This interview was conducted with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Lisa Hajjar during the week marking the ten year anniversary of the 11 September attack in the United States. Interviewed by Jess Ghannam of KPOO`s "Arab Talk," Lisa begins with a survey of the landscape of US detention policy of the last ten years. While some aspects of torture and abuse have changed under the Obama administration, more has stayed the same, including indefinite detention, denial of habeas, use of military commissions, and the fact that there has not yet been a definitive end to US torture. Following this is a more in depth discussion of Bagram and detention operations in Afghanistan. The interview ends with a sociological reflection on why the US public has failed to demand legal accountability for those responsible for torture and other crimes of state in the context of the war on terror.
Quotes from Lisa`s interview:
"The policy decisions by the Bush administration to institute torture and abuse in the interrogation of `war on terror` prisoners continue to define detention operations overseas...Some of these policies have come back into the United States. The treatment of Bradley Manning is an example...He was subjected to a repertoire of treatment that would constitute cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment."
"The Obama administration has remain committed to the idea that some people can be held for years with no habeas rights to challenge the basis of their detention. Obama had condemned this when he was a senator."
"Political expediency has totally prevailed over the legal obligations to enforce the law and to hold people responsible for torture accountable."
Click below to listen.