Originally published at Truthout

High-value detainees captured during the Bush administration's "war on terror," who were subjected to brutal torture techniques, were used as "guinea pigs" to gauge the effectiveness of various torture techniques, a practice that has raised troubling comparisons to Nazi-era human experimentation. according to a disturbing new report released by Physicians for Human Rights, an international doctors' organization.

PHR, based in Massachusetts, called on President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and the US Congress to launch investigations into the role of physicians and psychiatric experts in the monitoring and assessments of the brutal interrogations.

"Health professionals working for and on behalf of the CIA monitored the interrogations of detainees, collected and analyzed the results of [the] interrogations, and sought to derive generalizable inferences to be applied to subsequent interrogations," said the 27-page report, entitled "Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the 'Enhanced' Interrogation Program." "Such acts may be seen as the conduct of research and experimentation by health professionals on prisoners, which could violate accepted standards of medical ethics, as well as domestic and international law. These practices could, in some cases, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The report is based on extensive research of previously declassified government documents that shows the crucial role medical personnel played in establishing and justifying the legality of the Bush administration's torture program. Many of the details contained in the document has already been painstakingly documented by Marcy Wheeler at her blog Emptywheel, and Truthout's own Jeffrey Kaye on his blog Invictus and in articles published on this web site and at Firedoglake.

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PORT FOURCHON, La. — Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that federal authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations into the nation's worst oil spill, and BP lost billions in market value when shares dropped in the first trading day since the company failed yet again to plug the gusher.

Investors presumably realized the best chance to stop the leak was months away and there was no end in sight to the cleanup. As BP settled in for the long-term, Holder announced the criminal probe, though he would not specify the companies or individuals that might be targeted.

"We will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill. If we find evidence of illegal behavior, we will be extremely forceful in our response," Holder said in New Orleans.

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It is nearly impossible to calculate the level of damage that the criminal Bush Administration did to our concepts of civil liberties and protections. The main reason for this is the furtive nature in which they made decisions and implemented them. An excellent example of this is a prison program you have never heard of.

In to Federal prisons, one in Terra Haute, Indiana and other in Marion Illinois an experimental program was started in 2006. This program is called the Communications Management Units (CMU) . These special units are pretty damned Orwellian. Unlike other prisoners, people in the CMU’s have all their calls and mail monitored (with the exception of contact with their attorneys) . That might be acceptable if it were all that went on, the CMU’s also require that all face to face conversations be conducted in English, so they can also be monitored. To add insult to injury there is no touching of visitors, even spouses and minor children.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

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Happy Monday. Welcome to the Dog’s letter writing campaign for torture accountability. This campaign is designed to keep the issue of accountability under the law for the Bush administrations torture program alive. Here is how it works, every Monday the Dog writes to one of the decision makers on the issue of torture accountability. You get involved (and increase the impact) by either cutting and pasting the letter over your own signature or just writing your own letter. The Dog even provides e-mail links so you can cc the letter to all the decision makers.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

This week we are back to writing the Attorney General, as he has the final say as to whether comprehensive investigations will accrue or not.

Dear Attorney General Holder:

I write you once again to urge your action on the issue of the Bush Administration’s apparent torture program. The legal reasons why you should act are clear. Torture is both a Federal and International crime. Under the International Conventions Against Torture, any signatory has the obligation to investigate every credible allegation of torture.

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s on-going campaign for torture accountability. The purpose of this series is to keep the issue of accountability under the law for torture alive. To do this every Monday the Dog writes a letter to one of the decision to makers who could move the issue of torture accountability forward. You get involved by sending your own letter, you can use the one the Dog writes, just pasted over your signature, or you can write your own. The point is to have some notice given that not everyone has forgotten about the issue of torture war crimes in the glare of HCR and the new season of American Idol.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

This week we are going to write to the Attorney General, as he is the single person that can really get the ball rolling with full-scale investigations. There will be copies to the President, the Speaker of the House, the Majority Leader of the Senate, Judiciary Chairs Leahy and Conyers and ranking Judiciary Committee Member Rep. Jerry Nadler.

This week’s letter:

Dear Attorney General Holder;

I write you this week to ask a simple question; doesn’t it make you angry that you are being made a patsy by war criminals?

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s letter writing campaign for torture accountability. This series is a small attempt to assure the issue of accountability under the law for the apparent Bush administration torture program is not forgotten by those responsible for the investigation and prosecution of such acts. The way this series works is as follows; every Monday the Dog writes a letter to one of the decision makers involved and send copies to the rest. You get involved by either cutting and pasting the letter over your own signature or buy using it as inspiration for your own letter. The Dog even provides the e-mail links and where we are writing members of Congress who use filter the way to get past the filters.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

This week we will be writing the Attorney General (the fact is he is the sole person who can start and follow through with investigations) with copies to the President, Speaker of the House Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, Judiciary Chairs Leahy and Conyers and Rep. Jerry Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee.

This week’s letter:

Dear Attorney General Holder;

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The Dog knows that today will mostly be consumed with the Massachusetts Senate special election, but there are things going on in the realm of the Bush administrations war crimes that need to be discussed. Yesterday Scott Horton of Harper's magazine published some new reporting on the June 9th 2006 “suicides” at Guantanamo Bay which highlights the need for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to fully investigate the detention and torture of prisoners.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

Something happened on the night of June 9th 2006. Three men died, their deaths were ruled suicides even though a Harper's says in his article:

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s letter writing series torture accountability. The point of this series it to keep the issue of accountability under the law for the state sponsored torture program of the Bush Administration alive and moving forward. This is a long fight, as any legal issue is likely to be, but by consistently writing the decision makers and making the case for the rule of law we make it clear there are citizens who believe the rule of law trumps all political motivation.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

For those who have not seen this series before, the way it works is simple, the Dog writes a letter on Mondays to one of the decision makers and provides the links to send this letter off. You get involved by using the letter in part or in whole and sending it off over your own signature.

This week we will be writing Attorney General Holder with copies to the President, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Judiciary Chairs Leahy and Conyers and Rep. Jerry Nadler who also sits on the House Judiciary Committee.

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s ongoing letter writing campaign for torture accountability. This is post is going up later in the day in the hopes that some of the late afternoon/early evening folks will get a chance to see it and participate. The way this series works is every Monday the Dog writes to the national decision makers urging them to move forward with accountability under the law for the state sponsored torture program of the Bush administration. You get involved by either using the letter as a jumping off point for your own or by pasting the letter over your signature and sending it off. The Dog even provides the links to contact the decision makers, so it very easy for everyone to speak up for the rule of law.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

This week we will be writing to the President, with copies to the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader and the Chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

Here is this week’s letter:

Dear President Obama;

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s letter writing campaign series. The object of this series is to keep the issue of accountability under the law for the apparent Bush Administration state sponsored torture program. For those who are new to this series here is how it works. On Mondays, the Dog writes a letter to the Attorney General and other decision makers urging them to follow the laws of our nation, fully investigate, and where appropriate evidence exists, prosecute those who conspired to torture, ordered torture and carried it out.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

The way you get involved is to take the letter and either use it as the starting place for your own letter or to cut and paste it over your own name and send it off. The Dog provides all the e-mail addresses or links to contact the AG, the President, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Judiciary Chairs Conyers and Leahy and Rep. Jerry Nadler, you just provide a few minutes of your time to keep this issue alive.

This week we write the Attorney General, with copies to all of the other decision makers. Below is the letter;

Dear Attorney General Holder;

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