On how the justice system happily convicts people they know are innocent

Pop quiz: below is a quote. Three guesses who said it, and to whom. Think obvious.

“There is nothing against you. But there is no innocent person here. So, you should confess to something so you can be charged and sentenced and serve your sentence and then go back to your family and country, because you will not leave this place innocent.”

This was a statement made by a U.S. interrogator to Fouad al-Rabiah, a captured “enemy combatant” who was detained despite a complete lack of evidence against him, and a man they declared to be completely innocent in the end. Not that they didn’t torture him anyway, though.

It doesn’t take long, or many re-readings, before the true meaning and impact of that quote hits you. It couldn’t be plainer in what it says: “We know there is no evidence against you and that you have done nothing wrong. So, why don’t you make it easier for yourself and everyone else and just falsely confess to a crime you did not commit, so that we can all go home. Because you will not leave this place without having confessed to a crime.”

It must make Cheney and other neoconservatives so full of pride to see how the justice system is more than happy to detain and persecute someone they know to be innocent, on charges they know to be false, based off of confessions they know were forced.

And yet, the Obama administration is still dillydallying around, kicking around the bush and walking in circles, doing nothing to help these innocent people and, in many cases, actively ruling that they should be kept detained, even when it’s shown there is no credible evidence against them.

(via The Agitator)