Slain Russian journalist on governments' motive for torture

I blogged Sunday on Juan Cole's piece last week on the reasons governments want to torture people. Here's further confirmation of his theory that it's to manufacture bad intelligence, to justify their "war on terror".

This time confirmation comes from the dead -- from the most courageous Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist slain Saturday, in her posthumously filed final report on torture.

From her final article We Declare You A Terrorist, filled with photos she obtained of torture of Chechens by government security forces, as excerpted in the New York Times .

"When prosecutors and the courts work, not for the sake of the law, but on political commission and with the only goal of providing good reports for the Kremlin, then criminal cases are baked like pancakes," Ms. Politkovskaya wrote. "An assembly line producing `open-hearted confessions' effectively guarantees good data on the war on terror."

The news is full of stories about Politkovskaya this week, but to me nothing beats the photos in Novaya Gazeta, even though I can't read a word of Russian. And for perspective here's an old article written two years ago, before martyrdom caught up with her. Her courage wasn't a momentary thing, but a way of life.

If anyone finds a complete English translation of her last article, please post it.

•  Egads?

  A theory?

  Trolling Fishing Expeditions are always what Torture has been used for...

  People didn't already know this? O_o

  
  Torture, Murder, Bush, Kissinger and The Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina: America on the Brink of Horror

  What one must remember about "Operation Condor" and Gitmo, for example, is that they were basically horrifying fishing expeditions. One did not need to be guilty of anything. One was adjudged guilty merely because a state authorized agent declared one so. In "Operation Condor" – as at Gitmo – the vast majority of people were detained and tortured merely on the suspicion that they might have some knowledge of value. And if they didn’t, it was their bad luck – and their detention would be a sacrifice paid for the "security of the nation."

  It is not a large leap – however much Americans would like to think otherwise – from the summary arrest, torture and occasional murder of foreigners to applying the same process to residents of the United States. Suspicion or politically-motivated accusations of the government become equivalent to a sentence of guilt. Bush has already declared persons who disagree with his Iraq policies "tools of the terorrists."

  by kraant on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:26:39 PM PDT

•  want to be REALLY creeped out?

  she was murdered on putin's birthday!

  by Turkana on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:26:52 PM PDT

  •  Whoooah.

    That's one weird f-up B-day present...? Wtf.

    I can't imagine being so brave. I wish I could. We need to use every word she wrote, every image she captured, to it's greatest possible potential. She deserves that, and so do we.

    We need all the truth, every tiny little piece of it we can salvage.  The search that killed her can still save us.

    by Unduna on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:34:57 PM PDT

  •  Love your sig

    My wife and I co-coordinated a district for Kennedy in California in 1980 (just dated myself, didn't I), and I'll always remember him delivering that speech at the convention after he lost the rules fight to Carter's guys.

    Remember Carter's "Hubert Horatio Hornblower! -- uh, Humphrey!" moment delivering the eulogy the next night? What a low point for Democrats. I knew it was our eulogy he'd delivered, and that we were headed into the Reagan nightmare for sure, at that point.

    by samizdat on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:58:12 PM PDT

    •  me too

      had they voted after kennedy's speech- even though it was carter's delegates- kennedy would have been the nominee. and with the media intent on making reagan seem moderate (some things never change...), i knew we were in big trouble.

      by Turkana on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 06:18:26 PM PDT

•  thanks for diarying this

  any journalist who opposes the powers that be has my admiration and gratitude.

  by Miss Devore on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:30:07 PM PDT

  •  Find the missing word in Bush's statement

    I'll give you a hint: it starts with a "t".

    President Bush's Statement on the Murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya --

    "Like many Russians, Americans were shocked and saddened by the brutal murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a fearless investigative journalist, highly respected in both Russia and the United States. We extend our sympathy and prayers to her family and her friends.

    "Born in the United States to Soviet diplomats, Anna Politkovskaya cared deeply about her country. Through her efforts to shine a light on human rights abuses and corruption, especially in Chechnya, she challenged her fellow Russians - and, indeed, all of us - to summon the courage and will, as individuals and societies, to struggle against evil and rectify injustices.

    "We urge the Russian Government to conduct a vigorous and thorough investigation to bring to justice those responsible for her murder."

    by Mogolori on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 06:14:25 PM PDT

•  Paul Klebnikov too

  Author of "Godfather of the Kremlin" and murdered a couple of years ago, presumably by exiled tycoon/mobster Boris Berezovsky

  from wiki:

  In August 2006 a source close to the case told Reuters the investigation was now focussing on a possible link between Klebnikov's murder and his interest in the possible misappropriation of Russian funds intended for the reconstruction of Chechnya, ravaged by a decade of fighting between Chechen rebels and Russian troops.

  by dannyinla on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:40:49 PM PDT

•  Those photos from her funeral

  are incredible. Gives me a lot of hope for Russia - and hopefully they make Putin a bit scared.

  This, of course, is also the road our good ol' land of the free took the first step down on Sept. 28.

  by scardanelli on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:46:33 PM PDT

•  Torture czar Kissinger hides in D.C.

  The reason the infamous schemer for Nixon and others holes up in Washington is because he is wanted for war crimes and is liable to be arrested if he visits European countries. He can't afford to take the chance that the US might not spring him so he sits and doesn't travel to safe countries (for regular Americans) like France, Germany, Spain,etc.

  Kissinger approved of the Chilean coup in 1973 and the "extremely strong " interrogation tactics.

  Various nuns, priests,American students,native peoples, citizens of Guatemela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru and elsewhere still are looking for justice even though it has been many years since their murders...

  and Henry the K has found a grateful ear in Bush, who dreams of his status in history..  His "own" legacy.  He is now giving more advice to presidents.
  This time it is to Bush.

   "The evil men do lasts a long,long while while the good is oft interred with their bones."

  by Pete Rock on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 05:59:49 PM PDT

•  War on the Chechens is also about oil

  at any price, its as ugly or uglier than Iraq and Putin and Bush both have blood on their hands. Putin is popular with his people but then he controls the press so he would be, wouldn't he. Its all in how its sold to the people.

  Politkovskaya was a woman who was not afraid, there are many brave journalists who speak truth to power and who pay dearly. Not everyone has a price.

  by ohcanada on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 07:17:10 PM PDT