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Geneva-22

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Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at 8:47 PM ET
Bureaucratese for "ain't nothing we have to do different."
A report jointly issued in April by Human Rights Watch and two other human rights organizations found 330 cases in which U.S. military officials were "credibly alleged" to have abused, tortured, or killed detainees. Only 40 out of 600 officials alleged to have committed these offenses have done prison time, the report said.
Reports of Guantanamo prisoners being subjected to degrading treatment, often with respect to their religion, have become too numerous to count.
The International Red Cross, after visiting prisoners in Guantanamo, pronounced conditions there tantamount to torture.
Gordon England is deputy defense secretary. According to the July 12 Washington Post, he has "repeatedly expressed concerns about the detention of enemy combatants and has told colleagues that he advocates closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay because of the negative impact it has on the United States' reputation." Shouldn't Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld's signature appear on this document too? He's been traveling abroad this week, but he was stateside on July 7, which is when the memo is dated. Why no John Hancock? Did he throw a hissy fit when asked to sign a "please don't torture the prisoners" memo?
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Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at 8:47 PM ET
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Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate.
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