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Survival
Global Politics and Strategy
Volume 49, 2007 - Issue 1
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Miscellany

Review Essay: Torture and Incompetence in the ‘War on Terror’

Pages 199-212 | Published online: 20 Mar 2007
 

Notes

1. See especially the report, containing much new information, prepared by the investigator appointed by the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Swiss senator Dick Marty, Alleged Secret Detentions and Unlawful Inter-state Transfers of Detainees Involving Council of Europe Member States (Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly Doc. 10957, 12 June 2006), available at http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc06/edoc10957.pdf.

2. The Congressional Research Service report, based on available open-source documentation and not on any new investigation, is Undisclosed U.S. Detention Sites Overseas: Background and Legal Issues (Washington DC: Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, 12 September 2006), available at http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs.

3. European Parliament, Temporary Committee on the Alleged Use of European Countries by the CIA for the Transportation and Illegal Detention of Prisoners, Final Report, 26 January 2007, available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/tempcom/tdip/default_en.htm.

4. The poll was conducted between November 2006 and January 2007. The results, published on 23 January 2007, plus links to related sites, are available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/01_january/23/us.shtml

5. A vigorous argument that torture, apart from being objectionable on moral grounds, does not yield useful intelligence results, was made in a letter from intelligence and military professionals submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on 26 September 2006. Available at: http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/64/22776.

6. President George Bush, Memorandum on ‘Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees’, 7 February 2002.

7. White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Fact Sheet: Status of Detainees at Guantanamo’, 7 February 2002, p. 1.

8. ISAF was originally established in Afghanistan in January 2002 on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1386 of 20 December 2001, passed unanimously. Subsequent resolutions extending and modifying ISAF's mandate, structure and scope of operations are: UNSCR 1413 of 23 May 2002, UNSCR 1444 of 27 November 2002, UNSCR 1510 of 13 October 2003, UNSCR 1563 of 17 September 2004, UNSCR 1623 of 13 September 2005, and UNSCR 1659 of 15 February 2006. NATO has exercised command and control of ISAF since 11 August 2003.

9. Military Technical Agreement between the International Security Assistance Force and the Interim Administration of Afghanistan, 4 January 2002, Article III(1). Text in International Legal Materials , vol. 41, no. 5, September 2002, p. 1032. Text (plus annexes) also available at http://www.operations.mod.uk/isafmta.pdf.

10. The ISAF website is http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/index.htm.

11. The CFCA website is http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil.

12. ‘Arrangement for the Transfer of Detainees between the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’, Kabul, 18 December 2005, available at http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/operations/archer/agreement_e.asp.

13. ‘Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning the transfer of persons by Netherlands military forces in Afghanistan to Afghan authorities, 'concluded in late 2005, available at http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/brievenparlement,2006/02/kamerbrief_afghanistan_overzicht_van_bijdragenx_eu_inzet_volgens_razeb_en_verslag_van_de_londen_conferentie___bijlage_3.html.

14. Paragraph 1 of ‘Standard Operating Procedures: Detention of Non-ISAF Personnel’, SOP 362, Headquarters, ISAF, Kabul, 2nd ed., 23 May 2006. Copy on file with author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam Roberts

Adam Roberts is Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University and a Fellow of Balliol College. His books include (as joint author) Terrorism and International Order (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul for Chatham House, 1986).

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