Dear ACLU Supporter,
As a result of shocking revelations in the CIA Inspector General’s report, which was brought to light by an ACLU lawsuit, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced the appointment of a prosecutor to investigate prison abuse cases carried out as part of the Bush torture program.
As anyone who has seen the details of this appalling report can tell you, this investigation is necessary and long overdue, and Attorney General Holder should be commended for taking this important step.
However, the very limited scope of the investigation he launched today is nowhere near as thorough and broad as the torture investigation America really needs.
Urge Attorney General Holder to conduct a thorough examination of the Bush torture program.
According to early reports, prosecutor John Durham’s mandate will be limited to roughly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated U.S. torture laws and other statutes. Moreover, Durham will conduct a 'preliminary' investigation meant to determine whether a full investigation is appropriate.
But justice demands an investigation without such limits -- a comprehensive investigation that doesn’t exempt high-ranking officials.
That’s especially true in the aftermath of today’s release of the long-secret CIA Inspector General’s report detailing outrageous CIA prisoner abuses including mock executions and holding guns and power tools to people’s heads.
We have to be confident that abuses like those documented in this report will never happen again. That won’t be the case if everyone knows that horrendous crimes were committed and that those ultimately responsible faced no consequences.
Urge Attorney General Holder to conduct a thorough examination of the Bush torture program.
The persistence of ACLU supporters like you and of our amazing lawyers and advocates has put accountability for torture at the forefront of the national debate. Now, we must insist that the investigation started today is only the beginning.
For justice to truly be served, we must have an investigation that holds high-ranking officials accountable for any role they played in the Bush torture program’s horrendous violations of the law.
Now that a long-awaited torture investigation is underway, let the Attorney General know it’s essential for it to follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Urge Attorney General Holder to conduct a thorough examination of the Bush torture program.
Thank you for continuing to fight for freedom and justice. Let's keep going until there's real accountability for torture.
Sincerely,
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union
P.S. At every step in this process, the ACLU has been told it can’t succeed. But, with your support, we’ve persisted until key memos have been released and essential lawsuits have been allowed to move forward. Now, an investigation few thought would ever be undertaken is underway.
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