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Waterboarding and Torture Demand Truth - Prosecute Now!

Target: President Obama
Sponsored by: Care2.com

On April 16, President Obama granted amnesty to torturers – stating that CIA officials would not be prosecuted for their use of water boarding and harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects under the Bush administration.

While we applaud Mr. Obama for banning torture within forty-eight hours of taking office, we are extremely disappointed in his unwillingness to uphold the rule of law where former officials have committed crimes against U.S. and international human rights law.

Military and intelligence experts have said torture is ineffective. It is immoral, illegal and contrary to our American values. Those responsible for torture must be held accountable.

deadline: Ongoing...
goal: 10,000

359
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Dear President Obama,

On April 16, you stated that CIA officials would not be prosecuted for having used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects under the Bush administration. We believe your decision to not prosecute those who are responsible for torture is wrong, and should be reversed immediately.

Upon taking office, you ordered a halt to internationally condemned interrogation techniques -- yet have failed to demand transparency or accountability to upholding American democratic ideals by claiming "this is a time for reflection, not retribution." But prosecution of torturers is not retribution -- it is part of our country's obligations under U.S. and international law.

The United States ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1994, which prohibits torture as an independent crime, as a war crime and as a crime against humanity in all circumstances. Under our obligations to the Convention against Torture, the U.S. is legally bound to investigate and submit cases of torture to competent U.S. authorities for prosecution, and the victims of human rights violations are entitled to an effective remedy.

We applaud your initial commitment, including the three executive orders you signed within forty-eight hours of taking office, to reject the unlawful policies of the previous administration. Over the last seven years, the U.S. has been on the wrong side of its human rights obligations. But stopping torture cannot be used as an excuse when failing to seek truth and reconciliation for these crimes.

Sincerely,

We signed the “Waterboarding and Torture Demand Truth - Prosecute Now!” petition!

# 360:

3:27 pm PST, Nov 20, Erin Keller, California

# 359:

6:49 pm PST, Nov 17, Name not displayed, Australia
To turn a blind eye to evil + suffering is to be party to such evil.

# 358:

10:30 pm PST, Nov 16, Sara Neveu, New Hampshire
Stay true to your promises - make sure that you follow your actions, promising to eliminate torture in the future is wonderful, but it doesn't remove the need to identify it in the past and punish those found guilty of it. If we do not deal with our history of torture, we are doomed to repeat it.

# 357:

5:53 am PST, Nov 8, Sylvie Ries, Luxembourg

# 356:

1:36 am PST, Nov 6, Abdul Jabbar, Pakistan
It is a matter of deep regret that US citizens are telling their president what his obligations regarding US Laws and International Laws are. A president should lead his nation to the right path not that the nation drove him to that.

# 355:

10:49 pm PDT, Oct 30, Otelinda BETTIOL, France

# 354:

5:50 am PDT, Oct 29, Barbara Rurale, Italy

# 353:

4:10 pm PDT, Oct 23, Carole Hagen, Oregon

# 352:

6:27 am PDT, Oct 21, C.E. Ariel Diertani, Pennsylvania

# 351:

2:17 am PDT, Oct 21, Can Atik, Turkey

# 350:

6:53 am PDT, Oct 18, Carol Tessier, Massachusetts

# 349:

10:49 pm PDT, Oct 16, Rose Becke, Australia

# 348:

9:24 am PDT, Oct 16, Name not displayed, Greece

# 347:

5:02 pm PDT, Oct 13, Merry Loscalzo-Stumpf, Iowa

# 346:

10:56 am PDT, Oct 10, Marina Certo, Brazil

# 345:

8:10 am PDT, Oct 10, Irina Brenner, Ohio
Turture should be persecuted in order to stop turture .Please uphold the values of humanity before the entire world.

# 344:

6:01 am PDT, Oct 4, Jana Zajicova, Czech Republic
How would you want to stop torture if nobody will punish them? Just similar things are going on in your prisons... could it be possible NOBODY does care about it? So try to imagine somebody of yours beloved has been tortured...still nothing???

# 343:

6:03 am PDT, Sep 25, Janice Sturdy, United Kingdom

# 342:

9:44 am PDT, Sep 24, Gregory Nerode, New York

# 341:

3:10 pm PDT, Sep 22, Athena Hahn, California

# 340:

7:33 am PDT, Sep 22, Elizabeth Klousia, Iowa

# 339:

8:20 am PDT, Sep 19, Benjamin Herriott, United Kingdom

# 338:

1:39 am PDT, Sep 12, Kathleen Wesley, Washington
if we, as everyday citizens tortured someone, we would be punished. why does the cia constantly be allowed to do anything they want without repercussions?

# 337:

5:17 am PDT, Sep 8, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

# 336:

3:38 am PDT, Sep 7, Alessandra Solina, Italy

# 335:

6:38 am PDT, Sep 4, Patricia Cannell, Canada

# 334:

12:46 pm PDT, Aug 27, Reiner Lindler, Germany

# 333:

6:30 pm PDT, Aug 22, Crystal Mckee, Wisconsin

# 332:

11:35 pm PDT, Aug 14, Iris De Toledo, Mexico
Hitler's officials said they were only following orders. Is the American conscience still in that era? I applaud OBAMA for preventing subsequent torturing but I kindly ask to give psychological support to those who participated and then take them before an ethics jury to accept their responsability. "Just following orders" is a completely outmoded excuse in the twenty-first century.

# 331:

1:02 pm PDT, Aug 4, E Smith, Connecticut

# 330:

7:59 am PDT, Jul 28, JOAN MORRIS-KNOUFF, Ohio

# 329:

2:34 pm PDT, Jul 25, Raffael Trimmel, Austria

# 328:

2:07 am PDT, Jul 22, Steve Negrete, Iowa

# 327:

3:29 pm PDT, Jul 21, Carsten Molt, Pennsylvania

# 326:

1:39 pm PDT, Jul 21, Paul Visuian, Romania

# 325:

3:06 pm PDT, Jul 20, Gonçalves Maria Dulce Vaz, Portugal

# 324:

8:26 am PDT, Jul 20, Nancy Pitkavish, Michigan

# 323:

12:08 pm PDT, Jul 19, Bob Wilson, New Jersey

# 322:

12:49 pm PDT, Jul 17, Sarah Manning, Nevada
Torture is unlawful, but not only that, we must respect our fellow man, and protect him/her because we are our fellow man. We are all equal and no one should have the right to torture someone to obtain information. My security is NOT that important to me personally. I have not gained ANYTHING from this human suffering.

# 321:

12:51 am PDT, Jul 14, Mirna Markovic, Croatia

# 320:

9:49 pm PDT, Jul 11, Sara Thomas, Texas

# 319:

12:58 pm PDT, Jul 4, Ken Mia, Wisconsin

# 318:

3:11 am PDT, Jul 2, Alan Haggard, California

# 317:

6:46 pm PDT, Jun 30, Chan Hasan, California
It is inhuman and violates constitional rights

# 316:

9:15 pm PDT, Jun 28, Noelle Cruz, California

# 315:

11:00 pm PDT, Jun 24, Name not displayed, New Jersey

# 314:

12:06 pm PDT, Jun 24, Patrice Mykytka, Florida

# 313:

11:57 am PDT, Jun 23, Daile O'Connor, New Jersey

# 312:

8:47 pm PDT, Jun 21, Tatiana Costa, Brazil

# 311:

1:43 am PDT, Jun 19, Chantal Buslot, Belgium

# 310:

7:18 pm PDT, Jun 17, Julia Tawyea', Pennsylvania

# 309:

7:00 am PDT, Jun 15, Name not displayed, Germany

# 308:

6:11 pm PDT, Jun 14, Kimberly Kammeraad, Washington

# 307:

3:11 pm PDT, Jun 14, Name not displayed, California

# 306:

11:18 am PDT, Jun 14, Name not displayed, Pakistan

# 305:

11:02 am PDT, Jun 14, Name not displayed, Connecticut

# 304:

3:41 pm PDT, Jun 13, Joe Park, Oregon

# 303:

10:27 am PDT, Jun 13, Sophie Szeferowicz, France

# 302:

1:04 am PDT, Jun 12, Name not displayed, Australia

# 301:

8:59 am PDT, Jun 11, Natalie Faber, United Kingdom
I, myself, am let down.

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