Truthout roundup 7/2

Parts of military interrogation manual copied from China; Obama under fire from within for FISA vote; whistle-blower lawsuits languish at Justice Department; US company training Mexican police on torture techniques; Swedes protesting new Internet snooping law; and more ... Browse our continually updating front page at http://www.truthout.org

China Inspired Interrogations at Guantanamo
http://www.truthout.org/article/china-inspired-interrogations-guantanamo Scott Shane, of The New York Times: "The military trainers who came to Guantanamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of 'coercive management techniques' for possible use on prisoners, including 'sleep deprivation,' 'prolonged constraint,' and 'exposure.' What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners."

Obama Voters Protest His Switch on Telecom Immunity
http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-voters-protest-his-switch-telecom-immunity James Risen, of The New York Times: "Senator Barack Obama's decision to support legislation granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's program of wiretapping without warrants has led to an intense backlash among some of his most ardent supporters. Thousands of them are now using the same grass-roots organizing tools previously mastered by the Obama campaign to organize a protest against his decision. In recent days, more than 7,000 Obama supporters have organized on a social networking site on Mr. Obama's own campaign Web site."

Whistle-Blower Suits Languish at Justice
http://www.truthout.org/article/whistle-blower-suits-languish-justice By Carrie Johnson, of The Washington Post: "More than 900 cases alleging that government contractors and drugmakers have defrauded taxpayers out of billions of dollars are languishing in a backlog that has built up over the past decade because the Justice Department cannot keep pace with the surge in charges brought by whistle-blowers, according to lawyers involved in the disputes. The issue is drawing renewed interest among lawmakers and nonprofit groups because many of the cases involve the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rising health-care payouts, and privatization of government functions -- all of which offer rich new opportunities to swindle taxpayers."

Mexico in Uproar Over "Torture" Videos
http://www.truthout.org/article/mexico-in-uproar-over-torture-videos The Associated Press: "Videos showing Leon police practicing torture techniques on a fellow officer and dragging another through vomit at the instruction of a U.S. adviser created an uproar Tuesday in Mexico, which has struggled to eliminate torture in law enforcement. One of the videos, first obtained by the newspaper El Heraldo de Leon, shows police appearing to squirt water up a man's nose -- a technique once notorious among Mexican police. Then they dunk his head in a hole said to be full of excrement and rats. The man gasps for air and moans repeatedly."

Swedes Outraged Over New Email Spying Law
http://www.truthout.org/article/swedes-outraged-over-new-email-spying-law The Associated Press: "Swedes may cherish openness and transparency, but not enough to accept a new law giving the government the right to snoop on all e-mails and phone calls crossing the country's borders. Outrage over the statute has led to 2 million protests - filed by e-mail. The online petition drive comes as other European Union countries consider granting authorities unprecedented spying powers over their own citizens amid fears of a mounting terror threat."