Falsely Accused Man Suing Rumsfeld Given National Press Club Ridenhour Prize For Truth-Telling

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/50191

"My Name Used to Be #200343"

By David Phinney, IPS News. Posted April 7, 2007.

A year ago, Donald Vance learned what its like to be falsely accused by the U.S. military of aiding terrorists. He was held without charge for more than three months in a high-security prison in Iraq, and interrogated daily after sleepless nights without legal counsel or even a phone call to his family.

On Wednesday, the former private security contractor was honored for his ordeal in Washington and for speaking out against the incident. At a luncheon at the National Press Club, Vance received the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, an award named in memory of Army helicopter gunner Ron Ridenhour who struggled to bring the horrific mass murders at My Lai to the attention of Congress and the Pentagon during the Vietnam War.

Vance was joined by former president Jimmy Carter, who won a lifetime achievement award, and journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post who was recognised for his recent book, "Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone".

- snip -

In a lawsuit now pending against former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and "other unidentified agents," Vance and Ertel accuse their U.S. government captors of subjecting them to psychological torture day and night. Lights were kept on in their cell around the clock. They endured solitary confinement. They had only thin plastic mattresses on concrete for sleeping. Meals were of powdered milk and bread or rice and chicken, but interrupted by selective deprivation of food and water. Ceaseless heavy metal and country music screamed in their ears for hours on end, their legal complaint alleges.

MORE

[xchrom]

1. recommend.

[Hissyspit]

2. .

[enough]

3. A fascinating story that throws some light on all the convoluted forces

at work on the ground in Iraq.

A small snip>

But darker allegations are included in the complaint over false imprisonment. Because he worked with the FBI, Vance contends, U.S. government officials in Iraq decided to retaliate against him and Ertel. He believes these officials conspired to jail the two not because they worked for a security company suspected of selling weapons to insurgents, but because they were sharing information with law enforcement agents outside the control of U.S. officials in Baghdad.

"In other words," claims the lawsuit, "United States officials in Iraq were concerned and wanted to find out about what intelligence agents in the United States knew about their territory and their operations. The unconstitutional policies that Rumsfeld and other unidentified agents had implemented for 'enemies' provided ample cover to detain plaintiffs and interrogate them toward that end."

more>

[druidity33]

4. that's important!

I wonder how many people will pick up on this angle! Is there corroboration for this? Do other detainees (are there other 'contractor' detainees?) report having been asked the same questions?

K&R

[greiner3]

5. Damn;

I'd have confessed to ANYTHING just to have the goddamned country music turned off!

[WiseButAngrySara]

6. LOL! That was one of my first thoughts also, but I was too

embarrassed to confess! (worse than starvation, sleep deprivation, and foul (and fowl) food?) Probably not.

[cascagraphic]

8. The CIA is reading this board an taking notes. YER NEXT!

;)

[WiseButAngrySara]

7. This torture is unbelievable. I hope he wins the suit. KNR! ....n/t

[Hissyspit]

9. I'm kicking this again. Hope it gets read during the week, too.

So fewer people reading over the weekend.

[yewberry]

10. Kick nt

[bananarepublican]

11. Maybe the Iranians should have sent the Brits to one of the CIA's secret prisons! n/t

[guruoo]

12. k&r - n/t

[Up2Late]

13. Hey, that does sound like life in a Frat House!

All except for the sleeping on concrete, it's sounds just like a U of Michigan Frat House I stayed at one weekend, back in the 1980's.

I'm glad this guy is speaking out but sorry, it's very hard for me to have any sympathy for any of the Mercenaries, oh sorry, "Private Security Contractors."

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

14. Well That Was Kind Of Benign Toward What I Was Expecting.

Nothing glaringly more severe then what we do to our normal citizens every day in our county jails. I've seen all those complaints above and far more even, every single day as I rot in the county jail.

[EFerrari]

15. Kick

[ProudDad]

16. This sounds EXACTLY like my

experience in a local jail.

They're all like this and totally fucked up!

They should be blown to hell along with those who believe in them and their traces buried under a pile of steaming shit!

I wish I could sue someone...

[yewberry]

17. Kick nt