"Michael, this letter that was sent by Attorney General Eric Holder to his Russian counterpart that says we will not torture or kill Edward Snowden? MICHAEL RATNER: You know, it’s not worth anything, Amy, and it’s laughable. It’s sad that the U.S. has to write such a letter, that it won’t torture people or kill them. But in fact it’s meaningless. First, it’s not necessarily enforceable by Ed Snowden. But even more importantly, think about how the U.S. defines torture. The U.S. doesn’t really think that anything it did under the Bush era was torture, with the exception possibly of waterboarding. So that means Ed Snowden can be subjected to every enhanced interrogation techniques—you know, lights on all the time, loud noise, cold temperatures, hot temperatures, strapped into a chair. All of the, quote, "enhanced interrogation techniques" are allowed under U.S. view of torture. That’s one. Secondly, prolonged, arbitrary detention? It doesn’t say anything in the letter we won’t put him into some underground cell and keep him there the rest of his life. And then it says he doesn’t have any right to asylum. And that’s just wrong. Whistleblowers are entitled to apply for asylum, and it can’t be interfered with by the United States. This letter is meaningless. It’s a PR ploy. People shouldn’t even look at it..."
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 18:25:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015