Torture, Secrecy and the Rule of Law
In June 2003, President Bush observed that governments that use torture often seek to “shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors.”
“ He was not speaking of his own government, but he might as well have been,” says Jameel Jaffer, 35, whose litigation for the ACLU forced the release of thousands of documents on the interrogation, abuse, and torture of U.S. prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo and whose ongoing legal work challenges the detention and military tribunals of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo.
Jaffer was born in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and went to Williams College, where he majored in math and English. He worked as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers, attended Cambridge University and then returned to the United States for Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Today, he serves as the ACLU’s Deputy Director for National Security.
" The government has misled the public, and getting that info out to the public, that in itself is useful," Jaffer says. "We're doing important work. It matters. What we do here in the U.S. is very influential abroad, and all decisions will have a great deal of influence."
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Administration of Torture:
A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond
Written by ACLU attorneys Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh
http://www.aclu.org/about/staff/administrationoftorture.html
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10.23.2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666; media@aclu.org
Book Contends that Senior Government Officials Should be Held Accountable for Systemic Abuse
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union and Columbia University Press today announce the publication of Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond. Written by ACLU attorneys Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh, the book presents a detailed account of the treatment of prisoners held in U.S. detention centers in Afghanistan , Iraq , and Guantánamo Bay. Based on thousands of government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the book supplies substantial evidence that the torture and abuse of prisoners was systemic and resulted from decisions made by senior U.S. officials, both military and civilian.Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond.
Written by ACLU attorneys Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh, the book presents a detailed account of the treatment of prisoners held in U.S. detention centers in Afghanistan , Iraq , and Guantánamo Bay. Based on thousands of government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the book supplies substantial evidence that the torture and abuse of prisoners was systemic and resulted from decisions made by senior U.S. officials, both military and civilian.