The Wire

The interrogations at Abu Grab prison in Iraq shocked the world and called into question the use of torture by US soldiers in Iraq Now a group of US legislators, former servicemen and women and civil rights groups are aiming to have amendments passed that would prevent future abuses of those detained in US military custody. This month, an amendment to a US defense bill, which was sponsored by Senator John McCain, was passed by the US Senate. The amendment would make it mandatory for those interrogating detainees to follow the US army’s Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogations. This would reinforce a ban on cruel inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. But while the move is a positive step, the amendment still faces a few more hurdles before it will become law. Human Rights First, a lawyer-run civil rights group in the US, has been lobbying for the amendment. Their Washington Director, Elisa Massimino, spoke earlier with Erica Vowles on the issue.