[Note from Matthew Gaylor: It is an established procedure of a government to first hint at something that they are considering to gauge the reaction. This has got to be one of the more disturbing items I've read over the course of the last couple of weeks. The US constitution and bill of rights recognizes, not grants rights. Any FBI agent who considers torturing a suspect should be fired and then prosecuted for conspiracy to violate civil rights. Such an agent is also a traitor to the US constitution. FBI agents when they take their oath pledge their allegiance to the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Any law enforcement officer who tortures suspects or carts suspects off to be tortured in a foreign land certainly deserve to be considered Un-American and an enemy of the rule of law.] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/attacked/A27748- 2001Oct20.html> Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 21, 2001; Page A06 FBI and Justice Department investigators are increasingly frustrated by the silence of jailed suspected associates of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, and some are beginning to that say that traditional civil liberties may have to be cast aside if they are to extract information about the Sept. 11 attacks and terrorist plans. [...] Said one experienced FBI agent involved in the investigation: "We are known for humanitarian treatment, so basically we are stuck. . . . Usually there is some incentive, some angle to play, what you can do for them. But it could get to that spot where we could go to pressure . . . where we won't have a choice, and we are probably getting there." Among the alternative strategies under discussion are using drugs or pressure tactics, such as those employed occasionally by Israeli interrogators, to extract information. Another idea is extraditing the suspects to allied countries where security services sometimes employ threats to family members or resort to torture. Under U.S. law, interrogators in criminal cases can lie to suspects, but information obtained by physical pressure, inhumane treatment or torture cannot be used in a trial. In addition, the government interrogators who used such tactics could be sued by the victim or charged with battery by the government. [...] ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************