After World War II, Japanese soldiers were hanged for the war crime of waterboarding US soldiers

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/020808a.html


<snip>As McConnell grew more relaxed, however, he let slip the rationale for Mukasey’s effrontery and the administration’s refusal to admit that waterboarding is torture. For anyone paying attention, that rationale has long been a no-brainer. But here is McConnell inadvertently articulating it:

“If it is ever determined to be torture, there will be a huge penalty to be paid for anyone engaging in it.”

Well, Mike, you should get yourself a briefing on that. Even the Bush-administration-friendly editorial page of the Washington Post on Friday saw fit to declare torture “illegal in all instances,” adding that “waterboarding is, and always has been, torture.”

After World War II, Japanese soldiers were hanged for the war crime of waterboarding American soldiers. Indeed, patriots and prophets have made it clear from our earliest days that such abuse has no place in America.

[tekisui]

1. No investigation needed. Prosecutor only. The War Criminals have openly confessed

that they are such.

They hold Us, the People, in such low regard, they know we can't do a damn thing about it.

IMPEACH THE MOTHER FUCKERS ALREADY!

War Criminals are hunted until the day they die. Enjoy running, good thing for them they are prolific war profiteers: they'll need that money to keep running and pay the legal fees.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. ninelemim changed everything

torture became not torture. Rule of law became rule without law.

[spanone]

3. i haven't heard one congress person speak out against this shit.

[gratuitous]

4. It IS torture, Mr. McConnell

There's no "determination" to be made. And every day we delay bringing the perpetrators and their commanders, particularly their commander in chief, to justice, is another day we will have to explain our delay to the world. And we have the nerve to presume to dictate to Germany and Japan how they will instruct their children about the history of their nations during World War II. Is it truly any wonder to anyone with more than three working brain cells why we're held in such contempt around the world?

[wildbilln864]

5. Hang em high! nt

[Poiuyt]

6. I hadn't heard about hanging Japanese soldiers, just hard labor

...in 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. The subject was strapped on a stretcher that was tilted so that his feet were in the air and head near the floor, and small amounts of water were poured over his face, leaving him gasping for air until he agreed to talk.

"Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) told his colleagues last Thursday during the debate on military commissions legislation. "We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II," he said.

more -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html

I'd be interested to see any links that we hanged anyone for waterboarding.

[Disturbed]

7. 15 years of hard labor

I vote for that. Anyone that engaged in &or authorized this Torture should receive that sentence.

It will not happen. No one will be prosecuted for any of the "Enhanced Interrogations" authorized by the Pres. of the US.

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. Gee, I wonder why CorpoPravda isn't pushing this story.

Oh, sorry, I guess I already know.

[NNN0LHI]

9. These guys seem to get to the bottom of it

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/29/politics/main3554687.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_3554687

McCain: Japanese Hanged For Waterboarding

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 29, 2007

(AP) Republican presidential candidate John McCain reminded people Thursday that some Japanese were tried and hanged for torturing American prisoners during World War II with techniques that included waterboarding.

"There should be little doubt from American history that we consider that as torture otherwise we wouldn't have tried and convicted Japanese for doing that same thing to Americans," McCain said during a news conference.

He said he forgot to mention that piece of history during Wednesday night's Republican debate, during which he criticized former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney after Romney declined to publicly say what interrogation techniques he would rule out.

"I would also hope that he would not want to be associated with a technique which was invented in the Spanish Inquisition, was used by Pol Pot in one of the great eras of genocide in history and is being used on Burmese monks as we speak," the Arizona senator said. "America is a better nation than that."



http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/235/

History supports McCain’s stance on waterboarding

The morning after the CNN/YouTube debate in St. Petersburg, John McCain remained firm in his stand against the use of an interrogation technique called “waterboarding.” He cited solid history to buttress his position.

“I forgot to mention last night that following World War II war crime trials were convened. The Japanese were tried and convicted and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding,” he told reporters at a campaign event.

“If the United States is in another conflict ... and we have allowed that kind of torture to be inflicted upon people we hold captive, then there is nothing to prevent that enemy from also torturing American prisoners.”

McCain is referencing the Tokyo Trials, officially known as the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. After World War II, an international coalition convened to prosecute Japanese soldiers charged with torture. At the top of the list of techniques was water-based interrogation, known variously then as “water cure,” “water torture” and “waterboarding,” according to the charging documents. It simulates drowning.

R. John Pritchard, a historian and lawyer who is a top scholar on the trials, said the Japanese felt the ends justified the means. “The rapid and effective collection of intelligence then, as now, was seen as vital to a successful struggle, and in addition, those who were engaged in torture often felt that whatever pain and anguish was suffered by the victims of torture was nothing less than the just deserts of the victims or people close to them,” he said.

In a recent journal essay, Judge Evan Wallach, a member of the U.S. Court of International Trade and an adjunct professor in the law of war, writes that the testimony from American soldiers about this form of torture was gruesome and convincing. A number of the Japanese soldiers convicted by American judges were hanged, while others received lengthy prison sentences or time in labor camps.

We find McCain’s retelling of history to be accurate, so we give him a True.

PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly to help you find the truth in the presidential campaign. Every day, reporters and researchers from the Times and CQ will analyze the candidates' speeches, TV ads and interviews and determine whether the claims are accurate. >> More

[frogcycle]

12. my dad served on war crimes tribunals in Guam

waterboarding was not among the various charges. There were later trials in Tokyo; the ones in Guam were conducted hurriedly in order to establish some precedents. There were 33 defendents charged with a variety of crimes. All but one were convicted. Only a few - three if I remember correctly - were hanged. Another committed hari kiri in his cell. The rest got prison terms. The charges included several murders, beatings, abuse of prioners, desecration of bodies, and cannibalism. Only the top officers were hanged.

So I doubt seriously that any were later hanged "just" for waterboarding.

[mcg]

10. It's not just the waterboarding...

I haven't found information about any hangings for waterboarding, but 15 years hard labor, definitely.

There's a lot more than that going on that we KNOW of, like sensory deprivation . But first, here is link to blog article. It shows a "photograph, taken in 1968, of a US soldier involved in waterboarding a North Vietnamese prisoner led to that soldier being court martialed."

http://wwsword.blogspot.com/2007/10/waterboarding-is-torture.html

The Bush administration has been brazen about its use of sensory deprivation,
sleep deprivation, and sexual humiliation. A good article...

http://hungryblues.net/2006/12/05/torture-systems/

Many people saw the these photos (two shown below), but how many really saw them? I didn't, I was in denial when I first saw them. It's hard to comprehend just how devastating sensory deprivation is. Watching the movie "Murder in the First" gives a glimpse. Based on a real life story, the main character goes INSANE due to prolonged solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, and physical abuse. The hard thing to face up to is that the sensory deprivation shown is LONG TERM.

"this detainee in the foreground, like all the others around him, is goggled and is wearing noise-blocking earmuffs. And yes, his hands are bound, but even more to the point, he is wearing thick mittens, limiting his sense of touch. The surgical masks make breathing more difficult and limit the sense of smell."



"By now, you may also be wondering why all of the men have their shirts lifted and their lower backs exposed. Most likely this is for the purposes of sleep deprivation, possibly in combination with sexual humiliation."



Some of the torture methods that I've read are being used:

psychological torture *
sensory deprivation *
starvation
thirst
sleep deprivation *
forced standing
Palestinian crucifixion
sweat boxes
sexual abuse
sexual humiliation *
regular physical torture (beatings)

* shown here

American Torture Techniques:
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/waronterror/p/torturelite.htm

[Warren Stupidity]

11. The fact that they so casually photographed war crimes

reminds me of the newsreels from nazi germany showing sadistic torture, humiliation, and summary executions of people. It is the complete arrogance of the 'invincible' conquerors. They have provided the evidence that is sufficient to convict them, and they are so steeped in their own bullshit that they don't even realize it.