“In Gitmo, I was punished with 30 days in darkness for feeding iguanas”

Murat Kurnaz was arrested in the street and sent to Guantanamo Bay for torture. After five years, America released him without charge. To this day, the US has given no explanation or said sorry.

Guantanamo Bay continues to wreck lives, despite President Obama's pledge to shut the notorious prison. RT spoke to one former prisoner, Murat Kurnaz, who says the US has not issued even a simple apology for his years of torment.

Attempts to justify torture seem outrageous to those who have been unjustly subjected to inhumane treatment at US prisons overseas. Murat Kurnaz was captured in Pakistan in 2001. He was working for an NGO that helped young people there to quit drugs and adopt a healthier lifestyle. He was sent to Guantanamo and tortured – for five years. The vast majority of the hundreds of individuals who have been held at Guantanamo since 2002, just like Murat, are said to be of no intelligence value whatsoever. Some of them were children, when they were captured, like Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, who was just 15 when he was taken into US custody. He said because he was tortured, he was ready to say anything the torturers wanted to hear to stop the pain.

(source, source, source, source)

Also: Human Rights Watch report on evidence of torture (download pdf)

This systemic evil is truly monstrous and disgusting -- It must be stopped, investigated, and prosecuted IMMEDIATELY!

Update: This NEWS brings a little hope!

Citizens Demand Full Investigation on US Torture Authorizations

The American Civil Liberties Union today urged Attorney General Eric Holder to ask Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate whether former President George W. Bush violated the federal statute prohibiting torture. The request, made in a letter sent to Holder, comes on the heels of the release of Bush’s memoir in which Bush admits he directly authorized the use of waterboarding on Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah. The Department of Justice has made clear that waterboarding is torture and, as such, a crime under the federal anti-torture statute.

The letter, signed by ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero, states, “In light of the admission by the former President, and the legally correct determination by the Department of Justice that waterboarding is a crime, you should ensure that Mr. Durham’s current investigation into detainee interrogations encompasses the conduct and decisions of former President Bush.”  

The letter states, “[T]he former President’s acknowledgment that he authorized torture is absolutely without parallel in American history. The admission cannot be ignored. In our system, no one is above the law or beyond its reach, not even a former president.”

The letter also points out that failure to investigate President Bush’s role in violating the torture statute would severely compromise America’s ability to advocate for human rights in other countries, and concludes, “A nation committed to the rule of law…cannot simply ignore evidence that its most senior leaders authorized torture.”

The full text of the letter can be found below:

(source)

Police Commander Convicted of Lying About Torture

We live in a sad time/era where torture is routinely, publicly rationalized and excused. But in this important landmark case, Justice, the Law, and basic Morality have prevailed against an evil man. America has risen to meet its moral standards once again!

Hopefully this trend will continue as justice is served to all those who have condoned and/or violated the international and basic laws of morality and humanity.

(source)

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

I have read this book entirely. It's very well sourced, thorough, and convincing. I own a copy if anyone wants to borrow it.
Check out the website for more information about the author and the book.

Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964. In his career at the L.A. County District Attorney’s office, he successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. His most famous trial, the Charles Manson case, became the basis of his classic, Helter Skelter, the biggest selling truecrime book in publishing history...

“Obama Has Kept the Machine Set on Kill”–Journalist and Activist Allan Nairn Reviews Obama’s First Year in Office

Democracy Now!

~35 minutes

In an extended interview, award-winning journalist and activist Allan Nairn looks back over the Obama administration’s foreign policy and national security decisions over the last twelve months. “I think Obama should be remembered as a great man because of the blow he struck against white racism,” Nairn says. “But once he became president…Obama became a murderer and a terrorist, because the US has a machine that spans the globe, that has the capacity to kill, and Obama has kept it set on kill. He could have flipped the switch and turned it off…but he chose not to do so.” He continues, “In fact, as far as one can tell, Obama seems to have killed more civilians during his first year than Bush did in his first year, and maybe even than Bush killed in his final year.” (source)