Racking Up Even More Legacy 0
Torque-gharib:
(snippage)
When the T-word first arose in court, I remember the convincing Clint Eastwood voice of Justice Department lawyer Terry Henry dismissing torture as an outlandish allegation. But by the time of a March 2006 hearing, not even the bench was giving him the typical respectful benefit of the doubt.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler was hearing detainee lawyers’ claims that a new feeding chair for prisoners on hunger strike was Guantanamo’s latest torture tactic. A prisoner who refused to eat would be strapped into the chair for up to two hours while nutrients were pumped into his nose through a tube as thick as a small broom handle. Kessler paused after Henry assured her that, according to Guantanamo’s medical director and the base commander, the feeding inflicted no significant pain.
Kessler said that she had read many sealed records about the evidence against detainees and about their treatment, and that she now had much less trust in the government.
“I know it’s a sad day when a federal judge has to ask a DOJ attorney this, but I’m asking you,” Kessler said. “Why should I believe them?”
