"Criminal Standard of Proof"

"Criminal Standard of Proof" of CIA Torture in Poland

10 October 2010 - The U.S. CIA engaged in torture in its secret prison in Poland with a “criminal standard of proof,” the British Broadcasting Corporation reported October 6. The remarks represent the view of former jurist and Swiss Senator Dick Marty, a the former Council of Europe Rapporteur on Torture who has investigated the case.

The CIA issued a standard statement: “The program is over. This agency does not discuss publicly where detention facilities may or may not have been.” Among the residents of the Polish prison was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks. Federal investigations have indicated that Muhammed had received "183 applications of the waterboard," but never acknowledged where the waterboarding took place.

The BBC noted that a Polish prosecutor is debating whether or not to bring charges against CIA officials.The George W. Bush-era policy of engaging in a variety of torture methods — of which waterboarding was only the best known — has led to a public relations disaster for the United States. Italian and German officials have already introduced charges against CIA officers on kidnapping charges for abducting their residents during the Bush era.

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Torture is a felony under U.S. law, punishable with 20 years in prison (and if death results from the torture, the death penalty is available). Torture is also explicitly banned by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the federal government from administering “cruel and unusual punishments.” {read rest}