US embassy cable - 05PARIS6600

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006600 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - GWOT - Abu Gharaib - 
Guantanamo 
PARIS - Tuesday, September 27, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
GWOT - Abu Gharaib - Guantanamo 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Domestic political and economic news dominate most front 
pages, with emphasis on Interior Minister Sarkozy's televised 
interview last evening announcing his new anti-terrorist 
measures, and the arrest of a group of Islamic radicals who 
were allegedly preparing several attacks in Paris. Le Figaro 
headlines "Islamists Planned Attack on Paris Metro," while 
France Soir titles: "Sarko Tracks Terrorists." Liberation 
devotes its editorial to the new anti-terrorist measures and 
warns against laws that can undermine civil liberties. Gerard 
Dupuy suggests the legislation should be revised within three 
years "like the Patriot Act." The liberation of prisoners from 
Abu Gharaib is reported in Le Figaro while Le Monde devotes 
its editorial to "American Tortures." (See Part C) 
 
Sharon's re-election at the head of the Likud is reported in 
Liberation, which calls his short victory over Netanyahu a 
"breath of fresh air for the Prime Minister which saves the 
party. Obviously, the renewed violence in Gaza did not affect 
Sharon's position. His quick and firm reaction. probably 
served to show the voters that when it comes to Israel's 
security, Sharon does not fool around." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
GWOT - Abu Gharaib - Guantanamo 
 
"American Tortures" 
Left-of-center Le Monde in its unsigned editorial (09/27): "As 
thousands marched in protest in Washington. the Human Rights 
Watch published a damning report for the U.S. Army on torture 
methods and degrading treatment of prisoners implemented in 
the name of the `war against terror.' This report is important 
for two reasons: it destroys the myth that the torture methods 
used in the Abu Gharaib prison were isolated incidents. It 
also makes testimonials from American soldiers available. The 
methods revealed are not new. They are used in Iraqi prisons, 
in Afghanistan and in Guantanamo. They have been proven to be 
systematic methods used by the U.S. . The American 
administration has not brought forward a satisfactory response 
to the fact that its army violates the laws of war. It was 
successful, in U.S. public opinion, as far as Abu Gharaib is 
concerned, in demonstrating that the perpetrators were not 
answering to direct orders. Will America accept this version 
implicating `lost soldiers.?' The peace movement in the U.S. 
is not fighting this battle, having chosen instead to save the 
lives of its boys. By authorizing its Army to use methods 
which international law qualifies as `severe violations of the 
laws of war' such as `torture' and `inhuman treatment,' the 
U.S. is placing itself outside the law and does a disservice 
to that which it claims to be defending: liberty, justice and 
democracy. Each time an Iraqi or an Afghan is abused and 
killed, or tortured, it is a defeat for America and all those 
who defend the values it pretends to be defending, simply 
because America is a democracy. But more pragmatically, the 
use of torture is one less opportunity for Washington to win 
its wars, because for every prisoner who is abused, for every 
picture from Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo, there are ten 
combatants who rise against the U.S." 
 
"The Americans Set Free Prisoners from Abu Gharaib" 
Adrien Jaulmes in right-of-center Le Figaro (09/27): "These 
liberations could be construed as measures with limited impact 
by the Iraqis who still think of Abu Gharaib as a symbol of 
American military brutality. For the Human Rights Watch Abu 
Gharaib is only the tip of the iceberg of a more generalized 
system of torture perpetrated elsewhere in Iraq, such as in 
Faludjah by the 82nd battalion. This attempt to pacify Sunni 
public opinion is probably coming too late . for the October 
15 vote on the Iraqi Constitution. According to another NGO, 
International Crisis Group, the risk of civil war and of an 
Iraqi breakdown is to be feared if the Americans do not 
quickly take into account the demands of the Sunni community." 
"Secrecy" 
Gerard Dupuy in left-of-center Liberation (09/27): "The fight 
against terrorism is both a sacred cause and a secret mission 
and it is therefore allergic to ordinary explanations. Still 
the effectiveness of anti-terrorism measures cannot undermine 
civil liberties. The threat of terrorism is that threat of 
which everyone is speaking, but there is that other threat on 
the guardrails protecting democratic values. This is why the 
legislation drafted (in France) should include a clause 
requiring the law to be revisited in three years, like the 
Patriot Act." STAPLETON