{"id":9413,"date":"2017-01-26T14:35:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T14:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/?post_type=update&p=9413"},"modified":"2020-05-29T15:18:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:18:11","slug":"trump-black-sites-torture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/","title":{"rendered":"What you need to know about Trump, “Black Sites” and Torture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo:\u00a0Gage Skidmore<\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a>, US President Donald Trump suggested he was open to bringing back torture and reiterated his belief that torture \u201cworks\u201d. This follows the emergence of a draft executive order which would pave the way for the return of CIA \u201cblack sites\u201d, and \u201cenhanced interrogation” techniques like waterboarding.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick debrief on what you need to know on Trump, black sites and torture:<\/p>\n

What are \u201cblack sites\u201d?<\/h2>\n

\u201cBlack sites\u201d were the network of CIA secret prisons which spanned the globe until their use was banned by President Obama. In the aftermath of 9\/11, the US abducted innocent men, women and children, and rendered them to secret prison camps in places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Poland.<\/p>\n

The US administration justified its appalling treatment of these people by labelling them \u201cenemy combatants\u201d \u2013 prisoners with no constitutional rights. Detainees were brutally tortured, while being held in legal black holes, with no access to a lawyer and no hope of release.<\/p>\n

What is \u201cextraordinary rendition\u201d?<\/h2>\n

\u201cExtraordinary rendition\u201d was the process by which the US kidnapped people and flew them to secret prisons \u2013 or black sites \u2013 around the world, where they were tortured.<\/p>\n

What are “enhanced interrogation techniques”?<\/h2>\n

\u201cEnhanced interrogation techniques\u201d is a euphemism for torture, and includes such abuses as waterboarding, sleep deprivation, keeping prisoners in small boxes for up to 18 hours, stress positions, forced nudity, sexual threats, and so-called \u201crectal rehydration\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who were the victims of the programme?<\/h2>\n

The victims of the programme included men, women and children. In 2004, the families of two anti-Gaddafi dissidents were kidnapped and \u2018rendered\u2019 to Libyan prisons, in a joint CIA-MI6 operation. Among them were a pregnant woman<\/a>, and\u00a0four children aged 12 and under<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Does torture work?<\/h2>\n

No. In its exhaustive 2014 report<\/a> on the abuses of the Bush era, the US Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that the use of torture by the US after 9\/11 was ineffective, and did not produce actionable intelligence<\/a>. The Committee’s primary finding was that “enhanced interrogation techniques” were “not an effective means of acquiring intelligence.”<\/p>\n

Torture also damages the US\u2019s reputation, at home and abroad. President Trump\u2019s own National Security Advisor, Mike Flynn, has spoken out against torture, saying<\/a> in 2014 that: “If there’s an American strategic advantage, it is our values. We must protect our values at all costs.”<\/p>\n

How were other countries such as the UK involved?<\/h2>\n

British facilities \u2013 such as the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean \u2013 were used by CIA rendition planes, carrying prisoners to secret torture sites around the world. Britain\u2019s MI6 also provided the intelligence to enable the kidnap and rendition of two families to Libya. In its ruling on the rendition and torture of British resident Binyam Mohammed, the High Court said the UK’s role in his abuse was\u00a0\u201cfar beyond that of a bystander\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do other US lawmakers think about using “black sites” and torture?<\/h2>\n

The former chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has said that \u201cWe can’t base national security policies on what works on television; policies must be grounded in reality.”<\/p>\n

US Senator John McCain, a former torture victim, has spoken out against the revived use of torture techniques, saying<\/a>: “The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo:\u00a0Gage Skidmore In a recent interview, US President Donald Trump suggested he was open to bringing back torture and reiterated his belief that torture \u201cworks\u201d. This follows the emergence of a draft executive order which would pave the way for the return of CIA \u201cblack sites\u201d, and \u201cenhanced interrogation” techniques like waterboarding. Here\u2019s a quick … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat you need to know about Trump, "Black Sites" and Torture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and "black sites", here's what you need to know.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What you need to know about Trump, "Black Sites" and Torture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and "black sites", here's what you need to know.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reprieve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@reprieve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@reprieve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"What you need to know about Trump, “Black Sites” and Torture\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":573,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Update\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/\",\"name\":\"What you need to know about Trump, \\\"Black Sites\\\" and Torture\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and \\\"black sites\\\", here's what you need to know.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/26\\\/trump-black-sites-torture\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What you need to know about Trump, “Black Sites” and Torture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reprieve - fighting for human rights around the world\",\"description\":\"Reprieve is a legal action non-governmental organisation (NGO). We are investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice. We defend people who are facing human rights abuses, often at the hands of powerful governments.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ReprieveHQ\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/reprieve\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/@reprievehq\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/967614\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What you need to know about Trump, \"Black Sites\" and Torture","description":"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and \"black sites\", here's what you need to know.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"What you need to know about Trump, \"Black Sites\" and Torture","og_description":"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and \"black sites\", here's what you need to know.","og_url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/","og_site_name":"Reprieve","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/","article_published_time":"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@reprieve","twitter_site":"@reprieve","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"What you need to know about Trump, “Black Sites” and Torture","datePublished":"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/"},"wordCount":573,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Update"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/","name":"What you need to know about Trump, \"Black Sites\" and Torture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-26T14:35:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-29T15:18:11+00:00","description":"After President Trump's comments on torture, waterboarding and \"black sites\", here's what you need to know.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/01\/26\/trump-black-sites-torture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What you need to know about Trump, “Black Sites” and Torture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/","name":"Reprieve - fighting for human rights around the world","description":"Reprieve is a legal action non-governmental organisation (NGO). We are investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice. We defend people who are facing human rights abuses, often at the hands of powerful governments.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization","name":"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":500,"caption":"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/","https:\/\/x.com\/reprieve","https:\/\/instagram.com\/@reprievehq","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/967614"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/author\/"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Reprieve","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16911,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9413\/revisions\/16911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}