From the ACLU – Urge President Bush to Reform American Detention Policies

Recent news headlines have offered a deeply disturbing view of the U.S. government’s system of detentions and interrogations in Iraq. Although much of the outrage has focused on actions taken by individual soldiers, officers at high levels authorized policies that may violate the Geneva Conventions and plainly played a role in encouraging the even-more serious abuses depicted in the photographs.

These recent events also highlight deliberate efforts, approved by the Attorney General, the White House counsel and in some cases by President Bush himself, designed to shield treatment of detainees from the safeguards provided by international law, including the Geneva Conventions, and from any scrutiny by United States or other courts.

These actions appear to meet the definition of torture under both international law and the United States criminal code — and demonstrate the Bush Administration’s continued disregard for international standards of conduct and for checks and balances. President Bush must act and ensure that American detention policies are in line with international law and American values.

Click here to get more information and to send an email to President Bush:

http://www.aclu.org/International/International.cfm?ID=15718&c=36