendants or their agents subjected some
detainees to coercive and involuntary custodial interrogation designed to
overcome their will and coerce involuntary and incriminating statements
from them.
6) By adopting, promulgating, and implementing these policies and
practices, Defendants Ashcroft, Gonzales, Ridge, and Chernoff, and others
have intentionally or recklessly violated rights guaranteed to the
detainees by the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States
Constitution, customary international law, and treaty law. In doing so
they have also violated the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law Act
(18 USC 242) which prescribes punishment for “Whoever, under color of any
law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any
person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to
the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or
protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to
different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person
being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed
for the punishment of citizens”. They have also engaged in a Conspiracy
Against Rights (18 USC 241) by conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten,
and intimidate the detainees in the free exercise or enjoyment of the
rights and privileges secured to them by the Constitution of the United
States, including the right to personal liberty and to due process.
Count 5
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice
President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Alberto Gonzales,
formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United
States;. Jay S. Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and Dick Addington,
Vice Presidential Counsel.
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not
limited to: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution,
Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); Conspiracy Against
Rights (18 USC 241); customary international law, and treaty law as
incorporated into federal common law and statutory law.
c. In commission of Count 5, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) On June 9, Bush ordered Rumsfeld to detain Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen
as an “enemy combatant”. Rumsfeld ordered that military personnel carry
out this Presidential directive, which had no basis in any law. Padilla
was not charged with any criminal offense, was not indicted by a grand
jury, was not convicted or even tried by a jury, was given no access to
counsel and has been imprisoned for over three years. Padilla’s rights
under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution were
thereby violated in violation of 18 USC 242 and 18 USC 241.
2) On the initiative of Cheney and Addington, Gonzales inserted into an
Aug.1, 2002 memorandum from Bybee wording justifying the President
unlimited power to detain as enemy combatants anyone, without any judicial
process. This memorandum, approved by Bush and Cheney is part of a
conspiracy against the rights of all US citizens and residents.
3) In court papers in the case of Padilla, and in the case of Hamdi as
well as elsewhere, Bush and his agents have claimed that the President has
the power to designate any one, citizen or immigrant, as a enemy combatant
and to jail them indefinitely without charge or trial. Such assertions by
those acting under color of law constitute a conspiracy against the rights
of all US citizens and residents.
Count 6
a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count
include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, George Tenet,
formerly Director of Central Intelligence
b. Defendants’ actions under this count constitute egregious violations of
international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not
limited to: the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution,
Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); and Murder (18 USC
1111)
c. In commission of Count 6, those named above did engage in the following
acts:
1) In October 2001 Bush issued a secret finding authorizing the CIA to
kill those he designated, either US citizens or non-citizens, anywhere in
the world.
2) Under the authority of this secret finding, Bush and Tenet ordered the
killing by Predator drone of US citizen Kamal Derwish.