Wikileaks founder Julian Assange 'buoyed by support'

[clang1]

51. Torture option still alive and well

The excerpt of the EO that says no torture only mentions under Interrogation conditions. It does not rule out use of torture. Period. To say there is no torture option based upon this EO is absurd to me. In this case the United States is a torture state based upon what we already know and also very likely will be a torture state for Assange if he is sent here. PERIOD



RE: That the US has tortured many people in its custody is a fact. That the practice has ended is predicated on nothing more than an executive order which states:

Effective immediately, an individual in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government, or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States, in any armed conflict, shall not be subjected to any interrogation technique or approach, or any treatment related to interrogation, that is not authorized by and listed in Army Field Manual 2-22.3 (Manual). Interrogation techniques, approaches, and treatments described in the Manual shall be implemented strictly in accord with the principles, processes, conditions, and limitations the Manual prescribes .



Do you think Julian Assange or Bradley Manning rise to the definition of "enemy combatants?" Do you? And, unless I'm mistaken, our rendition policy is still in place.

(thanks OP in other Assange thread)
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"There are other, strong protections in that law, such as unequivocally ruling out extradition to countries that don't offer guarantees against imposing the death penalty, torture and inhuman treatment. A life sentence without possibiliy of parole is widely considered inhuman, for instance, except in the US.
The Ecuadorian law also explicitly and unambiguously rules out extradition in political cases. Whereas such characterizations may be a matter of interpretation, anyway, the Swedish extradition law allows for the following exceptions:


Section 6
Extradition may not be granted for a political offence.
If the act also constitutes a non-political offence, extradition may be granted for that offence, provided, in the particular case, the act is predominantly of a non-political nature.
The first paragraph does not apply where rejection on this ground would be contrary to an international agreement applying between Sweden and the requesting state."