Though torture has been prevalent throughout history, the 20th century saw a revival of torture techniques against perceived opponents of the state, and priority was given to state security (Green). The United States found several ways to evade their responsibilities under international law and allow torture to be used as a report by the UN human rights commissioner stated evidence of torture at Guantanamo Bay. The United States was also one of the primary sponsors of a Convention to prohibit torture and to protect human rights. Torture in terms of terrorism, based on the Convention against Torture, can be defined as “the officially sanctioned infliction of intense suffering, aimed at forced exchange of information for the relief of unbearable
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However, reports have found that CIA detainees subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” either produce no intelligence or fabricated information. CIA officials consistently claim that 20 detainees subjected to the CIA shared crucial information which led to the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden. Senate Dianne Feinstein announced on the Senate floor that “In each case, the CIA claimed that critical and unique information came from one or more detainees in its custody after they were subjected to the CIA’s coercive techniques, and that this information led to a specific counterterrorism success. Our staff reviewed every one of the 20 cases, and not a single case holds up.” CIA’s own interrogators asses that the most effective method for acquiring intelligence from detainees (even the most “high-value”) was to confront the detainees with information already acquired by the intelligence community. In 2009, a former FBI agent, Ali Soufan, who had taken part in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah seven years earlier, said that all the useful intelligence came from traditional non-violent questions, and that his later waterboarding produced nothing further of …show more content…
Guantanamo Bay is a high-level prison infamous for the use of torture on their detainees. According to Obama in a statement released by the White House, “I continue to believe that operating the [Guantanamo Bay] weakens our national security by wasting resources, damaging our relationships with key allies, and strengthening our enemies” (Rosenberg). Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, testified during the hearing that the $4.7 billion dollars has been spent running Guantanamo since the facility opened in 2002 and by comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States only spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner (Knowles). The public is enraged by the torture that is occurring in a facility that is costing citizens enormous amounts of money; the facility adding up to costing US taxpayers $1.2 million per day (Knowles). This money, if the facility is shut down, would be used towards more necessary
However, reports have found that CIA detainees subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” either produce no intelligence or fabricated information. CIA officials consistently claim that 20 detainees subjected to the CIA shared crucial information which led to the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden. Senate Dianne Feinstein announced on the Senate floor that “In each case, the CIA claimed that critical and unique information came from one or more detainees in its custody after they were subjected to the CIA’s coercive techniques, and that this information led to a specific counterterrorism success. Our staff reviewed every one of the 20 cases, and not a single case holds up.” CIA’s own interrogators asses that the most effective method for acquiring intelligence from detainees (even the most “high-value”) was to confront the detainees with information already acquired by the intelligence community. In 2009, a former FBI agent, Ali Soufan, who had taken part in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah seven years earlier, said that all the useful intelligence came from traditional non-violent questions, and that his later waterboarding produced nothing further of …show more content…
Guantanamo Bay is a high-level prison infamous for the use of torture on their detainees. According to Obama in a statement released by the White House, “I continue to believe that operating the [Guantanamo Bay] weakens our national security by wasting resources, damaging our relationships with key allies, and strengthening our enemies” (Rosenberg). Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, testified during the hearing that the $4.7 billion dollars has been spent running Guantanamo since the facility opened in 2002 and by comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States only spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner (Knowles). The public is enraged by the torture that is occurring in a facility that is costing citizens enormous amounts of money; the facility adding up to costing US taxpayers $1.2 million per day (Knowles). This money, if the facility is shut down, would be used towards more necessary