Credible Evidence of Syrian Torture

[ONW]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25822571

"There is clear evidence that Syria has systematically tortured and executed about 11,000 detainees since the start of the uprising, a report by three former war crimes prosecutors says.

One of the authors told the BBC there was evidence of government involvement. Damascus has denied claims of abuse.

The investigators examined thousands of images of dead prisoners reportedly smuggled out of Syria by a defector.

The report comes a day before peace talks are due to begin in Switzerland.

The Guardian - which along with CNN first unveiled the report - says the report's release appears timed to coincide with the conference, in the resort town of Montreux.

The talks are being seen as the biggest diplomatic effort to end the three-year conflict which has left more than 100,000 dead and millions displaced."


So much for that peace conference.

 

[SkinsNDeacs]

McCain and his lab dog Lindsey are blowing loads in their pants right now.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

sucks

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

It's horrific. But the US government has known the Syrian government engages in torture for decades, and took advantage of this fact. It could be argued their use of torture is why we sent an innocent Canadian to Syria, instead of back to Canada.

Arar was detained during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 on his way home to Canada from a family vacation in Tunis. He was held without charges in solitary confinement in the United States for nearly two weeks, questioned, and denied meaningful access to a lawyer. The US government suspected him of being a member of Al Qaeda and deported him, not to Canada, his current home and the passport on which he was travelling, but to Syria, even though its government is known to use torture.[6] He was detained in Syria for almost a year, during which time he was tortured, according to the findings of a commission of inquiry ordered by the Canadian government, until his release to Canada. The Syrian government later stated that Arar was "completely innocent."[7][8] A Canadian commission publicly cleared Arar of any links to terrorism, and the government of Canada later settled out of court with Arar. He received C$10.5 million and Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to Arar for Canada's role in his "terrible ordeal".[9][10]

at the time of Arar's deportation, Syria was working closely with the United States government in their "War on Terror". In November 2003, Cofer Black, then counterterrorism coordinator at the US State Department and former director of counterterrorism at the CIA, was quoted as saying "The Syrian government has provided some very useful assistance on al Qaeda in the past."[31] In September 2002, the George W. Bush administration opposed the enactment of the "Syria Accountability Act" citing effectiveness of current sanctions and the ongoing diplomacy in the region. In addition, the administration noted the cooperation and support by Syria in fighting al-Qaida as a reason for its opposition to the "Syria Accountability Act".[32]

Once in Amman, Arar claims he was blindfolded, shackled and put in a van. "They made me bend my head down in the back seat", Arar recalled. "Then these men started beating me. Every time I tried to talk, they beat me."

Arar was transferred to a prison, where he claims he was beaten for several hours and forced to falsely confess that he had attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. "I was willing to do anything to stop the torture", he says.

Arar described his cell as a three-foot by six-foot "grave" with no light and plenty of rats. During the more than 10 months he was imprisoned and held in solitary confinement, he was beaten regularly with shredded cables.[33] Through the walls of his cell, Arar could hear the screams of other prisoners who were also being tortured. The Syrian government shared the results of its investigation with the United States.[7] Arar believes that his torturers were given a dossier of specific questions by United States interrogators, noting that he was asked identical questions both in the United States and in Syria.[34]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar

 

[RJKarl]

bob, shouldn't you clarify your statement to read:

"It's horrific. But the US government has known the Syrian government engages in torture for decades, and took advantage of this fact. It could be argued their use of torture is why W sent an innocent Canadian to Syria, instead of back to Canada."

Many will read your original statement and nothing more. Due your actions over the past year, they will think this was done by Obama when it wasn't.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

bob, shouldn't you clarify your statement to read:

"It's horrific. But the US government has known the Syrian government engages in torture for decades, and took advantage of this fact. It could be argued their use of torture is why W sent an innocent Canadian to Syria, instead of back to Canada."

Many will read your original statement and nothing more. Due your actions over the past year, they will think this was done by Obama when it wasn't.

Unless, oh I don't know, they read one additional sentence and see that it was in 2002.

 

[Deacon923]

RJ adopts the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war to overcome possible scurrilous attacks on Obama.

 

[RJKarl]

Why is this news? The Assads having doing this for 40+ years and everyone knew it.

Edit: Could they be using this as leverage to get him to leave? No war crimes trial if he walks away.

 

[RacerDeac]

bob, shouldn't you clarify your statement to read:

"It's horrific. But the US government has known the Syrian government engages in torture for decades, and took advantage of this fact. It could be argued their use of torture is why W sent an innocent Canadian to Syria, instead of back to Canada."

Many will read your original statement and nothing more. Due your actions over the past year, they will think this was done by Obama when it wasn't.

Always fun to see RJ accuse someone of being partisan.