Obama Did Not End Torture

On January 9, 2009, then President-elect Barack Obama announced, in what was to be a departure from Bush administration era "war-on-terror" tactics: "I was clear throughout this campaign and was clear throughout this transition that under my administration the United States does not torture." In April 2014, Senator Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Bush administration era torture programs "a stain on our history that must never be allowed to happen again." Attorney General Eric Holder also weighed in, arguing that declassification of the Senate Intelligence Committee report would ensure that "no administration contemplates such a program in the future."

While it is essential that the truth be revealed regarding the systematic torture of detainees under the Bush administration, it is equally essential that we recognize the claim that President Obama ended torture as the myth that it is. Under President Obama, the United States continued to imprison individuals in Afghan detention facilities fully aware of the systematic torture that takes place. The continued practice of transferring detainees to Afghan detention facilities despite full knowledge of the systematic torture being perpetrated therein is an unequivocal violation of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Obama has also directly authorized and publicly defended the force-feeding of Guantanamo Bay hunger strikers. Despite Obama's claim that force-feeding is "performed in a humane fashion, with concern for petitioners' well-being," his administration is doing everything in its power to hide or destroy evidence that documents what we already know--that the force-feeding of Guantanamo detainees, many of whom have been cleared for years to be transferred out of the prison, is a clear violation of U.S. obligations under the Torture Convention.

On May 16, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a temporary order that required the Obama administration to abstain from forcibly removing Abu Wa'el Dhiab from his cell and from force-feeding him until yesterday's hearing. Kessler also ordered the Obama administration to "preserve and maintain all relevant videotapes" of Dhiab's forcible removal from his cell and enteral feeding. According to Kessler, "Videotapes of Petitioner's FCEs and/or force-feedings are likely to demonstrate that Petitioner's detention is unlawful to the extent they amount to unlawful conditions of confinement." The Court continued, "Petitioner's full medical records are likely to support his allegations of abuse." During yesterday's hearing, Kessler ordered the Obama administration to produce 34 videotapes and Dhiab's medical records.

In July 2013, in response to a previous emergency motion aimed at stopping the force-feeding, Judge Kessler stated, "It is perfectly clear from the statements of detainees, as well as the statements from the organizations just cited, that force-feeding is a painful, humiliating, and degrading process." And at a Senate Judiciary hearing, also in July, retired Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., testified that force-feeding amounted to "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" and violated "medical ethics and international and U.S. law."

The number of detainees being force-fed peaked at 45 detainees during Ramadan in 2013. At the moment, it is unclear how many detainees remain on hunger strike and how many continue to be force-fed, because the U.S. military will "no longer publicly issue the number of detainees who choose not to eat as a matter of protest." However, in a letter published by Al Jazeera on March 13th, Guantanamo Bay detainee Moath al-Alwi describes himself as one of sixteen prisoners who are still being force-fed:

"I, too, am strapped down and force-fed for over an hour every single day. During the session, I am constantly vomiting the feeding solution into my lap. As I am carried back to my cell, I cannot help but vomit on the guards carrying me. They put a Plexiglas face mask on my head to protect their clothes from my vomit. They tighten the facemask and press down on it, pushing it into my face. I almost suffocate because I am vomiting inside the facemask and am unable to breathe."

In an earlier piece written by Mr. al-Alwi for Al-Jazeera, he describes the chairs used to restrain prisoners as they are being force-fed as "torture chairs." I guess no one has clued him in yet that President Obama ended torture.