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US torture photo publication to change nothing: Analyst

Thursday, 28 January 2016 9:59 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 28 January 2016 9:59 AM ]

This file photo shows a prisoner at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Press TV has interviewed Tighe Barry, an activist with CODEPINK in Washington, about a leading US rights group saying the Pentagon has promised to release nearly 200 photographs depicting use of torture against prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: I imagine that there must be quite a few disturbing images here. Do you think the US government was right to try to hold this offer this long?

Barry: Well absolutely not. I mean not if they want to be the US government that they claim to be. But the fact of the matter is we have known about this since 2003. There were tapes that were illegally destroyed by the CIA. No one has ever been held accountable. The only one that ever was …, from the CIA that was held accountable was…, who called out the CIA for their torture techniques and he went to jail instead of the people who actually… A whistleblower went to jail.

We know that they are going to release 200 photographs of 2,000 that the ACLU asked for it but I believe personally you could release 200,000 and unless the United States government is willing to back that with criminal charges against someone like Donald Rumsfeld or George W. Bush, this will be meaningless.

Press TV: And of course we had that Abu Ghraib prison scandal take place and we did not see much accountability at that time. Do you think that there would be accountability after the release of such photos?

Barry: You mean the new ones? I doubt it, I seriously doubt it. The Bush administration was saying these were isolated instances that took place in 2003 and this is contradicted by Amnesty International, Red Cross, and Human Rights Watch. There has been torture, rape and sodomy and even murder, including in Guantanamo; and unless the government is willing to act judiciously against these criminal elements, there is not going to be anything that would come of this except more people being appalled by the lengths that the United States will go to achieve its ends.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

CIA United States of America Guantanamo Bay detention camp Amnesty International George W. Bush Donald Rumsfeld Pentagon red cross ACLU Abu Ghraib Human Rights Watch Torture