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THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - December 30, 2010
Cover-Ups, Coups and Drones - A Holiday Sampler of What
WikiLeaks Reveals About the US
by: Bill Quigley
truthout - News Analysis
Human rights advocates have significant new sources of
information to hold the United States accountable. The
transparency, which WikiLeaks has brought about, unveils
many cover-ups of injustices in US relations with Honduras,
Spain, Thailand, UK and Yemen over issues of torture at
Guantanamo, civilian casualties from drones and the war
in Iraq.
------ US Government Is Two-Faced Over WikiLeaks ------
The US government has twisted itself into knots over
WikiLeaks. It routinely disregards the privacy of citizens
while, at the same time, trying to avoid transparency for
itself.
The US claims broad authority to secretly snoop on the
lives of individuals inside and outside of the US. It also
works tirelessly to prevent citizens from knowing what is
going on by expansively naming basic government information
"state secrets." The government says it has to have the
right to keep things secret in order to prevent crime.
But when it comes to revealing evidence of illegal acts
by the US government it seeks the most severe sanctions
against any transparency.
The most glaring example of the twisted logic is on display
within the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is
searching for creative ways to criminally sanction
WikiLeaks for publishing US secrets. But the same DOJ
solemnly decided it should not prosecute the government
officials who brazenly destroyed dozens of tapes of water-
boarding and torture by US officials. So, DOJ, destruction
of evidence of crimes is O.K. and revealing the evidence
of crimes is bad?
---------- Holiday Sampler From WikiLeaks ----------
Here is a holiday sampler of what WikiLeaks has published
revealing the US role in cover-ups, drones and coups.
Cover-Ups
- Spain
The US worked with high-ranking officials in Spain to try
to derail legal accountability for torture by US officials.
Spain has opened two judicial inquiries into torture
allegations against US officials at Guantanamo.
A series of cables details secret meetings and communi-
cations among officials of the two countries. An April 1,
2009, cable (Reference ID 09MADRID347) describes a meeting
between the main Spanish prosecutor and US officials. The
prosecutor promises to proceed slowly and to try to make
sure the case is not assigned to the most pro-human rights
judge in Spain, Judge Garzon. An April 19, 2009, cable
(Reference 09MADRID392) tells of numerous meetings between
US officials and Spanish officials, including the attorney
general of Spain, who promises not to support the case.
A cable dated May 5, 2009, (Reference ID 09MADRID440)
describes further meetings between US officials and the
prosecutor, who promises to "embarrass" the judge into
dropping the case.
It is noteworthy that the pro-human rights judge, Baltasar
Garzon, was later indicted in April 2010 for probing into
Spanish civil war atrocities in a way that Spanish govern-
ment said was an abuse of power.
- UK
The UK promised to protect US interests in the UK review
of the Iraq war. In a September 22, 2009, cable (Reference
ID 09LONDON2198) UK officials "promised that the UK had
put measures into place to protect your interest during
the inquiry into the causes of the Iraq war. He noted that
Iraq no longer seems to be a major issue in the US, but
he said it would become a big issue - a feeding frenzy -
in the UK when the inquiry takes off."
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---------------- Drones and Cover-Ups ----------------
Amnesty International (AI) released pictures of a US
manufactured cruise missile that carried cluster bombs
used in a December 17, 2009, attack on a community in
Abyan, Yemen, which killed 14 alleged members of al-Qaeda
and 41 local residents - including 14 women and 21
children. At the time of the AI report, June 6, 2010,
Yemeni officials said that its forces had carried out
that attack. AI asked the US to explain its role, but
the US did not. After the WikiLeaks disclosures, it is
clear that the US carried out the attack, and both
countries were lying.
A January 4, 2010, cable (ID Reference 10SANAA4) noted
Yemen officials expressed concerns about the killings of
civilians in Yemen by US drone attacks. The US has been
bombing Yemen with drones and other missiles for over a
year, often trying to assassinate US citizen and accused
al-Qaeda leader Anwar Awlaki and others. In this cable,
US officials said, "the only civilians killed were the
wife and children an [al-Qaeda] operative at the site."
Yemen officials complained that US cruise missiles are
"not very accurate," and reportedly welcomed the use of
aircraft-deployed, precision-guided bombs instead. "We'll
continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," said the
Yemen leader, prompting a deputy minister to joke that he
had just "lied" by telling the Yemen Parliament that the
bombs in Arhab, Abyan and Shebwa were American-made, but
deployed by the Yemen military.
--------------- Coups and Cover-Ups ---------------
When is a coup not a coup?
WikiLeaks documents show the US knew in advance about the
2006 military coup in Thailand, and changed its definition
of the 2009 coup in Honduras within a 30 day period.
In a September 19, 2006, cable (ID Reference 06BANGKOK5811)
written just after a military coup deposed the elected
government in Thailand while the premier was at the UN,
the US reminded Thai military coup leaders of an earlier
conversation that promised US aid would be cut off if
there was a coup. The cable makes it clear that the US
knew of the planning for the coup in advance. The cable
goes on to observe that "a coup is a coup is a coup..."
In a July 23, 2009, cable (ID Reference 09TEGUCIGALPA645)
written after "the June 28 forced removal of President
Manuel 'Mel' Zelaya" from Honduras, "the Embassy perspect-
ive is that there is no doubt that the military, Supreme
Court and national congress conspired on June 28 in what
constitutes an illegal and unconstitutional coup against
the Executive Branch, while accepting there may be a
prima facie case that Zelaya may have committed illegal-
ities and may have even violated the constitution. There
is equally no doubt from our perspective that Roberto
Micheletti's assumption of power was illegitimate."
Yet, a month later, in August 25, 2009, a special briefing
by the US State Department included this exchange with
journalist Sergio Davila.
Davila: "If this is a coup - the State Department
considers this a coup, what's the next step? And I
mean, there is a legal framework on the U.S. laws
dealing with countries that are under coup d'état?
I mean, what's holding you guys to take other
measures according - the law?"
The State Department official responded: "I think
what you're referring to, Mr. Davila, is whether or
not this is - has been determined to be a military
coup. And you're correct that there are provisions
in our law that have to be applied if it is determined
that this is a military coup. And frankly, our lawyers
are looking at that exact question. And when we get
the answer to that, you are right, there will be things
that - if it is determined that this was a military
coup, there will be things that will kick in. As you
know, on the ground, there's a lot of discussion about
who did what to whom and what things were constitution-
al or not, which is why our lawyers are really looking
at the event as we understand them in order to come
out with the accurate determination."
The US backpedaling on the coup in Honduras continues to
this day.
WikiLeaks has revealed evidence of US human rights abuses
around the world. Now the question is what are human rights
activists going to do with this informatio
Full Disclosure: The Center for Constitutional Rights is
representing detainees in Guantanamo, is supporting the
investigation into US human rights abuses conducted by
Spain, is looking into the coup in Honduras, is challeng-
ing the use of drones in Yemen to target and kill US
citizen Anwar Awlaki and has repeatedly condemned the US
war in Iraq.
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