Release Report on Torture - NOW!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee
Even though acting CIA Director Mike Morrell claims that torture has led to “actionable intelligence,” Human Rights First’s Dixon Osburn says the Committee investigation found otherwise - that torture was counterproductive.
Committee chair Dianne Feinstein told the press last year that the report will settle the debate over torture once and for all. More recently she indicated that the use of torture was a “terrible mistake.”
However, she added, it will remain classified until Obama and “key officials” review it, and only then will the committee consider releasing it. HRF says that the report has since been sent to Obama and the CIA and was due back last month.
Releasing this report should put an end to false claims that torture works. And CIA nominee John Brennan's questionable stance on torture makes ending the secrecy even more urgent. Tell the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its report on torture now!
We, the undersigned, believe the public has a right to see this report on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into torture - and without further delay.
Feinstein’s words to the press in no way support Morrell’s and others’ claims that torture has procured “actionable intelligence,” as she told The Atlantic:
"I strongly believe that the creation of long-term, clandestine 'black sites' and the use of so-called 'enhanced-interrogation techniques' were terrible mistakes. The majority of the Committee agrees."
The ACLU has joined Human Rights First in requesting that this report be made available to the public, so that, as Dixon Osburn puts it, the American public can get information on torture first-hand, rather than from the media or other sources. The information should be “based on the facts,” he says, and adds, “Thankfully, that report already exists. Now it should be made public.”
This request is even more important as President Obama is considering John Brennan to head the CIA. According to the Atlantic, “At minimum, Brennan favored rendition and what he called 'enhanced interrogation tactics' other than waterboarding.” And, more recently he has reportedly dodged questions about waterboarding being a form of torture.
We agree with Osburn that the American public deserves to know the facts about the CIA's use of torture, and we request that the committee’s report be released immediately.
Thanks for your time.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/281985-white-house-wont-comment-on-brennans-waterboarding-dodge
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