Torture in the News Again

A Sudanese photographer who worked for Al Jazeera was arrested and spent seven years at "Gitmo" without ever being charged. Now back in Sudan, He appeared on TV there to tell his story. Yesterday the Miami Herald covered what he had to say about his experience.

''After 2,340 days spent in the most heinous prison mankind has ever known, we are honored to be here. Thank you, and thank all those defended us and of our right in freedom.''

... snip ...

Hajj said he believed he was arrested because of U.S. hostility toward Al Jazeera and because the media was reporting on U.S. rights violations in Afghanistan.

''I was subjected to 130 [interrogation] sessions, more than 35 about Al Jazeera, and they wanted me to be a spy against Al Jazeera,'' he said. He said that as a faithful Muslim, he rejected the offer.

The issue of the use of torture at Guantanamo is still being pursued in Congress, where the House Judiciary Committee has voted Tuesday morning to compel Vice President Cheney's chief of staff David Addington to testify about his role in approving harsh interrogation tactics at the US Guantanamo Bay prison. This against raises the constitutional of the Congressional right to oversight.