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America's Disappeared: Secret Imprisonment, Detainees, and the War on Terror
The confirmation proceedings for Alberto R. Gonzales and Condeleeza Rice, like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, triggered a national debate about the U.S. government’s controversial treatment of detainees and its practice of torture. At the heart of the debate is the question: Is the United States undermining democracy, freedom, and human rights in it’s effort to protect its citizens from terrorism? The authors of AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED answer, yes.
AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED describes how the U.S. government, in response to the events of 9/11, launched an unprecedented campaign of racial profiling, detentions, and deportations so grievous as to evoke the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It brings together, for the first time, detainees’ own testimonies along with analysis by the leading constitutional attorneys and human rights advocates. In addition to a detailed exploration of detention—the forms currently in use, and the conditions of each—the book challenges the Bush administration’s justifications for violating the Geneva Conventions and the most basic definitions of human rights.
AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED describes how the U.S. government, in response to the events of 9/11, launched an unprecedented campaign of racial profiling, detentions, and deportations so grievous as to evoke the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It brings together, for the first time, detainees’ own testimonies along with analysis by the leading constitutional attorneys and human rights advocates. In addition to a detailed exploration of detention—the forms currently in use, and the conditions of each—the book challenges the Bush administration’s justifications for violating the Geneva Conventions and the most basic definitions of human rights.
248 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 9, 2026
Published in 2005, this volume responds specifically to the Abu Ghraib scandal, and related unlawful detentions by US agents following the 9/11 attacks, and the torture and abuse of these prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, in violation of the Geneva Conventions. It also covers similar treatment of immigration detainees, many of whom were US citizens at the time, or who had valid green cards.
The INS were under different orders after 9/11, and the "war on terror" allowed cover for the Bush administration to justify the indefinite jailing and torture of a broad range of individuals, not just "terrorists" but activists and immigrants. The administration went kind of crazy, and Congress and the media went along without questioning it. Most of the public was unaware at the time (I certainly was), but in retrospect it's gravely disappointing. It was a huge step towards the executive branch gaining too much power without accountability, and now with Trump we are seeing the consequences.
The personal statements by detainees were more effective than the essays in describing the physical abuse and abuse of power. Many imprisonments only made sense if the agents were under pressure to show progress, in other words, head-counts. Similar to what happened in Vietnam, when US Marines killed innocent civilians and counted them as enemy kills to meet quotas. Which is unconscionable, of course. Some immigrants were either setup in drug stings by US agents, or were picked up after serving sentences for minor drug charges. How is this fighting the "war on terrorism"?
The situation for immigrant detainees described here is different in that many were US citizens or else had legal statuses that were ignored by the INS. Some abuses occurred due to longtime corruption in our prison system, where racists officers are allowed to beat and torture without impunity. Our prisons have been without effective oversight for a long time. It's gotten worse as the system has been expanded and privatized.
The chapters by editor Meeropol are excellent, but Watt's chapter on torture techniques is too long and technical for the general reader. Human Right Watch (HRW) is to be lauded for their efforts exposing human right violations around the world. However, Brody's chapter, "The Road to Abu Ghraib", based on an HRW report, contains too much duplicate information.
Barbara Olshansky’s closing chapter does an excellent job describing the Bush administration’s “wanton disregard” of constitutional protections in creating the category of “enemy combatant.” And then doing whatever it pleases with detainees and lying about it. But she could have summarized the constitutional details in doing so, and spare the general reader.
The INS were under different orders after 9/11, and the "war on terror" allowed cover for the Bush administration to justify the indefinite jailing and torture of a broad range of individuals, not just "terrorists" but activists and immigrants. The administration went kind of crazy, and Congress and the media went along without questioning it. Most of the public was unaware at the time (I certainly was), but in retrospect it's gravely disappointing. It was a huge step towards the executive branch gaining too much power without accountability, and now with Trump we are seeing the consequences.
The personal statements by detainees were more effective than the essays in describing the physical abuse and abuse of power. Many imprisonments only made sense if the agents were under pressure to show progress, in other words, head-counts. Similar to what happened in Vietnam, when US Marines killed innocent civilians and counted them as enemy kills to meet quotas. Which is unconscionable, of course. Some immigrants were either setup in drug stings by US agents, or were picked up after serving sentences for minor drug charges. How is this fighting the "war on terrorism"?
The situation for immigrant detainees described here is different in that many were US citizens or else had legal statuses that were ignored by the INS. Some abuses occurred due to longtime corruption in our prison system, where racists officers are allowed to beat and torture without impunity. Our prisons have been without effective oversight for a long time. It's gotten worse as the system has been expanded and privatized.
The chapters by editor Meeropol are excellent, but Watt's chapter on torture techniques is too long and technical for the general reader. Human Right Watch (HRW) is to be lauded for their efforts exposing human right violations around the world. However, Brody's chapter, "The Road to Abu Ghraib", based on an HRW report, contains too much duplicate information.
Barbara Olshansky’s closing chapter does an excellent job describing the Bush administration’s “wanton disregard” of constitutional protections in creating the category of “enemy combatant.” And then doing whatever it pleases with detainees and lying about it. But she could have summarized the constitutional details in doing so, and spare the general reader.
September 14, 2013
This is a book to read if you want to understand the problems at Guantanamo more deeply than just what's on the nightly news. The chapter by Barbara Olshansky, "What Does It Mean to be an 'Enemy Combatant'?" is excellent for its analysis of case and constitutional law regarding presidential powers. Perhaps a little difficult legal reading for the average person.
April 8, 2008
frightening and worrying
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews