Psychologist James Mitchell is the self-described "architect" of the CIA's torture program (a consulting gig that netted him a cool $80m at taxpayer expense), along with his partner John "Bruce" Jessen — they're the pair who oversaw black-site torture programs that killed and maimed people who'd been convicted of no crime by any court, anywhere in the world.
Some of the survivors of this torture — and the families of those murdered by the CIA torturers — are seeking civil justice from Mitchell and Jessen, with the help of the ACLU.
Now a judge has ruled that a jury will decide whether the torture architects can be sued for their role in the torture and killing, including the death of Gul Rahman, who died of hypothermia while in chains in a cell, in a "starved, sleepless and freezing" state due to the torture he was subjected to.
Mitchell and Jessen have been indemnified by the US taxpayer: any judgment against them will be paid out by the US government, and they will get to keep the tens of millions they already received for their despicable war crimes.
When the CIA sought help with interrogating the agency's first prisoner, Abu Zubaydah, a high-value detainee, Mitchell provided methods, lawyer Brian Paszamant told the judge.Simply providing a memo does not make them guilty of aiding and abetting torture, he argued.
Didn't Mitchell in his book "describe himself as the architect of the enhanced interrogation programme?" Quackenbush asked.
"What does it mean to be an architect?" Paszamant responded.
