BTL:U.S.-Held Prisoners Transferred Abroad Subjected to Torture

Interview with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, conducted by Scott Harris <!--break--> <p>U.S.-Held Prisoners Transferred Abroad Subjected to Torture</p><p>Interview with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, conducted by Scott Harris</p><p>Despite repeated denials from President Bush and others in his administration that the US government does not engage in torture or hand over prisoners to nations that do, a number of eyewitness accounts and press reports contradict those White House assertions. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, the Bush administration adopted a policy called, &quot;extraordinary rendition&quot; that permitted the transfer of a small number of terrorist suspects to nations that employed brutal interrogation methods illegal in the U.S.</p><p>In recent years, the government's &quot;rendition&quot; policy has greatly expanded, with estimates placing the number of U.S.-held prisoners transferred to nations employing torture at 150. Those who have been subject to the policy include Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was detained in New York City and then sent to Syria, where he suffered months of torture before being released without charge. Another prisoner, Mamdouh Habib, accused of training several of the 9/11 hijackers, was held in the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility and later transferred to Egypt where he claims he was beaten and burned. A piece in the Feb. 8th edition of the New Yorker magazine by Jane Mayer, titled, &quot;Outsourcing Torture,&quot; details the rendition program and some of the allegations made against the Bush administration.</p><p>Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a principal attorney for prisoners being held at the Guantanamo U.S. Naval Base. Ratner expresses his grave concern about the rendition policy and the message sent to the world by the recent Senate confirmation of Alberto Gonzalez as the Bush administration's new Attorney General.</p><p>Contact the Center for Constitutional Rights by calling (212) 614-6464, or visit the Center's website at <a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org">www.ccr-ny.org</a>. Michael Ratner is co- author along with Ellen Ray of the book: &quot;Guantanamo: What The World Should Know.&quot;</p><p>LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:</p><p><a href="http://www.btlonline.org">http://www.btlonline.org</a><br />*<br />&quot;Between The Lines&quot; is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because &quot;Between The Lines&quot; is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week's topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: <a href="http://www.btlonline.org">http://www.btlonline.org</a><br />*<br />&quot;Between the Lines,&quot; WPKN 89.5 FM's weekly radio news magazine can be heard Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. ET; Wednesdays at 8 a.m. ET and Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET (Wednesday's show airs at 7:30 a.m. ET during fundraising  months of April and October).<br />*<br />For an email subscription of &quot;Between The Lines Weekly Summary&quot; which features a RealAudio link to the week's program for Between The Lines, send an email to <a href="mailto:btlsummary-subscribe@lists.riseup.net">btlsummary-subscribe@lists.riseup.net</a><br />*<br />For an email subscription of &quot;Between The Lines Q&amp;A&quot; which features a RealAudio link and weekly transcript to one of the interviews featured on Between The Lines, send an email to <a href="mailto:btlqa-subscribe@lists.riseup.net">btlqa-subscribe@lists.riseup.net</a><br />*<br /><a href="mailto:betweenthelines@snet.net">betweenthelines@snet.net</a><br />*<br /><a href="http://www.squeakywheel.net/">http://www.squeakywheel.net/</a><br />*<br />Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions<br />©2005 Between The Lines. All Rights Reserved.<br /></p>

<p>Interview with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, conducted by Scott Harris</p> <!--break--><p>U.S.-Held Prisoners Transferred Abroad Subjected to Torture</p> <p>Interview with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, conducted by Scott Harris</p> <p>Despite repeated denials from President Bush and others in his administration that the US government does not engage in torture or hand over prisoners to nations that do, a number of eyewitness accounts and press reports contradict those White House assertions. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, the Bush administration adopted a policy called, "extraordinary rendition" that permitted the transfer of a small number of terrorist suspects to nations that employed brutal interrogation methods illegal in the U.S.</p> <p>In recent years, the government's "rendition" policy has greatly expanded, with estimates placing the number of U.S.-held prisoners transferred to nations employing torture at 150. Those who have been subject to the policy include Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was detained in New York City and then sent to Syria, where he suffered months of torture before being released without charge. Another prisoner, Mamdouh Habib, accused of training several of the 9/11 hijackers, was held in the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility and later transferred to Egypt where he claims he was beaten and burned. A piece in the Feb. 8th edition of the New Yorker magazine by Jane Mayer, titled, "Outsourcing Torture," details the rendition program and some of the allegations made against the Bush administration.</p> <p>Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a principal attorney for prisoners being held at the Guantanamo U.S. Naval Base. Ratner expresses his grave concern about the rendition policy and the message sent to the world by the recent Senate confirmation of Alberto Gonzalez as the Bush administration's new Attorney General.</p> <p>Contact the Center for Constitutional Rights by calling (212) 614-6464, or visit the Center's website at <a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org">www.ccr-ny.org</a>. Michael Ratner is co- author along with Ellen Ray of the book: "Guantanamo: What The World Should Know."</p> <p>LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:</p> <p><a href="http://www.btlonline.org">http://www.btlonline.org</a><br />*<br />"Between The Lines" is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because "Between The Lines" is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week's topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: <a href="http://www.btlonline.org">http://www.btlonline.org</a><br />*<br />"Between the Lines," WPKN 89.5 FM's weekly radio news magazine can be heard Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. ET; Wednesdays at 8 a.m. ET and Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET (Wednesday's show airs at 7:30 a.m. ET during fundraising  months of April and October).<br />*<br />For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Weekly Summary" which features a RealAudio link to the week's program for Between The Lines, send an email to <a href="mailto:btlsummary-subscribe@lists.riseup.net">btlsummary-subscribe@lists.riseup.net</a><br />*<br />For an email subscription of "Between The Lines Q&amp;A" which features a RealAudio link and weekly transcript to one of the interviews featured on Between The Lines, send an email to <a href="mailto:btlqa-subscribe@lists.riseup.net">btlqa-subscribe@lists.riseup.net</a><br />*<br /><a href="mailto:betweenthelines@snet.net">betweenthelines@snet.net</a><br />*<br /><a href="http://www.squeakywheel.net/">http://www.squeakywheel.net/</a><br />*<br />Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions<br />©2005 Between The Lines. All Rights Reserved.</p>