Sep 3rd, 2009
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 5:58pm	Torture

Black Sites? What's That? Torture? Us?

Last week, the Department of State (DOS) released a huge tranche of documents on its website in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights and NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. There's a lot of stuff to wade through, but we found some gems.

In this email from Laura M. Stone of the DOS to Anne S. Casper at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Stone writes (PDF):

If iTV ask anything about the Black Sites here, I think we should stick to what we have done before: deny flat out that they exist.

Note that this email exchange took place on September 7, 2006, the day after President Bush's infamous September 6, 2006 speech in which he acknowledged the existence of these secret CIA prisons — a.k.a. "black sites" — and asserted that former CIA prisoners were now at Guantánamo Bay, and the CIA no longer held anyone in its custody. That's curious, because this memo from the OLC to the CIA (PDF) lays out the groundwork for the "enhanced interrogation" techniques authorized for use on CIA prisoners in July 2007. If the CIA had no prisoners in its custody after September 2006, why would it need such instruction in July 2007?

In this December 2005 exchange (PDF), talking points are discussed in regard to the U.S.'s extraordinary rendition program. Of note:

Wrong to speak of torture flights -- we do not send people off to be tortured. We do not torture nor turn over detainees to those who do. Despite media reports to the contrary, no plane has been through European airports carrying people off to be tortured.

This is plain false. Publicly available records demonstrate that Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., based in San Jose, CA, facilitated more than 70 secret rendition flights over a four-year period to countries where it knew or reasonably should have known that detainees are routinely tortured or otherwise abused in contravention of universally accepted legal standards. The ACLU has brought lawsuits on behalf of torture and rendition victim Khaled el-Masri and against Jeppesen for its involvement in the extraordinary rendition program.

There's also some fun discussion of using the term "no comment" to the press in this document (PDF):

I agree that we should look at another, softer way of saying it. As I learned in IO Training 101. Lesson #2 after "Don't Lie." "Don't use the phrase, 'No Comment.'"

So much for what they learned in IO training 101...

Permalink |	Torture

Tags: Close Guantanamo, Khaled el-Masri, Rendition

1. a targeted nurse Says:
   Sep 4th, 2009 at 1:30pm

   Suzanne Ito states, "There’s a lot of stuff to wade through, but we found some gems."

   Is there any hint about what has been going on domestically?

   American citizens are being harassed and surveilled. It's unclear who is directing these campaigns that smack of COINTELPRO, but they are well-organized and well-funded.

   Homes are entered surreptitiously; and personal property is vandalized, as well as stolen. Surveillance is persistent.

   When will these crimes be exposed, investigated, and stopped?

2. BAdams Says:
   Sep 8th, 2009 at 9:26am

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Ron Carter
   To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
   Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 2:31 PM
   Subject: Fw: I Am Honored To Do This

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: SHARON JOHNSON
   Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 3:19 PM
   Subject: Fw: I Am Honored To Do This

   I AM HONORED TO DO THIS
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   Prayer:
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   Timothy M. Wayne
   MSG(P), USA
   Operations Sergeant Major
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   --

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   Bernie Bringhurst

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3. scotty t Says:
   Sep 8th, 2009 at 8:24pm

   god you people are paranoid and KOOKS

4. A targeted honest American Says:
   Sep 9th, 2009 at 1:10am

   In the December 2005 exchange (PDF), talking about extraordinary rendition, "that it is wrong to speak of torture flights — we do not send people off to be tortured." But what about the harrassment and torture of honest, tax paying American Citizens without cause.

   As another victim, I would like to know when this will be looked into.

5. Vince Says:
   Sep 9th, 2009 at 6:36am

   I have been targeted for a number of years. V2k ,mind control pain weapons organized stalking / sensitization and slander.
   I just built a new website. Anyone want to join or lead an army of t.i.'s go here. www.godsliberationarmy.com
   We need numbers. If we go after their big shots on a personal level, they WILL stop fu%*ing with us. If we act as a whole, we can defend ourselves as a whole.

6. Vic Livingston Says:
   Sep 9th, 2009 at 10:20am

   "targeted nurse":

   Best evidence indicates that a "multi-agency coordinated action program" overseen by a secretive executive agency in the Department of Homeland Security with strong military involvement is behind the stalking, harassment, torture and slow-kill genocide of unjustly targeted Americans.

   Microwave and laser "directed energy weapons" of various types, apparently including terrestrial cell tower and satellite weapons systems, have been deployed against American citizens -- a high-tech holocaust.

   The ACLU apparently has been programmed to ignore reports of domestic torture, apart from Sheriff Arpaio-style abuses.

   I have been trying to shame ACLU into action for over a year, to no avail thus far. At least (most) of my postings here get through...

   The full story:

   http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vigil ante-network-terrorizes-america
   http://nowpublic.com/world/domestic-torture-radiation-weaponry-amer icas-horrific-shame

7. roald Says:
   Sep 10th, 2009 at 10:19pm

   BAdams, this is your chance to do a service to your peers by no longer passing on this rumor. When long discredited information is presented as fact, it weakens your credibility on everything you write.

   For additional information, please see
   http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/02/chai n-email/no-aclu-lawsuit-over-cross-shaped-headstones/

   http://ww w.factcheck.org/2009/07/aclu-and-cemetary-crosses/

   http://www.s nopes.com/politics/religion/cemetery.asp

8. a targeted nurse Says:
   Sep 11th, 2009 at 2:40pm

   Remember the following terms:

   organized stalking
   group stalking
   community-based harassment

   Eventually, they will be household phrases.

   Good Americans are being harassed in their communities. There is never any evidence and the police refuse to investigate.

   Who is behind these crimes and who will step forward and blow the whistle on these sadistic operations?

9. Anyone Sane Out There Says:
   Sep 15th, 2009 at 2:46pm

   Are you kidding me? You people are nuts. If 'harrassing' or 'torturing' people who are trying to kill me (and you) bothers you, I have a problem with that. When is someone going to step up and protect MY rights to be free and live without fear of getting killed by some damn terrorist? I guess I am not an American worth fighting for.

10. cult, etc. Says:
    Sep 17th, 2009 at 5:32pm

    I am finnish mind control victim, and I have been surveilled and harasssed by illluminati- freemasons, and their intelligences , officials, governments , cult, etc. many years time.

    I cannot reveal details, because I do not want to reveal my identity.

    I have met huge amount of mind controllers, and many of them would seem just normal people to you. But they belong to satanic cult, and therefore they were participating to mind control.

    I also know other people who were vctims of mind control, and sometimes it is hard to say who is a victim and who is mind controller, because also mind controllers are victims of mind control- cult mind controls all their members.

    I have not gotten any help from officials, and instead my life has been systematically ruined , so that I am left only desperate actions.

    I have no money- and we human rights victims have no human rights.

    There is really horrible things happening in secrecy.

11. anon Says:
    Sep 19th, 2009 at 1:53pm

    "Group stalking" isn't believable to most people and so it continues.

    Someone needs to investigate.

12. families being murdered Says:
    Sep 28th, 2009 at 10:44am

    This "slow kill" system of murder that is going on, perpetuated by Freemasons, must be stopped NOW. It is a program of complete personal and financial destruction. Doctors lie, the police will not investigate the crimes, and the victims are called "delusional". Whole families are mind controlled by them. I want justice. I am an innocent victim of Freemasons identity theft. They want our resumes and they have already applied to jobs using our addresses! They will kill to get what they want! Doctors tell our families that we are delusional!

13. UNPUBLISHED csy211 Says:
    Dec 11th, 2009 at 10:13pm

    More than one in eight U.S. adults finds it hard to stay away from the Internet for wow goldAion kinahseveral days at a time and about one in 11 tries to hide his or her online habit

14. Eric Says:
    Jun 20th, 2011 at 8:29am

    The last comment looks published to me - does that mean I can talk about hydroponics here too?