To the Point

US Practicing Torture?

When former prisoners reported torture at Guantanamo Bay, even their own attorneys were skeptical, but declassified government documents have given new credence to their claims. In Washington, as so-called -torture memos- complicate the confirmation of Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales, the Pentagon says it-s investigating FBI reports on human rights violations. What's actually going on for hundreds of detainees in the war on terror? Are terrorist suspects legally different from prisoners of war? Does so-called -aggressive treatment- reveal information that helps to protect America? Although the President has forbidden it, is the US practicing torture? We get input from journalists and academics who have written about torture, former legal advisors to National Security Council, CIA, and one of the first attorneys to receive clearance to visit Guantanamo Bay. Making News: Mahmoud Abbas Wins Palestinian Election Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, won 62% of the votes cast in yesterday-s Palestinian election. Today, at the White House, President Bush issued an invitation he never gave to Yasser Arafat. Steven Erlanger, Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times, reports on the election's likely impact on Palestinians, Israelis and the US. Reporter's Notebook: Sudanese Peace Deal In the past 15 years, some 2 million people have died in Sudan-s civil war, not just from bullets and bombs, but from disease and starvation as well. Yesterday, that country's Muslim government signed a peace treaty with Christian rebels in the south. Alfred Taban, managing editor of the Khartoum Monitor and a BBC correspondent, says the treaty does not apply to the Darfur region, and what the US has officially labeled -genocide.-