Archives » Thursday, September 18, 2008
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David Botti
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Sep 18, 2008 11:18 AM
A bill passed by the House on Monday would give former Gulf War POWs
mistreated by Saddam Hussein's army the right to sue Iraq for damages,
but the White House is threatening a veto and the Senate still needs to
approve the legislation. The bill (H.R. 5167)
cited abuse of both military and civilian prisoners at the time of
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and reaffirmed then demands of the
United States at the time that Iraq follow the Geneva Convention:
Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August
1990, many
United States citizens were detained by Iraq, beaten, subjected to
cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, confined under deplorable
conditions, and used as `human shields' for the avowed purpose of
preventing the United States and its coalition allies from using
military force to liberate Kuwait...At the time these acts occurred,
the Department of State had classified Iraq as a state sponsor of
terrorism.
Currently,
the president is allowed to provide exemption for Iraq from lawsuits
brought by "Americans tortured by state sponsors of terrorism," the AP
reports. The bill further provides that those held can receive $150,000
plus $6,000 for each day in captivity, with a maximum allowance of
$900,000. Those who were tortured are entitled to $2.5 million with an
additional $6,000-per-day imprisoned.
There was, however, a time
when these same POW's could legally sue the Iraqi government over their
treatment during the Gulf War. In July 2003, 17 former captives were
awarded over $900 million in damages. John Norton Moore, an attorney
for the former POW's, told 60 Minutes at the time:
“If what we do is to offer the tortured American POWs settlements
that are the equivalent of the price of a used car, we're simply going
to perpetuate this torture of POWs over and over. And say the price of
torturing American POWs is virtually nothing."
The
payment was expected to be made from Iraqi assets frozen by the United
States, but eventually the Justice Department ruled that once frozen
the assets were no longer property of Iraq. The White House said the
money was needed to help Iraqi people during the post-2003 invasion
reconstruction effort. This week the Associated Press reported
the White House's response to this new piece of legislation, the
Justice for Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act, as saying the bill
would: "threaten economic and political progress in Iraq."
Representative
Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who is sponsoring the bill, expressed
frustration over the president's veto of last year's Defense
Authorization Bill which contained a provision similar to the bill he's
now seeking to pass. As the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports:
On Christmas Eve last year, President Bush unexpectedly vetoed the
massive $3.5 billion defense authorization bill. He specifically cited
a provision intended to help the POWs receive their award.
Congressional Quarterly reported the Iraqi government threatened to
withdraw $25 billion in assets from U.S. banks if the provision were to
become law.
"I was so angry when that happened. It effectively
gave immunity from torture in violation of the third Geneva
Convention," Braley said. "What message does this send to the world?"
In 2003 Jeff Tice, a former F-16 pilot shot down during the Gulf War, described for 60 Minutes the torture he endured while held captive by Iraqi forces:
“They wrapped a wire around one ear, one underneath my chin, wrapped it
around another ear and hooked it up to some electrical device. Asked a
question. I wasn't interested in answering,” recalls Tice.
“They would turn on the juice. And what that does is it, it creates
a ball of lightning in your mind or in your head. Drives all your
muscles simultaneously together and it drives your jaw and everything
together. And, of course, I'm chained to a chair. I can't move freely.
So everything is jerking into a little ball. And your teeth are being
forced together with such force. I'm breaking pieces and parts off.”
Tice’s jaw was dislocated so many times that he says he was lucky to be able to put it back into place.
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