Lawyer: Questioning techniques torture w/ water-boarding demonstration video

By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

Chris Meek’s clients have included accused war criminals.

The Baxter Springs, Kan., attorney said some torture defendants at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia were convicted for much less that what is described in the legal memos and reports recently released about the interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody.

Meek said waterboarding and other interrogation methods described in the memos and in a Senate Armed Services report are torture. He also said torture is a criminal violation of international and U.S. law.

Interrogation techniques described in the Senate Armed Services Committee report include waterboarding, sleep deprivation, isolation, food deprivation and removal of clothing and exposure to cold temperatures or water. Some techniques were used in combination.

Meek said there should be congressional hearings into the abuses and that those shouldn’t preclude criminal investigations and prosecutions.

“I think there probably should be at least hearings,” Meek said. He also said it’s important that the American people be aware of its government’s conduct.

He said he doesn’t disagree with President Obama’s decision to absolve CIA agents who participated in the interrogations, but he’s unsure how far the investigation should go.

“Just following orders has never been a defense,” Meek said.

Japanese soldiers following World War II were convicted during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for using waterboarding on U.S. soldiers. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, mentioned it as he was campaigning for president, and noted that some of the Japanese were executed for their crimes.

“America is a better nation than that,” McCain said at the time.