About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

14 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 609 (2004-2005)
Discussing a Taboo - A Review of Torture: A Collection

handle is hein.journals/tempcr14 and id is 615 raw text is: DISCUSSING A TABOO-A REVIEW OF TORTURE: A COLLECTION by JESSELYN RADACK* Balancing liberty and security in the new century calls for plumbing the grim question of torture. Such an examination is long overdue. I was involved in the first high-profile case of torture in the war on terrorism. I am the federal whistleblower in the case of the so-called American Taliban, John Walker Lindh.' In those first months following September 11 th, we didn't flinch at the famous trophy photo of John Walker Lindh--one of the most prominent prisoners of the Afghan war-naked, blindfolded, tied up and duct-taped to a board.2 That was our first glimpse of nascent torture.' He was found barely alive, shot in the leg, and suffering from dehydration, hypothermia, and frostbite.4 Despite his being wounded, starving, freezing, and exhausted, U.S. soldiers blindfolded and handcuffed him naked, scrawled shithead across the blindfold, and posed with him for pictures.5 Parts of his ordeal were captured on videotape.6 Sound * Jesselyn Radack is an adjunct professor of law at American University's Washington College of Law and serves on the D.C. Bar's Legal Ethics Committee. 1. See, e.g., Juliette Kayyem, Prosecuting the War and Its Terrorists, N.Y. TIMES, July 16, 2002, at A17 (The announcement yesterday that John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, had pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding our enemies can hardly be viewed as a victory for the Justice Department, which had once claimed that the case against Mr. Lindh could put him in prison for life.); Fredrick Kunkle, The Unexpected Prompts City to Alter Media Center Plans, WASH. POST, July 25, 2002, at T2 (First, Lindh--dubbed the American Taliban by some and simply The Rat by the New York Post- took everyone by surprise by copping a plea July 15.); Michael Kilian, Lindh Pleads Guilty; American Taliban Fighter Agrees to Serve 20 Years, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, July 16, 2002, at NI (In a surprise plea bargain, American Taliban John Walker Lindh avoided a possible life sentence Monday by pleading guilty to two counts of his original 10-count indictment: assisting the Taliban and being armed with explosives.). 2. To view the famous photo, see Michael Isikoff, The Lindh Case E-Mails, NEWSWEEK, June 24, 2002, at 8. 3. See Richard A. Serrano, Prison Interrogators' Gloves Came Off Before Abu Ghraib, L.A. TIMES, June 9, 2004, at Al (After American Taliban recruit John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan, the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld instructed military intelligence officers to 'take the gloves off' in interrogating him.). 4. See FIONA DOHERTY ET. AL., A YEAR OF LOSS, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST 195-96 (Michael McClintock et al. eds., 2002), http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/loss/loss_ch4b.htm (last visited Dec. 28, 2005) (On December 14, Lindh was diagnosed by Navy doctors as suffering from dehydration, mild hypothermia and frostbite. Finally, on approximately December 15, Lindh received surgery for his wounds, and the bullet in his leg was removed.). 5. SEYMOUR M. HERSH, CHAIN OF COMMAND: THE ROAD FROM 9/11 TO ABU GHRAIB 37 (2004). 6. See Government's Response to Defendant's Amendments Regarding Defendant's Subpoena Request at 1 1, United States v. Lindh, 227 F. Supp. 2d 565 (E.D. Va. 2002), available at http://news.findlaw.comhdocs/docs/lindh/uslindh52402grspnsub.pdf. The Government argued that:

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most