Who knew that the Old North State would convoke a subcommittee to consider outlawing torture?
Yet on January 18, the Torture Offense Subcommittee will meet in Raleigh for the first time to study what punishment they might recommend for people who engage or plan torture and enforced disappearance in the state. Chaired by Superior Court Judge W. Erwin Spainhour, also the head of the Sentencing Commission, the subcommittee will be looking at draft legislation called the North Carolina No Place for Torture Act.
The Act would punish anyone who “commits torture, kidnapping, or the enforced disappearance of persons or attempts to commit torture, kidnapping, or the enforced disappearance of persons” as a felon. If passed as written, the bill would include people who conspire to commit these crimes whether or not the crimes take place in the state. If any preparation or planning takes place within North Carolina’s borders, the perpetrator would potentially be liable.
This is no hypothetical matter. Already, German prosecutors have named three North Carolina men as accomplices in the “extraordinary rendition” of Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen captured in Macedonia and flown to Afghanistan, where he was tortured. Although the German government has declined to pursue extradition, that may be only a temporary lull in the case.
According to NC Stop Torture Now, a grassroots group that seeks to end the rendition flights originating in the state, private companies working for US government agencies continue to use North Carolina as a launch pad. In public airports from Edenton to Winston-Salem, flights take off bound for legendary torture havens like Uzbekistan, Egypt and Syria.
An often-used site is the Johnston County Municipal Airport, where AeroContractors is based. Aero Contractors allegedly worked for the US government by shuttling terrorism suspects to countries where they were interrogated and tortured. The picture to the left is of a well-known “torture taxi” at the Johnston County airport.
The people these planes carry may or may not have taken part in terrorist acts. When I wrote about extraordinary rendition last October, I described the case of el-Masri (his name was similar to a name used by an alleged terrorist, but he was innocent) and Maher Arar (a Canadian citizen who was later cleared of any links to terrorism by a Canadian investigative commission).
But even people who may have taken part in terrorism should not be tortured. Torture doesn’t work; it also betrays the very essence of who we are as a people. Many former interrogators have now come forward to say that torture is ineffective and can actually convince suspects not to cooperate.
While it’s unclear what chances this bill may have, I think it’s important that it exists and is being taken seriously. As long as the government is engaging in human rights violations, it is up to the people who care about the rule of law to do something.